156
A TALE OF A TUB.
Clench. Nay, 'pray you, gentleman———
Hilts. Go to, I will not bate him an ace on't.
What rowly-powly, maple face! all fellows!
What rowly-powly, maple face! all fellows!
Pup. Do you hear, friend? I would wish you, for your good,
Tie up your brended bitch there, your dun, rusty,
Pannier-hilt poniard; and not vex the youth
With shewing the teeth of it. We now are going
To church in way of matrimony, some on us;
They ha' rung all in a' ready. If it had not,
All the horn-beasts are grazing in this close
Should not have pull'd me hence, till this ash-plant
Had rung noon on your pate,[1] master Broombeard.
Tie up your brended bitch there, your dun, rusty,
Pannier-hilt poniard; and not vex the youth
With shewing the teeth of it. We now are going
To church in way of matrimony, some on us;
They ha' rung all in a' ready. If it had not,
All the horn-beasts are grazing in this close
Should not have pull'd me hence, till this ash-plant
Had rung noon on your pate,[1] master Broombeard.
Hilts. That I would fain zee, quoth the blind George
Of Holloway: come, sir.
Of Holloway: come, sir.
Awd. O their naked weapons!
Pan. For the passion of man, hold gentleman and Puppy.
Clay. Murder, O murder!
Awd. O my father and mother!
Dame T. Husband, what do you mean? son Clay, for God's sake———
Turfe. I charge you in the queen's name, keep the peace.
- ↑ ——— till this ash plant
Had rung noon on your pate,] This is a proverbial allusion to the custom of striking the dresser as a signal for dinner, which was then served up at noon. The notices of this practice are innumerable. Maple face, just above, is a term of contempt, of which the precise import is not known. Mr. Malone thinks it alludes to the rough bark of the maple. It may be so: though I suspect that it rather refers to colour, and means tann'd, or sunburnt. In some passages which I have noted, it appears to be synonymous with broad-face: for this I cannot account; unless it refers to the mazer or broad dish of our forefathers, which was usually formed of this wood.
