266, of a gallant
whose devotion to a lady in such that he
Salutes her pumps,
Adores her hems, her skirts, her knots, her curls,
_Will spend his patrimony for a garter_,
Or the least feather in her
bounteous
fan.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
1. 6. 14 and note.
=2. 5. 10 And garters which are lost, if shee can shew 'hem.=
Gifford thinks the line should read: 'can not shew'. Cunningham gives
a satisfactory explanation: 'As I understand this it means that if a
gallant once saw the garters he would never rest until he obtained
possession of them, and they would thus be _lost_ to the family.
Garters thus begged from the ladies were used by the gallants as
_hangers_ for their swords and poniards. See _Every Man out of his
Humour_, _Wks._ 2. 81: "O, I have been graced by them beyond all aim
of affection: this is her garter my dagger hangs in;" and again p.
194. We read also in _Cynthia's Revels_, _Wks._ 2.
266, of a gallant
whose devotion to a lady in such that he
Salutes her pumps,
Adores her hems, her skirts, her knots, her curls,
_Will spend his patrimony for a garter_,
Or the least feather in her
bounteous
fan.
'
Gifford's theory that ladies had some mode of displaying their
garters is contradicted by the following:
_Mary._ These roses will shew rare: would 'twere in fashion
That the garters might be seen too!
--Massinger, _City Madam_, _Wks._, p. 317.
Cf. also _Cynthia's Revels_, _Wks._ 2. 296.
=2. 5. 14 her owne deare reflection, in her glasse.= 'They must haue
their looking glasses caryed with them wheresoeuer they go, ...
