upon which passage Singer (vol. ix. p. 377) has this note: “Fleshment, therefore, is here metaphorically applied to the first act which Kent, in his new capacity, had performed for his master; and, at the same time, in a sarcastic sense, as though he had esteemed it an heroic exploit to trip a man behind, who was actually falling.” The phrase occurs again in “1 Henry IV.” (v. 4), where Prince Henry tells his brother:
“Come, brother John, full bravely hast thou flesh’d
Thy maiden sword.”
Swearing by the Sword. According to Nares,[985] “the singular mixture of religious and military fanaticism which arose from the Crusades gave rise to the custom of taking a solemn oath upon a sword. In a plain, unenriched sword, the separation between the blade and the hilt was usually a straight transverse bar, which, suggesting the idea of a cross, added to the devotion which every true knight felt for his favorite weapon, and evidently led to this practice.” Hamlet makes Horatio swear that he will never divulge having seen the Ghost (i. 5):
“Never to speak of this that you have seen,
Swear by my sword.”
In the “Winter’s Tale” (ii. 3), Leonato says:
“Swear by this sword
Thou wilt perform my bidding.”
The cross of the sword is also mentioned to illustrate the true bearing of the oath. Hence, in “1 Henry IV.” (ii. 4), Falstaff says jestingly of Glendower, that he “swore the devil his true liegeman upon the cross of a Welsh hook.”[986] On account of the practice of swearing by a sword, or, rather, by the cross or upper end of it, the name of Jesus was sometimes inscribed on the handle or some other part.
Mining Terms. According to Mr. Collier, the phrase “truepenny” is a mining term current in the north of England, signifying a particular indication in the soil, of the direction in which ore is to be found. Thus Hamlet (i. 5) says
“Ah, ha, boy! say’st thou so? art thou there, truepenny?”
when making Horatio and Marcellus again swear that they will not divulge having seen the ghost.