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1. 16, 17 Or some good Ribibe . . . witch. = This seems
to be an allusion, as Fleay suggests, to Heywood's _Wise-Woman
of Hogsdon_. The witch of that play declares her dwelling to
be in 'Kentstreet' (Heywood's _Wks. _ 5. 294). A ribibe meant
originally a musical instrument, and was synonymous with rebec.
By analogy, perhaps, it was applied to a shrill-voiced old
woman. This is Gifford's explanation. The word occurs again
in Skelton's _Elynour Rummyng_, l. 492, and in Chaucer, _The
Freres Tale_, l. 1377: 'a widwe, an old ribybe.
' Skeat offers
the following explanation: 'I suspect that this old joke, for
such it clearly is, arose in a very different way [from that
suggested by Gifford], viz. from a pun upon _rebekke_, a fiddle,
and _Rebekke_, a married woman, from the mention of Rebecca in
the marriage-service. Chaucer himself notices the latter in E. 1704. '

=1. 1. 16 Kentish Towne. = Kentish Town, Cantelows, or Cantelupe
town is the most ancient district in the parish of Pancras. It was
originally a small village, and as late as the eighteenth century a
lonely and somewhat dangerous spot. In later years it became noted
for its Assembly Rooms. In 1809 Hughson (_London_ 6. 369) called it
'the most romantic hamlet in the parish of Pancras. ' It is now a part
of the metropolis. See Samuel Palmer's _St. Pancras_, London, 1870.

=1.