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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 13.2348  Wednesday, 27 November 2002

From:           John Briggs <john.briggs4@ntlworld.com>
Date:           Tuesday, 26 Nov 2002 22:31:17 -0000
Subject: 13.2333 Re: "Esperance!"
Comment:        Re: SHK 13.2333 Re: "Esperance!"

Larry Weiss asks "What is the support for this?".  I can only reply
firmly that the support is unimpeachable: it would have been more
pertinent had he asked "What is the relevance of this?", as Sir Hugh
Smithson only inherited the earldom (and took the name and arms of
Percy) in 1750.

The Percy war cry was "Espérance!" (or "Espérance and Percy!"), and this
was later softened to "Espérance en Dieu" as the family motto.  I find
that I have fewer sources on mediaeval heraldry than I had supposed, so
I have been unable to ascertain when motto this was adopted, but I am
satisfied that it was used by the Earl of Northumberland who was a
contemporary of Shakespeare.  (Shakespeare took an interest in heraldry,
and for his own arms adopted the motto "Non sanz droict" - "Not without
mustard".)  I would gently point out to Nora Kreimer that it is more
usual for a ship to take as its name a family motto than vice versa.

A complication is that in his Arden 2 edition of 1H4 (1960) A.R.
Humphreys confidently states that the Percy motto was "Esperance ma
Comforte", which is taken over David Bevington in his Oxford edition
(1987), and David Scott Kastan in his new Arden 3 edition (2002).
Humphreys wrote in a more cultured age, so he does not provide a
translation, but Professor Kastan gives "In hope is my strength".  This
is an excellent translation, although not, it would appear, of the words
in question.  Professor Kastan further tries my patience by suggesting
that "Roan" is the name of Hotspur's horse; an insight which had eluded
previous commentators.

John Briggs

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