Miko: annotations

Some scholars, such as George Steevens, have said that this clause should read “be not thought upon”.

Delicacies

An exclamation meaning “courage”.

Both “Diana” and “Cynthia” are names for the goddess of the moon and of virginity.

A censer is a container used for burning incense. Scholars are not agreed what Doll meant by this comment. In Shakespeare's day, censers had thin human figures carved in the lids, so it is supposed that Doll is calling the beadle thin.

Has a pale face, i.e. as white as paper.

In this insult, Doll is saying to the Beadle (or possibly one of the officers) that his face resembles tripe (the intestine of an ox).

“Nuthook” was slang for a beadle. The word literally means a hooked stick for pulling down branches of nut trees for harvest.

“Waftage” is the act of being carried across water by a water vessel. In this case, Troilus is referring to souls being carried across Styx by the mythological ferryman, Charon.

“Stygian” refers to the river Styx from Greek mythology. Styx was the border between Earth and the underworld across which newly dead souls traveled.