Note 437 — SCENE II.

a squire of the body] “A squire of the body, says Mr. Steevens (note on the First Part of Henry IV.)—[Malone’s Shakespeare (by Boswell), vol. xvi. p. 191]—signified, originally, the attendant on a knight, the person who bore his head-piece, spear, and shield. It afterwards became a cant term for a pimp, and is so used here.” Reed. So also B. Jonson uses the single word squire for pimp or procurer: (see Gifford’s note on Every Man in his Humour—Works, vol. i. p. 132.) See also our author’s Fair Quarrel, act iv. sc. 4.