p. 117 finical. According to the N.E.D. the use of finical as a verb is a nonce word only found in this passage.
p. 119 lead Apes in Hell. To die an old maid. A very common expression. It will be remembered that Beatrice had something to say on the subject. —Much Ado About Nothing, Act ii, I.
p. 122 Docity. Gumption, cf. note (p. 340), Vol. II, p. 441, The Feign’d Curtezans.
p. 123 Don Del Phobos. The adventures of the Knight of the Sun and his brother Rosiclair belong to the Amadis school of romance. They were published in two volumes, folio, at Saragossa, 1580, under the title Espejo de principes e cavalleros; o, Cavallero del Febo. The first part of this romance was translated into English by Margaret Tiler, The Mirrour of Princely deedes and Knighthood (4to, 1578), other portions appearing subsequently. The whole four parts, translated from the original Spanish into French, appeared in eight volumes, and an abridged version was made by the Marquis de Paulmy. The Amadis cycle long remained immensely popular.
p. 129 Gad-bee in his Brain. As we now say ‘a bee in his bonnet’. For ’.ad-bee’ cf. Holland’s Pliny (1601) I, 318. ‘The bigger kind of bees … and this vermin is called Oestrus (i.e. the gad-bee or horse fly).’ cf. The Lucky Chance, ii, II: ‘The Gad-Bee’s in his Quonundrum’ and note on that passage infra. For the idea compare ‘brize-stung’ (= crazed).
p. 142 Cockt. Set his hat jauntily. A very frequent phrase.
p. 146 Slashes. Bumpers. From the idea of vigour contained in ‘slash’. The word is extremely rare in this sense and perhaps only found here. But cf. Scottish (Lothian) ‘slash’ = a great quantity of broth or any other sorbile food.
p. 148 what the Devil made me a ship-board? cf. Géronte’s reiterated complaint ‘Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère?’—Les Fourberies de Scapin (1671), ii, VII; and the phrase in Cyrano de Bergerac’s Le Pédant Joué (1654): ‘Ha! que diable, que diable aller faire en cette galère?… Aller sans dessein dans une galère!… Dans la galère d’un Turc!’—Act ii, IV. In France this phrase is proverbial.
p. 156 glout thy Eyes. Scowl; frown. Glout (without ‘thy Eyes’. is very common in this sense. cf. Note (p. 201), Vol. II, p. 433.
p. 160 an Antick. A fantastic measure. This is a favourite word with Mrs. Behn.