No More Learning

PAGE =105=. ELEGIE XIV.

PAGE =106=, l. 6. _I touch no fat sowes grease. _ Probably 'I say
nothing libellous as to the way in which this or that rich man has
acquired his wealth'. I cannot find the proverb accurately explained,
or given in quite this form, in any collection.

l. 10. _will redd or pale. _ The reading of _1669_ and the two MSS. is
doubtless correct, 'looke' being an editorial insertion as the use
of 'red' as a verb was growing rare. If 'looke' had belonged to the
original text 'counsellor' would probably have had the second syllable
elided. Compare:

Roses out-red their [i. e.
women's] lips and cheeks,
Lillies their whiteness stain.
Brome, _The Resolve_.

l. 21. _the number of the Plaguy Bill_: i. e. the weekly bill of deaths
by the plague. By a Privy Council order of April 9, 1604, the theatres
were permitted to be open 'except ther shall happen weeklie to die of
the Plague above the number of thirtie'. The number was later raised
to forty. The theatres were repeatedly closed for this reason between
July 10, 1606, and 1610. In 1609 especially the fear of infection made
it difficult for the companies, driven from London, to gain permission
to act anywhere. There were no performances at Court during the winter
1609-10. Murray, _English Dramatic Companies_.

l. 22. _the Custome Farmers.