Page 279 - King Lear: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

204 NOTES 3.2.
hurriedly, at first overlooked these lines. It may be
noted that J. followed Warb. and praised the 'sagacity
and acutehess' of his restoration; and Han. also accepted
it. But Mai. calling it 'as unnecessary as it is un-
warrantable', restored the F order, since when all edd.
have followed suit. Yet J.D.W. hopes that the Warb. +
G.I.D. rearrangement will be accepted as not only an
addition to the Fool's philosophy, but {pace Chambers)
genuine Shakespeare.
Another reason for our departure from Warb.'s order
is that our first stanza is clearly a rewriting or parody, as
Steev. first observed, of a pseudo-Chaucerian 'Merlin's
Prophecy' quoted by Puttenham (see Arte of English
Poesie, 1589, ed. 1936 by G. D. Willcock and A.
Walker, p. 224), though Sh. prob. found it in Thynne's
Chaucer (1532), where it runs:
Whan faithe fayleth in preestes sawes
And lordes hestes are holden for lawes
And robbery is holden purchase
And lechery is holden solace
Than shal the londe of albyon
Be brought to great confusyon.

81. more...matter Cf. Ham. 2. 2. 95, 'More matter
with less art', burned A quibble; see G.
83. their...tutors 'greater experts in clothing than
the tailors they employ' (K.) or 'invent fashions for
them' (Warb.). A glance at the fantastic developments
in male dress.
87. right='genuine' or 'just'. See Sh. Eng. 1, 389
for the extraordinary condition of legal procedure in
Sh.'s day.
90. cutpurses...throngs Cf. Autolycus in Wint. 4. 4.
679 'every shop, church, session, hanging, yields a care-
ful man work'.
91. i'th'field sc. openly.