,
mentioned
as early as the 15th century.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
1.
10 a good man.
= Gifford quotes _Merch.
of Ven.
_
1. 3. 15: 'My meaning in saying he is a good man, is, to have
you understand me, that he is sufficient. ' Marston, _Dutch
Courtesan_, _Wks. _ 2. 57. uses the word in the same sense.
=3. 1. 20 our two Pounds, the Compters. = The London
Compters or Counters were two sheriff's prisons for debtors,
etc.
, mentioned as early as the 15th century. In Jonson's day
they were the Poultry Counter and the Wood Street Counter. They
were long a standing joke with the dramatists, who seem to
speak from a personal acquaintance with them. Dekker (_Roaring
Girle_, _Wks. _ 3. 189) speaks of 'Wood Street College,' and
Middleton (_Phoenix_, _Wks. _ 1. 192) calls them 'two most famous
universities' and in another place 'the two city hazards,
Poultry and Wood Street. ' Jonson in _Every Man in_ (_Wks. _ 1.
42) speaks of them again as 'your city pounds, the counters',
and in _Every man out_ refers to the 'Master's side' (_Wks_. 2.
181) and the 'two-penny ward,' the designations for the cheaper
quarters of the prison.
=3. 1. 35 out of rerum natura.
1. 3. 15: 'My meaning in saying he is a good man, is, to have
you understand me, that he is sufficient. ' Marston, _Dutch
Courtesan_, _Wks. _ 2. 57. uses the word in the same sense.
=3. 1. 20 our two Pounds, the Compters. = The London
Compters or Counters were two sheriff's prisons for debtors,
etc.
, mentioned as early as the 15th century. In Jonson's day
they were the Poultry Counter and the Wood Street Counter. They
were long a standing joke with the dramatists, who seem to
speak from a personal acquaintance with them. Dekker (_Roaring
Girle_, _Wks. _ 3. 189) speaks of 'Wood Street College,' and
Middleton (_Phoenix_, _Wks. _ 1. 192) calls them 'two most famous
universities' and in another place 'the two city hazards,
Poultry and Wood Street. ' Jonson in _Every Man in_ (_Wks. _ 1.
42) speaks of them again as 'your city pounds, the counters',
and in _Every man out_ refers to the 'Master's side' (_Wks_. 2.
181) and the 'two-penny ward,' the designations for the cheaper
quarters of the prison.
=3. 1. 35 out of rerum natura.
