The words we’ll transpose, so wherever he goes,
His name shall be called “Little John.”’
[612]. ‘Item, to Guillam de Vait, Guillam de Trope, and Pety John mynstralles, ivl.’ (Trevelyan Papers, ii. 20. Cam. Soc.)
[613]. We might be tempted to place our ‘Brownbills’ here, but I have recently shown them to be representative of the old and famous pikes known as ‘brownbills,’ used so commonly in war previous to the introduction of gunpowder.
[614]. Thus Desdemona says to Emilia (Othello, iv. 3)—
‘This Lodovico is a proper man;’
and the latter responds—
‘A very handsome man.’
[615]. ‘Apple-john’ must be looked upon as a nickname taken from the fruit of that name. An apple-john was a species of apple which was never fully ripe till late in the season, when it was shrivelled. Hence Shakespeare’s allusion in 2 Henry IV. ii. 4. ‘Sweet-apple’ will belong to this category.
[616]. ‘Full-James’ must be looked upon as a corruption of Foljambe. I prefer the original, though that is not complimentary.