ballad perhaps satirizing Puritan opposition to May-games.
III. ii. 146. S. d. The dumb-show enters. In Gorboduc and many early plays a 'dumb-show' was introduced to give a pantomimic representation or suggestion of the action that was to follow.
III. ii. 148. miching mallecho. Mallecho is from the Spanish malhecho, meaning 'mischief.'
III. ii. 168. Tellus'. The goddess of the earth, who received and nourished the sown seed.
III. ii. 229. sport and repose. Here the objects of the verb.
III. ii. 252. duke's name. In the first Quarto the leading characters are called Duke and Duchess. In the second Quarto and the First Folio, except for this line, they are always King and Queen. In revising his play, Shakespeare overlooked this instance.
III. ii. 260. interpret. At 'puppet shows' or 'motions' the dialogue was spoken by a person concealed behind the stage. This was called 'interpreting.'
III. ii. 268. The croaking . . . revenge. Cf. The True Tragedie of Richard the Third (p. 61, Shake. Soc. reprint) :
The screeking raven sits croking for revenge,
Whole herds of beasts come bellowing for revenge.
III. ii. 273. Hecate. Diana, in her aspect as infernal goddess, was regarded as the queen of witches.
III. ii. 282. false fire. A proverbial expression.
III. ii. 287. deer go weep. It was a popular belief that the deer, when badly wounded, retires from the herd and goes apart to weep and die.
III. ii. 293. Provincial roses. So called either from Provence, or from Provins, the latter a town forty miles from Paris.
III. ii. 294. cry. Literally, a pack of hounds—here, troop or company.
