'long and short of it ' and 'canary'/canaries (shakespeare)

Posted by Courbel on June 17, 2004

I need help with a couple of things:

i)the meaning of 'the short and the long of it'
ii) the meaning of 'canary'/'canaries'

this is the source:

1) MISTRESS QUICKLY (to Falstaff)

Marry, this is the short and the long of it;
You have brought her into such a canaries as 'tis
wonderful. The best courtier of them all,
when thecourt lay at Windsor, could never have brought her to such a canary.

W. Shakespeare
(Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 2, scene 2)

thanks!

• 'long and short of it ' ESC 18/June/04
  • Canary = quandary ESC 18/June/04