Sir John Oldcastle pentameter verse lines in both parts are irregular when using the name "Falstaff," but correct with "Oldcastle." Finally, there is the blatant disclaimer at the close of "Henry IV, Part 2" that disassociates the two figures: "for Oldcastle died [a] martyr, and this is not the man" (Epilogue, 29-32). There is even a hint that Falstaff was originally Oldcastle in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" too. When the First Folio and quarto texts of that play are compared, it appears that the joke in V,v,85-90 is that Oldcastle/Falstaff incriminates himself by calling out the first letter of his name, "O,
John Shakespeare Stratford. By 1564, John was an alderman, a member of the Common Hall of Stratford, and it was in this year that William was born. In 1568 John was appointed High Bailiff, the present-day equivalent of mayor, elected by the common council of burgesses and aldermen, which entitled him to be referred to as Master John Shakespeare. In that capacity he presided at the sessions of the Court of Record and at council meetings. For his borough the bailiff was almoner, coroner, escheator, and clerk of the market, and served as justice of the peace issuing warrants and negotiating with