Quickly

(Dame). Hostess of a tavern in Eastcheap. (Shakespeare: Henry IV., parts 1 and 2.)

Mistress Quickly.

Servant of all-work to Dr. Caius. She says: “I wash, wring, brew, bake, scour, dress meat and drink, make the beds, and do all myself.” She is the go-between of three suitors to Anne Page, and to prove her disinterestedness she says: “I would my master had Mistress Anne, or I would Master Slender had her, or in sooth I would Master Fenton had her. I will do what I can for them all three, for so I have promised; and I'll be as good as my word; but speciously for Master Fenton.” (Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894

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