Our bosom interest.-Go, pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth. Rosse. I'll see it done. Dun. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won. [Exeunt. SCENE III. A Heath. Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 1 Witch. Where hast thou been, sister? 2 Witch. Killing swine. 3 Witch. Sister, where thou? 1 Witch. A sailor's wife had chesnuts in her lap, And mounch'd, and mounch'd, and mounch'd: "Give me," quoth I: "Aroint thee, witch"!" the rump-fed ronyon' cries. And, like a rat without a tail, 2 Witch. I'll give thee a wind. AROINT thee, witch !] The meaning of the word is quite obvious; viz. begone, or stand off, and it is still used in the Craven district, and generally in the north of England, as well as in Cheshire. In some places it has assumed the form of rynt, but it is the same word. Various conjectures have been indulged respecting its etymology, and Mr. B. Thorpe (whose name as an AngloSaxon scholar requires no tributary epithet) suggests to me that it may be from the Latin acerrunco, the participle of which has been formed into "aroint," in the same way that punctum has become point; junctum, joint; or unctum, oint: this is the more plausible, because averrunco is most commonly used in the sense of averting any thing evil, such, for instance, as a witch or witchcraft. We meet with the same word, used in the same way, in "King Lear,” A. iii. sc. 4, "Aroint thee, witch, aroint thee!" 1 ronyon-] i. e. Scabby or mangy woman. Fr. rogneux, royne, scurf. In "As You Like It," Vol. iii. p. 29, the adjective roynish is employed, which has the same etymology as "ronyon." 3 Witch. And I another. 1 Witch. I myself have all the other; And the very ports they blow, All the quarters that they know I'll drain him dry as hay: Sleep shall, neither night nor day, Weary sev'n-nights, nine times nine, 2 Witch. Show me, show me. 1 Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, Wreck'd as homeward he did come. 3 Witch. A drum! a drum! Macbeth doth come. All. The weird sisters, hand in hand2, Posters of the sea and land, Thus do go about, about: Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine, And thrice again, to make up nine. [Drum within. Enter MACBETH and BANQUO. Mach. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. Ban. How far is't call'd to Fores?-What are these, So wither'd, and so wild in their attire, 66 2 The WEIRD sisters, hand in hand,] All authorities agree that “weird” (spelt weyward in the folio, 1623) is of Saxon origin, viz. from wyrd, which has the same meaning as the Latin fatum: "weird" is therefore fatal. In the ballad of "The Birth of St. George," in Percy's " Reliques," vol. iii. p. 275, edit. 1812, we meet with the expression of "The weird lady of the woods;" and the same word occurs twice in the old Scottish drama of " Philotus," printed in 1603 and 1612, and reprinted in 1835 for the Bannatyne Club, by John Whitefoord Mackenzie, Esq. As Steevens remarks, Gawin Douglas, in his translation of the Æneid, calls the Parca " the weird sisters." That look not like th' inhabitants o' the earth, me, You seem to understand By each at once her chappy finger laying Upon her skinny lips :-You should be women, That you are so. Mach. Speak, if you can.-What are you? 1 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis ! 2 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! 3 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter. Ban. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear Things that do sound so fair?-I' the name of truth, Are ye fantastical', or that indeed Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not. And say which grain will grow, and which will not, 1 Witch. Hail! 2 Witch. Hail! 3 Witch. Hail! 1 Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. 2 Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier. 3 Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: So, all hail, Macbeth, and Banquo! 1 Witch. Banquo, and Macbeth, all hail! 3 Are ye FANTASTICAL,] i. e. Creatures of fantasy or imagination. In Holinshed it is stated, that Macbeth and Banquo at first reputed the appearance of the witches "some vain, fantastical illusion." Mach. Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more. No more than to be Cawdor. Say, from whence Upon this blasted heath you stop our way Ban. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, Mach. Your children shall be kings. You shall be king. Mach. And thane of Cawdor too: went it not so? Ban. To the self-same tune, and words. Who's here? Enter ROSSE and ANGUS. Rosse. The king hath happily receiv'd, Macbeth, Which should be thine, or his. Silenc'd with that, 5 4 eaten on the INSANE ROOT,] The "insane root is hemlock or henbane. As thick as TALE, CAME post with post ;] The old copies read, "Can post with post," which Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence, Ang. We are sent, To give thee from our royal master thanks; Not pay thee. Rosse. And, for an earnest of a greater honour, He bade me from him call thee thane of Cawdor: In which addition, hail, most worthy thane, For it is thine. Ban. What! can the devil speak true? Mach. The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me In borrow'd robes? Ang. Who was the thane, lives yet; But under heavy judgment bears that life Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was com bin'd With those of Norway, or did line the rebel With hidden help and vantage, or that with both Mach. Glamis, and thane of Cawdor: The greatest is behind.-Thanks for your pains.Do you not hope your children shall be kings, When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me, Promis'd no less to them? Ban. That, trusted home, Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange: seems a misprint. The meaning is evident, when we take tale in the sense, not of a narrative, but of an enumeration, from the Sax. telan, to count. Johnson explains the passage correctly in these words :-" Posts arrived as fast as they could be counted." Rowe read, "as thick as hail," which may be considered a needless alteration of the text; but it is to be observed, nevertheless, that Southern, in his copy of the folio, 1685, the property of Mr. Holgate, made the same change in manuscript. |