302
NOTES AND QUERIES, m s. in. APKH, 22, 1911.
He is familiar with the Litany :
From all such devils, good Lord, deliver us ! ' Taming Shrew,' I. i. God grant us patience, to hear meekly.
'Love's L.,' I. i.
A time, methinks, too short to make a world- without-end bargain in. ' Love's L.,' V. ii.
The Collects serve his purpose. Here are echoes of the Second Sunday in Advent :
Much of the hearing, little of the marking.
' Love's L.,' I. i.
Dosfc thou hear me ? Ay, and mark thee too. ' 1 Hen. IV.,' II. iv.
You hear not. . . .not listening, not marking. '2 Hen. IV.,' I. ii.
And this from Good Friday : Black pagans, Turks and Saracens.
' K. Rich. II.,' IV. i.
He remembers Epistles and Gospels : A madman's epistles are no gospels.
' Twelfth Night,' V. i.
And probably this is a recollection of the Gospel for Whitsunday :
Judas 1 am .... Not Iscariot. ' Love's L.,' V. ii The rule about godparents is implied : My Lord of Canterbury. . . .a fair young maid wants baptism, you must be godfather, and answer for her ; two noble partners with you : the old Duchess of Norfolk, and Lady Marquis Dorset. ' H. VIII.,* V. ii.
"I do, I will" ('1 Hen. IV.,' II. iv.), reminds us of Confirmation.
The Catechism is not forgotten :
These pickers and sfcealers. ' Hamlet,' III. ii. Honest in deed and word.
- As You Like It,' III. iii.
Naturally the Marriage Service has the largest place.
Banns are often mentioned :
She is sub- contracted to this lord, And I, her husband, contradict your banns.
' K. Lear,' V. iii.
Contracted bachelors, such as had been asked twice on the banns. ' 1 K. Hen. IV.,' IV. ii.
I'll crave the day When I shall ask the banns.
' Taming Shrew,' II. i.
The priest, the clerk, the sexton, the witnesses, the book, the ceremonies, are all introduced :
When the priest
Should ask if Katharine should be his wife,
.... he swore so loud
That all amaz'd, the priest let fall the book.
But after many ceremonies done. . . .
He threw the sops all in the sexton's face.
' Taming Shrew,' III. ii.
To the church ; take the priest, clerk, and some sufficient honest witnesses.
' Taming Shrew,' IV. iv.
it.
The opportunity of alleging an impedi-
ment, the solemn appeal to the two persons r
and other portions of the service come in :
If there be any impediment, I pray you discover
' Much Ado,' III. ii. If either of you know any inward impediment why you should not be conjoined, I charge you,. ' on your souls, to utter it. ' Much Ado,' IV/i. May I never dream of impediment.
' Antony and C.,' II. ii. My will is this day to be conjoin'd In the estate of honourable marriage.
' Much Ado,' V. iv. Is there none here to give the woman ? Truly she must be given, or the marriage is not lawful. As You Like It,' III. iii.
W r ill you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind ?
I will.
I take thee, Rosalind, for my wife.
'As You "Like It,' IV. i.
You come hither, my lord, to marry this lady ? Lady, you come hither to be married to this count ? ' Much Ado,' IV. i.
A contract of eternal bond of love,
Confirm'd by mutual joinder of your hands
Strengthen'd by inter changem en t of your rings ;. And all the ceremony of this compact Seal'd in my function, by my testimony.
' Twelfth Night,' V. i. Still better and worse. ' So you must take husbands.
' Hamlet,' III. iL Married . . . .stay till death.
' Antony and C.,' IV. if..
God forbid that I should wish them sever'd Whom God hath join'd together.
' 3 K. Hen. VI.,' IV. i.
Malvolio complains that he has been-. " visited by the priest." He means visited officially, as in the Visitation of the Sick,, for the clown, personating Sir Topas the- curate, comes to the place where the pre- tended lunatic is detained and begins the office, "Peace in this prison" ('Twelfth Night,' IV. ii., V. i.). So when Lucio comes- to the door of the nunnery he calls, " Peace- be in this place " (' Measure for M.,' I. v.).
At the burial the priest casts earth upon, the body, in its shroud, as was ordered in the book of 1549 :
Some hangman must put on my shroud, and lay
me Where no priest shovels in dust.
- Winter's T.,' IV. iii.
Healing by the royal touch "with holy prayers" is described in 'Macbeth,' IV. iii.
The use of the almanac with dominical and- golden letters has been noticed above. The- calendar is referred to more than once, and the Friday fast is observed (' Measure for M,,' III. ii.). Most of the great days and.
