Note to King Lear, 2.3.20: "Poor Turlygod! poor Tom!"


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King Lear,
Act 2, Scene 3, line 20
Poor Turlygod: a word of unknown origin.

poor Tom: catch phrase of the Bedlam beggars [lunatic patients of Bethlehem Hospital turned out to beg for their bread], who became known as "poor Toms."