COMMENTARY NOTES

PROLOGUS PRIOR 

  1 (2) Fontem Caballinum: The Hippocrene, on Mt. Parnassus.
  6 (7) nomine Davus Dromo Hawkins explains that James’ favorite jester was named David Droman (or Drummond); at the same time, Davy’s Latinized name sounds like the Greek word for “run,” and so suggests he is a runaway. In the two prologues he appears as a hobby-horse, such as participated in traditional May Day mummery. His characterization as a “horse of the Muses” is clarified by John Dunbar's epigram VI.85 (1616), which attests that he wrote poetry.
  7 (7) biceps bestia A hobby horse was in essence a contraption worn around the mummer’s waist in such a way that he appeared to be riding the horse. Thus the apparition had two heads. (And again, since Drummon was a poet, there may also be a humorous reference to the twin-peaked Mt. Parnassus).
  18 (18) Messe Davy No previous commentator has attempted to explain this peculiar name. English dictionaries are entirely unhelpful, but dictionaries of the Scots dialect suggest three possibilities worth revolving. It is unlikely that the beast is called Mass Davy, as he shows no signs of Catholicism. He likes to eat and “flies to other men’s tables uninvited,” and so he may be called Mess Davy. But most likely he is Maister Davy, a horse claiming to erudition and so is called Maister Davy, as if he were the recipient of a M. A. In the same spirit, Richard Eedes humorously conferred academic titles on a bear named Furze, the eponymous mascot of The Bear at Oxford, in his satiric travelogue Iter Boreale.
  22 (22) in pistrinum dare Consignment to work in a mill was a standard punishment for racalcitrant Roman slaves, and so is a stock threat made against slaves in Roman comedy. In Pseudolus the subject comes up at lines 494, 499f., 534, and 1060.
  40 (43) decanus scilicet de Dunstable An appropriate aspiration because of the double pun on dun and stable (even if Dunstable has no cathedral).
  45 (48) ab equo ad asinum Hawkins identified this as a proverb (taken from Procopius) in Erasmus’ Adages s. v. Degenerantium in peius, where it is explained as applicable for somebody who turns from honest pursuits to disgraceful ones.
  46 (49) Caligulam…Incitato The mad emperor Caligula made his horse Consul of Rome and dressed him in purple trappings: Suetonius, Caligula 55.
  51 (55) sive Puppy etc. Hawkins (p. 13) compared Ben Jonson’s Epicaene, or The Silent Woman ii.i, Hearken after the next horse race, or hunting match, lay wagers, praise Puppy or Peppercorn, Whitefoot, Franklin, swear upon Whitemane’s party. Evidently these were race-horses owned by courtiers presently in attendance on the king.
  53 (57) vel in stadio Roystoniensi etc. Under James public race-courses were for the first time established: Hawkins suggested that for Gatterliensi we should read Garterliensi (Garterly, Yorks.), and less probably that for Coddinglem (or Coddington) we should read Croyden, and that Sibblecotes (or Ciblicotes) is a mistake for Theobalds. Perhaps there were race courses at Brackley, Norts., Coddington, Herts. (or Notts., or Oxfordshire), and Sibbertofte, Norts. (or Sibberscot near Shrewsbury).
  77 (82) toto notus Cf. Martial, Epigrams I.v.2, Toto notus in orbe Martialis.
  81 (85) Sextus Caballus Hawkins quoted Hoffman’s Lexicon, Sextus Caballus, scurra maximus a calcitratu caballi nomen adeptus (but see the next note).
  82 (86)ludit qui stolida procacitate He is quoting Martial, Epigrams I.xli.19 (some editions have Tettius for Sextius ):

  98 (103) ubi et epse etiam olim fui etc. In a lengthy footnote Hawkins argued that Davus Dromo is played by Mr. William Lakes (see the actor-list at Nelson, op. cit. 1989, 954f.), and that this is a personal allusion: he had served on embassies to France and may have visited Bourdeaux. The same list shows that Mr. Spencer Compton played the roles of Cursor and Surda.
  119 (129) Why does Davy mention Pindar? That poet was read and appreciated in the Renaissance, as discussed by Stella P. Revard, “Neo-Latin Commentaries on Pindar” in R. J. Schoeck (ed.), Acta Conventius Neo-Latini Bononiensis: Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of Neo-Latin Studies (Binghamton N. Y., 1985), 583 - 91, and he wrote poetry both about horse races (a subject dear to Davy’s heart) and in praise of rulers. But most likely the humor lies in the sheer incongruity of the allusion.
  121 (132) A parody of the first sentence in Cicero’s de Oratore, Cogitanti mihi saepenumero et memoria vetera repetenti perbeati fuisse, Quinte frater, illi videri solent, qui in optima re publica, cum et honoribus et rerum gestarum gloria florerent, eum vitae cursum tenere potuerunt, ut vel in negotio sine periculo vel in otio cum dignitate esse possent.
  125 O tempora, o mores! Cicero’s famous exclamation at in Catilinam I.ii. Quo me vertam, iudices Cf. Cicero, Pro Scauro xix, quo me vertam, iudices, aut quid agam?
  128 (139) Quin fonte labra This echoes the beginning of the prologue to Perseus’ Satires, Nec fonte labra prolui caballum. The following lines echo lines 15 (Cantare credas pegaseium melos ) and 11 of the same prologue (quoted verbatim).
  132 (141) Davus perturbat omnia He alludes to Davus’ statement at Terence, Andria III.iv.601, iam perturbavi omnia.
  139 (148) furcillis te eiicere: Cf. Catullus cv.2, Musae furcillis praecipitem eiiciunt. 
  142 (151) Da veniam subitis A quotation of Martial, Spectacula xxxi.1. 

PROLOGUS POSTERIOR

 1 (1) Trin tran The verbal sound effect used throughout the play itself to represent the sound of a bugle.
  2 (2) iam Ignoramus nec agitur No doubt a passage from the Collectanea Whiteway (1634), quoted by Nelson, op. cit. 1989 II.862f., employs some embellishment in recalling the beginning of this Prologue:

  10 (9) non suite (or nonsuite) A situation in which a party to a case abandons his position after the trial has been completed but before the jury has returned a verdict.
  15 (14) deo Termino: not Terminus, the Roman god of boundaries, but the deity who presides over the terms in the English legal system (cf. the commentary note on 179 [240] of the play).
  25 (23) s. p. d. Salutem plurimum dicit, a standard greeting in Roman letters.
  28 (26) ingrossas To verify the accuracy of a hand-copied legal document.
  34 (33) Cameram Stellatum He had a double reason for complaint to the Star Chamber, which dealt both with disturbances of the peace and libel.
  37 (37) jeofaile = J’ai faile, an error in pleading.
  41 (41) faciemus de eo balladas galantissimas Specimens of the satirical ballads provoked by the King’s March visit and the75. first performance of Ignoramus are given by Nichols III.66ff.
  71 (69) vocata Anglice a hobby horse A sidenote in df states The enditement of an hobby-horse is on record at Exeter. Hawkins quoted this in a footnote, but did not elucidate. The mouth of a May Day hobby horse could be made to open and close by a wire or similar mechanism, and snip-snap imitates the sound that would be made.
  83 (85) Tu es unus equus, vocatus Saucie Jacke Saucy Jack, to be sure, was the name of a real racehorse, included in a list of such horses at line 52 of the First Prologue. But here the name acquires a new significance, for “saucy Jack” was used to designate “an impudent good-for-nothing” (cf. C. G. Moore Smith’s note on Club Law 603, where the phrase is used).
  84 (85) tu et olim capiebas parietem de principe Compare Cricket’s boast at Club Law 145ff. but I got the wall of him, and hee came to catch mee, but I was for him, but even now if you had seene what a race we had. In his note, C. G. Moore Smith stated this was a phrase meaning “get the better of,” citing Romeo and Juliet I.i.12, I will take the wall of any man or maid. Perhaps, in view of the context, this phrase is a metaphor taken from racing and means, as we would say, “take the inside rail.”
  86 (89) breve de idiota examinando A writ allowing the authorities to interview somebody to determine if he or she is mentally competent.
  90 (94) quid differunt stultus per naturam, et stultus per artem? Cf. Horace, Ars Poetica 408f. and the following discussion:

  91 (95) Quantum ego et Archy Archibald Armstrong, the king’s fool.
  105 (115) returnabo To certify by writ.
  109 Evidently William Lakes, the actor playing Davy, had also visited Geneva in the course of his European travels: cf. the commentary note on First Prologue 98.
  115 (125) Schioppius The Catholic humanist Kasper Schioppe [1576 - 1649] printed two treatises against King James, the Ecclesiasticus in 1611 and the even more scurrilous Collyrium Regium (“The Royal Suppository”) in the following year. This latter book was publicly burnt at London in 1612 (and also in Paris because of some outrageous remarks that slandered the memory of Henri IV), and he was also hanged in effigy. There is a biographical sketch of Schioppe in J. Fr. Michard, Biographie Universelle (Graz, 1960) xxxviii.509 - 11. Further and more detailed information is provided by Hawkins in a series of footnotes, largely based on two hostile tracts printed as a single volume (Leyden, 1609), Hercules tuam Fidem, sive Munsterus Hypobolimaeus and Virgula divina, sive Apotheosis Lucretii Vespillonis, Vita et Parentes Gasp. Schiopii, from which a number of Ruggle’s accusations are taken.
  117 (128) non fuit Autolycus He quotes Martial, Epigrams VIII.lix.4 (Autolycus was a notorious thief in ancient mythology).
  120 (130) en ut sunt ungulatae manus et viscosae This appears to be suggested by Pseudolus 851f.:

  125 Munster Franco According to the Vita et Parentes Gasp. Schiopii, he was reputed to be the illegitimate son of a Munster knight named Franco.
  138 (148) hospiti Giffanio According to the Vita et Parentes Gasp. Schiopii, while living at Ingolstadt Schioppius gained access to the household of the humanist Obortus Giffanius (or Giphanius), from whom he stole some manuscripts.
  145 (155) adolescens scripsit spurissima Priapeia. Schioppius wrote a commentary on the Roman collection of scurrilous poems that go under this title. This work is immune from criticism, because, to criticize it, one would have to admit having read it, which nobody is willing to do.
  150 (161) Illis ego restitui muliebria mutando L in N Schioppius introduced an emendation in a poem in the Priapeia, changing culo to cunna.
  156 (168) librum scripsit Romae de conversione sua He converted from Lutheranism in 1599, and in the same year published at Rome a volume entitled Libellus de sua ad Catholicos migratione
  157 (169) Romam petebat esuritor Parodying Martial, Epigrams III.xiv.1f.:

  159 (170) Cardinalis Madrucii culina At Rome he lived in the household of Cardinal Madrusio.
  160 (172) ringens de lingendis patinis. The Vita et Parentes Gasp. Schiopii, describes him licking plates at Rome. But it may not be fanciful to cite Pseudolus 893, iam hic quoque scelestus est, coqui sublingulo.
  166 (179) sacris Bibliis Plautum praetulit The same document makes this allegation about his youthful tastes in reading (although this is a slightly peculiar accusation to make in a preface to a very Plautine comedy).
  167 (180) sacra Lavernae toties facit Laverna was the goddess of thieves.
  174 (189) archicarnificis et prostibuli filius The Vita et Parentes Gasp. Schiopii,says that during a war his father was archilictor, sive carnificum praefectus.
  176 (191) Lavernio A devotee of Laverna, i. e., a thief.
  177 (193) Legatus Latro A tract in which Schioppius had claimed that some Englishmen had tried to kill him for writing against James.
  181 (197) Baro sum Schioppius claimed to have been ennobled at Rome. But in classical Latin a baro was merely somebody who was large and stupid, a fact no doubt noted by some of Ruggle’s audience.
  183 (199) Barones Campi Florae Hawkins presents evidence that this was an Italian cant-phrase for criminals.
  188 (207) ut olim Heidelbergae Where he had attended the University.
  190 (210) ὕστερον πρóτερον The rhetorical term for the device of responding to the points made by one’s opponent in the reverse order. Here, obviously, the phrase has a different meaning: since his mouth is blocked, his soul must exit his body through the other end of the alimentary canal.
  194 (213) Musaeus debet scribere hoc Museus was the only one of Ignoramus’ clerks with a university education.
  201 (220) Signeur Senor is a frequent form of address in the play: the texts have, rather promiscuously, senior, senior, sennor, signeur, etc., and occasionally the ms. abbreviation snr. I would surmise that this abbreviation stood in the archetype and was variously interpreted by copyists. In the present case, the abbreviation was wrongly interpreted by the copyists as senor. Several times in the play Ignoramus is addressed by the French title signeur.
  208 (226) essonium An excuse for failure to appear in court.
  216f. (233) Ecce iterum nigros This and the next line are Martial, Epigrams IV.xxvii.5f.
  219 (234) Ib. IX.xcvii.12.

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310 (379) vado in cymbalis Hawkins presents various evidence to the effect that this peculiar phrase means something like “be in a state of luxury and lasciviousness.”
 313 (382) per aquesta cruz de Dios “By God’s cross.”
  314 (383) ubi te aut vendam, aut prostituam Compare Ballio’s similar threat at Pseudolus 178.
 320 (390) surda sit iam Although surda means “deaf,” as it is used in this line, it is also the name of the character.
  333 (405) Tor. Sed tu ne admittas This reading, first found in the 1658 printed text, is to be preferred: a’s Sed tu nos admittas imples that the interview between Ignoramus and Rosabella was staged as an interior scene, which ill accords with his previous request to Torcol that he summon her from within. Torcol is telling Surda that Ignoramus may speak with Rosabella, but should not be allowed inside.
  335 (407) hem, hem, hem Hawkins note: “Till lately it was the custom with advocates at the bar, to make very frequent use of these interjections, in order to give them time to recollect themselves, and at the same time to prevent a visible pause in their speech.” Ignoramus’ next words constitute a parody of the form of address, “My Lord and you, gentlemen of the jury.”
  340 (412) iungemus issue Issue is the children of marriage or the profit of a partnership.
  342 (414) rosa solis A brandy cordial spiced with cinnamon.
  346 - 53 (428 - 25) Tucker’s translation (p.258):

Most of the items in the following list are transparent; Tucker explained that pantoflos are slippers, buskos whalebone stays, and soccos wooden clogs. On the preceding page he suggested that “Ruggle’s legalem poetam is probably an allusion to the anonymous sonnet sequence Zepheria (1594) which had been satirized in Davies’ ”Gulling sonnets“ and most notably in Donne’s ˆSatire II.”
 353 Baffled by pimpillos, Hawkins suggested reading wimpillos (wimples). But Tucker (p.258) pointed out that pimpillos is a variant of “pin pillows,” quoting Aleman’s Guzman de Alfarache II.131, “We made thereof purses, pimpillowes, sleeves for little children.”
  348 (420) fee simple Ownership free and clear.
  354 (426) a bear garden If she marries him, he will allow her to attend plays and bear-baitings. This line is obviously a gloss on the preceding one, but it is impossible to determine whether it is some reader’s marginal annotation that has crept into the text, or whether it is Ignoramus’ own.
  362 (436) Ambidexter Hawkins explained Ignoramus’ Christian name: “in a legal sense, it signifies a juror that takes monies of both parties for the giving of his verdict.” Not precisely the malfeasance of an attorney, but the word sufficies to give the general flavor of the man. It is worth observing that the word had already been used as a designation for an unscrupulous lawyer: cf. epigram II.71 from William Gamage’s 1613 Linsi-Woolsie:

To Gill: the fingring Lawyer,
and ambodexter.

What mak’s thee, Gill, the perfect use to have,
As well of left, as of thy right hand faire?
Thou Galen-like wilt answer very grave,
Tis o’remuch heat that doth from heart repaire.
I thinke not so, but thy poore Clients gold
Mak’s thee to be an Ambodexter bold.

At the same same the name may have a second significance. Tucker (p. 260) perceived a reference to Ambidexter in Preston’s Cambyses.
infoeffare To settle upon as a benefice.
  363 (436) taile special Normally a man’s property could only be inherited by his children. This arrangement permitted his wife to inherit. Tonguewell (some mss. present the orthographic variant Tongwell): the name speaks for itself.
  364 (437) capitali messuagium A manor (messuagia being the properties, rights, and profits belonging thereto). The land belonging to the manor is called tofta, and in this context crofta probably designates its pasture land. The rest of this paragraph is a detailed inventory of the possessions and rights of an English country manor. Had Ignoramus the slightest intention of keeping his word, he would be promising to make Rosabella quite wealthy. But by the end of the present scene his actual hypocrisy is revealed.
  367 (441) turbaria In this context, probaby “land suitable for turfing,” although technically the word meant “the right to turf common land.”
 368 (442) libera warrena In theory, all the game in the nation belonged to the sovereign. In practice, the king could grant free warren to allow landholders to hunt and protect their own game.
  370 (443) allagium The right to exact tolls for passage through your property. stallagium The right to charge rent on a merchant who pitches his stall on your property. pontagium The right to charge tolls for crossing your bridge. picagium The right to exact a toll on a fair held on your property. escheta The right to impose a tax on the estate of a tenant who dies on your property. catalla felonum The right to impose fines on the property (chattel) of felons.
  382 (458) quare impedit A specialized kind of writ having to do with the appointment of clergy to livings. In the present context it means a writ asking “what impedes me from doing what I want?”
  388 (463) in commenda The temporary appointment of a clergyman to a vacant parish pending the designation of a rector.
  390 - 98 I have written these lines this way because it appears that Ruggle was striving to imitate trochaic septenarii.
  I.6 Enter Antonius and Trico on the other side of the stage. In the course of the play there are number of puns on “Trico” and “trick,” which adequately explains his name.
  400 (484) Cf. Calidorus to Pseudolus at Pseud. 111, In te nunc omnes spes sunt aetati meae, and Pseudolus’ confident reply that he will manipulate the situation to make all come out right.
 423 (506) The phrase mamma mammarum is evidently to be explained with reference to Martial I.c:

Evidently Trico is saying that she is so infantile that she prattles like an infant.
  426 (519) dolioriola A small barrel-shaped woman; the diminutive of doliaris, a word used to describe a woman at Pseudolus 659.
  440 - 46 (534 - 37) Iam me non dubitas prodere? Hawkins pointed out that this speech is a pastiche of lines from Catullus xxx. Unless the archetype text is remarkably corrupt, it is maybe surprising that Ruggle did not do a better job of reproducing the iambic senarii of Catullus’ poem even if he did not understand the technicalities of comic versification. At the same time, Phoenicium’s recriminations against Calidorus (in a letter) at Pseudolus 64 - 73 are comparable in a general way.
  475 (547) Italo more amans Hawkins explains (the reader may decide how convincingly) that since Italian courtships were governed with extreme strictness, lovers were obliged to communicate by signs, hence the Italian game of mora.
  489 (593) Quis potest pati hoc? Cf. Catullus xxix.1, Quis hoc potest videre, quis potest pati? Ruggle may also have been thinking of La Trappolaria 156, O Dio, posso sentir questo, e non morir?
  I.7 This scene is based on La Trappolaria I.5, in which Trappola confronts Lucrino the bawd and urges the lovers to flee (but the Italian play contains no equivalent of Surda).
  515 (622) Quis custodiet custodes? Juvenal vi.347.
  516 (623) ovem lupae Hawkins compared the proverb Ovem lupo commisisti explained by Erasmus, Adagia s. v. Discriminis (evidently he meant III.viii.81). Lupo (“to a wolf”) has been changed to lupae (“to a whore”).
  534 (644) Compare Pseudolus’ forecast to Simo that he will manage to defraud him at Pseudolus 507ff. In La Trappolaria Trappola goes a step further and makes similar forecasts both to Lucrino and Callifrone
  I.8 This scene is loosely based on the confrontation of Califrone and Trappola in La Trappolaria I.6.
  II.1 The setting is again in front of Theodorus’ house. Theodorus’ description of Antonius’ departure is based on Callifrone’s monologue at La Trappolaria II.1.
   II.2 This scene is based on La Trappolaria II.2.
  599 (721) He quotes Aeneid II.68.
   625 (754) Compare the praise of Charinus’ knavishness at Pseudolus 745ff.
  622 (751) The name Cupes comes from the Latin word for a glutton.
  638 (766) Compare Pseudolus’ impatience with Calidorus’ overanxious dithering at Pseud. 118.
  II.3 The scene shifts to the street before Cupes’ house. The portion of this scene in which Trico recruits Cupes is based on the similar scene between Trappola and Fagone at La Trappolaria II.3.
  649 (778) Anguilla Aequivocationis After their arrest, several of the Gunpowder Plotters averred that they had been inspired by a Jesuit pamphlet called A Treatise of Equivocation, which argued that Catholics were entitled to lie to governmental authorities to conceal their religious beliefs. The name of the author of the book being hawked by Cupes is a distortion of Andreas Endaemon Johannes Cydonius, a Jesuit who in 1610 had published a defense of Father Henry Garnet, Jesuit Superior for England, who had been arrested and executed together with the surviving Plotters, and who was accused of disseminating, if not actually writing, the noxious pamphlet; such in any event was the accusation leveled by Attorney General Coke. The reader may be interested in Coke’s explanation of this doctrine in the trial of the Gunpowder Plotters, set forth here.
  655 (785) Fustis Daemonum A treatise publlished, also in 1610, by the Minorite Hieronymus Menges. Hawkins presented evidence that this book had indeed been placed on the Index.
  665 (794) Pellio No doubt Schioppius is again meant: cf. the treatise against him, mentioned in the notes on the Second Prologue, Virgula divina, sive Apotheosis Lucretii Vespillonis, Vita et Parentes Gasp. Schiopii, In Latin a versipellis is a shape-shifter such as a werewolf, but in the present context, the gibe is at Schioppius’ conversion to Catholicism and the word has approximately the same value as English “turncoat.”
  667 (797) ne sicut Plauti olim nostram vitiet fabulam Schioppius had written a commentary on Plautus.
  671 (801) Apologia pro Garneto Cydonius’ apology for Father Garnet.
  672 (802) en lepidum stramen! Although regarded as an arch-traitor by James’ loyal subjects, Catholics considered Father Garnet as a near-saint (he was beatified in the nineteenth century).Shortly after his death “Garnet’s straw” was discovered, an ear of wheat that, in the eyes of the faithful, reproduced his likeness and served as a sign of his sanctity. Henry Foley, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus (London, IV.133 discusses the miracle and illustrates it with a facing plate. Cf. also Paul Durst, Intended Treason (London - New York, 1970) 277 - 9 with Plate 14 providing a superior rendition of the venerable object.
  677 (806) St. Clementis et St. Ravillaici Father Gerard is linked with two undoubted Catholic regicides, James Clement and François Ravaillac, the assassins of Henri III and Henri IV respectively.
  678 (798) Hercules tuam fidem! A very appropriate expostulation since, as mentioned in a note on the Second Prologue, this was the title of an anti-Schioppius pamphlet.
  684 (816) Quid feci ego With the substitution of libellis for poetis, this is a quotation of Catullus iv.4.
  689 (821) Annales Volusi A bad historian mentioned at Catullus xcvi.7.
  690 (822) mais quoy vanneovia manniconia I can do no better than quote Tucker’s note on the equivalent line in the Parkhurst translation (p. 269): “This reading, presumably corrupt, is taken directly from the printed Ignoramus, all of the first four editions of which contain this reading of the line. Hawkins edition alters the line to mais quo vane via manniconia. What this line means I have not been able to discover. there is a word manicon meaning deadly nightshade, and the phrase via manniconia may be similar to phrases like the via lactea. In this case, it would mean something like the road to madness or lunacy. See Butler’s Hudibras (1678) III.i.324, ‘Bewitch Hermetick-men to run Stark staring mad with Manicon.’”
 691 (823) de Dromedariis Evidently a mock-Norman surname, as if Davy’s ancestors had come over with the Conquerer (the humor also grows out of the reference to line 21 of the First Prologue).
  692 (824) Hostiludium de Messe Davy cum Archy For Archy (Archibold Armstrong) see the note on line 91 of the Second Prologue.
  693 (825) Peregrinationes Syn-Coriaticae Hawkins explains this as a combination of the Greek syn and the name of the well-known Tudor travel writer John Coryeat. There may also be a pun on coriatus, “made of leather,” or, in this case, of horsehide.
  694 (826) ibit ab excusso missus ad astra sago Martial I.iii.8 (with ibis altered to ibit ), referring to the sentence passed on Davy in the Second Prologue, that he be tossed in the air in a blanket.
  697 (830) Cupes de Cupediis This initiates a number of puns on Cupes’ name; this one involves the Latin word for sweetmeats. Further ones involve deriviatives of cupio, “desire.”
  702 (835) Ne cupia mullum With ne substituted for nec, this = Juvenal, Satire XI.37f.
  719 subpromus eram Promus is used at Pseudolus 608.
  723 (858) Tres uvas passas coenare nequeo He avoided Spain because it is such a poverty-stricken land. There is similar humor in the 1616 Cambridge comedy Susenbrotus (II.1), where the Spaniard Don Piedro Pantaleone de Valenza promises to teach his servant Mimicus to be able so live on a single grape, or even a single raisin, a day.
  745 (881) et ducam Danaen Jupiter seduced Danae in the form of a shower of gold.
   II.4 This scene is based on La Trappolaria II.4.
   756 (894) Hawkins (p. xviii n. a) noted that in Du Cange’s lexicon of medieval Latin polla is listed as a variant of pulla, “a small chicken,” and the name may well be intended to be suggestive of Polla’s incessant clucking.
  766 (905) mea Phyllis Phyllis is a traditional name in pastoral poetry; possibly Ruggle was thinking of the shepherdess in Thomas Watson’s Amynta (1585). This was made enormously popular in Abraham Fraunce’s English translation The Lamentations of Amyntas for the Death of Phillis, which went through five editions and in slightly modified form was incorporated into Fraunce’s The Countesse of Pembrokes Yvychurch in 1591. Watson himself capitalized on this borrowed success with his Amintae Gaudia of 1592.
 768 (908) The phrase madefacis pantices comes from Pseudolus 184.
 772 (912) mea Tulliola She is thus called because Cicero’s wife Tullia was a henpecking shrew. Cupes may be presuming that, since Polla is uneducated, the insult will go sailing over her head.
 785 (929) sis Cornelius This initiates a series of jokes on cornu, meant here as the traditional horns of the cuckold.
 787 (931) Utrum esse malis Publius Cornelius, an Cornelius Tacitus? Would you rather have the fact that you are a cuckhold made public or kept silent? Hawkins compared an epigram by John Owen, Epigrammatium Ioannis Owen Cambro-Britanni Oxoniensis Libri Tres (1612) I.110:

IN CORNELIUM

Cornutum te, Corneli, scis esse, tacesque,
Non Cornelius es tu modo, sed Tacitus.

 II.5 We are back in front of Theodorus’ house. The character of Pyropus is suggested by the allusion to a rented costume at Pseudolus 1184f., and probably also by Gilbert the haberdasher in Forsett’s Pedantius (who was likewise vexed by customers who abused their credit). His name is suggested by “peropus” (also spelled “piropus,” “pyropus”), a heavy fabric used for upholstery in Ruggle’s time. Hawkins (p. xviii n. a) thought his name was derived from the Latin word for a carbuncle, and had to do with the fake ring which Antonius fobs off on him. This scene is based on La Trappolaria II.5, in which Trappola and Arsenio negotiate with the dealer Poleone.
 874 (1023) flammasque imitante pyropo He quotes Ovid, Metamorphoses II.2, Clara micante auro flammasque imitante pyropo. Pyropus was a metal alloy that shone like gold.
 900 (1052) nec equitare, nec vel equum fraeno induere Hawkins glossed this line with a passage from Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy complaining of the sacrifices made by scholars: Because they cannot ride an horse, which every clown can do… they are laughed to scorn, and accounted silly fools by our gallants.
 908 (1063) Pileo pedes, caput calceis induit: If this is a quotation or a proverb, I cannot identify it.
  913 (1066) The significance of ambidexter has been explained in the commentary note on 362. Bifrons means Janus-like or two-faced. Tucker (p. xxxiii) compared a passage from the anonymous Woodstock, which he regarded as a source for Ignoramus :

But yet until mine office be put on
By kingly Richard, I’ll conceal myself;
Framing such subtle laws that Janus-like
May with a double face salute them both.

 915 (1067) Anglice, Saxonice, Gallice et Latine The four languages which supply the vocabulary of English common law.
 917 (1069) ne sient captiones A captio is an obscure point in the law.
 927 (1079) Oedipus es. Oedipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx.
 931 (1084) In Magna Puritania There is of course a pun on the recently-formed Magna Britannia.
 933 (1086) Sive Aurelia, sive Argentina In this case, scarcely Orleans or Strasbourg!
 935 (1088) Communi iure In Latin punning jokes on the homonyms ius, “justice,” and ius, “juice,” are commonplace. There is such a joke at Pseudolus 197.
 939 (1093) Viginti quatuor sunt omnes He is thinking of the Latin alphabet, which has twenty-four latters.
 952 (1103) Nisi Ignoramus, hostis nemo est Hawkins noted that the proverb “Art has no enemy but an ignorant person” was translated into Latin by Burton as Ars neminem habet inimicum, praeter ignorantem.
 956 (1108) Morbonia Although there is a town of this name near Addua, bidding someone go there is a way of wishing him ill. One thinks of the similar humor at Pseudolus 1100, facere ut det nomen ad Molas coloniam (“make him sign up to join the colony at Milltown”).
  961 (1113) Totus mundus exercet histrionem According to Hawkins’ note, this statement is found among the fragments at the end of Petronius Arbiter, edit. Amst. 8^vo, 1669, p. 520, Non duco contentionis funem, dum constet inter nos, quod fere totus mundus exerceat histrionem. This sentence does not stand in modern editions of Petronius. In response to my query, Professor Gareth Schmeling suggests:

Tucker (p. 272), pointed out that “Shakespeare had certainly derived these lines from his acquaintance with Palingenius’ Zodiacus Vitae which was a third form text in the Elizabethan grammar school curriculum.”
 972 legem pone Hawkins presented evidence that this was a cant term for “ready cash.”
 973 indentare To enter into a covenant (indentura).
  975 (1130) dansabo veteras mensuras tecum The sexual implication is obvious. Tucker (p. 275) compared Chaucer’s description of the Wife of Bath, For she koude of that the art the olde daunce.
 983 (1139) forma pauperis When the party to a case pleads that he cannot afford normal court-costs.
 988 (1144) nihil dicit The party being sued fails to respond.
 993 (1151) iunxistis issue Have you entered into a partnership with the other party about the horse?
  996 (1152) Tucker’s note (p. 277): “These names all exemplify some bestial quality: Grunnius from. L. grunnio, “to grunt like a pig”; Verris, L. noun meaning “a male swine”; and Coglio from It. coglione meaning “a stone or testicle.”
 1004 In taile special? Entailed (with humorous implications, as applied to a docked horse).
 1008 (1165) damage faisant The situation when somebody’s animals cause damage on another person’s property. There is of course a pun on faisant and “pheasant.”
 1013 (1170) Replevin A writ requiring the posting of a bond.
1015 (1173) Est in tertio Richard I Reading Richardi primi, Hawkins exclaimed at the extreme antiquity of this alleged document (no English statute is extant prior to the reign of Henry III); this may be reason for selecting the alternative ms. reading, assigning this document to the reign of Richard III, unless we are to take this pronouncement as a sign of Ignoramus’ professional incompetence. It appears to be a grant of permission to a lessee to top, lop, and carry away wood from a forest (coppice).
1021 (1178) Si John a Noakes etc. The language in which a hypothetical case is typically put in English common law. The present one states that, when the party of the first part transfers a piece of property (the horse) to the party of the second part, and the party of the second part takes possession not only of that property, but of something else as well (the pepper), the entire transfer becomes null and void.
1025 (1183) Cum sufflo, salto et petto Hawkins noticed this phrase in two works with which Ruggle may have been familiar: in William Camden’s Remains s. v. Surnames, he explains the surname le Pettour as having been acquired per saltum, sufflum et pettum; Camden repeated this etymology in the course of his Britannia.
1042 (1203) fabula est in lupus One would expect lupus est in fabula, a proverb explained by Erasmus, Adages s. v. Subiti interventus as indicating the sudden interruption of a discourse (caused here by the arrival of Antonius). Was this a mistake in the archetype of our texts, or did Ruggle deliberately mangle the expression as a comic malapropism?
1071 (1233) testatum est latitare A writ of latitare accused a man of hiding or attempting to hide, and required him to bost a bond against his appearance in court.
1074 (1236) Iubeo vos custodire pacem in nomine regis The formula used by a magistrate to prevent a breach of the peace.
1080 (1242) signum in Scorpio Ruggle’s meaning can be illustrated by a line from one of Sir John Harington’s epigrams, Scorpio pretends power in the privy parts. (Tucker, p. 280, thought that this astrological reference indicated a problem with the play’s internal time-scheme, but surely the allusion is only brought in for the sake of the joke and is not meant to be taken seriously.)
1082 (1244) infra annum et diem If a person did not excercise his right within a year and day, it was forfeit.
1090 (1254) Hispanicos companiones Span. compannones = “testicles.”
III.1 The setting is before Theodorus’ house, which Dulman is misled into thinking is Torcol’s. To be sure, we have seen Dulman with Ignoramus on the street before Torcol’s house in I.3, but he makes his exit before Torcol’s entrance at the beginning of I.4, so has no idea of the actual state of affairs. This scene is based on La Trappolaria III.1.
1167 (1334) taxa de hornegelt A tax levied on a horned beast (such as a deer, which a bewildered man in a forest might see); since Rosabella is not present Dulman is afraid she may be cuckolding Ignoramus.
III.2 This and the following scene are an expanded dramatization of the transaction handled in La Trappola III.2.
1176 (1345) Truhan villano “Uncouth rascal.” He reels off names of of fictitious servants to give the impression he presides over a substantial household.
1179 (1348)hideputa Whoreson.
1189 (1358) ad magistri mei usum The formula of a letter of attorney, obviously misapplied.
1195 (1364) Veniat nasus etc. Hawkins thought this parodies an entry on the Rolls of a Court Baron, of homage done to the lord, ad hanc curiam venit N. personaliter ut faciat homagium personale.
1207 (1378) more Anglico The addition of sugar to wine was an English custom.
1214 (1387) habebit courtesie d’Angleterre. Technically the phrase indicates a specialized form of land tenure.
1215 (1389) counterpana His receipted copy of the contract.
1218 (1391) acquietantia An acquittance or quitter, a document acquiting a party of his obligation.
III.3 Cupes dodges into Thedororus’ house to fetch Polla (disguised as Rosabella). They exchange a few hurried words in the doorway before she comes out to meet Dulman.
1235 (1408) Quis temperet a lachrymis He quotes Vergil, Aeneid II.4ff.:

1252 sum ad omnia quare All mss. but one have quare, d substitutes paratus. Noting that quare does not make sense, an anonymous friend of Hawkins suggested that we read Non sum ad omnia quare, “I am not at all queer,” which, even for Dulman, would be very peculiar Latin. It is likelier that quare is an archetype corruption, and that paratus is some copyist’s conjectural correction. The idea “I am ready for all things” makes sense, but from an orthographic point of view praesto is far more plausible than paratus.
III.4 Trico, who has been observing the preceding transaction, comes out of hiding. This dialogue is based on that between Trappola and Fagone in La Trappolaria III.3.
1269 (1450) Anglorum in bello Hawkins recounts an incident that occurred in France in 1589. When the English had taken the Groyne by seige, their soldiers plundered so much wine that many drank themselves senseless.
1285 (1466) Mi Proteu Proteus was the shape-shifter in the Odyssey.
1291 (1473) Tic toc is also the door-knocking sound effect used repeatedly in La Trappolaria.
III.5 Trico, disguised as Dulman, crosses the stage to Torcol’s house. This scene and the next scene are based on La Trappolaria III.4.
1320 (1505) Quantum quisque sua nummorum etc. Juvenal, Satire II.143f.
1325 (1510) Ruggle neatly translates La Trappolaria 1062, Trappola non mi può più trappolare.
1339 (1524) M. be “I take these words to be intended only to represent that kind of murmuring or grumbling noise, which a discontented person may be supposed to make”: Hawkins.
1344 (1530) sum surdus A pun on Surda’s name.
1359 messuagium A dwelling-place.
1377 (1563) Qui mockat mockabitur Tucker (p. 288) thought this probably phrased in imitation of Matthew 7:1, “judge not, that ye not be judged.”
1444 (1635) The phrase os sublinio (a Roman comic idiom = “humiliate, get the better of”) is also used at Pseudolus 719. Ruggle uses this prase again at 1507.
1455 (1646) Non cuivis datum est habere nasum Martial I.xcviii.8.
1481 (1674) aurum Tholosanum In his Adages s. v. Infortunii sive Exitii Erasmus explained that this phrase means “ill-gotten gains.”
1482 (1675) rose nobles Old English coins, minted during the War of the Roses.
1489 (1682) quimbiblos, pilicoccos, calimancas Nonsense words invented to impress Torcol. Tucker (p. 291) thought that pillicocos may echo Lear III.iv.79, “Pillicock sat on Pillicock-hill,” but is it not likelier that this is a nursery-room word appropriated by both writers?
1502 (1695) “M. be,” dor. Trico mockingly repeats Torcol’s earlier exclamation behind his retreating back. “Dor” is an obsolete word designating a fool (O. E. D. “Dor” def. 3, citing Ben Jonson’s Cynthia III.iii).
1503 (1696) Quo magis cavebat cautor, captus magis There is an almost identical line in Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy, attributed to Plautus, Nam pol qui maxime cavet, is saepe cautor captus est. Both that line and the present quotation are misremembered versions of Captivi 256, etiam cum cavisse ratus est, saepe is cautor captus es.
1506 (1699) Cf. Pseudolus 614 procudam ego hodie hinc multos dolos.
III.7 Cupes escorts Rosabella across the stage from Torcol’s house to his own. This scene is based on the similar one involving Filesia and Fagone at La Trappolaria III.6.
III.8 Setting: a street. This scene is based on La Trappolaria III.7.
1541 (1938) attachiare (so Hawkins — evidently attachiari is an archetype error in the mss.): to place a legal attachment on a property.
1554 (1756) Possibly the inspiration for Ignoramus’ remarkable accusation is that in La Trappolaria (421) Gabrina is described as a strega.
1560 (1763) Ponam te super patriam Ignoramus is threatening to bring her to trial. Patria is used in the specialized sense of “the jurymen of the neighborhood.”
1562 (1765) Ouster le main Lit. “remove your hand,” and so used here. Technically, a specialized form of judgment.
1567 (1771) si possum trahere sanguinem de ea primum In commenting on a line in I Henry VI I.v, Blood will I draw of thee, thou art a witch, Dr. Johnson noted a superstition that he who could draw a witch’s blood was free of her power. Hawkins presents other evidence to the same effect.
1568 (1772) Puttana de diavolo “Devil’s whore.”
1572 (1777) moderata misericordia A writ addressed to the court requesting a lenient sentence.
1575 (1780) supersedeas de non molestando A writ entered in behalf of an individual under royal protection.
1577 (1783) appellum de plagis A writ filing an accusion of mayhem.
1581 (1787) gultwit An amends for trespass.
III.9 Setting: Cupes’ house, with Rosabella appearing at a window and Polla outside. This scene is based on La Trappolaria III.8.
III.10 Cupes’ house, probably an interior scene. See the discussion of staging problems of this portion of Act III in the introduction. This scene is based on La Trappolaria III.10.
1628 (1840) Vae victis The cry of the Gauls after they had captured Rome (Livy V.xlviii.9).
1641 (1855) Cupis uxor Polla etc. Music was commonly introduced into academic drama, both comedies and tragedies. Ignoramus has already had some music in I.iv, when the inmates of Torcol’s brothel sing and dance, according to the stage direction. In the present case, the music (a short three-voice round) is preserved in John Playford’s The Musical Companion (1673) p. 16.
Can we assure ourselves this music was written for the original performance? According to Tucker (p. 296) this music was written by Mr. Edmund Nelham, and it might seem plausible to identify this individual with the Mr. Nelham who acted the role of Campanius in the 1623 performance of the Trinity College comedy Loiola (Nelson, op. cit. 1989, II.957). Although the date of Nelham’s admission is unknown, it is seems unlikely that he would have been at Trinity as early as 1615, so this would in turn suggest that the music Playford preserved was written for a revival performance. But Tucker was wrong. All but one stave on p. 16 is devoted to Nelham’s round Coridon Thou Swain, and the survival of the present one is probable due to its short length, which allowed it to be used to fill out the page. Playford’s working practice was to spell out the name of the composer, when known, for each round he printed. Thus, for example, p. 15 contains two round by Mr. William Lawes, and Lawes’ name is printed at the head of both. The proper conclusion, therefore, is that Playford did not know the identity of the Ignoramus round’s composer, and this does nothing to discredit the possibility that this is the music of the original performance.
1660 (1879) Heus fidicines, Lacrymae Very appropriately, he bids the musicians play John Dowland’s famous “Flow my Tears”, the instrumental version of which was known as the Lachrymae Pavane.
1667 (1887) missilia imperatoria The line of largess a sovereign would throw into a crowd.
1669 (1888) purpuream vomit animam Vergil, Aeneid IX.349. de nobis facile est etc. Martial, Epigrams I.lxxv.5.
III.11 This scene imitates the similar one at La Trappolaria IV.2.
1704 (1922) quid me laetius etc. Catullus ix.11.
1706 (1924) Taken in combination with the stage direction uniquely preserved by f, this line acquires a particular significance. In William Gager’s 1583 Oxford tragedy Dido (II.i) a map confected out of marzipan was produced onstage for a banquet scene during with Aeneas provided an illustrated lecture on the fall of Troy. It would seem that that this creation was meant to be eaten by the dignitaries in the audience after the performance. In a similar way, the present line suggests that the foodstuffs shown in this scene were meant to feed James and his courtiers. Possibly at the end of Act III there was an intermission so James and his courtiers could refresh themselves with a snack. Furthermore, although such food-sharing is not always mentioned textually, if we were to assume it was a recognized custom, then it would be easier to understand why banquet scenes are so common in university drama.
III.12 Setting: In front of Cupes’ house. Antonius and Rosabella roam around the stage seeking each other, and in his distraction Cupes has come out of the house, where he will presently encounter Ignoramus in the street.
1749 (1966) Fortuna vitrea est etc. A close adaptation of Publilius Syrus, Sententiae F 24.
1755 (1972) Multa vini virtus etc. A parody of Vergil, Aeneid .3f.:

1760 (1978) Quam sese ore etc. A parody of ib. 11, quem sese ore ferens, quem forti pectore et armis!
1763 (1982) O mihi post nullos etc. A parody of Martial, Epigrams I.lxxii.1 with perdix substituted for Juli.
1768 (1988) Sed quid fecerunt etc. Martial, ib.lxxv.4 (with Aut for Sed ).
1772 (1995) Convivae meruere etc. Lines 7f. of the same epigram.
1775 (1998) Puto eram natus etc. Hawkins noted that this statement appears to have been appropriated by Congreve (Love for Love II.i), in Foresight’s line I was born, Sir, when the Crab was ascending, and all my affairs go backward.
1777 (2001) mittimus In this case, an order demanding that the “sorceress” and Torcol be handed over to him.
1778 (2003) villanus socmannus A peasant (“villein”) who is a tenant holding land in socmannage.
1783 (2008) At Lucanus ait etc. He quotes Lucan, Pharsalia VII.217.
 IV.1 Setting: before Theodorus’ house. This scene is based on La Trappolaria IV.3.
1830 (2063) tu vero ut subservias This injunction is taken from Terence, Andria 735f.
IV.2 This scene is based on La Trappolaria IV.4.
IV.3 This scene is based on La Trappolaria IV.5.
1953 (2194) ad Paetum notarium “In Latin, ‘one who squints,’ an appropriate name for a notarius” (Tucker p. 301).
IV.4 This scene is based on La Trappolaria IV.6.
2051 (2301) infidel…pagan Pyropus is thus called because he refuses to believe what he is told. Hawkins compared Beaumont and Fletcher’s The Woman’z Prize V.iii, Let’s go, and tell me all, and tell me how; / For yet I’m Pagan in’t.
2055 (2305) the good ship called the Speedwell “Probably an allusion to the vessel which brought the Pilgrim Fathers from Holland to Southampton in 1620 prior to their departure for the New World” (Tucker p. 302). One could write a detailed history of this distinguished vessel. Launched in 1579 as the ship of war Swiftsure, she participated in Essex’ Azores expedition and in the fight against the Armada. She was one of a number of warships decomissioned and converted into merchantment in 1605, and at that time was rechristened the Speedwell. The Pilgrims refused to sail on her to America because of her decrepit condition. Ruggle gives us a glimpse of her plying the Bordeaux wine trade.
2061 (2310) a salte eele A rope’s end used for flogging.
2065 (2316) viginti coronas Hawkins pointed out that twenty French crowns equalled in value the six shillings Cupes demanded for the alleged passage. (Shillings is the reading of ms. f; the others have pounds, an absurdly high sum.)
2072 (2322) coney-catchers Tricksters, con-men.
2102 (2357) Hawkins (p. xviii n. a) observed that in DuCange’s lexicon of medieval Latin cola is given as a word designating beer.
2115 cyathum ter trinum With reference to Horace, Odes III.xix.13 - 15, Hawkins pointed out that it was customary to drink nine toasts to honor the Muses.
2140 (2397) ad Scropham Nentem The name of a tavern.
2142 (2401) frater Menot et frater Maillard Cola hands Cupes a couple of books to sell for drinking money: the sermons of the Franciscan Michel Menot and the Minorite Olivier Maillard. Hawkins discussed their works in detail and presented plenty of evidence that Cupes’ low opinion was justified (but he did not observe the generalized anti-Catholicism probably implied by the humor).
2145 (2403) ad Sancti Severini Hawkins thought this was the name of Cola’s monastery (St. Severin is the patron saint of Bourdeaux).
2148 (2405) fidus Achates Aeneas’ trusty companion in Vergil.
2149 (2406) hj’s text reads Virtutem primam puta compescere linguam. Cato. Whether the last word represents a reader’s gloss or Cupes’ own, it is mistaken, as no such sentiment is attributed to Cato (in fact, the line seems to echo Plautus, Poenulus 1035, linguam compescas face.)
IV.7 Setting: Ignoramus and Dulman appear in front of Torcol’s house. This scene is based on La Trappolaria IV.7.
2163 (2421) in quadam communi loco etc. Hawkins quotes this phrase as found in an indictment of a man for maintaining an illegal bowling alley.
2172 (2429) disfactus ut ostrea This translates the English phrase, “Undone as a man would undo an oyster.”
2175 (2432) contrarotulare To “countroul” or correct.
IV.8 This scene is based on La Trappolaria IV.8.
2213 (2472) com’ esta vuestra merced? “How is your disposition?”
2217 (2477) si pileus tuus sit de lana Back when woolen hats were standard dress, the phrase “if your cap is made of wool” meant “as sure as sure can be.”
2261 (2529) pressus ad mortem The pain fort et dure.
2262 (2531) dolor linguam impedit Probably a reminiscence of Ovid, Metamorphoses VI.583, dolor ora repressit.
2267 (2535) O hidalgo de solar etc. “O celebrated lord of the manor, pray lend me your three daggers.” Torcol is so distraught he contemplates suicide.
2269 (2537) gageray del ley an action to recover a debt. medietas linguae Cf. the commentary note on 382.
2274 (2542) coquin “Rascal” (a word which has replaced it in two mss.).
2276 (2544) distringas A writ bidding a sheriff distrain someone for debt.
2277 (2545) si tunica tua etc. This translates the English proverb “as sure as the coat on your back.”
IV.9 The scene shifts back to Theodorus’ house. This scene is based on La Trappolaria IV.9.
2327 (2594) quid mihi cum Clementinis? The Decretals of Pope Clement V (Not being able to reproduce the pun, Parkhurst replaced it with an equally stupid one.)
2334 (2602) venire facias A writ issued by the court to a sheriff, ordering him to empanel a jury.
2337 (2605) Queda “Hold there!”
2338 (2606) mea covert baron (the print texts mss. have covert barne, either Ruggle’s mistake or an archetype error): my wife.
2345 (2613) little pigsnie, my little peperegge “Pigsney” is listed in the O. E. D. as a term of endearment; “pepper-egg” is not. According to Tucker (p. 310) peperegge is “probably a reference to the pipperidge or ’the local name of the barberry, the fruit or the shrub’ (O. E. D.).”
2354 (2622) I see though I am blind etc. Although the mss. uniformly write Ignoramus’ speech as prose, this string of Petrarchian erotic conundrums seems too rhythmical, and his final comment that he can speak songs and sonnets seems to indicate that he has just presented Rosabella with a sample of his art.
2368 (2637) frank pledge A free man’s posted bond of surety towards the king and fellow-citizens. free socage Socage is the feudal service of a tenant. Some mss. have socage free, and one cannot help wondering whether Ruggle may have written socage fee, unless Ignoramus means “I am in socage of my own free will.”
IV.10 The exorcism is performed in Theodorus’ house; perhaps it was acted as an indoors scene.
2404 (2673) Quae haec machina? In his stage direction, Hawkins assumed that haec machina meant the chair in which Ignoramus was sitting (maybe with straps or similar restraints). Perhaps there was also some comic contraption for dousing him with holy water, included under the general rubric of exorcisma pompa. On the other hand, Parkhurst’s translation What plott is this? cannot be ignored.
2410 (2679) Lydius lapis A touchstone, thus called because supposedly the magnet was first discovered in Lydia.
2483 (2757) francum bancum “Free bench,” a widow’s tenure of a leasehold in dower.
2487 (2760) infangthef, outfangthef, sac, sol, tol, et tem Infangthef: the right of the lord of the manor to try felons apprehended on his property. Outfangthef: the right of the lord to try felons apprehended on their own property. Sac: a privilege touching the correction of trespasses within the manor. Soc: a power of jurisdiction. Tol: the right to buy and sell within the boundaries of the manor. Tem: the power of the lord of the manor to have serfs.
2491 (2766) in capite There is a pun here, since in capite designates tenure of land held directly from the Crown.
2498 (2773) de cornu quod cornuat ad prandium The members of the Inns of Court were thus summoned to meals.
2507 (2782) nisi te facio te tenere manum sursum The defendant was required to raise his hand to identify himself to the court.
2508 (2784) backbarend: manifest theft, being caught red-handed. handabend: being caught in possession of stolen goods.
2519 (2795) magnum cape See the commentary note on 213.
2540 (2819) harrol harrol The Norman cry of pursuit. Ignoramus boasts he has read Le Grand Coustumier du pays et Duche de Normandie (Rouen, 1539), in which it is decribed.
IV.12 Setting: back on the street before Theodorus’ house. This scene is based on La Trappolaria IV.12.
2625 (2918) cum ingratum dixeris Cf. Publilius Syrus, Sententiae D 4, Dixeris maledicta cuncta, cum hominem ingratum dixeris.
2633 (2926) Truth is called “the daughter of Time” by an anonymous writer quoted by Aulus Gellius XII.xi.7; presumably this is the source of the title of Josephine Tey’s novel.
V.1 Setting: before Theodorus’ house. Dorothea’s initial monologue is loosely based on La Trappolaria V.1.
2680 (3014) I am a gentleman Hawkins pointed out that pages could be boys of high social station. Dorothea retorts that ann ability to speak French was a mark of gentility.
2712 (3097)What skills What is the importance?
2729 (3031) blind bayards Hawkins cited a proverbial expression “As bold as blind bayard” (cf. Chaucer, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale, Ye ben as bold as is Bayard the blind.)”
2731 (3035) frump To jeer or taunt.
2737 (3039) I love them not, quoth the fox Alluding to Aesop’s fable of the fox and the grapes.
V.3 Ignoramus and his clerks pass by on the street before Theodorus’ house.
2760 (3063) ceperunt et asportarunt etc. Part of the formula of an indictment for theft.
2772 (3075) convenies To meet and oppose them.
2773 (3076) praemunire A specialized kind of writ: cf. Hawkins’ lengthy explanation (pp. 300 - 302).
2774 (3077) mendica hanc friariam a rege As individuals once petitioned Henry VIII for the possession of defunct monastic properties.
2786 (3090) super clunem Hawkins compared the phrase “to have one on the hip” at Merchant of Venice II.iii and Othello II.ii and quoted Dr. Johnson’s remark that the phase comes from wrestling.
V.4 This scene is based on La Trappolaria V.2.
2805 (3110) Abi, Trico, suspende te Cf. Terence, Andria 255, abi cito ac suspende te.
2812 (3118) Quid si huc? etc. Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 676, quid si hoc nunc sic incipiam? nilst. quid si sic? tantundem egero.
V.5 This scene is based on La Trappolaria V.3.
2828 (3137) Mori faelicis est Publilius Syrus, Sententiae M 5.
2863 (3174) Quod factum est etc. Perhaps rightly, Hawkins compared Plautus, Aulularia 741, Quid vis fieri? factum est illud: fieri infectum non potes. But surely it would not be hard to find English proverbs to the same effect.
2864 (3175) feras, non culpes etc. Publilius Syrus, Sententiae F 11.
2867 (3178) bona mors est etc. ib. B 11.
2874 (3185) cuivis dolori etc. ib. C 12. This adage was also quoted by Della Porta at La Trappolaria 1890, in the form la medicina di mali irrimediabili è sola la pazienza.
2884 (3197) ex Orci faucibus This phrase echoes Vergil, Aeneid VI.273.
2903 (3219) A theme throughout this entire part of Act V is that it is a kind of contest in exchanging maxims of Publilius Syrus. Banacar joins in the game by quoting Sententiae C 11.
2905 (3221) quo letho censes potissimum Cf. Plautus, Mercator II.ii.15, Responde, quo leto censes me ut peream potissimum?
2907 (3225) Compare the similar sentiment at La Trappolaria 159, a me è salute il morir una volta, per non sentir mille volte il giorno gli estremi accidenti di morte.
2954 (3289) Priusquam moriare etc. Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 971, CL. emori cupio. CH. priu’ quaeso disce quid sit vivere
2988 (3331) nobilitate et forma etc. According to Hawkins, this translates the old proverb “Gentry sent to market is not worth a bushel of corn.”
3072 (3422) Fortuna blanditur iterum Cf. Publilius Syrus, Sententiae F 2, Fortuna cum blanditur captatum venit.
3073 (3432) Fortunam tuo nunc temperes arbitrio Cf. Petronius, Satyricon 137: 

3082 (3433) amare enim et sapere etc. Cf. Publilius Syrus, Sententiae A 22, Amare et sapere vix deo conceditur.
3104 (3455) nomen ei Loiola This belated revelation that Trico is a playwright comes as a surprise and will probably strike the reader as inconsistent with what we have been told about him and his character. It is suggested by a running metatheatrical theme in Pseudolus, that that clever slave of that play functions as a kind of “playwright” who writes “scripts” for himself and his confederates to act out. But in a moment I shall suggest that the reference was more immediately comprehensible to a Trinity College audience.
What is the name of Trico’s play? The majority of textual sources contain the reading Aequivocus, making it another hit against Father Garnett and the Gunpowder Plotters (cf. the commentary note on 649). But cf have Loiolita and e has the close variant Leolita. I believe that the correct reading is Loiola, as in the next line, and that the reference is to another Trinity College comedy, Loiola by John Hacket (perhaps aided by Edmund Stubbs). Although this play was not acted until 1623, in his collection of Cambridge dramatic records Nelson argued that it was considerably earlier, “c. 1616.” (op. cit. 1989, pp. 860, 909). Then how can Trico claim it is his play? It would make for a neat explanation if Hacket were the actor playing Trico, but according to the list of actors preserved in several mss. (pp. II.954f. Nelson) that part was acted by Mr. William Lakes. Possibly Ruggle wrote these lines thinking that the author of Loiola would act in the play, but in the event he did not. There is evidence for Hacket acting in Trinity plays: in a 1611/12 performance of Terence’s Adelphoe (Nelson p. II.951), in a repeat performance of that play in the following year, and also in a comedy entitled Cancer produced at the same time (ib. II.952f.). Likewise Edmund Stubbs participated in the two performances of Adelphoe, in the 1612/13 comedy Scyros (Nelson p.II. 953), in the comedy Melanthe produced in the same year as Ignoramus (Nelson p. II.954), and in the 1618/19 comedy Fraus Honesta (Nelson pp. 955f.).
3109 (3461) Theodorus’ meaning is clarified by La Trappolaria 1957, Eccoti questa catena, che vale cinquecento ducati: tienila in pegno, che domani ti darò quanti scudi tu vuoi. He is giving Antonius a gold chain to serve as a temporary payment or “pledge”: at some time in the future he will pay out cash and get back the chain.
V.9 This scene is based on La Trappolaria V.6.
3164 (3518) loggets A game in which a stake is placed in the ground. Each competitor throws a logget (a wooden sphere with a handle), and the one whose cast lands nearest the stake wins.
3193 (3549) tangam hoc primum He tests the chain with a touchstone to make sure that Theodorus’ “pledge” is valid.
3202 (3559) and what’s Latin for a tester The teston (popularly called a tester) was a coin first issued by Henry VIII, which in its debased form had the value of sixpence.
3209 (3556) capitis porci coloris red-speckle Hawkins discovered that Ruggle was making fun of Symboleography, which may be termed the Art or Description of Instruments and Presidents (1590) II.227, in which this very phrase occurs. On p. xvi of his Introduction Hawkins suggested that Ruggle got the legal lingo he put in Ignoramus’ mouth from this book and also from John Cowel, The Interpreter, or Book containing the Signification of Words; wherein is set forth the true Meanning of all, or the most Part of, such Words and Terms ars are mentioned in the Law Writers and Statues of this victorious and renowned Kingdom, requiring any Exposition or Interpretation (Cambridge, 1607).
3214 (3571) ile bring you to a noune The Oxford English Dictionary give no help in understanding the significance of noune here. Is this a schoolboy’s nonsense-rhyme?
3223 (3580) tenes in foxe taile iam Dulman (who for once can see the humor in his master) is alluding to “fee tail,” a special form of land tenure.
3241 (3597) The way Ignoramus is dismissed from the stage in Parkhurst’s translation (altered here to match the Latin) is actually more effective:

V.11 Setting: before Cupes’ house; the celebrants who joined Cupes in III.10 now return.
3282 (3641) Idem ius…Titio quod Sempronio Names used by Roman jurisprudents for parties in a hypothetical case (the Roman equivalent of John a Noakes and John a Styles, mentioned in II.vii).
3293 (3655) et tu, magnae Troiae vastator Achilles Cf. Statius, Achilleis ii.318, Tene, inquit, magnae vastator debite Troiae.
3301 (3666) Polla, iam sumus ergo pares Ruggle was thinking of Martial, Epigrams II.xviii: 

3302 (3667) Cum sitis similes paresque vita etc. Martial, viii.xxxv.
3338 (3703) Invenit Trico etc. “Alluding to the practice of engravers, who to prints, usually copied from the pictures of any master, usually put the name of the original painter, as well as that of themselves by whom the plate is engraven”: Hawkins.
3346 An echo of Ovid, Metamorphoses III.647f., te scilicet omnis in uno / nostra salus posita est.
3367 (3820)ultra Barkeway, aut Ware ad plus Now that the play is over, Ignoramus wants to return to the Inns of Court. He mentions towns in Hertfordshire, which one might well pass through on the way from Cambridge to London.
3368 (3821) ut eleganter quidam legalis poeta From British Library ms. Sloan 1775, Hawkins quoted the following imperfectly preserved poem “by John a Stile, student in the common law,” to which, in all probability, Ignoramus refers:

(In the sixth line Hawkins suggested reading If beyond Barkeway gone, to ride past Ware. “Spurgall” is an obsolete verb meaning “to gall your horse with your spur.”)