Edmund Ironside - Glossary & Appendices

abroach (a): astir. FS (2-Rich3, R&J); Lodge Wounds; Harvey Sonnet 8; (anon.) Ironside, Locrine, Weakest Goeth to the Wall.

basilisk (n, adj): A fabulous reptile, ... alleged to be hatched by a serpent from a cock's egg; ancient authors stated that its hissing drove away all other serpents, and that its breath, and even its look, was fatal. FS (5-2H6, 3H6, Rich3, WT, Cymb); Watson Hek; Lodge Wounds; Lyly Woman ... Moon; Nashe Penniless , Anatomy of Absurdity; (anon.) Locrine, Arden, Ironside; (disp.) Greene's Groat; Chettle Kind Hart; etc. Note also the striking use by Kyd in Sol&Per, in which a major coward, braggart and back-stabber is named Basilisco.

bewray (v): reveal. FS (7); Golding Ovid; Brooke Romeus; Watson Hek; Edwards Dam&Pith; Gascoigne Jocasta; Greene Orl Fur, Fr Bacon, James IV, Pandosto, Maiden's Dream; Kyd Sp Tr, Sol&Per; Marlowe Massacre, Jew/Malta; Lyly Campaspe, Gallathea, Endymion, Midas, Bombie, Whip; Pasquil Return; Drayton et al Oldcastle; (anon.) Marprelate; Locrine, Ironside, Arden, Willobie, Penelope, Leic Gh.

brewis (n): meat broth. NFS. Cf. (anon.) Mucedorus, Fam Vic, Ironside; Munday More.

brook (v): put up with, bear with, tolerate. Usually in negative or preclusive constructions. FS (many); Golding Ovid; (anon.) Ironside; many others.

bruit: rumor, fame (n); spread rumor (v). FS (6-3H6, 2H4, T&C, Timon, Ham, Q2, Edw3); Golding Ovid; Brooke Romeus; Sundrie Flowers (E/N); Lyly Bombie; (anon.) Ironside, Arden; Harvey Pierce's Super; Chettle Kind Hart.

brustle/brustling (v): raise the feathers; show off, bluster. NFS. Cf. Golding Ovid; (anon.) Ironside. Per OED 1st use of brustle (v) in 1648. 1st use as a noun in 1600.

buckler (n): shield. (4-1H4, Ado); Lyly Midas; Greene Fr Bac; (anon.) Fam Vic, Woodstock, Ironside . Common.

cog (v): deceive, as by tricks or flattery, cheat. FS (6-LLL, Rich3, MWW, Ado, Timon, Corio); Lyly Sapho, Bombie; Harvey 4 Letters; Greene Cony, James 4; (anon.) Ironside, Cromwell; Nashe Absurdity (1st of 2 OED citations) (disp.) Greene's Groat.

comb ... cut (v): comb is cut: to cut (rarely to cast down) the comb of, lower the pride, tame, humiliate. NFS. Cf. Golding Ovid; (anon.) Ironside. OED cites: 1536 Tindale Expos; 1545 Udall Erasm; 1548 Hall Chron.

commodity (n): profit or gain, benefit. FS (2-Pericles); Oxford letter; Anon. Ironside; Pasquil Apology (OED missed citation).

contumelious (a): insolent, full of contumely. FS (3-2H6, 1H6, Timon); (anon.) Ironside; Harvey Pierce's Super.

cope of heaven (n): over-arching canopy or vault of heaven. FS (1-Pericles); Spenser M. Hubbard, Hymn Hon. Love; (anon.) Ironside; Chapman Iliad. OED cites: 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 3; 1385 Chaucer L.G.W.; 1460 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems; 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon; 1549 Compl. Scot. Ded. 3; 1571 Campion Hist. Irel. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd; 1611 Chapman Iliad.

cornegraph (n): not in OED. Apparently an inkhorn. NFS. Cf. (anon.) Ironside.

corsive (n): corrosive. Cf. Kyd Sp Tr; Greene? Selimus; (anon.) Ironside, Locrine.

cottons (v): suits, goes well. NFS. Cf. Lyly Campaspe; (anon.) Ironside; Troublesome Raigne.

crake/crack (v): brag. (LLL); Golding Ovid; Edwards Dam&Pith (n, crackers); Peele Edw I; Greene Alphonsus; (anon.) Ironside, Willobie (n); (disp.) Greene's Groat (out-cracked); Munday More.

cullis (n): strong broth, esp. nourishing for the sick. NFS. Cf. Golding Ovid; Lyly Campaspe; (anon.) Ironside.

curtle axe (n): cutlass, short sword. NFS. Cf. (anon.) Fam Vic, Ironside, Locrine; Marlowe T1.

cutter (n): one eager to fight, bully, bravo, also cutthroat, highway robber. NFS. Cf. Lyly Pap; (anon.) Fam Vic-as a last name, Arden, Willobie, Penelope.

descry (v): reveal, discover, perceive. FS (14); Golding Ovid; Brooke Romeus; Gascoigne Jocasta; Edwards Dam&Pith; Lodge Wounds; Greene James IV, ? Selimus; Watson Tears; Nashe Saffron; Peele Wives; Sidney Antony; (anon.) Ironside, Willobie, Penelope; Harvey Pierce's Super.

dismount (v): unmount, throw from that on which he/she has been mounted. FS (2-12th (1st use per OED), Lov Comp); Kyd Sol&Per; (anon.) Ironside .

distempered (v): ailed, bothered. FS (4-John, 12th, Ham); Lodge Wounds; Marlowe Jew/Malta; (anon.) Ironside; Sidney Antony.

drab (n): slut, prostitute. FS (8); (anon.) Fam Vic, Ironside, Cromwell, Yorkshire Tr; Pasquil Return; Drayton et al Oldcastle; Marston Malcontent.

ear/earing (n, a, v): plow/plowing. FS (3-Rich2, AWEW, A&C); Golding Ovid; (anon.) Ironside.

exordion/exordium (n): introduction. Cf. (anon.) Ironside; Chettle Kind Hart.

fadge (v): fit; suit. FS (2-LLL, 12th); Lyly Endymion (as fodge) Bombie; (anon.) Ironside. 1st OED citations: 1578 Whetstone Promos & Cass; 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie.

falchion (n): broad sword. FS (8); Golding Ovid; Gascoigne Supposes; Kyd Sp Tr; (anon.) Arden, Ironside.

forfend (v): forbid, prohibit. FS (8), Golding Ovid; Lodge Wounds; Udall Erasmus; Greene Alphonsus; (anon.) Woodstock; Ironside.

gloze/glose (n, v): specious, over-expansive talk, flattery. glozers (n): flatterers. FS (6-LLL, Rich2, H5, TA, T&C, Pericles); Golding Ovid; Gascoigne Supposes; Edwards Dam&Pith; Watson Hek; Lyly Campaspe; Kyd Cornelia, Sol&Per; Marlowe Edw2; (anon.) Ironside, Arden, Willobie; Nashe Menaphon, Summers, Absurdity; Harvey Pierce's Super; (disp.) Greene's Groat, Maiden's. Cf. (anon.) Nobody/Somebody (v).

gravel (v): confound, embarrass, perplex, puzzle. FS (1-AsYou); (anon.) Ironside; Marlowe Faust. OED contemp citation: 1548 Detect. Unskil. Physic. ; 1566 Drant Horace's Sat.

gripple (a): gripping, greedy. NFS. Cf. Golding Ovid; Spenser FQ; (anon.) Ironside. OED contemp. citations: 1574 Rich Mercury & Soldier; 1589 Warner Alb. Eng.

grout-head (n): blockhead, thickhead, dunce. NFS. Cf. (anon.) Ironside; Nashe Almond, Lenten Stuff. OED contemp citations: 1550 Bale Eng. Votaries ; 1573 Tusser Husb; 1597-8 W. Haughton Englishm. for money

guard (n): decorative border. FS (1-MM); Golding Ovid; (anon.) Mucedorus, Ironside.

guerdon (n, v): prize, recompense. FS (4-2H6, LLL, Ado, Edw3); Golding Ovid; Lyly Woman ... Moon; Lodge Wounds; Kyd Sp Tr; Marlowe Massacre; Munday Huntington; (anon.) Ironside, Leic Gh.

hind (n): fellow, servant. FS (4-1H6, Errors, LLL, Cymb); (anon.) Ironside, Arden, Dodypoll; (disp.) Greene's Groat; Chettle Kind Hart; Munday More.

hire (n): payment, reward. FS (8); Golding Ovid; Brooke Romeus; Watson Hek; Lodge Wounds; Kyd Sol&Per; (anon.) Dainty Devices, Ironside, Willobie.

iwis (adv): surely. FS (4-Rich3, Shrew, MV, Pericles); Golding Ovid; (anon.) Ironside, Penelope, Nobody/Somebody, Cromwell; Nashe Almond; (disp.) Harvey 4 Letters. Common.

loiter (v, trans.): postpone getting or giving something. NFS. Cf. (anon.) Ironside.

malapert (a): presumptuous, saucy. FS (3-3H6, Rich3, 12th); Lyly Endymion, Woman ... Moon; (anon.) Ironside, Dodypoll. OED contemp citation: (1567) Drant Horace.

mate (n): lackey, servant. FS (1H6, 2H4); Gascoigne Supposes; (anon./Greene) G a G; Greene Alphonsus, Orl Fur, James IV; (anon.) Ironside; Nashe Almond; Harvey Pierce's Super; (anon.) Willobie.

maugre: (fr) in spite of. FS (3-12th, Titus, Lear); Golding Ovid, Abraham; Brooke Romeus; Lyly Midas; Kyd Sol&Per; Greene Orl Fur, Alphonsus; (anon.) Mucedorus, Locrine, Ironside, Nobody/Somebody, Penelope, Leic Gh; Pasquil Countercuff; Harvey Sonnet, 3d Letter.

Perillus (n): Athenian who fell victim to his own device: a brazen bull in which condemned men were roasted to death. NFS. Cf. (anon.) Ironside. Lyly, in Sapho and Phao, refers to a completely unrelated, and apparently invented, perillus stone.

pitch (n): highest point in a falcon's flight. FS (2-1H6, Titus); Marlowe T2; Harvey Pierce's Super; (anon.) Ironside; Nashe Saffron; Munday More; Chapman D'Ol.

pitiful (a): merciful. FS (11+); Gascoigne Jocasta, Supposes; Edwards Dam&Pith; Lyly Midas, Love's Met; (anon.) Ironside, Cromwell; Harvey 4 Letters; Drayton et al Oldcastle.

policy (n): trickery, cunning. FS (many); Golding Ovid; (anon.) Ironside; many others. A major Shakespeare preoccupation, i.e.: 1H4: Neuer did base and rotten Policy / Colour her working with such deadly wounds.

pretense (n): purpose, plan, design. (5-TGV, AWEW, WT, Lear, Mac); Lodge Wounds; Pasquil Apology; (anon.) Ironside, Mucedorus.

quean (n): hussy, strumpet. FS (4-R&J, 2H4, MWW); Golding Ovid; Gascoigne Supposes; Edwards Dam&Pith; (anon./Greene) G a G; Lyly Midas; (anon.) Ironside, Arden, Willobie, Penelope, Yorkshire Tr; Harvey Sonnet Palace/Pleasure, 2d Letter; Peele Wives; (disp.) Maiden's.

sconce (n): (1) head, skull; (2) ability, wit. FS (6-Errors, Ham, Corio); Cf. Edwards Dam&Pith; Lyly Endymion, Bombie (OED missed citation); Greene Cony; (anon.) Ironside. G. Harvey New Let. OED contemp citation: 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary (1625) Master B. found Socrates in my Letter,and sent to seeke out your well reputed skonce to expound it.

shake-rag (n): ragged disreputable person, beggar. NFS. OED contemp citation: 1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. lxix. 13. 259 It is no maruell that shakerags [orig. sordidos homines] (which haue no regarde of honestie) did ...

sheep-biter (n): petty thief. FS (2-MM, 12th); (anon.) Mucedorus, Woodstock, Ironside. Nashe Penniless. See Connections.

sift (v): question, examine; also understand, comprehend. FS (3-Rich2, Ham Q2, AWEW); Golding Ovid; Edwards Dam&Pith; Lyly Gallathea, Woman ... Moon; Greene Never too Late, Pandosto; (anon.) Ironside, Weakest.

skills (v): matters. FS (3-Shrew, 12th, 2H6); Golding Ovid; Lyly Campaspe, Endymion, Love's Met, Gallathea; Greene Fr Bac; Chettle Kind Hart; (anon.) Fam Vic, Ironside, Leic Gh; (disp.) Greene's Groat.

sooths (n): truths, sometimes flattery. The meaning in Ironside may be, ironically, 'untruths'. FS (Rich2, Pericles); (anon.) Ironside; many others.

speed (v): fare, succeed. FS (19+, ); Golding Ovid, Abraham; Kyd Sol&Per; Marlowe Edw2; (anon.) Ironside, Willobie, Leic Gh; Peele Wives. Common.

stomach (n): temper, pride. FS (1-H8); Golding Ovid; Lyly Endymion; Greene G a G; Alphonsus; (anon.) Marprelate, Ironside, Weakest; Spenser FQ; Harvey Pierce's Super; Sidney Antony. OED current citation: 1575-85 Abp. Sandys Serm. x. 169 Zeale without knowledge is not zeale but stomacke.

stout (a): bold, resolute. FS (1-2H6); Golding Ovid, Abraham; Brooke Romeus; Greene Fr Bacon; Sidney Arcadia; (anon.) Ironside, Arden, Willobie, Penelope, Leic Gh.

trencher (n): serving plate or dish [usually with connotation of trencher-knight or freeloader]. FS (7-2H6, TGV, R&J, A&C, Tempest, Corio, Timon); (anon.) Ironside; many others.

troiting (a): loitering, idling (dial.). NFS. Cf. (anon.) Ironside. Not in OED.

trow (v): think, believe confidently. FS (16); Golding Ovid, Abraham; (anon.) Ironside; many others.

unadvised (a): unconsidered: FS (many); Golding Abraham; Brooke Romeus; Lodge Wounds; (anon.) Ironside; Greene's Groat.

untutored (a): crude, boorish. FS (5-2H6, 3H6, Pericles, Sonnets dedication, Lucrece); (anon.) Ironside. OED cites 3H6 as first use.

wight (n): living being. FS (8-H5, LLL, MWW, Pericles, Oth); Golding Ovid, Abraham; Oxford poem; (anon.) Ironside; many others.

Quoted from Winston S. Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples: Vol. One, The Birth of Britain. New York: Bantom Books, Inc., 1963, p. 102.

'... It suffices to note that in 1013 Sweyn, accompanied by his youngest son, Canute, came again to England, subdued the Yorkshire Danes and the five boroughs in the Danelaw, was accepted as overlord of Northumbria and Danish Mercia, sacked Oxford and Winchester in a punitive foray, and, though repulsed from London, was proclaimed King of England, while Ethelred fled for refuge to the Duke of Normandy, whose sister he had married. On these triumphs Sweyn died at the beginning of 1014. There was another respite. The English turned again to Ethelred, 'declaring that no lord was dearer to them than their natural lord, if he would but rule them better than he had done before.'

'But soon the young Danish prince, Canute, set forth to claim the English crown. At this moment the flame of Alfred's line rose again in Ethelred's son, Edmund -- Edmund Ironside, as he soon was called. At twenty he was famous. Although declared a rebel by his father, and acting in complete disobedience to him, he gathered forces, and in a brilliant campaign struck a succession of heavy blows. He gained battled, he relieved London, he contended with every form of treachery; hearts of all men went out to him. New forces sprang from the ruined land. Ethelred died, and Edmund, last hope of the English, was acclaimed King. In spite of all odds and a heavy defeat he was strong enough to make a partition of the realm, and then set himself to rally his forces for the renewal of the struggle; but in 1016, at twenty-two years of age, Edmund Ironside died, and the whole realm abandoned itself to despair.'

[note: Edmund Ironside was the son of Ethelred by his first wife. By his second wife Emma (sister of Duke Robert of Normandy), Ethelred had two other sons, Alfred and Edward. Upon the death of Ethelred Emma married Canute, by whom she had a son Hardacanute. When Canute died, two of his sons ruled England, but neither lived long. The English then turned to Edward ('Edward the Confessor,' the younger son of Ethelred and Emma), the last English king directly descended from the male line of Alfred. A granddaughter of Edmund Ironside married Malcolm of Scotland, Today's royal family of England traces its ancestry back to Alfred (and to Edmund) through this marriage.]

Spurgeon, Caroline F.E., Shakespeare's Imagery and What it Tells us. Boston: Beacon Press, 1958 [pb, originally pub. by Cambridge University Press].

William Kozlenko, ed., Disputed Plays of William Shakespeare. New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 19074.

Sams, Eric. Shakespeare's Lost Play, Edmund Ironside. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985.

Scoufos, Alice-Lyle. Shakespeare's Typological Satire. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1979.

Shaheen, Naseeb. Biblical References in Shakespeare's Comedies. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1993.
-----Biblical References in Shakespeare's History Plays. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1989.
-----Biblical References in Shakespeare's Tragedies. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1987

The Dogs of War
(V.2.138-149) EDR: nor govern nations, for consuming war
will quite devour this solitary isle,
not leaving any over whom to rule
nor to resist foreign invasions.
If love of kingdoms be the cause of this,
suppress the boiling of your haughty minds;
you have approved of your soldiers' forwardness,
then now at last shake hands and join in league;
agree like noble kings and part the land;
have now compassion of this little isle,
whose soil is manured with carcasses
and made a sea with blood of innocents;

Relationship of Military Commanders/Common Soldiers:
(I.3.1-2) EDM: But are ye sure, my lord, that all is fit ... to make them rich and gallant to the eye.
Contrast with Sir John Falstaff's recruiting and treatment of his soldiers. Professor Scoufos deals extensively with this aspect of Falstaff and with Shakespeare's typological purpose in commenting on this matter. Also compare to Falconbridge's (King John) great speech on commodity.

Patriotism, Loyalty:
(I.3.36-47) EDM: I more esteem the life of one true subject
... when thy right hand shall make thy heart away.
John (V.7.122) BAST: 'If England to itself do rest but true.'

Exchange of Identity:
Ironside (III.5.179) EDR: My will is that you will uncase, for I mean to change apparel.
STITCH: Why sir, you'll not turn wise-man, will you?
EDRICUS: Yes, fool, for this once. Come, I say, when?
Shakes Hamlet (I.2) HORATIO: The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever.
HAMLET: Sir, my good friend; I'll change that name with you.

Reflections on the Jewish Race:
(I.1.135-41) USKA: You may, my lord, yet be remembered now
against what nation you are bound to war,
a generation like the chosen Jews:
stubborn, unwieldy, fierce and wild to tame,
scorning to be compelled against their wills,
abhorring servitude as having felt
the overloading burden of the same.

These lines could suggest a reconsideration of Shakespeare's intent in The Merchant of Venice.
Also see Richard II (2.1.55-56).
See Exodus 33.3-5: For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people, I will come up suddenly upon thee, and consume thee: therefore now put thy costly raiment from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.

Relations between Church and State:
The relationships between the two prelates closely reflect a similar situation during the reign of Henry II, when the Archbishop of York championed the cause of English Henry, while the rebellious Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, received the protection of the King of France.

Danger from Abroad:
Although Canute is a Dane and many of his soldiers (but not the most valiant) are also Danes, the play displays little anti-foreign paranoia or consciousness of danger from abroad; in the final scene Edmund even 'gives' part of his kingdom to Canutus and 'wills' it to him in case of death, notwithstanding his foreign origins and the claims of his Saxon half-brothers Alfred and Edward. There is a complete lack of the kind of nationalistic hubris that distinguishes those plays written during and immediately after the Armada scare, a possible indication of a somewhat early dating of the play for the youthful playwright from Stratford.

View of Royalty
Note the surprising bargain struck before battle: if Edmund falls, the crown shall go to Canutus. Here, even with no claim whatever to the crown (except that of descent from Sveyn Forkbeard, who had conquered a good deal of English territory), Edmund seems to cede the right to inherit to Canutus on the basis of royalty alone -- although foreign and with no claim of direct descent. Hamlet's ceding of the crown of Denmark to Fortinbras reflects the same thinking: that royal blood takes precedent over nationality and/or collateral rights. A Shakespearean concept but alien to the otherwise nationalistic tone of the play.

Villainy, Malevolence
Edricus may be the first of the great Shakespearean villains, addressing the audience directly in the style of Aaron, Richard III, and Iago. Like Richard III he is definitely the star of the play: he has 71 speeches; Canutus 70; Edmund 42. He completely dominates the action; both Edmund and Canutus serve as foils to his villainy, neither having a distinctive personality although the English-born Atheling Edmund is certainly portrayed as the more magnanimous and valiant.

Edricus, however, is a wonderful creation, as is his brother Stitch, a base and servile copy of his brother, fawning in the presence of power, malevolent when he speaks his mind. In neither is the malevolence 'motiveless'; it proceeds directly from low birth, fear of discovery, ambition thwarted and envy; traits deserving contempt in the viewpoint of the nobility, perhaps quite natural to anyone who has felt similar emotions (such as William Shaksper of Stratford). In character he is cowardly, unlike the valiant Richard or the competent soldier Iago; even Aaron was physically selfless, especially in defense of his own child. Edricus is a wonderful counterfeit gentleman; Stitch his revolting, churlish counterpart; the scene in which they exchange identities rings with both comedy and irony, a masterful conceit in the inexperienced author.

Edricus' threat to flee to Spain if necessary, historically unsupported, could well reflect the actions of traitors such as Charles Arundel who did, upon imminent discovery, flee to their patron and spiritual mentor the Catholic king of Spain.

Did the author plan a sequel?
Edricus' wonderful, characteristic final speech indicates a continuation of the story (perhaps telling of Edmund's tragic death)?

On the Writing Profession?
(III.4.141-53) EDRICUS: Ah, fool, how hard it is to write for life! ...

Sheep ... Bite: sheep-biter in cant meant petty thief.
Hatton Letter (Christopher Hatton to the Queen about Oxford, 1573): God bless you forever; the branch of the sweetest bush I will wear and bear to my lifeÕs end: God witness I feign it not. It is a gracious favor most dear and welcome unto me: reserve it to the Sheep [Hatton], he hath no tooth to bite, where the Boar's [Oxford] tusk may both raze and tear
Anon. Mucedorus (II.4.15-16) MOUSE: Yes, forsooth, I warrant you: come on, sir.
A, so like a sheep biter a looks!
Woodstock (III.3) NIMBLE: ay, ay. we will follow. come, ye sheep-biter.
Ironside (II.2.41) EDRICUS: Wherefore comes you, sheep-biter?
Nashe Penniless (McK p. 175) : he casts his tail betwixt his legs, & steals away like a sheep-biter
Shakes 12th Night (II.5) SIR TOBY: rascally sheep-biter come by some notable shame? ...
MM (V.1) LUCIO: show your sheep-biting face, and be hanged an hour! ...

The Elizabethan Authors website is a collaborative effort by Robert Brazil & Barboura Flues
All Rights Reserved. All site contents Copyright © 2002 B. Flues and elizabethanauthors.com

Webmaster contact: robertbrazil@juno.com