—so much, that kind May seek itself there, and not find.
2. 1. 162 French-masques. ‘Masks do not appear as ordinary articles of female costume in England previous to the reign of Queen Elizabeth.... French masks are alluded to by Ben Jonson in The Devil is an Ass. They were probably the half masks called in France ‘loups,’ whence the English term ‘loo masks.’
Loo masks and whole as wind do blow, And Miss abroad’s disposed to go. Mundus Muliebris, 1690. —Planché Cycl. of Costume 1. 365.
‘Black masks were frequently worn by ladies in public in the time of Shakespeare, particularly, and perhaps universally at the theatres.’—Nares.
2. 1. 163 Cut-works. A very early sort of lace deriving its name from the mode of its manufacture, the fine cloth on which the pattern was worked being cut away, leaving the design perfect. It is supposed to have been identical with what was known as Greek work, and made by the nuns of Italy in the twelfth century. It was introduced into England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and continued in fashion during those of James I. and Charles I. Later it fell under the ban of the Puritans, and after that period is rarely heard of. (Abridged from Planché, Cycl.)
2. 1. 168 ff. nor turne the key, etc. Gifford points out that the source of this passage is Plautus, Aulularia [ll. 90-100]:
Caue quemquam alienum in aedis intromiseris. Quod quispiam ignem quaerat, extingui uolo, Ne causae quid sit quod te quispiam quaeritet. Nam si ignis uiuet, tu extinguere extempulo, Tum aquam aufugisse dicito, si quis petet. Cultrum, securim, pistillum, mortarium, Quae utenda uasa semper uicini rogant, Fures uenisse atque abstulisse dicito. Profecto in aedis meas me absente neminem Volo intromitti, atque etiam hoc praedico tibi, Si Bona Fortuna ueniat, ne intromiseris.
Jonson had already made use of a part of this passage:
Put out the fire, kill the chimney’s heart, That it may breathe no more than a dead man. Case is Altered 2. 1, Wks. 6. 328.
Wilson imitated the same passage in his Projectors, Act 2, Sc. 1: ‘Shut the door after me, bolt it and bar it, and see you let no one in in my absence. Put out the fire, if there be any, for fear somebody, seeing the smoke, may come to borrow some! If any one come for water, say the pipe’s cut off; or to borrow a pot, knife, pestle and mortar, or the like, say they were stole last night! But harke ye! I charge ye not to open the door to give them an answer, but whisper’t through the keyhole! For, I tell you again, I wilt have nobody come into my house while I’m abroad! No; no living soul! Nay, though Good Fortune herself knock at a door, don’t let her in!’