270 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2'»'i S. V. 118., Apeil 3. '68. 



though in inverse order, viz. Goth, gunbs, O.H.G. kund ; O. 

 Nor. gunnr, helium ; O. Nor. rad, vires, might ; and Goth. 

 mahts, 0. H. G. maht, might; Goth, hilds, A. S. hild, bellum. 

 In corroboration of this supposition, I will remind the 

 reader that the Norman Emma assumed the name of 

 ^Ifgifu, on her marriage with ^thelred ; and Eadgj'th 

 that of Matilda, on her marriage with Henry I. Gundrada 

 (O. Nor. masc. Gunnradr) is in fact a translation of 

 Matilda," 



And thus it is proved, almost to a certainty, 

 that the lady Gundrada, the wife of William de 

 Warenne, first Earl of Surrey, and mother of 

 William second Earl, was no other than the Ma- 

 tilda of Domesday Book, the legitimate daughter 

 of William the Conqueror. 



It may here be observed that of modern pedi- 

 grees within my reach, the only one that inserts 

 the name of Gundrada as a daughter of William 

 the Conqueror, is No. 604. of the Rev. William 

 Betham's Genealogical Tables of the Sovereigns 

 of the World. 1795. 



The paper of Mr. Blaauw above referred to, 

 and another by the same writer in volume xxxi. 

 of the Archceologia, p. 439., contain much in- 

 teresting matter relating to Gundrada or Matilda ; 

 and the paper of the late Mr. Stapleton, on the 

 same subject, in the Journal of the Archceological 

 Institute, vol. iii., may be consulted with great 

 advantage. Geobgb Mcnfobd. 



East Winch. 



SHAKSPEABIANA. 



Passage in " Homeo and Juliet.^^ — The word in 

 that passage of Shakspeare's Romeo and Juliet, — 



" Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, 

 That runnawayes eyes may wink, and Romeo 

 Leap to these arms, untalked of and unseen," — 



has been so much contested, on account of its ac- 

 knowledged obscurity, that a new suggestion on 

 the subject will probably be not unacceptable ; 

 especially as one of the Shakspearian debaters 

 went so far as to say that anybody who could 

 furnish the true reading would secure immortal 

 honour. 



" Runnawayes " which is the word in the old 

 editions, has, by all the commentators, been pro- 

 nounced to be a misprint ; although, by a forced 

 and far-fetched interpretation, " run-awayes " 

 (which is the mode in which the word is printed 

 in one of the early editions) might be supposed 

 to refer to the " fiery-footed steeds " — the horses 

 of the sun — alluded to in the first line of Juliet's 

 speech. Theobald and Warburton read " Run- 

 away's eyes ;" affirming that "Run-away " meant 

 the sun. Douce held " Run-away " to mean Ju- 

 liet; while Mr. Halpin endeavoured to prove that 

 "Run-away" meant Cupid. Mr. Grant White 

 contends for '■'■Rumour's eyes;" Mr. Singer, for 

 " Rumourers eyes." Mason suggests " Renomy's 

 eyes;" Jackson and Charles Knight, "That im- 



awares eyes." Mr. Collier's MS. Corrector gives 

 "enemies' eyes;" Mr. Mitford, '■'■Lxma's eyes;" 

 Mr. Sydney Wialker, " Cynthia's eyes." Mr. Dy{*b 

 proposed " That soon days eyes," " That roving 

 eyes," and "That rude days eyes;" finally abid- 

 ing by this third reading. 



The reading which has struck me is — 

 " That sunny day's ej-es may wink." 



This would give the same rhythm as the old 

 editions ; it is nearest, both in sound and appear- 

 ance, to "runnawayes ;" sound, if the transcriber 

 from stage delivery made a mistake of ear ; ap- 

 pearance, if the printer made an error of sight :^ 

 " Runnawayes," 

 " Sunny day's." 



The epithet " sunny," as applied to day, forms 

 an antithesis with the epithet " cloudy," as ap- 

 plied to night, two lines previously, in Juliet's 

 speech. " Sunny " also involves the effect of 

 glare, which suggests the verb to " wink." And 

 moreover, the impersonation of day, with its light 

 and its sunshine, accords with the tenour of the 

 speech throughout, which deprecates all three, 

 while invoking night and its opposite attributes. 



" Come, civil night, 

 Thou sober-suited matron, all in black ; " 



and afterwards, where both the one and the other 

 are combined in juxtaposition : — 



" Come night, — come Romeo, — come thou day in 

 night ; 

 For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night 

 Whiter than new snow on a raven's back. 

 Come, gentle night, — come, loving, black-broioed night, 

 Give me my Romeo ; and, when he shall die. 

 Take him and cut him out in little stars. 

 And he will make the face of heaven so fine, 

 That all the world will be in love with night, 

 And pay no worship to the garish sun." 



To conclude, I cannot help thinking that "sunny 

 day's," as taken in context with the whole speech, 

 is most in the manner of Shakspeare ; who (espe- 

 cially in his early plays, one of which Romeo and 

 Juliet is believed to be) has shown fondness for the 

 poetical conceit, with antithetical style, maintained 

 through entire passages. 



Mary Cowden Clarke. 



Nice, Jlarch 9, 1858. 



Passage in " Troilus and Cressida " (2"'^ S. v. 

 201.) — 



" Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back. 

 Wherein he puts alms for oblivion — 

 A great siz'd monster of ingratitudes." 



Act III. Sc. 3. 

 I am inclined to retain this text, and refer "the 

 great siz'd monster " to oblivion, J. W. M. 



Kensington. 



[This is the first of several communications which have 

 reached us, advocating the original reading. It has also 

 the great merit of being the shortest,] 



