IV. vii. 105. Monmouth caps. These caps were soft and flat, with a plume, and were worn particularly by soldiers. As their name indicates, they were originally made at Monmouth, where the cap-making industry appears to have flourished. 'The best caps were formerly made at Monmouth, where the Capper's Chapel doth still remain.' (Fuller, Worthies of Wales, 1660.)
IV. viii. 128. Non nobis. This is the one hundred and fifteenth psalm, which begins, in the Latin version, 'Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam.'
V. Chor. 30. general. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, set out from London on March 27, 1599, to suppress Tyrone's rebellion in Ireland. (Cf. Appendix B.) His return was by no means the triumph which Shakespeare prophesies in these lines. He mismanaged his campaign most conspicuously, frequently acting in opposition to the commands of the queen, and finally concluded a truce with Tyrone in September in order that he might be free to return to London and vindicate himself before the queen. In the following June he was called before a special court to answer for his mismanagement of the mission and was deprived of his offices.
V. Chor. 38. emperor's. In five lines the Chorus passes over the events of four years. Emperor Sigismund landed at Dover on May 1, 1416, about six months after the battle of Agincourt, and immediately set about his task of making peace between England and France; but it was not until May, 1420, that the peace treaty was signed. Shakespeare makes no reference to Henry's second military expedition to France and the long siege of Rouen.
V. ii. 17. basilisks. The basilisk cannon was named after a fabulous serpent, the basilisk or cockatrice, that was said to kill its victims with a glance.
