[III.17] Are ... ready? | Dyce gives to Casca; Ritson (conj.) to Cinna.
[III.18] [Kneeling] Rowe | Ff omit.
[III.19] couchings: stoopings. 'Couch' is used in the sense of 'bend' or 'stoop' as under a burden, in Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III, i, 4:
An aged Squire there rode,
That seemd to couch under his shield three-square.
So in Genesis, xlix, 14: "Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens." The verb occurs six times in the Bible (King James version). In Roister Doister, I, iv, 90, we have "Couche! On your marybones ... Down to the ground!"
[III.20] courtesies F1 | curtsies F4.
[III.21] pre-ordinance and first decree: the ruling and enactment of the highest authority in the state. "What has been pre-ordained and decreed from the beginning."—Clar.
[III.22] law | lane Ff.
[III.23] law. This is one of the textual cruces of the play. 'Law' is Johnson's conjecture for the 'lane' of the Folios. It was adopted by Malone. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, Mason's conjecture, 'play,' was adopted. 'Line,' 'bane,' 'vane' have each been proposed. Fleay defends the Folio reading and interprets 'lane' in the sense of 'narrow conceits.' 'Law of children' would mean 'law at the mercy of whim or caprice.'