166. Copied from Troil. iv. 460-1:—
'But canstow playen raket, to and fro,
Netle in, dokke out, now this, now that, Pandare?'
See the note on the latter line.
Wethercocke is a late spelling; the proper M.E. spelling is wedercokke, from a nom. wedercok, which appears in the poem Against Women Unconstant, l. 12.
173. a, an unemphatic form of have; 'thou wouldest have made me.'
180. voyde, do away with. webbes; the web, also called the pin and web, or the web and pin, is a disease of the eyes, now known as cataract. See Nares, s.v. Pin; Florio's Ital. Dict., s.v. Cateratta; the New E. Dict., s.v. Cataract; King Lear, iii. 4. 122; Winter's Tale, i. 2. 291.
191, 192. truste on Mars, trust to Mars, i.e. be ready with wager of battle; alluding to the common practice of appealing to arms when a speaker's truthfulness was called in question. See ch. vii. 10 below (p. 31).
Chap. III. 14. Come of, lit. come off; but it is remarkable that this phrase is used in M.E. where we should now say rather 'come on!' See note to Troil. ii. 1738.
21. mayst thou, canst thou do (or act)?