Line 275. Footinge, step, tread; cf. Merchant of Venice, v. 24.
Line 279.—Late-mouse.—A facetious spelling of Latmus, the "mount of oblivion."
Line 281. Shift originally meant simply change, substitution of one thing for another. Cf. Timon of Athens, i. 1, 84—"Fortune, in her shift and change of mood." Wotton writes—"My going to Oxford was not merely for shift of air." From this arose the later sense of a change of clothing, in which the word is here used; and which has now become further limited, shift amongst the lower classes being equivalent to an under-garment.
Line 282. Cantle.—A corner, angle, small point. Cf. 1 Henry IV. iii. 1, 100; Antony and Cleopatra, iii. 10, 6. See also under cantle in N. E. D.
Line 283. Portmantle.—The older and commoner form of portmanteau, occurring, for example, in Howell's Familiar Letters (1623). Early instances of portmanteau are, however, to be found.
Line 296. Ile bee a diar, etc.—The joke is on the double meaning of diar; there seems to be no special significance in the choice of the colour orange-tawny.
Line 300. Codshead = stupid-head, foolish fellow. Cf. in 1607, Drewill's Arraignm. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) iii. 56:—"Lloyd (threatning he) woulde trye acquaintance with the other codsheade." Also, in 1594, Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits, i. (1596), 2:—"His (Cicero's) sonne ... prooued but a cods-head."
Line 301. O eyes, noe eyes.—The common tag from Hieronymo, in Kyd's Spanish Tragedy, Act iii.:
"O eyes! No eyes, but fountains fraught with tears;
O life! No life, but lively form of death."
The line was a frequent subject of ridicule amongst contemporary writers; cf. Every Man in his Humour, i. 5, 58, etc.