166. The reading of the text is that of the editions of 1637 and 1645.
In the edition of 1673 the reading was:

"I shall appear some harmless villager,
And hearken, if I may, her business here.
But here she comes, I fairly step aside."

But in the errata there was a direction to omit the comma after _may_,
and to change _here_ into _hear_. In Masson's text, accordingly, he
reads: "And hearken, if I may her business hear."

167. ~keeps up~, etc., _i.e._ keeps occupied with his country affairs even
up to a late hour. _Gear_: its original sense is 'preparation' (A.S.
_gearu_, ready); hence 'business' or 'property.' Comp. Spenser, _F. Q._
vi. 3. 6, "That to Sir Calidore was _easy gear_," _i.e._ an easy matter,
fairly, softly. _Fair_ and _softly_ were two words which went together,
signifying _gently_ (Warton).

170. ~mine ear ... My best guide~. Observe the juxtaposition of _mine_ and
_my_ in these lines. _Mine_ is frequent before a vowel, especially when
the possessive adjective is not emphatic. In Shakespeare 'mine' is
almost always found before "eye," "ear," etc., where no emphasis is
intended (Abbott, Sec. 237).

171. ~Methought~, _i.e._ it seemed to me. In the verb 'methinks' _me_ is
the dative, and _thinks_ is an impersonal verb (A.S. _thincan_, to
appear), quite distinct from the causal verb 'I think,' which is from
A.S. _thencan_, to make to appear.

173. ~jocund~, merry. Comp. _L'Allegro_, 94, "the _jocund_ rebecks sound."
~gamesome~, lively. This word, like many other adjectives in _-some_, is
now less common than it was in Elizabethan English: many such adjectives
are obsolete, _e.g._ laboursome, joysome, quietsome, etc. (see Trench's
_English, Past and Present_, v.).

174. ~unlettered hinds~, ignorant rustics (A.S. _hina_, a domestic).

175. ~granges~, granaries, barns (Lat. _granum_, grain). The word is now
applied to a farm-house with its outhouses.

176. ~Pan~, the god of everything connected with pastoral life: see _Arc._
106, "Though Syrinx your Pan's mistress were."

177. ~thank the gods amiss~. _Amiss_ stands for M.E. _on misse_ = in
error. "Perhaps there is a touch of Puritan rigour in this. The gods
should be thanked in solemn acts of devotion, and not by merry-making"
(Keightley). See Introduction.

178. ~swilled insolence~, etc., _i.e._ the drunken rudeness of those
carousing at this late hour. _Swill_: to swill is to drink greedily,
hence to drink like a pig. ~wassailers~;