Lancastrians under Clifford had gained two days before (March 26) at Ferrybridge.
II. iii. 15. Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk. The 'Bastard of Salisbury,' half-brother of Warwick, was slain at Ferrybridge. It is remarkable that in the True Tragedy Richard announces to Warwick the death, not of his brother, but of his father Salisbury. The reviser doubtless made the correction for the sake of accuracy, since Holinshed records the historic fact that Salisbury had already been captured at Wakefield and beheaded.
II. v. 54. The latter part of this soliloquy, from line 20, corresponds to nothing in the True Tragedy and is a good example of the sentimental note found in many of Shakespeare's additions to the original play. There is an evident analogy to the much more mature soliloquy of Richard II on thought (Richard II, V. v. 1-66) and Henry IV on sleep (2 Henry IV, III. i. 4 ff.). It is equally evident, I think, that lines 20-54 are influenced by the style of Greene's pastoral verse.
II. v. 78 S. d. Enter Father, bearing of his son. The Father, whose entrance has been prepared for in the stage direction following line 54, now comes forward.
II. vi. S. d. Enter Clifford, wounded. The True Tragedy reads 'Enter Clifford wounded, with an arrow in his necke.' Clifford was actually slain, in a small engagement on the day before the battle of Towton, by an arrow in the neck.
II. vi. 8. The common people swarm like summer flies. This line is not in the Folio, and has been introduced from the True Tragedy version (cf. II. i. 113). On the other hand, line 17, which also mentions summer flies, is found only in the Folio. Both were probably not intended to remain. With these exceptions, Clifford's speech is virtually the same in the
