Caleno custure me (also spelled Calin o custure me) is the title of a song mentioned in Shakespeare's Henry V (IV,4). The context is on a Hundred Years' War battlefield, where an English soldier cannot understand his French captive and intending to answer in similar gibberish pronounces the title of the song.
: French Soldier
:
: PISTOL
: Qualtitie calmie custure me! Art thou a gentleman?
: what is thy name? discuss.
: French Soldier
:
The song as preserved has English lyrics, with this single line of mock-Latin as its Chorus. The origin of the line is not Latin, however, but is most commonly believed to refer to the Irish-language song . It has also been claimed to be from the Irish , 'I am a girl from the Suir-side' from the 17th century Irish poem .
See also
- Macaronic