QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1 ACT/SCENE: 3.1 SPEAKER: Hotspur CONTEXT: I do not care. I’ll give thrice so much land
To any well-deserving friend;
But in the way of bargain, mark you me,
I’ll cavil on the ninth part of a hair.
Are the indentures drawn? Shall we be gone? DUTCH: t Is me onverschillig; driemaal zooveel land
Geef ik den eersten, besten, trouwen vriend;
Maar geldt het een verdrag of koop, let wel,
Dan twist ik om het tiende van een haar. MORE: Schmidt:
Cavil=To quarrel, to find fault (the phrase “splitting hairs” was recorded in the 1652 OED and would mean one who is very persistent, stubborn)
Well-deserving=Full of merit, worthy (deserving)
Indentures=Contracts
Compleat:
Cavil=Haairkloovery, woordentwist
To cavil=Knibbelen, kibbelen, haairklooven, woordvitten, bedillen, schimpen
Indenture=Een verdragsbrief [zo genoemd] om dat men daar van twee al-eens luidende kopyen maakt, en die met tanden of hoeken van malkanderen snydt.
CITED IN US LAW:
United States v. Jones, 176 F.2d 278, 289-90 (9th Cir. 1949)(Yankwich, J.) (In a government contract dispute: “To use Hotspur’ s phrasing, the Government was not ‘in the way of bargain’ caviling ‘on the ninth part of a hair.’ …” Topics: cited in law, contract, merit, dispute