Act 5, Scene 4

Windsor Park

Notes

TLN 2046archaic vocab
“Trib, trib, fairies”
'Trib, trib' is Evans's Welsh-accented rendering of 'trip, trip' — a call to move quickly and lightly. Welsh speakers in Elizabethan English comedy often reversed p and b sounds; the joke is that the disguised fairy-leader sounds nothing like a real fairy.
TLN 2046cultural context
“Be pold, I pray you”
'Pold' is Evans's Welsh pronunciation of 'bold' — be brave, do not lose your nerve. Welsh English in this period characteristically swapped initial b and p; Shakespeare uses this consistently for Evans throughout the play as a comic marker of his foreign accent.
TLN 2047stage direction note
“follow me into the pit”
'The pit' refers to a hiding place — likely a hollow or ditch in Windsor Park — where Evans and the disguised fairies will conceal themselves until the signal to emerge and torment Falstaff. This brief scene is a transitional bridge: Evans is marshalling his troop just before Falstaff arrives at Herne's Oak in the following scene (5.5).
TLN 2047archaic vocab
“when I give the watch-ords, do as I pid you”
'Watch-ords' (watchwords) are pre-arranged signals or passwords — here, the cue Evans will give for the fairies to emerge and begin tormenting Falstaff. 'Pid' is Evans's Welsh pronunciation of 'bid' (told, commanded). The watchword system was standard military and theatrical practice for co-ordinating a surprise action.