counter
“and yet draws dry-foot well—A hound that runs,”
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, iv. 2.
39.
To run counter is to mistake the course of
the game, or to turn and pursue the backward trail; to draw
dry-foot is to track by the scent of the foot:
“To run counter
and draw dry-foot well are therefore
inconsistent. The jest consists in the ambiguity of the word counter, which means the wrong way in the chace and a prison in
London. The officer that arrested him was a sergeant of the counter”
(JOHNSON)
.
“You hunt counter: hence! avaunt!”
2 HENRY IV., i. 2. 85
;
“O, this is counter, you false Danish dogs!”
HAMLET, iv. 5. 107.
A General Glossary to Shakespeare's Works. Alexander Dyce. Boston. Dana Estes and Company. 1904.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a high level of accuracy.
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