Act 4, Scene 5

A Room in LORD STANLEY'S house.

[Enter STANLEY and SIR CHRISTOPHER URSWICK.]
Lord Stanley (Derby)
3167 Sir Christopher, tell Richmond this from me:—
3168 That in the sty of the most deadly boar
3169 My son George Stanley is frank'd up in hold:
3170 If I revolt, off goes young George's head;
3171 The fear of that holds off my present aid.
3172 So, get thee gone: commend me to thy lord;
3173 Withal say that the queen hath heartily consented
3174 He should espouse Elizabeth her daughter.
3175 But tell me, where is princely Richmond now?
Christopher Urswick
3176 At Pembroke, or at Ha'rford-west in Wales.
Lord Stanley (Derby)
3177 What men of name resort to him?
Christopher Urswick
3178 Sir Walter Herbert, a renowned soldier;
3179 Sir Gilbert Talbot, Sir William Stanley;
3180 Oxford, redoubted Pembroke, Sir James Blunt,
3181 And Rice ap Thomas, with a valiant crew;
3182 And many other of great name and worth:
3183 And towards London do they bend their power,
3184 If by the way they be not fought withal.
Lord Stanley (Derby)
3185 Well, hie thee to thy lord; I kiss his hand;
3186 My letter will resolve him of my mind.
3187 Farewell.
[Gives papers to SIR CHRISTOPHER. Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 3168historical topical
“sty of the most deadly boar”
Stanley calls Richard 'the boar' because Richard III's personal heraldic badge was a white boar, worn by his retainers as a badge of loyalty. 'Sty' (a pig-pen) is a deliberate insult — Stanley is saying the whole royal court is a filthy enclosure ruled by this animal.
historical The White Boar (Richard's Badge)
TLN 3169archaic vocab
“frank'd up in hold”
'Frank'd up' means penned and fattened like an animal before slaughter — a 'frank' was a sty or coop used to fatten pigs and poultry. 'In hold' means in captivity. Stanley is saying his son George is being kept like a caged beast to ensure Stanley's obedience.
TLN 3173historical topical
“queen hath heartily consented / He should espouse Elizabeth her daughter”
The queen here is Elizabeth Woodville, widow of Edward IV. Her daughter Elizabeth of York was the Yorkist heiress to the throne. By marrying Richmond, she would unite the rival Lancaster and York bloodlines, ending the dynastic quarrel that drove the entire Wars of the Roses — and founding the Tudor dynasty that ruled England in Shakespeare's own lifetime.
historical Richmond and the Tudor Mythhistorical The Wars of the Roses
TLN 3176historical topical
“At Pembroke, or at Ha'rford-west in Wales”
Pembroke Castle in southwest Wales was Richmond's birthplace and childhood home — he was raised there as a ward after his Lancastrian father died. Haverfordwest ('Ha'rford-west') is a market town a few miles from Pembroke. Richmond landed on the Welsh coast in August 1485 and marched through Wales, drawing support from Welsh lords who saw him as one of their own through his Lancastrian Welsh ancestry.
historical The Battle of Bosworth Field