| 1 & 2 As by your high Imperiall Maiesty, I had in charge at my depart for France, | I' bitter tearful fray, mi Pop hears Archdeacon Redman say, "Ay, higgily him! |
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Archdeacon Redman. Dr. William Redman, Archdeacon of Canterbury (Dictionary of National Biography), was apparently delegated to oversee the rewriting of Roger Manwood's will (signed two days before Manwood's death. Lewis J. M. Grant. Christopher Marlowe, the Ghost Writer.Orillia, Canada: Stubley Press, 1970, p. 212) and to manage details of Manwood's execution by bleeding. Higgily. Higgle. OED. to strive for petty advantages in bargaining. |
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| 3 & 4 As Procurator to your Excellence, To marry Princes Margaret for your Grace; | 'N' extra money to Ruy Lopes for greasie crap." C, tru martyr! C, rare courage! Color |
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extra money to Ruy Lopes for greasie crap. Lopes was the queen's own physician. In his monograph in D. N. B. his name is spelled Rodrigo Lopez. Marlowe seems to know Elizabeth is not responsible for added torment thrust on Manwood. |
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| 5 & 6 So in the Famous Ancient City, Toures, In presence of the Kings of France, and Sicill, | couers his face. C, ye M. D. (giant ninni– ninni) curses in fear lest the flo stop. Took feca– |
| 7 & 8 The Dukes of Orleance, Calaber, Britaigne, and Alanson, Seuen Earles, twelue Barons, & [= and] twenty reuerend Bishops | l waste, let with the blood, an' rubbed it all ouer Roger. Fie! A sad, an unnecessary processa, bann'd an' neuer seen! Keen! |
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Keen! O. E. D.: To utter the keen, or Irish lamentation for the dead. |
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| 9 & 10 I haue perform'd my Taske, and was espous'd, And humbly now vpon mybended knee | Ye shibbuleth: Forsaken Dad's moans made no demand. Even puppy M. D. Ruy knew wo– |
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Ye shibbuleth. shibboleth, a Hebrew word. O. E. D. 'stream in flood'... as the slaughter took place at the fords of Jordan. Also O. E. D. The Hebrew word used by Jephthah as a test-word to distinguish the fleeing Ephraimites (who could not pronounce the sh) from his own men (Judges xii, 4-6). |
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| 11 . & 12 In sight of England, and her Lordly Peeres, Deliuer vp my title in the Queene | nder at the iudge's fortitvde– 'n' here ye shlemiel quipped, "No general yll in n– |
| 13 & 14 To your most gracious hands, that are the Substance Of that great Shadow I did represent: | onconformist iudges has to be cured, whereas... Stop! I start to taste ratty red dung! Ha, Ha, Ha!" |
| 15 & 16 The happiest Gift, that euer Marquesse gaue, The Fairest Queene, that euer King receiu'd. | The crude queer hasn't quit, kuts a gut again, tu get his fee. Peter hears 'im, i' fear: "Tee Hee!" Pe– |
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Peter hears 'im. Peter Manwood, Marlowe's half-brother – a legitimate son of Roger. |
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| 17 & 18 Suffolke arise. Welcome Queene Margaret, I can expresse no kinder signe of Loue | luic pain's gone now, as life fades. One request: "O couer me! Greek Mar-lex reeks!" Fine. |
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Greek Mar-lex reeks! Roger's joking. Dark, with aquiline nose, he looked Greek. Jew of Malta: "Kirriah Iairim, the great Jew of Greece." The name means "City of Woods." John Bakeless. Tragicall History of Christopher Marlowe. Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1970. v. 1. |
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Henry VI, Part 2. First Folio of Shakespeare. Histories. p. 120. Only lines of dialogue are counted.
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