; but does it not
refer strictly to a card-sharper?]
[236] He blunders. Of course he means "when tidings came to his ears."
He does not make much better of his prose.
[237] Current.
[238] This is from the old ballad, "The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield, with
Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John," with variations--
"At Michaelmas next my cov'nant comes out
When every man gathers his fee;
Then I'll take my blue blade all in my hand,
And plod to the greenwood with thee."
--Ritson's "Robin Hood," ii. 18.
[239] It is evident that Friar Tuck here gives John a sword.
[240] [Light, active. See Nares, edit. 1859, in v.]
[241] The origin of _amort_ is French, and sometimes it is written
_Tout-a-la-mort_, as in "The Contention between Liberality and
Prodigality," 1602, sig. B, as pointed out in a note to "Ram Alley."
[242] [Query, best hanged? He refers to the ex-sheriff.]
[243] _Defy_ is here used in the sense of _refuse_, which was not
uncommon: thus in the "Death of Robert Earl of Huntington," we have this
passage, "Or, as I said, for ever I _defy_ your company." In the "Four
'Prentices of London," act i. sc. 1, the old Earl of Boulogne says--
"Vain pleasures I abhor, all things _defy_,
That teach not to despair, or how to die.
Pages:
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500