500 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 86. 



prenzie, is that wJiich is expressed in the following 

 jjassages : 



" All this I speak in print; for in print I found it." 

 Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act II. Sc. 1. 

 « I will do it, Sir, in print." 



Love's Labour's Lost, Act III. Sc. 1. 



■on -which Steevens remarks : 



" In print means with Ea:actness — with the utmost 

 Nicety." 



He supports this meaning by quotations from 

 other dramatic writers of the same age : 



" Not a hair about his Bulk, but it stands in print." 

 (1603.) 



" I am sure my Husband is a Man in print, in all 

 things else." (1635.) 



When, therefore, Claudio, who, as your corre- 

 spondent Leges observes, is aware of Angelo's 

 reputation for sanctity, exclaims in astonishment : 



" The /jre)i2!e Angelo?" 

 he means the same as if he had said : 

 «' What 1 that Man in print 9 " 

 " The printsy Angelo?" 

 But prenzie is a term applied to apparel as well 

 .as to chai-acter ; and how does this accord with the 

 interpretation here given ? 



" O 'tis the cunning livery of hell, 

 The damned'st body to invest and cover 

 In prenzie guards ! " 

 Here a<Tain we are supplied by Steevens with 

 apt quotations in illustration from other writers of 

 the same age : 



" Next, your RufFmust stand in print." (1602.) 



and 



" This Doublet sits in print, my Lord I" (1612.) 



" In prhdsy guards" means the same, therefore, 

 as " Guards in print" or, robes put on " ivith exact- 

 ness — with the utmost nicety." 



Printsy is a word of the .same formation with 

 tricksy; and the phrase, "The ^m/<,s-^ Angelo !" 

 is as good English as " My Mcksy Ariel !_" It 

 was probably pronounced prentsy (prenzie) in the 

 time of Shakspeare ; the word print being derived 

 from empreinte. Sir W. Scott speaks of " a prerJ 

 book," for a printed book. Besprent is the parti- 

 ciple of hesprinkle. Of similar formation with 

 printsy and .tricksy, are Unsy, ivoolsy, and frowsy ; 

 but as all these adjectives, except the first, are 

 derived from nouns representing natural or familiar 

 thinf^s, while printsy is foimded on a word havinj 

 no connexion with any obvious idea, it is probable 

 that this difi(irence may accoimt for the fact that 

 printsy so early fell into disuse, while the rest 

 were retained without difficulty. 



By the word printsy, those four conditions are 

 fuliiiled for which your correspondent so properly 

 contends: — I. The word is "suitable to the re- 

 puted character of Angelo." 2. It is " an appro- 

 priate epithet to the word guards." 3. It supplies 



" the proper metre in both places." 4. It is 

 " similar in appearance to the word prenzie." 



No other word has been produced which so fully 

 represents the formality and hypocrisy of Angelo, 

 as described in the quotations so conveniently 

 brought into one view by your correspondent, 

 though one of the epithets made use of comes 

 very near the mark : " Lord Angelo is precise ! " 



John Taylor. 



ZACHARIE BOTD. 



(Vol. i., pp. 298. 372. 406.) 



I would refer your correspondents H. B., H. I. 

 (p. 37-2. ), and Philobodius and Mr. Jerdan 

 (p. 406.), to the following volumes : The Last Bat- 

 tle of the Soide in Death, by Mr. Zacharie Boyd, 

 Preacher of God's Word in Glasgow, edited by 

 Gabriel Neil, Glasgow, 1831; McUre's History 

 of Glasgoiv, with Appendix, Glasgow, 1 830. 



As the first of these vols, is now very scarce 

 (a limited number being printed by subscription), 

 the following extracts may be interesting to some 

 of youi- readers, and at the same time correct some 

 errors of your correspondents : — 



" Mr. Zachaiie Boyd was descended from the family 

 of the Boyds of I'inkill (Carrick, Ayrshire). He was 

 cousin to INIr. Robert Boyd, of Trochrigg, who was 

 appointed Principal of the University of Glasgow in 

 1615. The date of his birth is not exactly known; 

 some time previous to 1590. He received his educa- 

 tion at the school of Kilmarnock. The first notice we 

 liave of him is in a letter to I'lincipal Boyd, from David 

 Boyd, in 1605, wherein he says, ' TItere is a friend of 

 yours, Zacliaric Boyd, who wilt pnss /lis course at the 

 colkdye within two years.' After having finished bis 

 course at the University of Glasgow, he studied atthe 

 College of Saumur, in France, under his relation, 

 Robert Boyd : be returned to his native county in 

 1621. In 1623 he was ordained Minister of the Barony 

 Parish of Glasgow, in which situation he continued till 

 his death in 1653-1654." 



ilr. Zacharie Boyd was never Principal or a 

 Professor in Glasgow College : the only office he 

 ever held in the college was that of Lord Rector 

 (an honorary office annually elected), which he 

 held in the years 1634, 1635, 1645. He was a 

 great benefactor to the college, to which he left 

 20,000Z. Scots, for buildings and bursaries. 



The crypt below Glasgow Cathedral, called St. 

 Mungo's Crypt, was the barony church in Zacha- 

 rie's time, and where he preached ; it is this same 

 place which Sir Walter Scott so well describes in 

 Rob Roy (vol. ii. chap. 3., edition in 48 vols.), where 

 Francis Olbaldistone heard sermon. Z. Boyd was, 

 both in prose and verse, a very voluminotis writer ; 

 his works, however, are chiefly in MS. in the 

 library of Glasgow College. 



In addition to editing The Last Battle, Mr. Neil 

 has examined the "Poetical Works" in_MS. ; 

 and has given a summary of the whole in the 



