Enter King JAMES and HUNTLEY. K. Ja. Do not Argue against our will; we have descended Hunt. Break my heart, Do, do, king! Have my services, my loyalty, 8 By marriage of this girl to a straggler !— Take, take my head, sir; whilst my tongue can wag, It cannot name him other. K. Ja. Kings are counterfeits In your repute, grave oracle, not presently 8 By marriage of this girl.] See vol. i. p. 19. The circumstance is thus briefly noticed by Lord Bacon.-" To put it out of doubt that he took (Perkin) to be a great prince, and not a representation only, King James gave consent that this duke should take to wife the Lady Catherine Gordon, daughter of the Earl of Huntley, being a near kinswoman to the king himself, and a young virgin of excellent beauty and virtue." To give our cousin York for wife our kinswoman, The lady Katherine: Instinct of sovereignty Designs the honour, though her peevish father Usurps our resolution. Hunt. Oh, 'tis well, Exceeding well! I never was ambitious Dal. Cruel misery! Craw. The lady, gracious prince, may be hath settled Affection on some former choice. Dal. Enforcement Would prove but tyranny. Hunt. I thank thee heartily. Let any yeoman of our nation challenge • A queen! perhaps, a quean!] I cannot reconcile myself to this reading, though I have adopted it. The noble Huntley would scarcely use such language of his daughter, however lightly he might be disposed to treat the young pretender to royalty. The passage stands thus in the old copy :— "I never was ambitious Of using congeys to my Daughter Queene : If the last line be read A queen, perhaps! a queen! it may seem to express his affected surprize at her advancement; but let the reader decide. K. Ja. Cease persuasions. I violate no pawns of faiths, intrude not On private loves; that I have play'd the orator For kingly York to virtuous Kate, her grant Can justify, referring her contents To our provision: the Welsh Harry, henceforth, Shall therefore know, and tremble to acknowledge, That not the painted idol of his policy Hunt. Some of thy subjects' hearts, King James, will bleed for this! K. Ja. Then shall their bloods Be nobly spent: no more disputes; he is not Hunt. Farewell, daughter! My care by one is lessen'd, thank the king for't! I and my griefs will dance now. Enter WARBECK, complimenting with Lady KATHERINE; Countess of CRAWFORD, JANE DOUGLAS, FRION, JOHN A-WATER, ASTLEY, HERON, and SKETON. Look, lords, look; Here's hand in hand already!.. K. Ja. Peace, old frenzy. How like a king he looks! Lords, but observe The confidence of his aspéct; dross cannot Cleave to so pure a metal-royal youth! Plantagenet undoubted! Hunt. (Aside.) Ho, brave!-Youth ;' War. An union this way, Settles possession in a monarchy Establish'd rightly, as is my inheritance: Acknowledge me but sovereign of this kingdom, Your heart, fair princess, and the hand of provi dence Shall crown you queen of me, and my best fortunes. Kath. Where my obedience is, my lord, a duty, Love owes true service. War. Shall I ?— K. Ja. Cousin, yes, Enjoy her; from my hand accept your bride; [He joins their hands. And may they live at enmity with comfort, Who grieve at such an equal pledge of troths! Kath. By your gift, sir. War. Thus, I take seizure of mine own. A father's blessing. Let me find it;-humbly Hunt. I am Huntley, 2 Old Alexander Gordon, a plain subject, I Ho, brave!-Youth.] The old copy has lady. The earl evidently meant to repeat the king's last words; the mistake probably arose from the printer's eye having been caught by the word immediately below it. 2 Hunt. I am Huntley, Old Alexander Gordon.] This appears to be a mistake. The Nor more nor less; and, lady, if you wish for My prayers ever sued to fall upon you, Preserve you in your virtues!-Prithee, Dalyell, [Exeunt HUNT. and DAL. K. Ja. Good, kind Huntley Is overjoy'd: a fit solemnity Shall perfect these delights; Crawford, attend Our order for the preparation. [Exeunt all but FRION, HER. SKET. J. A-WAT. and AST. Fri. Now, worthy gentlemen, have I not follow'd My undertakings with success? Here's entrance Into a certainty above a hope. Her. Hopes are but hopes; I was ever confident, when I traded but in remnants, that my stars had reserv'd me to the title of a Viscount at least: honour is honour, though cut out of any stuffs.3 father of Katherine, as is said above, was George Gordon. His father, indeed, was named Alexander, and so was his son and successor; but the latter did not obtain the title till many years after this period. 3 Her. Honour is honour, though cut out of any stuffs.] Ford has made the speakers express themselves characteristically. Heron, or Herne, as Lord Bacon calls him, was a mercer; Sketon, or rather Skelton, was a taylor, and Astley a scrivener: they were all men of broken fortunes, a circumstance to which the poet frequently alludes. |