MISCELLANEOUS
163
Parolles' sham anxiety about a lost drum is mentioned fourteen or fifteen times in All's Well III. v. and vi.; and IV. i. Parolles earns his nickname of 'Tom Drum,' in Act V. iii. 320.
The following is an interesting passage of a more serious kind—
K. John 52, 164.
| Lewis | [Dauphin.] Strike up the drums! and let the tongue of war Plead for our interest, and our being here. |
| Bastard. | Indeed, your drums, being beaten, will cry out; And so shall you, being beaten. Do but start An echo with the clamour of thy drum, And even at hand a drum is ready brac'd, That shall reverberate all as loud as thine; Sound but another, and another shall, As loud as thine, rattle the welkin's ear, And mock the deep-mouth'd thunder. |
An entirely different use of the Drum is alluded to by Parolles, in his slanderous evidence against Captain Dumain.
All's Well 43, 262.
| 1 Soldier. | What say you to his expertness in war? |
| Parolles. | 'Faith, sir, he has led the drum before the English tragedians, … and more of his soldiership I know not. |
