ene
1; Alarum _and cry within_, 'Fly, fly, fly,' _Jul. Caes._ V, v; Alarum
afar off, _as at a sea fight_, _Ant._ IV, x.

Out of the 72 cases in the stage directions, 70 mean a call to battle
by _drums_. There are only two exceptions, where the Alarum is
identified with trumpets, _H. 6. B._ II, iii, 92, and _Troil._ IV, v,
112, 117.

Skeat gives the original of the term as 'all'arme' (Ital.) a war cry
of the time of the Crusades. For the _form_ of the word, he compares
_arum_ (arm) and _koren_ (corn).

_'Alarum' in the text._

The word is used 13 times in the text of Shakespeare; and in 6 of
these it refers to _drums_, as in the stage directions _H. 6. A._ I,
ii, 18, I, iv, 99, II, i, 42; _R. 3._ I, i, 7; _Cor._ II, ii, 76; _H.
5._ IV, vi, 35.

But in two of the remaining examples, alarum is distinctly said to be
_trumpets_, _H. 6. B._ II, iii, 93 and V, ii, 3; while other more
extended meanings are found--_e.g._, in _Venus and Adonis_, l. 700,
where it refers to the noise of the dogs hunting the hare; in
_Macbeth_ II, iii, 75 and V, v, 51, where alarum is used of a Bell;
also in _Lucrece_, 433, of Tarquin's 'drumming heart' 'giving the hot
charge,' and _Othello_ II, iii, 27, of Desdemona's voice, which Iago
says is 'an alarum to love.'

_Flourish_, either simply in this form, or 'Flourish of Trumpets' (six
times) or 'Flourish of Cornets' (twice), occurs about 68 times in
seventeen plays.

Out of these, it is used some 22 times for the entrance or exit of a
King or Queen; 12 times for the entrance or exit of a distinguished
person not a king; 10 times in the public welcome of a Queen or great
general; 7 times it marks the end of a scene; 6 times heralds a
victorious force; twice announces the proclamation of a King; twice
signalises the entrance or exit of Senate or Tribunes; and twice gives
warning of the approach of Play-actors [See Section VI., at end], or
the commencement of a Play. [Players in Hamlet, and Pyramus and Thisbe
in _Mids. Nt._].

Some solitary uses are where Rich. III. orders a Flourish to drown the
reproaches of Qu. Eliz. and the Duchess of York; the occasion of the
betrothal of H. V. and Katherine of France; and the public welcome of
the three Ladies in Coriolanus. The last is _A Flourish with drums and
trumpets_, which occurs several times. In Grove's Dictionary (under
'Fanfare') is given a seven bar Flourish which is believed to be of
Charles II.'s time, and is still used at the opening o