The Second Shepherd's Play

“We are so lamed,

Overtaxed and rammed,

And like a pet tamed

By those gentlemen.”

In his opening speech, the 1st Shepherd, Col, complains about the way in which he and the other shepherds must work for wealthy gentlemen who force them to endure long, grueling hours for insufficient wages. He feels that poor, hard-working men like himself are being exploited by the rich. 

“She is as great as a whale withal,

She has a gallon of gall,

By him that died for us all

I would I had lost her.” 

In his first speech, the 2nd Shepherd, Gib, declares that men are oppressed by women and that married men like himself “have not their own will” (3). In these lines, he describes his wife as a large and insolent woman whose presence he wishes he no longer had to endure. The expression, “By him that died for us all,” is one of the many anachronisms that the characters use to swear in the play; it alludes to the fact that Christ sacrificed himself for the salvation of mankind, even though the Christ-Child has not been born yet in the play.

“If Mak's coming, watch out for your things!” 

When Mak first approaches the shepherds, Dave reminds the others–and alerts the audience–that Mak has a reputation as a thief. From the beginning, Dave is the most suspicious of Mak’s intentions in visiting them and their flock.