[9] A beggar (Ital. besogno) Vid. Dyce's Glossary under "Besonian".
[10] "Knight of the post" was the name given to those who gained their living by giving false evidence at law-courts. Nares quotes from Nash's "Pierce Pennilesse":—"A knight of the post, quoth he, for so I am tearmed: a fellow that will swear any thing for twelve pence."
[11] Cf. Lear, iii. 2. Vaunt-curriors to oak-cleaving thunder-bolts. (First folio.)
[12] "Division" was a technical term in music for "the running a simple strain into a great variety of shorter notes to the same modulation" (Nares). The "plain song" was the simple air without variations.
[13] Sir Thomas Overbury says, in his character of 'A very woman,' that 'her lightnesse gets her to swim at top of the table, where her wee little finger bewraies carving'.
[14] 4tos. Ladies.
[15] 4tos. Eternesses.
[16] To do anything with 'a wet finger' is to do it easily. 'It seems not very improbable that it alluded to the vulgar and very inelegant custom of wetting the finger to turn over a book with more ease.'—Nares.
[17] Ov. Metam. I., ll. 322-23.
[18] Ed. 1606, one; ed. 1636, on.