Notes and Queries, Number 45, September 7, 1850 by Various
page 45 of 66 (68%)
page 45 of 66 (68%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
I should paraphrase Isabella's remarks thus:-- "If it be otherwise, if we are not all frail as thou sayest, then let my brother die, unless he be but in the same case as others; if he alone possess and follow thee in that particular frailty to which thou has half confessed." A feodary, I should observe, was an officer of the Court of Wards, who was joined with the escheator and did not act singly; I conceive therefore that Shakspeare by this expression indicates an associate; one in the same plight as others; negatively, one who does not stand alone. In _Cymbeline_, Act iii. Sc. 2., we read: "Senseless bauble, Art thou a _feodary_ for this act, and lookst So virgin-like without?" where feodary clearly means confederate, associate. According to some, the word signifies one who holds land by the same tenure as the rest of mankind; whilst Mr. Knight, in a note on _Henry IV_. Part i. Act i. endeavors to show that it includes both the companion and the feudal vassal. "To owe" is frequently used by Shakspeare in the sense of to possess, to own, as in Act i. Sc. 5. where Lucio says: "But when they weep and kneel, All their petitions are as freely theirs As they themselves would _owe_ them." |
|