King Richard and King Henry. Richard had appointed York regent of England during the king's absence in Ireland. Richard had previously exiled Henry, and the latter chose this period of the king's absence from his realm to return and claim his father's estates, which had been unjustly confiscated by Richard to pay for this same Irish expedition. Henry was met at Ravenspurgh, on the coast of Yorkshire, by Northumberland; at Doncaster, in southern Yorkshire, by Worcester; and finally at Berkeley Castle, in Gloucestershire, by Hotspur. The interview between Hotspur and Henry, from which Hotspur quotes in his next speech, is presented in Shakespeare's Richard II, II. iii.
I. iii. 271. the Lord Scroop. One of the adherents of King Richard, executed by order of Henry; see Richard II, III. ii.
II. i. 2. Charles' Wain. Probably a corruption of 'churl's wain' or 'countryman's wagon,' the name given to the constellation which is now known as the Great Bear.
II. i. 10. next, the old superlative of nigh, of which near was the comparative. Cf. III. i. 263.
II. i. 17. There is an old superstition, referred to in Pliny's Natural History, ix. 47, that fishes are infested with fleas. Cf. l. 23.
II. i. 28. Charing-cross, in Shakespeare's time a village on the road from London to Westminster; now in the heart of Greater London.
II. i. 67. Saint Nicholas, a popular saint in the Roman and Russian Churches, now familiarly known as Santa Claus, was the patron saint of scholars, children, parish clerks, travellers, sailors, and pawn- brokers. His aid was invoked by travellers to protect them from perils of the road, especially from robbers.
II. i. 81 ff. foot-land-rakers, foot-pads; long-staff
