Notes on the notes:

2. bulky: bushy.

3. his distemp'rature: i.e., the sun's abnormal, unhealthy appearance.

4. trumpet: trumpeter. his: its, the sun's.

7. sympathize: accord.

12. easy: comfortable.

17. obedient orb: (customary) sphere of obedience; orbit, sphere of action. (The King's subjects, like planets and stars in the Ptolemaic cosmos, were supposed to revolve around the kingly center, comparable to the earth, in fixed courses.)

19. exhal'd meteor: Meteors were believed to be vapors drawn up or exhaled from the earth by the sun and visible as streaks of light; they were regarded as ill omens.

20. prodigy of fear: terrifying omen.

21. broached: set flowing, already begun.

24. entertain: occupy, pass.

26. the day of this dislike: this time of discord.

29. chewet: chough, jackdaw; i.e., chatterer.

32. remember: remind.

34-35. For you my staff of office did I break / In Richard's time: See Richard II, 2.3.26-28.

35. posted: rode swiftly.

38. Nothing: not at all, by no means.

40. home: back to England from exile.

42. Doncaster: town in Yorkshire. According to Holinshed (Bullough, 111, 398), when Bullingbrook reached Doncaster, on his march from Ravenspur, "the earle of Northumberland, and his sonne, sir Henrie Persie, wardens of the marches against Scotland, with the earle of Westmorland, came unto him, where he sware unto those lords that he would demand no more, but the lands that were to him descended by inheritance from his father, and in right of his wife."

44. new-fall'n: recently inherited (by the death of John Gaunt).

50. injuries: abuses. wanton: ill-managed.

51. sufferances: sufferings, distress.

56. occasion: the opportunity.

57. gripe: seize.

60. ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird: rude nestling, the cuckoo's young offspring. (The cuckoo lays its eggs in other birds' nests.)

63. our love: we who loved you.

64. swallowing: i.e., being swallowed.

66. head: armed force.

67. opposed by such means: goaded into opposition by such factors.

69. unkind usage: unnatural treatment. dangerous countenance: threatening behavior.

70. troth: truth.

72. articulate: set forth, specified, stated in articles.

73. market-crosses: Christian crosses were often erected in the centers of marketplaces -- a good place for public announcements.

74. face: trim, adorn.

75. colour: (1) hue; (2) specious appearance.

76. changelings: turncoats. discontents: malcontents.

77. rub the elbow: i.e., hug themselves with pleasure.

78. innovation: rebellion.

79. want: lack.

80. water-colours: i.e., thin excuses. (See colour, line 75.) his: its.

81. moody: sullen, angry, disaffected.

82. havoc: plundering.

83. both your: i.e., your and our; the King's and the rebels'.

87. hopes: i.e., hopes of salvation.

88. This present enterprise set off his head: not counting his part in this rebellion; i.e., if this present rebellion is taken from his account, not held against him.

89. braver: nobler.

98. estimation: reputation, renown.

100. single fight: The Prince's challenge was apparently Shakespeare's own invention.

101. venture: hazard, risk.

102. Albeit: although it be that. (The subjunctive has the force of "were it not that.")

105. cousin's: i.e., nephew's.

106. will they: if they will. grace: pardon.

111. wait on us: are awaiting my royal command.

***. Manent: They remain on stage.

122. bestride: stand over in order to defend. so: well and good.

126. thou owest God a death: Proverbial.

129. pricks: spurs.

130. prick me off: mark me off (as one dead).

131. set to: rejoin or set.

132. grief: pain.

135. trim reckoning: neat total.

137. insensible: imperceptible to the senses.

139. detraction: slander. suffer: allow.

140. scutcheon: heraldic emblem carried in funerals.

141. catechism the principles of faith given in the form of question and answer.