THE old comedy with this title, and on this subject, which preceded Shakespeare's, and which he had undoubtedly before him, is inserted in Part the Second. Its interest for us is enhanced by the more than possibility that in its original shape it received certain touches from Shakespeare's hand at the time when he was bestowing a considerable share of his attention on the alteration of existing dramas, before he entered on the composition of pieces, in which he depended chiefly on the inspiration of his own genius.
The ballad of the " Curst Wife lapt in Morel's Skin " seemed scarcely worth its room, as it is printed in Hazlitt's " Popular Poetry ;" but although it has nothing in common with Shakespeare's play, and is a lamentable piece of doggrel, there was such a desire to collect together all the probable Aids and Lights to the works of the great poet, that it has been admitted.
As regards Shakespeare's indebtedness to another source— the " Suppositi" of Ariosto, as translated by George Gascoigne, and performed at Gray's Inn in 1566, the reader should consult Mr Hunter's work (i. 352); and it may be sufficient to add, that the English version of the "Suppositi" has been rendered accessible in Hazlitt's edition of Gascoigne.
The " Waking Man's Fortune " is reprinted from the "Shake-peare Society's Papers," vol. ii., where it is described as a small fragment of an otherwise unrecovered publication; and whether it be identical or no with the lost story-book of Richard Edwards, cited by Warton, it gives us the tale of the Tinker, which makes the Induction to the drama, and which we trace back to the " Arabian Nights." It is common to many collections, and Mr Hunter relates the curious anecdote, relevant and apposite tc It, of the Marquis of Worcester.