The Complete Cony-catching by Robert Greene

Notes

A Notable Discovery of Cozenage

1. Nascimur pro patria: "We are born for our country."

2. Omnia sub sole vanitas: "All is vanity under the sun" (Ecclesiastes.).

3. Patres patriæ: "Fathers of the country."

4. With a langret, cut contrary to the vantage, will cross-bite a card cater tray: i.e., will swindle a victim by throwing a four and a three with dice which have been cut in such a way that they are not exactly cubical, and so will fall with the smaller face on top.

5. Quis nisi mentis inops ollatum respuit aurum: "Who but a madman rejects money."

6. Vie and Revie: to raise and re-raise the stakes.

7. Summum ius: "The greatest force of the law."

8. Cum multis aliis quæ nunc præscribere longum est: "With many others which would be too long to describe now."

9. Multa latent quæ non patent: "Many things are hidden that are not seen."

10. No cozen to grime with his stop dice: i.e. No victim to swindle with his loaded dice.

11. Polyphemus: a savage man-eating giant in the ninth book of Homer's Odyssey

12. By his ownes: A minced oath = by his (Jesus') wounds.

13.A shamless woman etc: Proverbs 22:26

14. Si quis: A public notice advertising lost property or wanted men.

15. Exordium: The beginning or introduction of a speech or court plea.

16. Neapolitan favour: Syphilis, the first major outbreak of which in Europe was at the siege of Naples, 1495.

17. Parators and sumners: Minor court officials.

18. The Arches: An ecclesiastical court (still in existence) which dealt with religious and moral matters, including adultery, illegitimacy, etc.

19. Venus in vinis, ignis in igne fuit: "Love and wine together are like adding fuel to fire" (Ovid, The Art of Love).

20. gogs nownes: A minced oath = God's (Jesus') wounds.

21 Fallere fallentem non est fraus: "It's no sin to cheat the cheaters."

22. Bull: Samuel Bull, hangman of London.

23. Ne Hercules contra duos: "Not even Hercules (could win a fight) against two."

24. Jack Drum: Jack (or John or Tom) Drum's entertainment was to be dragged into the house, beaten and thrown out again. See Shakespeare: All's Well that Ends Well, iii. 6. A comedy called Jack Drum's Entertainment by John Marston was performed several times in 1599-1600 and published in 1601.

The Second Part of Cony-Catching

25. Mallem non esse quam non prodesse patriae: "Better not to live than not to be of service to my country."

26. το πρεπον [to prepon]: "Fittingly."

27. Immedicabile vulnus, Ense resecandum est ne pars sincera trahitur: "The infected part which cannot be cured must be cut away, lest it infect the healthy parts." Ovid, Metamorphoses Bk. 1 l. 190-91.