181) and the 'two-penny ward,' the
designations
for the cheaper
quarters of the prison.
quarters of the prison.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
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. = _In rerum natura_ is a
phrase used by Lucretius 1. 25. It means, according to the
_Stanford Dictionary_, 'in the nature of things, in the physical
universe. ' In some cases it is practically equivalent to 'in
existence. ' Cf. _Sil. Wom. _, _Wks. _ 3. 382: 'Is the bull, bear,
and horse, in _rerum natura_ still? '
=3. 2.
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. = _In rerum natura_ is a
phrase used by Lucretius 1. 25. It means, according to the
_Stanford Dictionary_, 'in the nature of things, in the physical
universe. ' In some cases it is practically equivalent to 'in
existence. ' Cf. _Sil. Wom. _, _Wks. _ 3. 382: 'Is the bull, bear,
and horse, in _rerum natura_ still? '
=3. 2.
