Sold. Yes.
Mr. Steevens, adverting to the apparent defect of metre in the last line, concludes that some word has been omitted in the old copy; and Hanmer reads, brave Macbeth, &c. No other change is necessary than in orthography; for Shakspeare had, no doubt, written capitaynes, a common mode of spelling the word in his time; and the fault lay either in the printer or transcriber for the press.
Scene 2. Page 339.
Rosse. Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapt in proof.
Shakspeare is here accused of ignorantly making Bellona wife to the God of war; but, strictly speaking, this is not the case. He has not called Macbeth, to whom he alludes, the God of war; and there seems no great impropriety in poetically supposing that a warlike hero might be newly married to the Goddess of war. Mr. Steevens's objection appears to have been founded on a conclusion that Shakspeare meant to compare Macbeth to Mars, and that of the other learned and ingenious critic, on the impropriety of considering Bellona as a married goddess.
Scene 3. Page 341.
1. Witch. Aroint thee witch!
The reference to Hearne's print from an old calendar, in his edition of Fordun, is very appositely introduced by Dr. Johnson in illustration of aroint; but his explanation of the print is in many respects erroneous. He is particularly mistaken in supposing it to represent Saint Patrick visiting hell; for it is manifestly the very trite subject of Christ delivering souls from purgatory, often painted by Albert Durer and other ancient artists. The Doctor neglected to examine not only the inscription on the print, but Hearne's own account of it; and his eye having accidentally caught the name of Saint Patrick, of whom Hearne had been speaking, his imagination suggested the common story of the visit to purgatory (not hell). There is no doubt that aroint signifies away! run! and that it is of Saxon origin. The original Saxon verb has not been preserved in any other way, but the glossaries supply ryne for running; and in the old Islandic, runka signifies to agitate, to move. Mr. Grose is certainly wrong in his explanation of the proverb, "Rynt you witch! quoth Besse Locket to her mother," when he says it means "by your leave, stand handsomely." See his Provincial glossary.
Scene 3. Page 353.
Ban. Or have we eaten of the insane root,
That takes the reason prisoner?