2. The Second Accepted Reference to Christopher Marlowe in As You Like It:
The second reference to Marlowe in As You Like It is in Act 3, Scene 5, where lines spoken by the clown Touchstone allude to the accepted, but curious, circumstances surrounding Marlowe’s death:
(Act 3, Scene 3)
Enter Clowne, Audrey, & Iaques.
1615 Clo. Come apace good Audrey, I wil fetch vp your
Goates, Audrey : and how Audrey am I the man yet?
Doth my simple feature content you?
Aud. Your features, Lord warrant vs: what features?
Clo. I am heere with thee, and thy Goats, as the most
1623 capricious Poet honest Ouid was among the Gothes.
Iaq. O knowledge ill inhabited, worse then Ioue in
a thatch'd house.
Clo. When a mans verses cannot be vnderstood, nor
a mans good wit seconded with the forward childe, vn-
1625 derstanding: it strikes a man more dead then a great rec-
koning in a little roome: truly, I would the Gods hadde
made thee poeticall.
I will start with the first line: “When a mans verses cannot be vnderstood...”
The Latin word for “man” is vir.21 Vir is a pun on the name de Vere.
The word “understand” can be translated into French as comprendre (“to understand, comprehend”). One meaning of this word is “to know each other (well); to get on well, to get along well”; however, it’s not clear when the word got this meaning (i.e., whether it’s a modern meaning).23 The meaning of the Latin word comprehendo, which is the root of comprendre, is very suggestive. It means “to lay hold of something on all sides; take or catch hold of, grasp, grip; to seize upon in a hostile manner, lay hold of; occupy, capture (of a place); arrest, detain, apprehend, catch; to intercept (a letter).”24 The opposing meanings of [F.] comprendre and [L.] comprehendo imply a relationship between Edward de Vere and Christopher Marlowe that began warmly but that ultimately descended into violence.
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21 vir - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vir
22 vers - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vers
23 comprendre - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/comprendre
24 comprehendo - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/comprehendo
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The word “understand” can also be translated into French as entendre. This word has entered English “[e]xtracted from double entendre, corresponding to French entendre (“to understand, to mean”); doublet of intend.” The word entendre is “[i]nherited from Middle French entendre and Old French entendre, from Latin intendere (“to turn one’s attention, to strain”).
Considering these various meanings, perhaps the best interpretation of the line “When a man's verses cannot be vnderstood” is—
[When a man's ([L.] vir, i.e. Edward de Vere’s) endeavors (i.e. his "verses" and support of the queen) cannot be "threatened, changed, overthrown, or destroyed," and when public legal action (i.e. criminal prosecution of Marlow: Regina v. Marlowe) cannot be taken (due to public exposure of scandal), then he (de Vere) must "turn his attention" to the matter and "apprehend, detain (and kill)" the offender.]
The next part of the lines to analyze are:
Clo. When a mans verses cannot be vnderstood, nor
a mans good wit seconded with the forward childe, vn-
1625 derstanding:
The word “good” can mean “(archaic) of high rank or birth.” Wiktionary provides a quotation from Shakespeare for this meaning:
1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, columns 1–2:
Thou art a Traitor, and a Miſcreant;
Too good to be ſo, and too bad to liue,
Since the more faire and chriſtall is the skie,
The vglier ſeeme the cloudes that in it flye:
In this sense, "good wit" alludes to Edward de Vere's excellent wit and high rank (Earl of Oxford and secret Tudor-Seymour prince) and by implication contrasts it with Marlowe's low social rank and lesser wit.
In Early Middle English, the word “wit,” from Old English wyt (“we two”), could be a first-person dual pronoun meaning “we twain, the two of us.” This implies that Edward de Vere and Marlowe were working together, probably as main writer/patron (de Vere) and pen name, front man, and subordinate writer (Marlowe). In another sense, “wit” could also mean “sanity,” which might contrast de Vere's reason against Marlowe's known recklessness.25
As a verb, the word “seconded” (second), means “to assist or support; to back,” “to agree as a second person to (a proposal), usually to reach a necessary quorum of two.” This what the word means in the plain sense of the lines. As an adjective, “second” means “other, another”; “next to the first in value, power, excellence, dignity, or rank; secondary; subordinate; inferior.”26 This alludes to the vast difference between Edward de Vere's high social rank, great political power (as Earl of Oxford and a Tudor-Seymour prince), superior intellect, and outstanding ability as a writer, versus Marlowe's low social social status and lesser ability as a writer.
The Latin word for “second” is secundus (numeral). As an adjective, secundus can mean, in a poetic sense, “propitious, favorable, fortunate,” and a Latin word for “favorable” is faustus. The word faustus is, of course, an allusion to the play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. The word “seconded” is pointing to Marlowe as Edward de Vere’s "second" or "inferior" assistant.
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25 wit - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wit#Etymology_2_3
26 second - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/second
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Since the phrase “wit seconded with the forward childe” refers to a child, it is reasonable to add the ending “-ling” (signifying the diminutive form) to the word the word “wit” to make a pun-- “whittling.” “Whittle” means “1550s, ‘to cut thin shavings from (something) with a knife,’ from Middle English whittel (n.) ‘a knife,’ especially a large one (c. 1400), variant of thwittle (early 14c.), from Old English þwitan ‘to cut’ [or “to strike down, whittle”].”27 This is an allusion to Marlowe being killed (i.e. “struck down”) by a stab wound to his right eye. (In addition, the word “witling” means “(1690s) ‘a pretender to wit”; however, based on the known etymology, this word came into use too late for the writer of Shakespeare to know about it, but it isn’t too much of a leap to believe the writer of Shakespeare, who coined countless new words, could have thought of the idea first. If he did, the word would imply that Marlowe possessed little wit in comparison to de Vere.)28
The French word effronté (from Old French esfronté) has essentially the same meaning as "forward" in "forward child"— insolent; cheeky; impudent.”29 The Old French word esfronté is “probably from Late Latin effrontem (nominative effrons) ‘barefaced, shameless,’ from assimilated form of Latin ex ‘out’ (see ex-) + frontem (nominative frons) ‘brow’ (see front (n.)). Also compare affront... English had an earlier verb effront ‘treat with effrontery’ (17c.).”30. As a verb, the word “affront” means “to insult intentionally, especially openly”; “to meet defiantly; to confront”; “(obsolete) to meet or encounter face to face,” and, as a noun, it means “an open or intentional offense, slight, or insult; (obsolete) a hostile encounter or meeting.” The etymology of the word “affront” is “from Middle English afrounten, from Old French afronter (‘to hit in the face; to defy’), from Vulgar Latin *affrontare (‘to hit in the face’), from Latin ad (“to”) + frōns (‘forehead’) (English front).”31 This etymology alludes to the fact that Marlowe was killed by a stab to his right eye, or as stated in the coroner’s report, “over his right eye,” in his forehead. The meanings of the words also point to Marlowe’s open defiance as one reason for his murder.
The word “affront” also hints at the idea of “a front,” [F.] façade (16c.) (“front of building”), “from Italian facciata ‘the front of a building,’ from faccia ‘face,’ from Vulgar Latin *facia (see face (n.)).32 The Latin root word, facies, can mean “(Classical Latin, figuratively) external form, look, condition, appearance; (in particular) external appearance as opposed to reality; pretence, pretext.”33 The implication is that Marlowe was just a front man, a pen name, for the real author of his works, Edward de Vere.
“Forward” can also mean “(dialectal or obsolete) agreement; covenant,” ([f]rom Middle English foreward, from Old English foreweard (‘condition, bargain, agreement, contract, treaty, assurance’), equivalent to fore- + ward (‘ward, keeping’).”34 If the Old English “forward” is broken up into its Old English equivalent fore- + ward (‘ward, keeping’), then fore is a pun on “Four-D” (“D” is the fourth letter of the alphabet), and “ward” ([L.] tutor) is a pun on the name Tudor and implies guarding against, or averting (a pun on the name de Vere), or forestalling something (e.g. an agreement, oath, or promise). Thus, “forward” can imply one offense that Marlowe committed was the breach of an agreement between Christopher Marlowe (de Vere’s “second,” inferior assistant) and Edward de Vere, a Tudor prince.
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27 Search “whittling; https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/whittle” on etymonline. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=whittling;%20https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/whittle
28 Search “witling” on etymonline. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=witling
29 effronté - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/effront%C3%A9
30 Search “effrontery” on etymonline. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=effrontery
31 affront - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/affront
32 Facade - Etymology, Origin & Meaning. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/word/facade
33 facies - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/facies#Latin
34 forward - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.-b). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/forward
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In Old English, the prefix and preposition “under,” as in the word “understanding” (the word following “forward child” in the text), meant "among, between, before, in the presence of," thus “other Germanic languages use compounds meaning ‘stand before’ (German verstehen, represented in Old English by forstanden ‘understand,’ also ‘oppose, withstand’).”35 Therefore, the word “understanding” in the line “nor a mans good wit seconded with the forward childe, vnstanding,” implies the concept of Marlowe physically standing before (i.e. in the presence of, face-to-face with) Edward de Vere, and in opposition and in defiance of him. This strongly suggests that Edward de Vere was present when Marlowe was murdered and that he was the perpetrator of Marlowe’s murder.
The final part of the excerpt of As You Like It are the lines:
...it strikes a man more dead then a great rec-
koning in a little roome: truly, I would the Gods hadde
made thee poeticall.
These lines from As You Like It are understood a referring to the accepted circumstances surrounding Marlowe’s death. That is, the accepted story is that Marlowe was killed in a barroom brawl in a dispute over the bill ("the reckoning"). The key word in the line is “strikes.”
The word “stricken” (“striken” (obsolete form)) means “struck by something.” However, the German homophone, stricken, can mean “to knit (archaic to obsolete) to tie, knot”; “(figurative) to make, devise, concoct (e.g. a story, a ruse).”36 Unfortunately, there is little information available about when this meaning came into use. Apparently, the meaning stems from the idea of “weaving” or “knitting together” a story or tale. I strongly suspect, but cannot conclusively prove at this time, that the meaning of [German] stricken as “to concoct a story or ruse” is ancient and was known to the writer of As You Like It. If this meaning was known, then it indicates that the barroom brawl story of Marlowe’s death is a total fabrication. It’s a cover story. The reference to being “poetical” probably alludes to the coroner’s inquest being a wholly concocted story that the real writer (de Vere) of the inquest report regrets could not have been written in verse.
The English word “stricken” means “1510s, of a deer, ‘wounded in the chase,’ adjective use of the now-largely archaic past participle of strike (v.)... The general sense of ‘overwhelmed, brought down’ by disease, terror, panic, grief, etc. is by 1530s, especially in combinations.”37 This meaning probably alludes to the scene in As You Like It where the character Jaques (“The melancholy Jaques”) is introduced weeping over the slaughter of a deer. (Unfortunately, we don’t have the time and space here to go down that rabbit hole.)
The word “little,” in “little room,” can be translated into French as court. This alludes to the Court of Queen Elizabeth I. Marlowe had been commanded to remain within “the Verge” of the court. (“The Verge was a special 12-mile radius jurisdiction surrounding Queen Elizabeth I's court, where royal law superseded local law.”)
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35 Understanding - Etymology, origin & meaning. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/word/understanding
36 stricken - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stricken
37 Search “stricken” on etymonline. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=stricken
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In addition, it should be noted that the word “reckoning” is hyphenated in the First Folio printing of As You Like It. That is, it appears as “rec- koning.” In Dutch, koning means “a king, monarch.”38 The word “reck” means “to want (to do something); to desire to, to be inclined to, to care to”; “to know about, to know of, to be aware of”; “to concern (someone); to be important or of interest to; to matter”; “to concern oneself, to trouble oneself.”39 Since the monarch ([D.] koning) of England at the time was Queen Elizabeth I, the hidden meaning is that she sanctioned Marlowe’s killing. Therefore, Marlowe’s killing was not so much a murder as it was a covert state-sanctioned execution.
The word “would,” in the line “truly, I would the Gods hadde made thee poeticall,” is also interesting. The Latin word for “would” is vellem, which is a homonym of [L.] vellum (“a writing paper of very high quality”).40 Therefore, the line “truly, I would the Gods hadde made thee poeticall,” has the hidden meaning:
[Truely ([L.] vere), I wish you, Marlowe, had been “writing paper of very high quality to receive my verses,” that is, a trustworthy frontman/pen name, and that God had made you a good poet.]
3. A Third (But Unrecognized) Reference to Christopher Marlowe in As You Like It:
(Act 3, Scene 3)
1730 Cel. Nay certainly there is no truth in him.
Ros. Doe you thinke so?
Cel. Yes, I thinke he is not a picke purse, nor a horse-
stealer, but for his verity in loue, I doe thinke him as
concaue as a couered goblet, or a Worme-eaten nut.
1735 Ros. Not true in loue?
Cel. Yes, when he is in, but I thinke he is not in.
Ros. You haue heard him sweare downright he was.
Cel. Was, is not is: besides, the oath of Louer is no
stronger then the word of a Tapster, they are both the
1740 confirmer of false reckonings, he attends here in the for-
rest on the Duke your father.
Ros. I met the Duke yesterday, and had much que-
stion with him: he askt me of what parentage I was; I
told him of as good as he, so he laugh'd and let mee goe.
1745 But what talke wee of Fathers, when there is such a man
as Orlando?
Cel. O that's a braue man, hee writes braue verses,
speakes braue words, sweares braue oathes, and breakes
them brauely, quite trauers athwart the heart of his lo-
1750 uer, as a puisny Tilter, yt spurs his horse but on one side,
breakes his staffe like a noble goose; but all's braue that
youth mounts, and folly guides: who comes heere?
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38 koning - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/koning
39 reck - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reck
40 vellum - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vellum
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First, these lines are noteworthy:
1735 Ros. Not true in loue?
Cel. Yes, when he is in, but I thinke he is not in.
Ros. You haue heard him sweare downright he was.
Supposedly, on the day of his death Christopher Marlowe spent the entire day inside the inn of Dame Eleanor Bull (an interesting pun on Oxford, by the way). These lines imply that this is false. Marlowe was "not in [the inn]" when he was killed. He was, in fact, outside (out of doors-- an anagram of Tudors), in a forest, under a tree (see discussion later).
Another word for "inn" is "lodge" ([L.] deversorium-- a pun on the name de Vere), and a "Lodge" can refer to a Masonic Lodge. A brother Mason takes an oath of secrecy upon entering a Masonic Lodge. Rosalind's statement, "You have heard him swear downright he was [in a Masonic Lodge]" alludes to this oath of secrecy. The implication is that Marlowe was a sworn brother Mason (or brother of the Rosy Cross) who broke his solemn oath of secrecy. The text at 1742-1746 alludes to the secret Marlowe was revealing that broke his oath-- he was talking openly about Edward de Vere's true parentage as a Tudor-Seymour prince.
The text underlined above appears around line 1740 of the play (the Internet Shakespeare Editions presents a count of text lines (scene titles, stage directions, and spoken lines), without including line spacing where no text appears). The late Alexander Waugh discovered that in the works of Shakespeare the number 1740 is repeatedly encoded. Furthermore, the numbers 17, 40, 57 (17 + 40 = 57), and 1740 are associated with Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. See Mr. Waugh's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@alexanderwaugh7036; and the video "The Incalculable Genius of John Dee" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-PWR7-0Hp4&t=4s.
The lines mention the “false reckonings” of a “Tapster,” so the lines appear to be related to the lines around line 1625 that mention a "Tapster" and “a great reckoning in a little room.”
Now let’s examine the words:
Was, is not is: besides, the oath of Louer is no
stronger then the word of a Tapster, they are both the
1740 confirmer of false reckonings, he attends here in the for-
rest on the Duke your father.
The Latin word for “was” is erat, which is pronounced like “a rat.” Being called a rat is bad enough, but in Shakespeare’s time it does not seem that the word “rat” had taken on the meaning of “a traitor”:
Applied since 12c. (in surnames) to persons held to resemble rats or share some characteristic or quality with them. Specific sense of "one who abandons his associates for personal advantage" (1620s) is from the belief that rats leave a ship about to sink or a house about to fall, and this led to the meaning "traitor, informant" (1902).41
In French, the word for “was” is était.
The word “is” in French and Latin is est.
When the word “rat” and est, are combined, the result is “ratest,” which is “(archaic) second-person singular simple present indicative of “rate,” and “rate” means “(obsolete) the worth of something; value. [15th–19th centuries].” So, the implication of the phrase “Was, is not is” in the text is that Marlowe was as worthless as a rat.
When the words était and est are combined, the result is étaitest, a non-word that is an anagram of an actual word, etatiste, which means “(archaic) a skilled politician or one with political power, knowledge or influence. [from 16th c.].” Consequently, the implication of the phrase “Was, is not is” in the text is that Marlowe was an unskilled politician, and had no political power, knowledge, or influence. In other words, Marlowe got himself into trouble and had no political leverage to extricate himself from the situation.
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41 Search “rat” on etymonline. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=rat
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The French word for “besides” ("in addition to, otherwise") is sinon (a “contraction of Middle French si non”) (pronounced like “see-non”).
The word “oath” means "a solemn pledge or promise that invokes a deity, a ruler, or another entity (not necessarily present) to attest the truth of a statement or sincerity of one's desire to fulfill a contract or promise.”42 The French word for “oath” is serment (oath, pledge). The root of the word serment goes back to the Latin word sacramentum, which means “(Ecclesiastical Latin) a mystery, secret.” The word serment also is a near homonym of the word “sermon.” This will tie into the discussion of the controversy over the tracts published under the name Martin Marprelate (sometimes printed as Martin Mar-prelate), which will be discussed later.
The word “love” (from “lover” in the text) is amour in French.
The word “strong” is forte in French. As Alexander Waugh noted--
In simple gematria the letter V (the 20th letter of the Latin Roman alphabet) is 20. Double V (‘VV’) therefore equals 40 (there being no W in the Latin alphabet)...
“Double V” (“VV”) which contracts Oxford’s motto, Vero nihil Verius – meaning nothing truer that Vere/Truth– is found on a Vere family seal ring (before 1578), and was used as a pseudonym subscribed to a prefatory letter in a pamphlet by Oxford’s servant, John Lyly. The letter ends “yours at an houres warning Double V”...43
Thus, the words “no stronger,” in the text from As You Like It (above), means “no, or not, forty” (i.e. not a de Vere). This plays into the solution immediately below.
Therefore, combining the words si non, “oath,” sacramentum (i.e. “a mystery, secret”), and “love” (amour) reveals the following hidden message:
[Marlowe committed a “sin on” his oath to the queen, by breaking it, and threatening to reveal the secret that Edward de Vere was “a si-mour" (a Seymour) and no “[F.] forte” (forty) (i.e., not a “double Vee,” not a “deux Vere”).]
Next, we come to the lines underlined below:
Was, is not is: besides, the oath of Louer is no
stronger then the word of a Tapster, they are both the
1740 confirmer of false reckonings, he attends here in the for-
rest on the Duke your father.
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42 oath - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oath
43 Waugh, A. (2023c). ‘My beloved the AVTHOR’: the subtext of Ben Jonson’s first Folio encomium to William Shakespeare. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 37(2), 255–269. https://doi.org/10.31275/20233115
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In French “word” can be translated as mot (word) or verbe (speech). In Old French, verbe means “word.” The letters in mot spell “Tom” when reversed, so the first name Tom can be combined with “si-mour" (Seymour) to reveal “[Thomas] Tom Seymour.” The word verbe is wordplay on the name de Vere.
A “tapster” is someone who taps kegs of ale, serves drinks, and keeps an account of the bill (the reckoning). The French word tarauder means “to tap” in the sense of “to tap (a nut); to thread (a screw)”; “(of an insect) to bore into”; “(figurative) to torment, to prey on someone's mind,” so it does not have the same meaning as “to drive a tap into a keg with a maul.” Therefore, tarauder may not be intended for consideration. On the other hand, tarauder is an anagram of “tuder” (homonym of Tudor) and [L.] ara (“altar; sanctuary, refuge”).44
In Latin, “both” ("the two, the one and the other") can be translated as geminus, meaning “twin” and “(transferred sense) double, paired, two, twofold, both, half-and-half.”45 The word “confirmer” (“confirm”) can be translated into French as vérifier (“to confirm; to prove”). The word vérifier is “borrowed from Medieval Latin vērificāre, from Latin vērus (“true”) + faciō (‘to do, to make’).”46 So, the French word vérifier and its Latin root are wordplay on the name de Vere, and possibly on the name Tudor (from faciō ‘to do, to make’).
The French word corroborer (“to corroborate”) can also mean “confirm” (as in “confirmer of false oaths”). The Latin root of this word is corroboro (“to make strong, strengthen, invigorate, corroborate, reinforce, fortify”).47 The word “strong” is forte in French, and as noted elsewhere in this paper, the number forty (40) is a code number associated with Edward de Vere. Therefore, corroboro is wordplay on “forty" (i.e. Edward de Vere) and “bore” from Old English borian (“to pierce”) and results in “Edward de Vere pierces (stabs).” (“Bore” is also wordplay on “boar.” A blue boar is part of Edward de Vere’s coat of arms.)48 And who does Edward de Vere stab? As will be seen, the answer is: Christopher Marlowe.
The French word for “false” is faux, which can mean “false; fabrication, forgery.” As a noun, faux means “scythe.” The implication is that the report about Christopher Marlowe’s death by William Danby, the Coroner of the Queen’s Household, was a fabrication, a forgery. In addition, the meaning of faux as a scythe confirms that Marlowe was cut down like someone cutting grass or grain. (This might allude to the idea of cutting down a straw man (front man); however, it is difficult to pin down the origin in time of "straw man." The rhetorical concept of figuratively "planting" false arguments is ancient but it's not clear if the term "straw man" was in use.)
The last line to examine is “he attends here in the for- / rest on the Duke your father”:
Was, is not is: besides, the oath of Louer is no
stronger then the word of a Tapster, they are both the
1740 confirmer of false reckonings, he attends here in the for-
rest on the Duke your father.
The key word in this line is the hyphenated word “for- rest” (forest). Since we have established that the facts of Marlowe’s death set out in the coroner’s report are a complete fabrication, it seems the hyphenated word “for- rest” is a clue that Marlowe was killed in a forest while resting (i.e. Marlowe was in a forest, for rest).
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44 ara - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ara#Latin
45 Search “both; https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/geminus” on etymonline. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=both;%20https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/geminus
46 vérifier - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/v%C3%A9rifier
47 corroboro - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/corroboro#Latin
48 bore - Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). Wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bore
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The line also mentions Orlando “attending” on “the Duke.” This indicates that Marlowe was in a forest, for rest, waiting for Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, when Oxford appeared and killed him. Perhaps Marlowe was resting under an oak or chestnut tree (see discussion of chestnut brown ([F.] marron) (below)).
The theory that Marlowe was in a forest under a tree, instead of lying on a bed in a tavern, is probably linked to the mention of a tree in Act 2, Scene 5, (the song "Under the Greenwood Tree"), and in Act 3, Scene 2, where Celia describes finding Orlando “under a tree, like a dropp'd acorn,” and in Act 4, Scene 3, where Oliver describes himself as a “ragged man” under a tree, with a “green and gilded snake” wreathed around his neck, and with a lioness stalking him from the bushes. The “ragged man” is a possible allusion to "Ragamuffin" (originally Ragamoffyn), a demon character in the 14th-century Middle English poem Piers Plowman by William Langland.49 Unfortunately, we do not have the time and space to follow these clues down the rabbit hole in this paper.
The hidden message of lines 1738-1741 of As You Like It is—
[Marlowe was a worthless rat and a poor politician without political influence (to escape from the situation he put himself into).
He committed a “sin on” his oath to the queen, by breaking it, and threatening to reveal the secret that Edward de Vere was “a si-mour" (a Seymour), the son of Tom Seymour, and no “[F.] forte” (forty) (i.e., not a “double Vee,” not a “deux Vere”).
Marlowe’s oath to the queen to keep this secret was not stronger than Edward de Vere’s oath to keep the secret— the altar of the Tudor sanctuary— inviolate.
Edward de Vere, the confirmer (i.e. auditor, "I, a Tudor") of false reckonings (i.e. oaths), met Marlowe in a forest, where Marlowe had gone for rest while he waited for Oxford. When he arrived, Oxford (the boar, code number 40) “corroborated” Marlowe’s oath by stabbing or piercing (“borian” (“to pierce”)) Marlowe above the right eye killing him, and a faux coroner’s report was fabricated to conceal the cutting down (scything) of Marlowe.]
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49 Ragamuffin - Etymology, Origin & Meaning. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/word/ragamuffin
[END OF PART 2]
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