Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

The king is almost wounded to the death;

And, in the fortune of my lord your son,

Prince Harry slain outright; and both the Blunts

Kill’d by the hand of Douglas; young Prince John

And Westmoreland and Stafford fled the field;

And Harry Monmouth’s brawn, the hulk Sir John,

Is prisoner to your son:

 

-Lord Bardolph

King Henry the Fourth Part II        Act I, Scene i, Line 18

 

Okay, today we have the eighteenth line of the play…sort of. This play has a forty line Induction (prologue) given by Rumour. I should tell you that Rumour comes out in the Induction and tells the audience what he’s all about and that he’s going to play a part by having untrue reports being spread. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing in today’s Totally Random line.

Bardolph is reporting to Northumberland how the battle has gone. Northumberland, Hotspur’s father, is on the side of the rebellion against the king, so that all the news appears to be very good indeed…except it’s not. It’s not good, because it’s not true. It becomes apparent that Bardolph was not at the battle and is giving a second, or perhaps third or fourth, hand account. In other words, his account is based on rumour; false rumour. Very shortly Morton is going to show up. Morton was actually at the battle and informs Northumberland that his son, Hotspur, has fallen, and the battle was lost.

See, you can’t trust Rumour. He can be a real bugger at times.  

Now here is a perfect example of how a false rumour can get started. Jeff took this pic of Nina whilst they were in Amsterdam. He took it because from the back that guy standing next to Nina looks just like me. So they could've started the rumour that I went with them on the trip to Amsterdam, which of course I didn't. 

Rumour!