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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ccbe405 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #53625 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53625) diff --git a/old/53625-0.txt b/old/53625-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 208053f..0000000 --- a/old/53625-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,36063 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. I. of II.], by -Nathan Drake - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. I. of II.] - Including the Biography of the Poet; criticisms on his - genius and writings; a new chronology of his plays; a - disquisition on the on the object of his sonnets; and a - history of _the manners, customs, and amusements, - superstitions, poetry, and elegant literature of his age - -Author: Nathan Drake - -Release Date: November 28, 2016 [EBook #53625] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHAKSPEARE AND HIS TIMES *** - - - - -Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Lisa Reigel, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries.) - - - - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: Words in italics in the original are surrounded -with _underscores_. Words in a Saxon font in the original are surrounded -with +plus+ signs. Words in blackletter in the original are surrounded -with =equal= signs. Characters superscripted in the original are -surrounded by {braces}. Ellipses match the original. In footnotes and -attributions, commas and periods seem to be used interchangeably. They -remain as printed. Variations in spelling, hyphenation, and accents -remain as in the original unless noted. A complete list of corrections -follows the text. - - -[Illustration: SHAKSPEARE. - -Engraved by W. T. Fry after a Cast made by M{r}. George Bullock from the -Monumental Bust at Stratford-upon-Avon.] - - - - - SHAKSPEARE - - AND - - HIS TIMES: - - INCLUDING - THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE POET; - CRITICISMS ON HIS GENIUS AND WRITINGS; A NEW CHRONOLOGY OF HIS PLAYS; - A DISQUISITION ON THE OBJECT OF HIS SONNETS; - AND - A HISTORY OF - _THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND AMUSEMENTS, SUPERSTITIONS, - POETRY, AND ELEGANT LITERATURE OF HIS AGE_. - - - BY NATHAN DRAKE, M.D. - AUTHOR OF "LITERARY HOURS," AND OF "ESSAYS ON PERIODICAL LITERATURE." - - - Triumph my Britain! thou hast one to show, - To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe.— - ————— Soul of the age, - The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage, - My Shakspeare, rise! BEN JONSON. - - The very age and body of the time, his form and pressure. - SHAKSPEARE. - - - _IN TWO VOLUMES._ - - VOL. I. - - - LONDON: - PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, IN THE STRAND. - 1817. - - - - - Printed by A. Strahan, - Printers-Street, London. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -Though two centuries have now elapsed, since the death of Shakspeare, -no attempt has hitherto been made to render him the medium for a -comprehensive and connected view of the Times in which he lived. - -Yet, if any man be allowed to fill a station thus conspicuous -and important, Shakspeare has undoubtedly the best claim to the -distinction; not only from his pre-eminence as a dramatic poet, but -from the intimate relation which his works bear to the manners, -customs, superstitions, and amusements of his age. - -Struck with the interest which a work of this kind, if properly -executed, might possess, the author was induced, several years ago, to -commence the undertaking, with the express intention of blending with -the detail of manners, &c. such a portion of criticism, biography, and -literary history, as should render the whole still more attractive and -complete. - -In attempting this, it has been his aim to place Shakspeare in the -fore-ground of the picture, and to throw around him, in groups more or -less distinct and full, the various objects of his design; giving them -prominency and light, according to their greater or smaller connection -with the principal figure. - -More especially has it been his wish, to infuse throughout the whole -plan, whether considered in respect to its entire scope, or to the -parts of which it is composed, that degree of unity and integrity, of -relative proportion and just bearing, without which neither harmony, -simplicity, nor effect, can be expected, or produced. - -With a view, also, to distinctness and perspicuity of elucidation, -the whole has been distributed into three parts or pictures, -entitled,—"SHAKSPEARE IN STRATFORD;"—"SHAKSPEARE IN LONDON;"— -"SHAKSPEARE IN RETIREMENT;"—which, though inseparably united, as -forming but portions of the same story, and harmonized by the same -means, have yet, both in subject and execution, a peculiar character to -support. - -The _first_ represents our Poet in the days of his youth, on the -banks of his native Avon, in the midst of rural imagery, occupations, -and amusements; in the _second_, we behold him in the capital of his -country, in the centre of rivalry and competition, in the active -pursuit of reputation and glory; and in the _third_, we accompany the -venerated bard to the shades of retirement, to the bosom of domestic -peace, to the enjoyment of unsullied fame. - -It has, therefore, been the business of the author, in accordancy -with his plan, to connect these delineations with their relative -accompaniments; to incorporate, for instance, with the first, what he -had to relate of the _country_, as it existed in the age of Shakspeare; -its manners, customs, and characters; its festivals, diversions, and -many of its superstitions; opening and closing the subject with the -biography of the poet, and binding the intermediate parts, not only -by a perpetual reference to his drama, but by their own constant and -direct tendency towards the developement of the one object in view. - -With the _second_, which commences with Shakspeare's introduction to -the stage as an actor, is combined the poetic, dramatic, and general -literature of the times, together with an account of _metropolitan_ -manners and diversions, and a full and continued criticism on the poems -and plays of our bard. - -After a survey, therefore, of the Literary world, under the heads -of Bibliography, Philology, Criticism, History, Romantic, and -Miscellaneous Literature, follows a View of the Poetry of the same -period, succeeded by a critique on the juvenile productions of -Shakspeare, and including a biographical sketch of Lord Southampton, -and a new hypothesis on the origin and object of the Sonnets. - -Of the immediately subsequent description of diversions, &c. the -Economy of the Stage forms a leading feature, as preparatory to a -History of Dramatic Poetry, previous to the year 1590; and this -is again introductory to a discussion concerning the Period when -Shakspeare commenced a writer for the theatre; to a new chronology -of his plays, and to a criticism on each drama; a department which -is interspersed with dissertations on the _fairy mythology_, the -_apparitions_, the _witchcraft_, and the _magic_ of Shakspeare; -portions of popular credulity which had been, in reference to this -distribution, omitted in detailing the superstitions of the country. - -This second part is then terminated by a summary of Shakspeare's -dramatic character, by a brief view of dramatic poetry during his -connection with the stage, and by the biography of the poet to the -close of his residence in London. - -The _third_ and last of these delineations is, unfortunately, but too -short, being altogether occupied with the few circumstances which -distinguish the last three years of the life of our bard, with a review -of his disposition and moral character, and with some notice of the -first tributes paid to his memory. - -It will readily be admitted, that the materials for the greater part -of this arduous task are abundant; but it must also be granted, that -they are dispersed through a vast variety of distant and unconnected -departments of literature; and that to draw forth, arrange, and give a -luminous disposition to, these masses of scattered intelligence, is an -achievement of no slight magnitude, especially when it is considered, -that no step in the progress of such an undertaking can be made, -independent of a constant recurrence to authorities. - -How far the author is qualified for the due execution of his design, -remains for the public to decide; but it may, without ostentation, -be told, that his leisure, for the last thirty years, has been, in a -great decree, devoted to a line of study immediately associated with -the subject; and that his attachment to old English literature has led -him to a familiarity with the only sources from which, on such a topic, -authentic illustration is to be derived. - -He will likewise venture to observe, that, in the style of criticism -which he has pursued, it has been his object, an ambitious one it is -true, to unfold, in a manner more distinct than has hitherto been -effected, the peculiar character of the poet's drama; and, lastly, to -produce a work, which, while it may satisfy the poetical antiquary, -shall, from the variety, interest, and integrity of its component -parts, be equally gratifying to the general reader. - - _Hadleigh, Suffolk, - April 7th, 1817._ - - - - -CONTENTS - -OF - -_THE FIRST VOLUME_. - - - PART I. - - SHAKSPEARE IN STRATFORD. - - - CHAP. I. - - Birth of Shakspeare — Account of his Family — Orthography - of his Name. _Page_ 1 - - - CHAP. II. - - The House in which Shakspeare was born — Plague at Stratford, - June 1564 — Shakspeare educated at the Free-school of - Stratford — State of Education, and of Juvenile Literature - in the Country at this period — Extent of Shakspeare's - acquirements as a Scholar. 21 - - - CHAP. III. - - Shakspeare, after leaving School, follows his Father's Trade - — Statement of Aubrey — Probably present in his Twelfth - Year at Kenelworth, when Elizabeth visited the Earl of - Leicester — Tradition of Aubrey concerning him — Whether - there is reason to suppose that, after leaving his Father, - he was placed in an Attorney's Office, who was likewise - Seneschal or Steward of some Manor — Anecdotes of - Shakspeare — Allusions in his Works to Barton, Wilnecotte, - and Barston, Villages in Warwickshire — Earthquake in - 1580 alluded to — Whether, after leaving School, he - acquired any Knowledge of the French and Italian - languages. 34 - - - CHAP. IV. - - Shakspeare married to Anne Hathaway — Account of the Hathaways - — Cottage at Shottery — Birth of his eldest Child, - Susanna — Hamnet and Judith baptized — Anecdote of - Shakspeare — Shakspeare apparently settled in the - Country. 59 - - - CHAP. V. - - A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare — Its - _Manners and Customs_ — Rural Characters; the - Country-Gentleman — the Country-Coxcomb — the - Country-Clergyman — the Country-Schoolmaster — the Farmer - or Yeoman, his Mode of Living — the Huswife, her Domestic - Economy — the Farmer's Heir — the Poor Copyholder — the - Downright Clown, or Plain Country-Boor. 68 - - - CHAP. VI. - - A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare — _Manners - and Customs continued_ — Rural Holidays and Festivals; - New-Year's Day — Twelfth Day — Rock-Day — Plough-Monday - — Shrove-tide — Easter-tide — Hock-tide — May-Day — - Whitsuntide — Ales; Leet-ale — Lamb-ale — Bride-ale — - Clerk-ale — Church-ale — Whitsun-ale — Sheep-shearing - Feast — Candlemas-Day — Harvest-Home — Seed-cake Feast - — Martinmas — Christmas. 123 - - - CHAP. VII. - - A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare — _Manners - and Customs_, continued — Wakes — Fairs — Weddings — - Christenings — Burials. 209 - - - CHAP. VIII. - - View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare, continued — - _Diversions_ — The Itinerant Stage — Cotswold Games — - Hawking — Hunting — Fowling — Fishing — Horse-racing — - The Quintaine — The Wild-goose Chase — Hurling — - Shovel-board — Juvenile Sports — Barley-breake — - Parish-Top. 246 - - - CHAP. IX. - - View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare, continued - — An Account of some of its _Superstitions_; Winter-Night's - Conversation — Peculiar Periods devoted to Superstition — - St. Paul's Day — St. Swithen's Day — St. Mark's Day — - Childermas — St. Valentine's Day — Midsummer-Eve — - Michaelmas — All Hallow-Eve — St. Withold — Omens — - Charms — Sympathies — Superstitious Cures — Miscellaneous - Superstitions. 314 - - - CHAP. X. - - Biography of Shakspeare resumed — His Irregularities — - Deer-stealing in Sir Thomas Lucy's Park — Account of the - Lucy family — Daisy-hill, the Keeper's Lodge, where - Shakspeare was confined, on the Charge of stealing Deer — - Shakspeare's Revenge — Ballad on Lucy — Severe Prosecution - by Sir Thomas — never forgotten by Shakspeare — this - Cause, and probably also Debt, as his Father was now in - reduced Circumstances, induced him to leave the Country for - London about 1586 — Remarks on this Removal. 401 - - - PART II. - - SHAKSPEARE IN LONDON. - - - CHAP. I. - - Shakspeare's Arrival in London about the Year 1586, when - twenty-two Years of Age — Leaves his Family at Stratford, - visiting them occasionally — His Introduction to the Stage - — His Merits as an Actor. 413 - - - CHAP. II. - - Shakspeare commences a Writer of Poetry, probably about the - year 1587, by the composition of his Venus and Adonis — - Historical Outline of Polite Literature, during the Age of - Shakspeare — General passion for Letters — Bibliography - — Shakspeare's Attachment to Books — Philology — - Criticism — Shakspeare's Progress in both — History, - general, local, and personal, Shakspeare's Acquaintance with - — Miscellaneous Literature. 426 - - - CHAP. III. - - View of Romantic Literature during the Age of Shakspeare — - Shakspeare's Attachment to, and Use of, Romances, Tales, - and Ballads. 518 - - - CHAP. IV. - - View of Miscellaneous Poetry during the same period. 594 - - -[Illustration: _Five genuine Autographs of Shakspeare_ - -_N{o}. 1 is from Shakspeare's Mortgage 1612-13._ - - _2 is from M{r}. Malone's plate II. N{o}. X._ - - _3 is from the first brief of Shakspeare's Will._ - - _4 is from the second brief of the Will._ - - _5 is from the third brief of the Will._] - - - - -SHAKSPEARE AND HIS TIMES. - - - - -PART I. - -_SHAKSPEARE IN STRATFORD._ - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -BIRTH OF SHAKSPEARE—HIS FAMILY—THE ORTHOGRAPHY OF HIS NAME. - - -William Shakspeare, the object almost of our idolatry as a dramatic -poet, was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, on the 23d of -April, 1564, and he was baptized on the 26th of the same month. - -Of his family, not much that is certain can be recorded; but it would -appear, from an instrument in the College of Heralds, confirming -the grant of a coat of arms to John Shakspeare in 1599, that his -great grandfather had been rewarded by Henry the Seventh, "for his -faithefull and approved service, with lands and tenements given to -him in those parts of Warwickshire, where," proceeds this document, -"they have continued by some descents in good reputation and credit." -Notwithstanding this assertion, however, no such grant, after a minute -examination, made by Mr. Malone in the chapel of the Rolls, has been -discovered; whence we have reason to infer, that the heralds have been -mistaken in their statement, and that the bounty of the monarch was -directed through a different channel. From the language, indeed, of two -rough draughts of a prior grant of arms to John Shakspeare in 1596, -it is probable that the service alluded to was of a military cast, for -it is there expressly said, that he was rewarded "for his faithful and -_valiant_ service," a term, perhaps, implying the heroism of our poet's -ancestor in the field of Bosworth. - -That the property, thus bestowed upon the family of Shakspeare, -descended to John, the father of the poet, and contributed to his -influence and respectability, there is no reason to doubt. From the -register, indeed, and public writings relating to Stratford, Mr. -Rowe has justly inferred, that the Shakspeares were of good figure -and fashion there, and were considered as gentlemen. We may presume, -however, that the patrimony of Mr. John Shakspeare, the parent of our -great dramatist, was not very considerable, as he found the profits of -business necessary to his support. He was, in fact, a wool-stapler, -and, there is reason to suppose, in a large way; for he was early -chosen a member of the corporation of his town, a situation usually -connected with respectable circumstances, and soon after, he filled the -office of high bailiff or chief magistrate of that body. The record of -these promotions has been thus given from the books of the corporation. - -"Jan. 10, in the 6th year of the reign of our sovereign lady Queen -Elizabeth, John Shakspeare passed his Chamberlain's accounts." - -"At the Hall holden the eleventh day of September, in the eleventh year -of the reign of our sovereign lady Elizabeth, 1569, were present Mr. -John Shakspeare, High Bailiff."[2:A] - -It was during the period of his filling this important office, that -he first obtained a grant of arms; and, in a note annexed to the -subsequent patent of 1596, now in the College of Arms[2:B], it is -stated that he was likewise a justice of the peace, and possessed of -lands and tenements to the amount of 500_l._ The final confirmation -of this grant took place in 1599, in which his shield and coat are -described to be, _In a field of gould upon a bend sable, a speare of -the first, the poynt upward, hedded argent_; and for his crest or -cognisance, _A falcon with his wyngs displayed, standing on a wrethe of -his coullers, supporting a speare armed hedded, or steeled sylver_.[3:A] - -Mr. John Shakspeare married, though in what year is not accurately -known, the daughter and heir of Robert Arden, of Wellingcote, in the -county of Warwick, who is termed, in the Grant of Arms of 1596, "a -gentleman of worship." The Arden, or Ardern family, appears to have -been of considerable antiquity; for, in Fuller's Worthies, Rob. Arden -de Bromwich, ar. is among the names of the gentry of this county -returned by the commissioners in the twelfth year of King Henry the -Sixth, 1433; and in the eleventh and sixteenth years of Elizabeth, A. -D. 1562 and 1568, Sim. Ardern, ar. and Edw. Ardrn, ar. are enumerated, -by the same author, among the sheriffs of Warwickshire.[3:B] It is well -known that the woodland part of this county was formerly denominated -Ardern, though, for the sake of euphony, frequently softened towards -the close of the sixteenth century, into the smoother appellation of -Arden; hence it is not improbable, that the supposition of Mr. Jacob, -who reprinted, in 1770, the Tragedy of Arden of Feversham, a play -which was originally published in 1592, may be correct; namely that -Shakspeare, the poet, was _descended by the female line_ from the -unfortunate individual whose tragical death is the subject of this -drama; for though the name of this gentleman was originally Ardern, he -seems early to have experienced the fate of the county district, and to -have had his surname harmonized by a similar omission. In consequence -of this marriage, Mr. John Shakspeare and his posterity were allowed, -by the College of Heralds, to impale their arms with the ancient arms -of the Ardrns of Wellingcote.[3:C] - -Of the issue of John Shakspeare by this connection, the accounts -are contradictory and perplexed; nor is it absolutely ascertained, -whether he had only one wife, or whether he might not have had two, -or even three. Mr. Rowe, whose narrative has been usually followed, -has given him _ten_ children, among whom he considers _William_ the -poet, as the _eldest_ son.[4:A] The Register, however, of the parish -of Stratford-upon-Avon, which commences in 1558, is incompatible with -this statement; for, we there find _eleven_ children ascribed to John -Shakspeare, _ten_ baptized, and _one_, the baptism of which had taken -place before the commencement of the Register, buried.[4:B] The dates -of these baptisms, and of two or three other events, recorded in -this Register, it will be necessary, for the sake of elucidation, to -transcribe: - - "_Jone_, daughter of John Shakspere, was baptized Sept. 15, - 1558. - - "_Margaret_, daughter of John Shakspere, was buried April 30, - 1563. - - "WILLIAM, son of John Shakspere, was baptized April 26, 1564. - - "_Gilbert_, son of John Shakspere, was baptized Oct. 3, 1566. - - "_Jone_[4:C], daughter of John Shakspere, was baptized April - 15, 1569. - - "_Anne_, daughter of Mr. John Shakspere, was baptized Sept. 28, - 1571. - - "_Richard_, son of Mr. John Shakspere, was baptized March 11, - 1573-4. - - "_Edmund_, son of Mr. John Shakspere, was baptized May 3, 1580. - - "_John Shakspere_ and Margery Roberts were married Nov. 25, - 1584. - - "_Margery_, wife of John Shakspere, was buried Oct. 29, 1587. - - "_Ursula_, daughter of John Shakspere, was baptized March 11, - 1588. - - "_Humphrey_, son of John Shakspere, was baptized May 24, 1590. - - "_Philip_, son of John Shakspere, was baptized Sept. 21, 1591. - - "Mr. _John Shakspere_ was buried Sept. 8, 1601. - - "_Mary Shakspere_, widow, was buried Sept. 9, 1608." - -Now it is evident, that if the ten children which were baptized, -according to this Register, between the years 1558 and 1591, are to -be ascribed to the father of our poet, he must necessarily have had -_eleven_, in consequence of the record of the decease of his daughter -Margaret. He must also have had three wives, for we find his second -wife, Margery, died in 1587, and the death of a third, Mary, a widow, -is noticed in 1608. - -It was suggested to Mr. Malone[5:A], that very probably, Mr. John -Shakspeare had a son born to him, as well as a daughter, before the -commencement of the Register, and that this his eldest son, was, as is -customary, named after his father, John; a supposition which, (as no -other child was baptized by the Christian name of the old gentleman,) -carries some credibility with it, and was subsequently acquiesced in by -Mr. Malone himself. - -In this case, therefore, the marriage recorded in the Register, is that -of John Shakspeare the _younger_ with Margery Roberts, and the three -children born between 1588 and 1591, Ursula, Humphrey, and Philip, the -issue of this John, not by the first, but by a second marriage; for as -Margery Shakspeare died in 1587, and Ursula was baptized in 1588-9, -these children must have been by the Mary Shakspeare, whose death is -mentioned as occurring in 1608, and as she is there denominated a -_widow_; the younger John must consequently have died before that date. - -The result of _this_ arrangement will be, that the father of our poet -had only _nine_ children, and that WILLIAM was not the eldest, but the -_second_ son. - -On either plan, however, the account of Mr. Rowe is equally inaccurate; -and as the introduction of an elder son involves a variety of -suppositions, and at the same time nothing improbable is attached to -the consideration of this part of the Register in the light in which it -usually appears, that is, as allusive solely to the father, it will, -we think, be the better and the safer mode, to rely upon it, according -to its more direct and literal import. This determination will be -greatly strengthened by reflecting, that old Mr. Shakspeare was, on the -authority of the last instrument granting him a coat of arms, living -in 1599; that on the testimony of the Register, taken in the common -acceptation, he was not buried until September 1601; and that in no -part of the same document is the epithet _younger_ annexed to the name -of John Shakspeare, a mark of distinction which there is every reason -to suppose would have been introduced, had the father and a son of the -same Christian name been not only living at the same time in the same -town, but the latter likewise a parent. - -That the circumstances of Mr. John Shakspeare were, at the period -of his marriage, and for several years afterwards, if not affluent, -yet easy and respectable, there is every reason to suppose, from -his having filled offices of the first trust and importance in his -native town; but, from the same authority which has induced us to draw -this inference, another of a very different kind, with regard to a -subsequent portion of his life, may with equal confidence be taken. In -the books of the corporation of Stratford it is stated, that— - -"At the hall holden Nov. 19th, in the 21st year of the reign of our -sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth, it is ordained, that every Alderman -shall be taxed to pay weekly 4_d._, saving _John Shakspeare_ and Robert -Bruce, who shall not be taxed to pay any thing; and every burgess to -pay 2_d._" Again, - -"At the hall holden on the 6th day of September, in the 28th year of -our sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth: - -"At this hall William Smith and Richard Courte are chosen to be -Aldermen in the places of John Wheler and John Shakspeare, for that Mr. -Wheler doth desire to be put out of the company, and Mr. Shakspeare -doth not come to the halls, when they be warned, nor hath not done of -long time."[6:A] - -The conclusion to be drawn from these memoranda must unavoidably be, -that, in 1579, ten years after he had served the office of High -Bailiff, his situation, in a pecuniary light, was so much reduced, -that, on this account, he was excused the weekly payment of 4_d._; and -that, in 1586, the same distress still subsisting, and perhaps in an -aggravated degree, he was, on the plea of non-attendance, dismissed the -corporation. - -The causes of this unhappy change in his circumstances cannot now, -with the exception of the burthen of a large and increasing family, be -ascertained; but it is probable, that to this period is to be referred, -if there be any truth in the tradition, the report of Aubrey, that -"William Shakspeare's father was a butcher." This anecdote, he affirms, -was received from the neighbours of the bard, and, on this account, -merits some consideration.[7:A] - -We are indebted to Mr. Howe for the first intimation concerning the -trade of John Shakspeare; his declaration, derived also from tradition, -that he was a "considerable dealer in wool," appears confirmed by -subsequent research. From a window in a room of the premises which -originally formed part of the house at Stratford, in which Shakspeare -the poet was born, and a part of which premises has for many years been -occupied as a public-house, with the sign of the Swan and Maidenhead, -a pane of glass was taken, about five and forty years ago, by Mr. -Peyton, the then master of the adjoining Inn called The White Lion. -This pane, now in the possession of his son, is nearly six inches in -diameter, and perfect, and on it are painted the arms of the merchants -of the wool-staple—_Nebule on a chief gules, a lion passant or_. It -appears, from the style in which it is finished, to have been executed -about the time of Shakspeare, the father, and is undoubtedly a strong -corroborative proof of the authenticity of Mr. Rowe's relation.[7:B] - -These traditionary anecdotes, though apparently contradictory, may -easily admit of reconcilement, if we consider, that between the -employment of a wool-dealer, and a butcher, there is no small affinity; -"few occupations," observes Mr. Malone, "can be named which are more -naturally connected with each other."[8:A] It is highly probable, -therefore, that during the period of John Shakspeare's distress, which -we know to have existed in 1579, when our poet was but fifteen years of -age, he might have had recourse to this more humble trade, as in many -circumstances connected with his customary business, and as a great -additional means of supporting a very numerous family. - -That the necessity for this union, however, did not exist towards the -latter part of his life, there is much reason to imagine, both from the -increasing reputation and affluence of his son William, and from the -fact of his applying to the College of Heralds, in 1596 and 1599, for -a grant of arms; events, of which the first, considering the character -of the poet, must almost necessarily have led to, and the second -directly pre-supposes, the possession of comparative competence and -respectability. - -The only remaining circumstance which time has spared us, relative to -the personal conduct of John Shakspeare, is, that there appears some -foundation to believe that, a short time previous to his death, he -made a confession of his faith, or spiritual will; a document still -in existence, the discovery and history of which, together with the -declaration itself, will not improperly find a place at the close of -this commencing chapter of our work. - -About the year 1770, a master-bricklayer, of the name of Mosely, being -employed by Mr. Thomas Hart, the fifth in descent, in a direct line, -from the poet's sister, Joan Hart, to new-tile the house in which he -then lived, and which is supposed to be that under whose roof the bard -was born, found hidden between the rafters and the tiling of the house, -a manuscript, consisting of six leaves, stitched together, in the -form of a small book. This manuscript Mosely, who bore the character -of an honest and industrious man, gave (without asking or receiving -any recompense) to Mr. Peyton, an alderman of Stratford; and this -gentleman very kindly sent it to Mr. Malone, through the medium of -the Rev. Mr. Davenport, vicar of Stratford. It had, however, previous -to this transmission, unfortunately been deprived of the first leaf, -a deficiency which was afterwards supplied by the discovery, that -Mosely, who had now been dead about two years, had copied a great -portion of it, and from his transcription the introductory parts were -supplied.[9:A] The daughter of Mosely and Mr. Hart, who were both -living in the year 1790, agreed in a perfect recollection of the -circumstances attending the discovery of this curious document, which -consists of the following fourteen articles. - - -1. - -"In the name of God, the Father, Sonne and Holy Ghost, the most holy -and blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, the holy host of archangels, -angels, patriarchs, prophets, evangelists, apostles, saints, martyrs, -and all the celestial court and company of heaven: I John Shakspear, -an unworthy member of the holy Catholic religion, being at this my -present writing in perfect health of body, and sound mind, memory, -and understanding, but calling to mind the uncertainty of life and -certainty of death, and that I may be possibly cut off in the blossome -of my sins, and called to render an account of all my transgressions -externally and internally, and that I may be unprepared for the -dreadful trial either by sacrament, pennance, fasting, or prayer, or -any other purgation whatever, do in the holy presence above specified, -of my own free and voluntary accord, make and ordaine this my last -spiritual will, testament, confession, protestation, and confession of -faith, hopinge hereby to receive pardon for all my sinnes and offences, -and thereby to be made partaker of life everlasting, through the only -merits of Jesus Christ my saviour and redeemer, who took upon himself -the likeness of man, suffered death, and was crucified upon the crosse, -for the redemption of sinners. - - -2. - -"_Item_, I John Shakspear doe by this present protest, acknowledge, -and confess, that in my past life I have been a most abominable and -grievous sinner, and therefore unworthy to be forgiven without a true -and sincere repentance for the same. But trusting in the manifold -mercies of my blessed Saviour and Redeemer, I am encouraged by relying -on his sacred word, to hope for salvation, and be made partaker of -his heavenly kingdom, as a member of the celestial company of angels, -saints, and martyrs, there to reside for ever and ever in the court of -my God. - - -3. - -"_Item_, I John Shakspear doe by this present protest and declare, -that as I am certain I must passe out of this transitory life into -another that will last to eternity, I do hereby most humbly implore -and intreat my good and guardian angell to instruct me in this my -solemn preparation, protestation, and confession of faith, at least -spiritually, in will adoring and most humbly beseeching my Saviour, -that he will be pleased to assist me in so dangerous a voyage, to -defend me from the snares and deceites of my infernal enemies, and to -conduct me to the secure haven of his eternal blisse. - - -4. - -"_Item_, I John Shakspear doe protest that I will also passe out of -this life, armed with the last sacrament of extreme unction: the which -if through any let or hindrance I should not then be able to have, -I doe now also for that time demand and crave the same; beseeching -his Divine Majesty that he will be pleased to anoynt my senses both -internall and externall with the sacred oyle of his infinite mercy, -and to pardon me all my sins committed by seeing, speaking, feeling, -smelling, hearing, touching, or by any other way whatsoever. - - -5. - -"_Item_, I John Shakspear doe by this present protest, that I will -never through any temptation whatsoever despaire of the divine -goodness, for the multitude and greatness of my sinnes; for which, -although I confesse that I have deserved hell, yet will I steadfastly -hope in God's infinite mercy, knowing that he hath heretofore pardoned -many as great sinners as myself, whereof I have good warrant sealed -with his sacred mouth, in holy writ, whereby he pronounceth that he is -not come to call the just, but sinners. - - -6. - -"_Item_, I John Shakspear do protest, that I do not know that I have -ever done any good worke meritorious of life everlasting: and if I have -done any, I do acknowledge that I have done it with a great deale of -negligence and imperfection; neither should I have been able to have -done the least without the assistance of his divine grace. Wherefore -let the devill remain confounded: for I doe in no wise presume to merit -heaven by such good workes alone, but through the merits and bloud of -my Lord and Saviour Jesus, shed upon the cross for me most miserable -sinner. - - -7. - -"_Item_, I John Shakspear do protest by this present writing, that I -will patiently endure and suffer all kind of infirmity, sickness, yea, -and the paine of death itself: wherein if it should happen, which God -forbid, that through violence of paine and agony, or by subtilty of the -devill, I should fall into any impatience or temptation of blasphemy, -or murmuration against God, or the Catholic faith, or give any signe -of bad example, I do henceforth, and for that present, repent me, and -am most heartily sorry for the same: and I do renounce all the evill -whatsoever, which I might have then done or said; beseeching his divine -clemency that he will not forsake me in that grievous and paignefull -agony. - - -8. - -"_Item_, I John Shakspear, by virtue of this present testament, I do -pardon all the injuries and offences that any one hath ever done unto -me, either in my reputation, life, goods, or any other way whatsoever; -beseeching sweet Jesus to pardon them for the same; and I do desire -that they will doe the like by me whome I have offended or injured in -any sort howsoever. - - -9. - -"_Item_, I John Shakspear do here protest, that I do render infinite -thanks to his Divine Majesty for all the benefits that I have received, -as well secret as manifest, and in particular for the benefit of my -creation, redemption, sanctification, conservation, and vocation to the -holy knowledge of him and his true Catholic faith: but above all for -his so great expectation of me to pennance, when he might most justly -have taken me out of this life, when I least thought of it, yea, even -then, when I was plunged in the durty puddle of my sinnes. Blessed be -therefore and praised, for ever and ever, his infinite patience and -charity. - - -10. - -"_Item_, I John Shakspear do protest, that I am willing, yea, I do -infinitely desire and humbly crave, that of this my last will and -testament the glorious and ever Virgin Mary, mother of God, refuge and -advocate of sinners, (whom I honour specially above all saints,) may be -the chiefe executresse, togeather with these other saints, my patrons, -(Saint Winefride,) all whome I invoke and beseech to be present at the -hour of my death, that she and they comfort me with their desired -presence, and crave of sweet Jesus that he will receive my soul into -peace. - - -11. - -"_Item_, In virtue of this present writing, I John Shakspear do -likewise most willingly and with all humility constitute and ordaine my -good angell for defender and protector of my soul in the dreadfull day -of judgment, when the finall sentence of eternall life or death shall -be discussed and given: beseeching him that, as my soule was appointed -to his custody and protection when I lived, even so he will vouchsafe -to defend the same at that houre, and conduct it to eternall bliss. - - -12. - -"_Item_, I John Shakspear do in like manner pray and beseech all my -dear friends, parents, and kinsfolks, by the bowells of our Saviour -Jesus Christ, that since it is uncertain what lot will befall me, for -fear notwithstanding least by reason of my sinnes I be to pass and stay -a long while in purgatory, they will vouchsafe to assist and succour -me with their holy prayers and satisfactory workes, especially with -the holy sacrifice of the masse, as being the most effectual means to -deliver soules from their torments and paines; from the which, if I -shall by God's gracious goodnesse, and by their vertuous workes, be -delivered, I do promise that I will not be ungratefull unto them for so -great a benefitt. - - -13. - -"_Item_, I John Shakspear doe by this my last will and testament -bequeath my soul, as soon as it shall be delivered and loosened from -the prison of this my body, to be entombed in the sweet and amorous -coffin of the side of Jesus Christ; and that in this life-giving -sepulcher it may rest and live, perpetually enclosed in that eternall -habitation of repose, there to blesse for ever and ever that direful -iron of the launce, which, like a charge in a censore, formes so sweet -and pleasant a monument within the sacred breast of my Lord and Saviour. - - -14. - -"_Item_, Lastly I John Shakspear doe protest, that I will willingly -accept of death in what manner soever it may befall me, conforming my -will unto the will of God; accepting of the same in satisfaction for my -sinnes, and giving thanks unto his Divine Majesty for the life he hath -bestowed upon me. And if it please him to prolong or shorten the same, -blessed be he also a thousand thousand times; into whose most holy -hands I commend my soul and body, my life and death: and I beseech him -above all things, that he never permit any change to be made by me John -Shakspear of this my aforesaid will and testament. Amen. - -"I John Shakspeare have made this present writing of protestation, -confession, and charter, in presence of the blessed Virgin Mary, my -angell guardian, and all the celestial court, as witnesses hereunto: -the which my meaning is, that it be of full value now presently and for -ever, with the force and vertue of testament, codicill, and donation in -course of death; confirming it anew, being in perfect health of soul -and body, and signed with mine own hand; carrying also the same about -me, and for the better declaration hereof, my will and intention is -that it be finally buried with me after my death. - - "Pater noster, Ave maria, Credo. - - "Jesu, son of David, have mercy on me.—Amen."[14:A] - -If the intention of the testator, as expressed in the close of this -will, were carried into effect, then, of course, the manuscript which -Mosely found, must necessarily have been a copy of that which was -buried in the grave of John Shakspeare. - -Mr. Malone, to whom, in his edition of Shakspeare, printed in 1790, we -are indebted for this singular paper, and for the history attached to -it, observes, that he is unable to ascertain, whether it was drawn up -by John Shakspeare the father, or by John his _supposed_ eldest son; -but he says, "I have taken some pains to ascertain the authenticity -of this manuscript, and, after a very careful inquiry, am perfectly -satisfied that it is genuine."[15:A] In the "Inquiry," however, which -he published in 1796, relative to the Ireland papers, he has given -us, though without assigning any reasons for his change of opinion, -a very different result: "In my conjecture," he remarks, "concerning -the writer of that paper, I certainly was mistaken; for I have since -obtained documents that clearly prove it could not have been the -composition of any one of our poet's family."[15:B] - -In the "Apology" of Mr. George Chalmers "for the Believers in the -Shakspeare-Papers," which appeared in the year subsequent to Mr. -Malone's "Inquiry," a new light is thrown upon the origin of this -confession. "From the sentiment, and the language, this confession -appears to be," says this gentleman, "the effusion of a Roman Catholic -mind, and was probably drawn up by some Roman Catholic priest.[15:C] -If these premises be granted, it will follow, as a fair deduction, -that the family of Shakspeare were Roman Catholics; a circumstance -this, which is wholly consistent with what Mr. Malone is now studious -to inculcate, viz. "that this confession could not have been the -composition of any of our poet's family." The thoughts, the language, -the orthography, all demonstrate the truth of my conjecture, though Mr. -Malone did not perceive this truth, when he first published this paper -in 1790. But, it was the performance of a _clerke_, the undoubted work -of the family-priest. The conjecture, that Shakspeare's family were -Roman Catholics, is strengthened by the fact, that his father declined -to attend the corporation meetings, and was at last removed from the -corporate body."[16:A] - -This conjecture of Mr. Chalmers appears to us in its leading points -very plausible; for that the father of our poet might be a Roman -Catholic is, if we consider the very unsettled state of his times with -regard to religion, not only a possible but a probable supposition: in -which case, it would undoubtedly have been the office of the spiritual -director of the family to have drawn up such a paper as that which -we have been perusing. It was the fashion also of the period, as Mr. -Chalmers has subsequently observed, to draw up confessions of religious -faith, a fashion honoured in the observance by the great names of -Lord Bacon, Lord Burghley, and Archbishop Parker[16:B]. That he -declined, however, attending the corporation-meetings of Stratford from -religious motives, and that his removal from that body was the result -of non-attendance from _such a cause_, cannot readily be admitted; -for we have clearly seen that his defection was owing to pecuniary -difficulties; nor is it, in the least degree, probable that, after -having honourably filled the highest offices in the corporation without -scruple, he should at length, and in a reign too popularly protestant, -incur expulsion from an avowed motive of this kind; especially as we -have reason to suppose, from the mode in which this profession was -concealed, that the tenets of the person whose faith it declares, were -cherished in secret. - -From an accurate inspection of the hand-writing of this will, Mr. -Malone infers that it cannot be attributed to an earlier period than -the year 1600[16:C], whence it follows that, if dictated by, or drawn -up at the desire of, John Shakspeare, his death soon sealed the -confession of his faith; for, according to the register, he was buried -on September 8th, 1601. - -Such are the very few circumstances which reiterated research has -hitherto gleaned relative to the father of our poet; circumstances -which, as being intimately connected with the history and character -of his son, have acquired an interest of no common nature. Scanty as -they must be pronounced, they lead to the conclusion that he was a -moral and industrious man; that when fortune favoured him, he was not -indolent, but performed the duties of a magistrate with respectability -and effect, and that in the hour of adversity he exerted every nerve to -support with decency a numerous family. - -Before we close this chapter, it may be necessary to state, that the -very orthography of the name of Shakspeare has occasioned much dispute. -Of Shakspeare the father, no autograph exists; but the _poet_ has left -us several, and from these, and from the monumental inscriptions of -his family, must the question be decided; the latter, as being of the -least authority, we shall briefly mention, as exhibiting, in Dugdale, -three varieties,—_Shakespeare_; _Shakespere_, and _Shakspeare_. The -former present us with _five_ specimens which, singular as it may -appear, all vary, either in the mode of writing, or mode of spelling. -The first is annexed to a mortgage executed by the poet in 1613, and -appears thus, _W{m} Shakspe{a}_: the second is from a deed of bargain -and sale, relative to the same transaction, and of the same period, and -signed, _William Shaksper̄_: the third, fourth, and fifth are taken from -the _Will_ of Shakspeare executed in March 1616, consisting of three -_briefs_ or sheets, to each of which his name is subscribed. These -signatures, it is remarkable, differ considerably, especially in the -surnames; for in the first brief we find _William Shackspere_; in the -second, _Willm Shakspe re_, and in the third, _William Shakspeare_. -It has been supposed, however, that, according to the practice in -Shakspeare's time, the name in the first sheet was written by the -scrivener who drew the will. - -In the year 1790, Mr. Malone, from an inspection of the mortgage, -pronounced the genuine orthography to be _Shakspeare_[17:A]; in 1796, -from consulting the deed of sale, he altered his opinion, and declared -that the poet's own mode of spelling his name was, beyond a possibility -of doubt, that of _Shakspere_, though for reasons which he should -assign in a subsequent publication, he should still continue to write -the name _Shakspeare_.[18:A] - -To this decision, relative to the genuine orthography, Mr. Chalmers -cannot accede; and for this reason, that, "when the testator subscribed -his name, for the _last time_, he _plainly_ wrote Shakspe_a_re."[18:B] - -It is obvious, therefore, that the controversy turns upon, whether -there be, or be not, an _a_ introduced in the second syllable of -the last signature of the poet. Mr. Malone, on the suggestion of an -anonymous correspondent, thinks that there is not, this gentleman -having clearly shown him, "that though there was a superfluous stroke -when the poet came to write the letter _r_ in his last signature, -probably from the tremor of his hand, there was no _a_ discoverable in -that syllable; and that this name, like both the other, was written -_Shakspere_."[18:C] - -From the annexed plate of autographs, which is copied from Mr. -Chalmers's Apology, and presents us with very perfect fac-similes -of the signatures, it is at once evident, that the assertion of the -anonymous correspondent, that the last signature, "_like both the -other_, was written Shakspere," cannot be correct; for the surname in -the first brief is written Sha_c_kspere, and, in the second, Shakspe -re. Now the _hiatus_ in this second signature is unaccounted for in the -fac-simile given by Mr. Malone[18:D]; but in the plate of Mr. Chalmers -it is found to have been occasioned by the intrusion of the word _the_ -of the _preceding line_, a circumstance which, very probably, might -prevent the introduction of the controverted letter. It is likewise, -we think, very evident that something more than _a superfluous stroke_ -exists between the _e_ and _r_ of the last signature, and that the -variation is, indeed, too material to have originated from any -supposed tremor of the hand. - -Upon the whole, it may, we imagine, be safely reposed on as a fact, -that Shakspeare was not uniform in the orthography of his own name; -that he sometimes spelt it _Shakspere_ and sometimes _Shakspeare_; -but that no other variation is extant which can claim a similar -authority.[19:A] It is, therefore, nearly a matter of indifference -which of _these two_ modes of spelling we adopt; yet, as his last -signature appears to have included the letter _a_, it may, for the sake -of consistency, be proper silently to acquiesce in its admission. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[2:A] Communicated to Mr. Malone by the Rev. Mr. Davenport, vicar of -Stratford-upon-Avon. - -[2:B] Vincent, vol. clvii. p. 24. - -[3:A] See the instrument, at full length, Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. -146, edit. of 1803. - -[3:B] The History of the Worthies of England, part iii. fol. 131, 132. - -[3:C] See Shakspeare's coat of arms, Reed's Shaksp. vol. i. p. 146. - -[4:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 58, 59. - -[4:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 133. - -[4:C] "It was common in the age of Queen Elizabeth to give the same -Christian name to two children successively. This was undoubtedly -done in the present instance. The former Jone having probably died, -(though I can find no entry of her burial in the Register, nor indeed -of many of the other children of John Shakspeare) the name of Jone, a -very favourite one in those days, was transferred to another new-born -child."—Malone from Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 134. - -[5:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 136. - -[6:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 58. - -[7:A] MS. Aubrey, Mus. Ashmol. Oxon. Lives, p. 1. fol. 78, a. (Inter -Cod. Dugdal.) Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 213. - -[7:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 214. and Ireland's Picturesque -Views on the Upper or Warwickshire Avon, p. 190, 191. Since this -passage was written, however, the proof which it was supposed to -contain, has been completely annihilated. "If John Shakspeare's -occupation in life," observes Mr. Wheeler, "want confirmation, this -circumstance will unfortunately not answer such a purpose; for old -Thomas Hart constantly declared that his great uncle, Shakspeare Hart, -a glazier of this town, who had the new glazing of the chapel windows, -where it is known, from Dugdale, that such a shield existed, brought it -from thence, and introduced it into his own window."—Wheeler's Guide -to Stratford, pp. 13, 14. - -[8:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 214. - -[9:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 197, 198. - -[14:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 199. et seq. - -[15:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 197. - -[15:B] Malone's Inquiry, p. 198, 199. - -[15:C] As a specimen, let us take the beginning of this declaration -of faith, and see still stronger terms in the conclusion of this -protestation, _confession_, and charter. - -[16:A] "The place too, the roof of the house where this confession was -found, proves, that it had been therein concealed, during times of -persecution, for the holy Catholick religion." Apology, p. 198, 199. - -[16:B] Chalmers's Apology, p. 200. - -[16:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 198. - -[17:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 149. - -[18:A] Malone's Inquiry, p. 120 - -[18:B] Chalmers's Apology, p. 235. - -[18:C] Malone's Inquiry, p. 117, 118. - -[18:D] Inquiry, Plate II. No. 12. - -[19:A] A want of uniformity in the spelling of names, was a species of -negligence very common in the time of Shakspeare, and may be observed, -remarks Mr. Chalmers, "with regard to the principal poets of that age; -as we may see in _England's Parnassus_, a collection of poetry which -was published in 1600: thus, - - S_y_dney S_i_dney. - Spen_s_er Spen_c_er. - Jonson Johnson Jhonson. - Dekker Dekkar. - Markeham Markham. - Sylv_i_ster Sylv_e_ster S_i_lvester. - Sackwill Sackuil. - Fitz Geffrey Fitzjeffry Fitz Jeffr_a_y. - France Fraunce. - Mid_l_eton Mid_d_leton. - G_u_ilpin G_i_lpin. - Achelly Achely Achilly Achillye. - Dra_y_ton Dra_i_ton. - Danie_l_ Daniel_l_. - Dav_i_s Davi_e_s. - Marlo_w_ Marlo_we_. - M_a_rston M_u_rston. - Fair_e_fax Fa_ir_fax. - K_i_d K_y_d. - -Yet, it is remarkable, that in this collection of diversities, our -dramatist's name is uniformly spelt Shakespeare: in whatever manner -this celebrated name may have been pronounced in Warwickshire, it -certainly was spoken in London, with the _e_ soft, thus, Shak_e_speare: -in the registers of the Stationers' Company, it is written, -Shakes_pere_, and Shakes_peare_." Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. -129, 130. - -A curious proof of the uncertain orthography of the poet's surname -among his contemporaries and immediate successors, may be drawn from -a pamphlet, entitled, "The great Assizes holden in Parnassus by -Apollo and his Assessours: at which Sessions are arraigned, Mercurius -Britannicus, &c. &c. London: Printed by Richard Cotes for Edward -Husbands, and are to be sold at his shop in the Middle Temple. 1645. -qto. 25 leaves." - -In this rare tract, among the list of the jurors is found the name -of our bard, written William _Shakespeere_; and in the body of the -poem, it is given _Shakespeare_, and _Shakespear_. _Vide_ British -Bibliographer, vol. i. p. 513. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - THE HOUSE IN WHICH SHAKSPEARE WAS BORN—PLAGUE AT STRATFORD, - JUNE 1564—SHAKSPEARE EDUCATED AT THE FREE-SCHOOL OF - STRATFORD—STATE OF EDUCATION, AND OF JUVENILE LITERATURE IN - THE COUNTRY AT THIS PERIOD—EXTENT OF SHAKSPEARE'S ACQUIREMENTS - AS A SCHOLAR. - - -The experience of the last half century has fully proved, that every -thing relative to the history of our immortal dramatist has been -received, and received justly too, by the public with an avidity -proportional to his increasing fame. What, if recorded of a less -celebrated character, might be deemed very uninteresting, immediately -acquires, when attached to the mighty name of Shakspeare, an importance -nearly unparalleled. No apology, therefore, can be necessary for the -introduction of any fact or circumstance, however minute, which is, in -the slightest degree, connected with his biography; tradition, indeed, -has been so sparing of her communications on this subject, that every -addition to her little store has been hitherto welcomed with the most -lively sensation of pleasure, nor will the attempt to collect and -embody these scattered fragments be unattended with its reward. - -The birth-place of our poet, the spot where he drew the first breath of -life, where Fancy - - —— "fed the little prattler, and with songs - Oft sooth'd his wond'ring ears," - -has been the object of laudable curiosity to thousands, and happily the -very roof that sheltered his infant innocence can still be pointed out. -It stands in Henley-street, and, though at present forming two separate -tenements, was originally but one house.[21:A] The premises are still -in possession of the Hart family, _now_ the _seventh_ descendants, in -a direct line, from Jone the sister of the poet. From the plate in -Reed's Shakspeare, which is a correct representation of the existing -state of this humble but interesting dwelling, it will appear, that -one portion of it is occupied by the Swan and Maidenhead public-house, -and the other by a butcher's shop, in which the son of old Mr. Thomas -Hart, mentioned in the last chapter, still carries on his father's -trade.[22:A] "The kitchen of this house," says Mr. Samuel Ireland, "has -an appearance sufficiently interesting, abstracted from its claim to -notice as relative to the Bard. It is a subject very similar to those -that so frequently employed the rare talents of Ostade, and therefore -cannot be deemed unworthy the pencil of an inferior artist. In the -corner of the chimney stood an old oak-chair, which had for a number -of years received nearly as many adorers as the celebrated shrine of -the Lady of Loretto. This relic was purchased, in July 1790, by the -Princess Czartoryska, who made a journey to this place, in order to -obtain intelligence relative to Shakspeare; and being told he had -often sat in this chair, she placed herself in it, and expressed an -ardent wish to become a purchaser; but being informed that it was not -to be sold at any price, she left a handsome gratuity to old Mrs. Hart, -and left the place with apparent regret. About four months after, the -anxiety of the Princess could no longer be withheld, and her secretary -was dispatched express, as the fit agent, to purchase this treasure at -any rate: the sum of twenty guineas was the price fixed on, and the -secretary and chair, with a proper certificate of its authenticity on -stamped paper, set off in a chaise for London."[23:A] The elder Mr. -Hart, who died about the year 1794, aged sixty-seven, informed Mr. -Samuel Ireland, that he well remembered, when a boy, having dressed -himself, with some of his playfellows, as Scaramouches (such was his -phrase), in the wearing-apparel of Shakspeare; an anecdote of which, -if we consider the lapse of time, it may be allowed us to doubt the -credibility, and to conclude that the recollection of Mr. Hart had -deceived him. - -Little more than two months had passed over the head of the infant -Shakspeare, when he became exposed to danger of such an imminent kind, -that we have reason to rejoice he was not snatched from us even while -he lay in the cradle. He was born, as we have already recorded, on the -23d of April, 1564; and on the 30th of the June following, the plague -broke out at Stratford, the ravages of which dreadful disease were so -violent, that between this last date and the close of December, not -less than two hundred and thirty-eight persons perished; "of which -number," remarks Mr. Malone, "probably two hundred and sixteen died of -that malignant distemper; and one only of the whole number resided, -not in Stratford, but in the neighbouring town of Welcombe. From the -two hundred and thirty-seven inhabitants of Stratford, whose names -appear in the Register, twenty-one are to be subducted, who, it may -be presumed, would have died in six months, in the ordinary course of -nature; for in the five preceding years, reckoning, according to the -style of that time, from March 25. 1559, to March 25. 1564, two hundred -and twenty-one persons were buried at Stratford, of whom two hundred -and ten were townsmen: that is, of these latter, forty-two died each -year at an average. Supposing one in thirty-five to have died annually, -the total number of the inhabitants of Stratford at that period was one -thousand four hundred and seventy; and consequently the plague, in the -last six months of the year 1564, carried off more than a seventh part -of them. Fortunately for mankind it did not reach the house in which -the infant Shakspeare lay; for not one of that name appears in the dead -list. May we suppose, that, like Horace, he lay secure and fearless in -the midst of contagion and death, protected by the Muses, to whom his -future life was to be devoted, and covered over:— - - —————— "_sacrâ - Lauroque, collataque myrto, - Non sine Diis animosus infans_."[24:A] - -It is now impossible to ascertain with any degree of certainty the mode -which was adopted in the education of this aspiring genius; all that -time has left us on the subject is, that he was sent, though but for -a short period, to the free-school of Stratford, a seminary founded in -the reign of Henry the Sixth, by the Rev. —— Jolepe, M. A., a native -of the town; and which, after sharing, at the general dissolution of -chantries, religious houses, &c. the usual fate, was restored and -patronised by Edward the Sixth, a short time previous to his death. -Here it was, that he acquired the _small Latin and less Greek_, which -Jonson has attributed to him, a mode of phraseology from which it must -be inferred, that he was at _least acquainted_ with _both_ languages; -and, perhaps, we may add, that he who has obtained some knowledge of -Greek, however slight, may, with little hesitation, be supposed to have -proceeded considerably beyond the limits of mere elementary instruction -in Latin. - -At the period when Shakspeare was sent to school, the study of -the classical languages had made, since the era of the revival of -literature, a very rapid progress. Grammars and Dictionaries, by -various authors, had been published[25:A]; but the grammatical -institute then in general use, both in town and country, was the -Grammar of Henry the Eighth, which, by the order of Queen Elizabeth, -in her Injunctions of 1559, was admitted, to the exclusion of all -others: "Every schoolmaster," says the thirty-ninth Injunction, -"shall teach the grammar set forth by King Henrie the Eighth, of -noble memorie, and continued in the time of Edward the Sixth, and -_none other_;" and in the Booke of certain Cannons, 1571, it is again -directed, "that no other grammar shall be taught, but only that which -the Queen's Majestie hath commanded to be read in all schooles, through -the whole realm." - -With the exception of Wolsey's _Rudimenta Grammatices_, printed in -1536, and taught in his school at Ipswich, and a similar work of -Collet's, established in his seminary in St. Paul's churchyard, this -was the grammar publicly and universally adopted, and without doubt the -instructor of Shakspeare in the language of Rome. - -Another initiatory work, which we may almost confidently affirm him -to have studied under the tuition of the master of the free-school at -Stratford, was the production of one Ockland, and entitled ΕΙΡΗΝΑΡΧΙΑ, -_sive_ ELIZABETHA. The object of this book, which is written in Latin -verse, is to panegyrise the characters and government of Elizabeth and -her ministers, and it was, therefore, enjoined by authority to be read -as a classic in every grammar-school, and to be indelibly impressed -upon the memory of every young scholar in the kingdom; "a matchless -contrivance," remarks Bishop Hurd, "to imprint a sense of loyalty on -the minds of the people."[26:A] - -To these school-books, to which, being introduced by compulsory edicts, -there is no doubt Shakspeare was indebted for some learning and much -loyalty, may be added, as another resource to which he was directed by -his master, the Dictionary of Syr Thomas Elliot, declaring Latin by -English, as greatly improved and enriched by Thomas Cooper in 1552. -This lexicon, the most copious and celebrated of its day, was received -into almost every school, and underwent numerous editions, namely, -in 1559, and in 1565, under the title of _Thesaurus Linguæ Romanæ et -Britannicæ_, and again in 1573, 1578, and 1584. Elizabeth not only -recommended the lexicon of Cooper, and professed the highest esteem -for him, in consequence of the great utility of his work toward the -promotion of classical literature, but she more substantially expressed -her opinion of his worth by promoting him to the deanery of Gloucester -in 1569, and to the bishoprics of Lincoln and Winchester in 1570 and -1584, at which latter see he died on the 29th of April, 1594.[27:A] - -Thus far we may be allowed, on good grounds, to trace the very books -which were placed in the hands of Shakspeare, during his short -noviciate in classical learning; to proceed farther, would be to -indulge in mere conjecture, but we may add, and with every just reason -for the inference, that from these productions, and from the few -minor classics which he had time to study at this seminary, all that -the most precocious genius, at such a period of life, and under so -transient a direction of the mind to classic lore, could acquire, was -obtained.[27:B] - -The universality of classical education about the era of 1575, when, -it is probable, Shakspeare had not long entered on the acquisitions -of the Latin elements, was such that no person of rank or property -could be deemed accomplished who had not been thoroughly imbued with -the learning and mythology of Greece and Rome. The knowledge which had -been previously confined to the clergy or professed scholars, became -now diffused among the nobility and gentry, and even influenced, -in a considerable degree, the minds and manners of the softer sex. -Elizabeth herself led the way in this career of erudition, and she was -soon followed by the ladies of her court, who were taught, as Warton -observes, not only to distil strong waters, but to construe Greek.[28:A] - -The fashion of the court speedily became, to a certain extent, the -fashion of the country, and every individual possessed of a decent -competency, was solicitous that his children should acquire the -literature in vogue. Had the father of our poet continued in prosperous -circumstances, there is every reason to conclude that his son would -have had the opportunity of acquiring the customary erudition of -the times; but we have already seen, that in 1579 he was so reduced -in fortune, as to be excused a weekly payment of 4_d._, a state of -depression which had no doubt existed some time before it attracted the -notice of the corporation of Stratford. - -One result therefore of these pecuniary difficulties was the removal of -young Shakspeare from the free-school, an event which has occasioned, -among his biographers and numerous commentators, much controversy and -conjecture as to the extent of his classical attainments. - -From the short period which tradition allows us to suppose that our -poet continued under the instruction of a master, we have a right -to conclude that, notwithstanding his genius and industry, he must -necessarily have made a very superficial acquaintance with the learned -languages. That he was called home to assist his father, we are told -by Mr. Rowe; and consequently, as the family was numerous and under -the pressure of poverty, it is not likely that he found much time to -prosecute what he had commenced at school. The accounts, therefore, -which have descended to us, on the authority of Ben Jonson, Drayton, -Suckling, &c. that he had not much learning, that he depended almost -exclusively on his _native_ genius, (_that his Latin was small and his -Greek less_,) ought to have been, without scruple, admitted. Fuller, -who was a diligent and accurate enquirer, has given us in his Worthies, -printed in 1662, the most full and express opinion on the subject. -"He was an eminent instance," he remarks, "of the truth of that rule, -_Poeta non fit, sed nascitur_; one is not _made_ but _born_ a poet. -Indeed his learning was _very little_, so that as _Cornish diamonds_ -are not polished by any lapidary, but are pointed and smoothed even as -they are taken out of the earth, so _nature_ itself was all the _art_ -which was used upon him."[29:A] - -Notwithstanding this uniform assertion of the contemporaries and -immediate successors of Shakspeare, relative to his very imperfect -knowledge of the languages of Greece and Rome, many of his modern -commentators have strenuously insisted upon his intimacy with both, -among whom may be enumerated, as the most zealous and decided on this -point, the names of Gildon, Sewell, Pope, Upton, Grey, and Whalley. -The dispute, however, has been nearly, if not altogether terminated, -by the _Essay_ of Dr. Farmer _on the Learning of Shakspeare_, who has, -by a mode of research equally ingenious and convincing, clearly proved -that all the passages which had been triumphantly brought forward as -instances of the classical literature of Shakspeare, were taken from -translations, or from original, and once popular, productions in his -native tongue. Yet the _conclusion_ drawn from this essay, so far as -it respects the portion of latinity which our poet had acquired and -preserved, as the result of his school-education, appears to us greatly -too restricted. "_He remembered_," says the Doctor, "_perhaps enough -of his school-boy learning to put the Hig, hag, hog, into the mouth -of Sir Hugh Evans_:" and might pick up in the writers of the time, or -the course of his conversation, a familiar phrase or two of French or -Italian: but his studies were most demonstratively confined to nature -and his own language.[30:A] - -A very late writer, in combating this part of the _conclusion_ of Dr. -Farmer, has advanced an opinion in several respects so similar to our -own, that it will be necessary, in justice to him and previous to -any further expansion of the idea which we have embraced, to quote -his words. "Notwithstanding," says he, "Dr. Farmer's essay on the -deficiency of Shakspeare in learning, I must acknowledge myself to be -one who does not conceive that his proofs of that fact sufficiently -warrant his conclusions from them: 'that his _studies_ were -demonstrably confined to nature and his own language' is, as Dr. Farmer -concludes, true enough; but when it is added, 'that he only picked -up in conversation a familiar phrase or two of French, or remembered -enough of his school-boy's learning to put _hig, hag, hog_, in the -mouths of others:' he seems to me to go beyond any evidence produced -by him of so little knowledge of languages in Shakspeare. He proves -indeed sufficiently, that Shakspeare chiefly read English books, by his -copying sometimes minutely the very errors made in them, many of which -he might have corrected, if he had consulted the original Latin books -made use of by those writers: but this does not prove that he was not -able to read Latin well enough to examine those originals if he chose; -it only proves his indolence and indifference about accuracy in minute -articles of no importance to the chief object in view of supplying -himself with subjects for dramatic compositions. Do we not every day -meet with numberless instances of similar and much greater oversights -by persons well skilled in Greek as well as Latin, and professed -critics also of the writings and abilities of others? If Shakspeare -made an ignorant man pronounce the French word _bras_ like the English -_brass_, and evidently on purpose, as being a probable mistake by -such an unlearned speaker; has not one learned modern in writing -Latin made _Paginibus_ of _Paginis_, and another mentioned a person -as being born in the reign of Charles the First, and yet as dying in -1600, full twenty-five years before the accession of that king? Such -mistakes arise not from ignorance, but a heedless inattention, while -their thoughts are better occupied with more important subjects; as -those of Shakspeare were with forming his plots and his characters, -instead of examining critically a great Greek volume to see whether he -ought to write _on this side of Tiber or on that side of Tiber_; which -however very possibly he might not be able to read; but Latin was more -universally learnt in that age, and even by women, many of whom could -both write and speak it; therefore it is not likely that he should -be so very deficient in that language, as some would persuade us, by -evidence which does not amount to sufficient proofs of the fact. Nay, -even although he had a sufficiency of Latin to understand any Latin -book, if he chose to do it, yet how many in modern times, under the -same circumstances, are led by mere indolence to prefer translations of -them, in case they cannot read Latin with such perfect ease, as never -to be at a loss for the meaning of a word, so as to be forced to read -some sentences twice over before they can understand them rightly. That -Shakspeare was not an eminent Latin scholar may be very true, but that -he was so totally ignorant as to know nothing more than _hic, hæc, -hoc_, must have better proofs before I can be convinced."[31:A] - -The truth seems to be, that Shakspeare, like most boys who have spent -but two or three years at a grammar-school, acquired just as much -Latin as would enable him, with the assistance of a lexicon, and no -little share of assiduity, to construe a minor classic; a degree of -acquisition which we every day see, unless forwarded by much leisure -and much private industry, immediately becomes stationary, and soon -retrograde. Our poet, when taken from the free-school of Stratford, had -not only to direct his attention to business, in order to assist in -warding off from his father's family the menacing approach of poverty; -but it is likewise probable that his leisure, as we shall notice more -at large in the next chapter, was engaged in other acquisitions; and -when at a subsequent period, and after he had become a married man, -his efforts were thrown into a channel perfectly congenial to his -taste and talents, still to procure subsistence for the day was the -immediate stimulus to exertion. Under these circumstances, and when we -likewise recollect that _popular_ favour and applause were essential -to his success, and that nearly to the last period of his life he was -a prolific caterer for the public in a species of poetry which called -for no recondite or learned resources, it is not probable, nay, it is, -indeed, scarcely possible, that he should have had time to cultivate -and increase his classical attainments, originally and necessarily -superficial. To translations, therefore, and to popular and legendary -lore, he was alike directed by policy, by inclination, and by want -of leisure; yet must we still agree, that, had a proficiency in the -learned languages been necessary to his career, the means resided -within himself, and that, on the basis merely of his school-education, -although limited as we have seen it, he might, had he early and -steadily directed his attention to the subject, have built the -reputation of a scholar. - -That the powers, however, of his vast and capacious mind, especially -if we consider the shortness of his life, were not expended on such an -attempt, we have reason to rejoice; for though his attainments, as a -linguist, were truly trifling, yet his _knowledge_ was great, and his -_learning_, in the best sense of the term, that is, as distinct from -the mere acquisition of language, multifarious, and extensive beyond -that of most of his contemporaries.[32:A] - -It is, therefore, to his _English_ studies that we must have recourse -for a due estimate of his reading and research; a subject which will be -treated of in a future portion of the work. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[21:A] It is with some apprehension of imposition that I quote the -following passage from Mr. Samuel Ireland's Picturesque Views on the -River Avon. This gentleman, the father of the youth who endeavoured -so grossly to deceive the public by the fabrication of a large mass -of MSS. which he attributed to Shakspeare, was undoubtedly, at the -time he wrote this book, the complete dupe of his son; and though, -as a man of veracity and integrity, to be depended upon with regard -to what originated from himself, it is possible, that the settlement -which he quotes may have been derived from the same ample store-house -of forgery which produced the folio volume of miscellaneous papers, -&c. This settlement, in the possession of Mr. Ireland, is brought -forward as a proof that the premises in Henley-street were certainly -in the occupation of John Shakspeare, the father of the poet; it is -dated August 14th, thirty-third of Elizabeth, 1591, and Mr. Ireland -professes to give the substance of it in the subsequent terms:—"'That -George Badger, senior, of Stratford upon Avon, conveys to John and -William Courte, yeomen, and their heirs, in trust, &c. a messuage or -tenement, with the appurtenances, in Stratford upon Avon, in a certain -streete called Henley-streete, between the house of Robert Johnson on -the one part, and the house of _John Shakspeare_ on the other; and also -two selions (_i. e._ ridges, or ground between furrows) of land lying -between the land of _Thomas Combe_, Gent. on the one hand, and Thomas -Reynolde, Gent. on the other.' It is regularly executed, and livery of -seisin on the 29th of the same month and year indorsed." _P._ 195, 196. - -[22:A] "In a lower room of this public house," says Mr. Samuel Ireland, -"which is part of the premises wherein Shakspeare was born, is a -curious antient ornament over the chimney, relieved in plaister, which, -from the date, 1606, that was originally marked on it, was probably -put up at the time, and possibly by the poet himself: although a -rude attempt at historic representation, I have yet thought it worth -copying, as it has, I believe, passed unnoticed by the multitude of -visitors that have been on this spot, or at least has never been made -public: and to me it was enough that it held a conspicuous place in -the dwelling-house of one who is himself the ornament and pride of the -island he inhabited. In 1759, it was repaired and painted in a variety -of colours by the old Mr. Thomas Harte before-mentioned, who assured -me the motto then round it had been in the old black letter, and dated -1606. The motto runs thus: - - =Golith comes with sword and spear, - And David with a sling: - Although Golith rage and sweare, - Down David doth him bring.=" - Picturesque Views, p. 192, 193. - -[23:A] Picturesque Views, p. 189, 190. It is probable that Mr. Ireland, -though, it appears, unconnected with the forgeries of his son, might, -during his tour, be too eager in crediting the tales which were -told him. One Jordan, a native of Alverton near Stratford, was for -many years the usual _cicerone_ to enquirers after Shakspeare, and -was esteemed not very accurate in weighing the authenticity of the -anecdotes which he related. - -[24:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 84, 85. - -[25:A] It is possible also that the following grammars and -dictionaries, independent of those mentioned in the text, may have -contributed to the school-education of Shakspeare:— - -1. Certain brief Rules of the Regiment or Construction of the Eight -Partes of Speche, in English and Latin, 1537. - -2. A short Introduction of Grammar, generallie to be used: compiled and -set forth, for the bringyng up of all those that intend to attaine the -knowledge of the Latin tongue, 1557. - -3. The Scholemaster; or, Plaine and perfite Way of teaching Children to -understand, write, and speak, the Latin Tong. By Roger Ascham. 1571. - -4. Abecedarium Anglico-Latinum, pro tyrunculis, Ricardo Huloeto -exscriptore, 1552. - -5. The Short Dictionary, 1558. - -6. A little Dictionary; compiled by J. Withals, 1559. Afterwards -reprinted in 1568, 1572, 1579, and 1599; and entitled, A Shorte -Dictionarie most profitable for young Beginners: and subsequently, A -Shorte Dictionarie in Lat. and English. - -7. The brefe Dyxcyonary, 1562. - -8. Huloets Dictionary; newlye corrected, amended, and enlarged, by John -Higgins, 1572. - -9. Veron's Dictionary; Latin and English, 1575. - -10. An Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionarie; containing foure sundrie -Tongues: namelie, English, Latine, Greeke, and Frenche. Newlie enriched -with varietie of wordes, phrases, proverbs, and divers lightsome -observations of grammar. By John Baret, 1580. - -11. Rider's Dictionary, Latine, and English, 1589. - -[26:A] Moral and Political Dialogues, vol. ii. p. 28. edit. 1788. - -[27:A] That school-masters and lexicographers were not usually so well -rewarded, notwithstanding the high value placed on classical literature -at this period, may be drawn from the complaint of Ascham: "It is -pitie," says he, "that commonlie more care is had, yea, and that amonge -verie wise men, to find out rather a cunnynge man for their horse, than -a cunnynge man for their children. They say nay in worde, but they do -so in deede. For, to the one they will gladlie give a stipend of 200 -crownes by yeare, and loth to offer to the other 200 shillings. God, -that sitteth in heaven, laugheth their choice to skorne, and rewardeth -their liberalitie as it should; for he suffereth them to have tame, and -well ordered horse, but wilde and unfortunate children; and therefore, -in the ende, they finde more pleasure in their horse than comforte in -their children."—Ascham's Works, Bennet's edition, p. 212. - -[27:B] It is more than possible that the Eclogues of Mantuanus the -Carmelite may have been one of the school-books of Shakspeare. He is -familiarly quoted and praised in the following passage from Love's -Labour's Lost:— - -"Hol. _Fauste, precor gelidâ quando pecus omne sub umbrâ Ruminat_,—and -so forth. Ah, good old Mantua! I may speak of thee as the traveller -doth of Venice: - - ——— _Vinegia, Vinegia, - Chi non te rede, ci non te pregia._ - -Old Mantuan! old Mantuan! who understandeth thee not, loves thee not." -Act iv. sc. 2. And his Eclogues, be it remembered, were translated -and printed, together with the Latin on the opposite page, for the -use of schools, before the commencement of our author's education; -and from a passage quoted by Mr. Malone, from Nashe's _Apologie of -Pierce Penniless_, 1593, appear to have continued in use long after -its termination. "With the first and second leafe, he plaies very -prettilie, and, in ordinarie terms of extenuating, verdits Pierce -Pennilesse for a grammar-school wit; saies, his margine is as deeply -learned as, _Fauste, precor gelidâ_." Mantuanus was translated by -George Turberville in 1567, and reprinted in 1591.—_Vide_ Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 95. - -[28:A] Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 491. - -[29:A] Worthies, p. iii. p. 126. - -[30:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 85. - -[31:A] Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 285. - -[32:A] "If it were asked from what sources," observes Mr. Capel Lofft, -"_Shakspeare_ drew these abundant streams of wisdom, carrying with -their current the fairest and most unfading flowers of poetry, I -should be tempted to say, he had what would be now considered a very -reasonable portion of Latin; he was not wholly ignorant of Greek; -he had a knowledge of the French, so as to read it with ease; and I -believe not less of the Italian. He was habitually conversant in the -chronicles of his country. He lived with wise and highly cultivated -men; with Jonson, Essex, and Southampton, in familiar friendship. He -had deeply imbibed the Scriptures. And his own most acute, profound, -active, and original genius (for there never was a truly great poet, -nor an aphoristic writer of excellence without these accompanying -qualities) must take the lead in the solution." Aphorisms from -Shakspeare: Introduction, pp. xii. and xiii. - -Again, in speaking of his poems, he remarks—"Transcendent as his -original and singular genius was, I think it is not easy, with due -attention to _these_ poems, to doubt of his having acquired, when a -boy, no ordinary facility in the _classic_ language of Rome; though -his knowledge of it might be small, comparatively, to the knowledge -of that great and indefatigable scholar, Ben Jonson. And when Jonson -says he had 'less Greek,' had it been true that he had none, it would -have been as easy for the verse as for the sentiment to have said 'no -Greek.'"—Introduction, p. xxiv. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - SHAKSPEARE, AFTER LEAVING SCHOOL, FOLLOWS HIS FATHER'S - TRADE—STATEMENT OF AUBREY—PROBABLY PRESENT IN HIS TWELFTH - YEAR, AT KENELWORTH, WHEN ELIZABETH VISITED THE EARL OF - LEICESTER—TRADITION OF AUBREY CONCERNING HIM—WHETHER THERE - IS REASON TO SUPPOSE THAT, AFTER LEAVING HIS FATHER, HE WAS - PLACED IN AN ATTORNEY'S OFFICE WHO WAS LIKEWISE SENESCHAL OR - STEWARD OF SOME MANOR—ANECDOTES OF SHAKSPEARE—ALLUSIONS - IN HIS WORKS TO BARTON, WILNECOTTE AND BARSTON, VILLAGES IN - WARWICKSHIRE—EARTHQUAKE IN 1580 ALLUDED TO—WHETHER, AFTER - LEAVING SCHOOL, HE ACQUIRED ANY KNOWLEDGE OF THE FRENCH AND - ITALIAN LANGUAGES. - - -That Shakspeare, when taken from the free-school of Stratford, became -an assistant to his father in the wool-trade, has been the general -opinion of his biographers from the period of Mr. Rowe, who first -published the tradition in 1709, to the present day. The anecdote was -probably collected by Mr. Betterton the player, who visited Stratford -in order to procure intelligence relative to his favourite poet, and -from whom Mr. Rowe professes to have derived the greater part of -his information.[34:A] A few incidental circumstances tend also to -strengthen the account that both father and son were engaged in this -employment, and, for a time, together: in the first place, we may -mention the discovery already noticed of the arms of the merchants -of the wool-staple on a window of the house in which the poet was -born[34:B]; secondly, the almost certain conclusion that the poverty -of John Shakspeare, which we know to have been considerable in 1579, -would naturally incline him to require the assistance of his son, in -the only way in which, at that time, he could be serviceable to him; -and thirdly, we may adduce the following passages from the works of our -Dramatist, which seem to imply a more than theoretic intimacy with his -father's business. In the Winter's Tale, the Clown exclaims, - - "Let me see:—Every 'leven wether—tods; every tod - yields—pound and odd shilling: fifteen hundred shorn,—What - comes the wool to?" _Act IV. Scene 2._ - -Upon this passage Dr. Farmer remarks, "that to _tod_ is used as a -verb by dealers in wool; thus, they say, 'Twenty sheep ought to _tod_ -fifty pounds of wool,' &c. The meaning, therefore, of the Clown's -words is, 'Every eleven wether _tods_; i. e. _will produce a tod_, or -twenty-eight pounds of wool; every _tod_ yields a pound and some odd -shillings; what then will the wool of fifteen hundred yield?'" - -"The occupation of his father," subjoins Mr. Malone, "furnished our -poet with accurate knowledge on this subject; for two pounds and a half -of wool is, I am told, a very good produce from a sheep at the time of -shearing." - -"_Every 'leven wether—tods_," adds Mr. Ritson, "has been rightly -expounded to mean that the wool of _eleven sheep_ would weigh a _tod_, -or 28lb. Each fleece would, therefore, be 2lb. 8oz. 11½dr., and the -whole produce of _fifteen hundred shorn 136 tod_, 1 clove, 2lb. 6oz. -2dr. which _at pound and odd shilling per tod_, would yield 143_l._ -3_s._ 0_d._ Our author was too familiar with the subject to be -suspected of inaccuracy. - -"Indeed it appears from Stafford's _Breefe Conceipte of English -Pollicye_, 1581, p. 16, that the price of a tod of wool was at that -period _twenty_ or _two_ and _twenty shillings_: so that the medium -price was exactly '_pound and odd shilling_.'"[35:A] - -In Hamlet, the prince justly observes, - - There's a divinity that _shapes our ends_, - _Rough-hew_ them how we will. _Act V. Scene 2._ - -Lines, of which the words in italics were considered by Dr. Farmer as -merely technical. "A woolman, butcher, and dealer in _skewers_," says -Mr. Stevens, "lately observed to him (Dr. F.), that his nephew, an idle -lad, could only _assist_ him in making them; '—he could _rough-hew_ -them, but I was obliged to _shape their ends_.' To shape the ends of -_wool-skewers_, i. e. to _point_ them, requires a degree of skill; -any one can _rough-hew_ them. Whoever recollects the profession of -Shakspeare's father, will admit that his son might be no stranger to -such terms. I have frequently seen packages of wool pinned up with -_skewers_."[36:A] - -We may, therefore, after duly considering all the evidence that can -now be obtained, pretty confidently acquiesce in the traditional -account that Shakspeare was, for a time, and that immediately on -his being taken from the free-school, the assistant of his father -in the wool-trade; but it will be necessary here to mention, that -Aubrey, on whose authority it has been related that John Shakspeare -was, at one period of his life, a butcher, adds, with regard to our -poet, that "when he was a boy, he exercised his father's trade;" and -that "when he killed a calfe, he would do it in a _high style_, and -make a speech."[36:B] That John Shakspeare, when under the pressure -of adversity, might combine the two employments, which are, in a -certain degree, connected with each other, we have already recorded as -probable; it is very possible, also, that the following similes may -have been suggested to the son, by what he had occasionally observed at -home: - - And as the butcher takes away the calf, - And binds the wretch, and beats it when it strays, - Bearing it to the bloody slaughter-house; - Even so, remorseless, have they borne him hence. - And as the dam runs lowing up and down, - Looking the way her harmless young one went, - And can do nought but wail her darling's loss; - Even so, &c. &c. _Henry VI. Part II. Act III. Scene 1._ - -but that the father of our poet, the former bailiff of Stratford, -should employ his children, instead of servants, in the slaughter of -his cattle, is a position so revolting, so unnecessarily degrading -on the part of the father, and, at the same time, must have been so -discordant with the well-known humane and gentle cast of the poet's -disposition, that we cannot, for a moment, allow ourselves to conceive -that any credibility can be attached to such a report. - -At what age he began to assist his father in the wool-trade, cannot now -be positively ascertained; but as he was early taken from school, for -this purpose, we shall probably not err far, if we suppose this change -to have taken place when he was _twelve_ years old; a computation which -includes a period of scholastic education sufficiently long to have -imbued him with just such a portion of classical lore, as an impartial -enquirer into his life and works would be willing to admit. - -A short time previous to this, when our poet was in his twelfth -year, and in the summer of 1575, an event occurred which must have -made a great impression on his mind; the visit of Queen Elizabeth to -the magnificent Earl of Leicester, at Kenelworth Castle. That young -Shakspeare was a spectator of the festivities on this occasion, was -first suggested by Bishop Percy[37:A], who, in his Essay on the Origin -of the English Stage, speaking of the old Coventry play of Hock -Tuesday, which was performed before Her Majesty during her residence -at the castle, observes,—"Whatever this old play, or 'storial show,' -was at the time it was exhibited to Queen Elizabeth, it had probably -our young Shakspeare for a spectator, who was then in his twelfth year, -and doubtless attended with all the inhabitants of the surrounding -country at these 'Princely Pleasures of Kenelworth,'[37:B] _whence -Stratford is only a few miles distant_. And as the Queen was much -diverted with the Coventry play, 'whereat Her Majestie laught well,' -and rewarded the performers with two bucks, and five marks in money: -who, 'what rejoicing upon their ample reward, and what triumphing upon -the good acceptance, vaunted their play was never so dignified, nor -ever any players before so beatified:' but especially if our young -Bard afterwards gained admittance into the castle to see a play, which -the same evening, after supper, was there 'presented of a very good -theme, but so set forth by the actors' well-handling, that pleasure -and mirth made it seem very short,' though it lasted two good hours and -more, we may imagine what an impression was made on his infant mind. -Indeed the dramatic cast of many parts of that superb entertainment, -which continued nineteen days, and was the most splendid of the kind -ever attempted in this kingdom, must have had a very great effect on a -young imagination, whose dramatic powers were hereafter to astonish the -world."[38:A] - -Of the gorgeous splendour, and elaborate pageantry which were displayed -during this princely fete at Kenelworth, some idea may be formed from -the following summary. The Earl met the Queen on Saturday the 9th of -July 1575, at Long Ichington, a town seven miles from Kenelworth, where -His Lordship had erected a tent, for the purpose of banqueting Her -Majesty, upon such a magnificent scale, "that justly for dignity," says -Laneham, "may be comparable with a beautiful palace; and for greatness -and quantity, with a proper town, or rather a citadel;" and to give -his readers an adequate conception of its vast magnitude, he adds that -"it had seven cart load of pins pertaining to it."[38:B] At the first -entrance of the Queen into His Lordship's castle a floating island was -discerned upon the pool, glittering with torches, on which sat the -Lady of the Lake, attended by two nymphs, who addressed Her Majesty in -verse, with an historical account of the antiquity and owners of the -castle; and the speech was closed with the sound of cornets, and other -instruments of loud music. Within the base-court was erected a stately -bridge, twenty feet wide, and seventy feet long, over which the Queen -was to pass; and on each side stood columns, with presents upon them -to Her Majesty from the gods. Silvanus offered a cage of wild-fowl, -and Pomona various sorts of fruits; Ceres gave corn, and Bacchus wine; -Neptune presented sea-fish; Mars the habiliments of war; and Phœbus all -kinds of musical instruments. During the rest of her stay, varieties of -sports and shows were daily exhibited. In the chase was a savage-man -clad in ivy accompanied by satyrs; there were bear-baitings and -fire-works, Italian tumblers, and a country brideale, running at the -Quintain, and Morrice-dancing. And, that no sort of diversion might be -omitted, hither came the Coventry-men and acted the old play already -mentioned, called Hock Tuesday, a kind of tilting match, representing, -in dumb show, the defeat of the Danes by the English, in the reign -of King Ethelred. There were besides on the pool, a Triton riding on -a Mermaid eighteen feet long, and Arion upon a Dolphin. To grace the -entertainment, the Queen here knighted Sir Thomas Cecil, eldest son -to the lord treasurer; Sir Henry Cobham, brother to the Lord Cobham; -Sir Francis Stanhope, and Sir Thomas Tresham. An estimate may be -formed of the expense from the quantity of ordinary beer, that was -drank upon this occasion, which amounted to three hundred and twenty -hogsheads.[39:A] - -To the ardent and opening mind of our youthful Bard what exquisite -delight must this grand festival have imparted, the splendour of which, -as Bishop Hurd remarks, "claims a remembrance even in the annals of -our country."[39:B] A considerable portion of the very mythology which -he had just been studying at school, was here brought before his eyes, -of which the costume and language were under the direction of the -first poets of the age; and the dramatic cast of the whole pageantry, -whether classical or Gothic, was such, as probably to impress his -glowing imagination with that bias for theatrical amusements, which -afterwards proved the basis of his own glory, and of his country's -poetic fame. - -Here, could he revisit the glimpses of the day, how justly might he -deplore, in his own inimitable language, the havoc of time, and the -mutability of human grandeur; of this princely castle, once the seat -of feudal hospitality, of revelry and song, and of which Laneham, in -his quaint style and orthography, has observed,—"Who that considerz -untoo the stately seat of _Kenelworth Castl_, the rare beauty of -bilding that His Honor hath avaunced; all of the hard quarry-stone: -every room so spacious, so well belighted, and so hy roofed within; -so seemly too sight by du proportion without; a day tyme, on every -side so glittering by glasse; a night, by continuall brightnesse of -candel, fyre, and torch-light, transparent thro the lyghtsome wyndow, -as it wear the _Egiptian Pharos_ relucent untoo all the _Alexandrian_ -coast: or els (too talke merily with my mery freend) thus radiant, as -thoogh _Phœbus_ for hiz eaz woold rest him in the _Castl_, and not -every night so to travel doown untoo the _Antipodes_; heertoo so fully -furnisht of rich apparell and utensilez apted in all points to the -best;"[40:A] of this vast pile the very ruins are now so reduced, that -the grand gateway, and the banquetting hall, eighty-six feet in length, -and forty-five in width, are the only important remains.[40:B] - -If Shakspeare were taken as early from school as we have supposed, and -his slender attainments in latinity strongly warrant the supposition, -it is more than probable, building on the traditional hint in Rowe, of -his aid being _wanted at home_[42:A], that he continued to assist his -father in the wool-trade for some years; that is, in all likelihood, -until his sixteenth or eighteenth year. Mr. Malone, however, not -adverting to this tradition, has, in a note to Rowe's Life, declared -his belief, "that, _on leaving school_, Shakspeare was placed in -the office of some country attorney, or the seneschal of some manor -court[43:A]:" a position which we think improbable only in _point -of time_; and, in justice to Mr. Malone, it must be added, that in -other places he has given a much wider latitude to the period of this -engagement. - -The circumstances on which this conjecture has been founded, are -these:—that, in the first place, throughout the dramas of Shakspeare, -there is interspersed such a vast variety of legal phrases and -allusions, expressed with such _technical_ accuracy, as to force upon -the mind a conviction, that the person who had used them must have been -intimately acquainted with the profession of the law; and, secondly, -that at the close of Aubrey's manuscript anecdotes of Shakspeare, -which are said to have been collected, at an early period, from the -information of the neighbours of the poet, it is positively asserted, -that our bard "understood Latin pretty well, for he had been in his -younger years a schoolmaster in the country."[43:B] - -On the first of these data, it has been observed by Mr. Malone, in -his "Attempt to ascertain the Order in which the Plays of Shakspeare -were written," that the poet's "knowledge of legal terms is not merely -such as might be acquired by the casual observation of even his -all-comprehending mind; it has the appearance of _technical_ skill; and -he is so fond of displaying it on all occasions, that I suspect he was -early initiated in at least the forms of law, and was employed, _while -he yet remained at Stratford_, in the office of some country-attorney, -who was at the same time a petty conveyancer, and perhaps also the -seneschal of some manor-court."[43:C] In confirmation of this opinion, -various instances are given of his legal phraseology, which we have -copied in the note below[43:D]; and here we must remark that the -expression, _while he yet remained at Stratford_, leaves the period of -his first application to the law, from the time at which he left school -to the era of his visiting London, unfixed; a portion of time which we -may fairly estimate as including the lapse of _ten_ years. - -With regard to the affirmation of Aubrey, that Shakspeare had been in -his younger years a schoolmaster in the country, the same ingenious -critic very justly remarks, that "many traditional anecdotes, though -not perfectly accurate, contain an adumbration of the truth;" and then -adds, "I am strongly inclined to think that the assertion contains, -though not the truth, yet something like it: I mean that Shakspeare -had been employed for some time in his younger years as a _teacher_ -in the country; though Dr. Farmer has incontestably proved, that he -could not have been a teacher of _Latin_. I have already suggested my -opinion, that before his coming to London he had acquired some share -of legal knowledge in the office of a petty country-conveyancer, -or in that of the steward of some manorial court. _If he began to -apply to this study at the age of eighteen_, two years afterwards -he might have been sufficiently conversant with conveyances to have -_taught others_ the form of such legal assurances as are usually -prepared by country-attorneys; and perhaps spent two or three years -in this employment before he removed from Stratford to London. Some -uncertain rumour of this kind might have continued to the middle -of the last century, and by the time it reached Mr. Aubrey, our -poet's original occupation was changed from a scrivener to that of a -schoolmaster."[46:A] - -In this quotation it will be immediately perceived that the period of -our author's application to the study of the law, is now supposed to -have occurred _at the age of eighteen_, when he must have been long -removed from school, and that he is also conceived to have been a -_teacher_ of what he had acquired in the profession. - -These conjectures of Mr. Malone, which, in their latter and modified -state, appear to me singularly happy, have met with a warm advocate in -Mr. Whiter: "The anecdotes," he remarks, "which have been delivered -down to us respecting our poet, appear to me neither improbable nor, -when duly examined, inconsistent with each other: even those which seem -least allied to probability, contain in my opinion the _adumbrata_, -if not _expressa signa veritatis_. Mr. Malone has admirably sifted -the accounts of _Aubrey_; and there is no truth, that is obtained by -a train of reasoning not reducible to demonstration, of which I am -more convinced than the conjecture of Mr. Malone, who supposes that -Shakspeare, before he quitted Stratford, was employed in such matters -of business as belonged to the office of a country-attorney, or the -steward of a manor-court. I have stated his conjecture in general -terms, that the _fact_, as it relates to our poet's _legal allusions_, -might be separated from any accidental circumstances of _historical -truth_. I am astonished, however, that Mr. Malone has confirmed his -conjecture by so few examples. I can supply him with a very large -accession."[46:B] - -Mr. Chalmers, however, refuses his aid in the structure of this -conjectural fabric, and asserts that Shakspeare might have derived -all his technical knowledge of the law from a very few books. "From -Totell's Presidents, 1572; from Pulton's Statutes, 1578; and from the -Lawier's Logike, 1588."[47:A] - -That these books were read by Shakspeare, there can, we think, be -little doubt; but this concession by no means militates against the -idea of his having been employed for a short period in some profitable -branch of the law. After weighing all the evidence which can _now_ -be adduced, either for or against the hypothesis, we shall probably -make the nearest approximation to the truth in concluding, that the -object of our research, having assisted his father for some years in -the wool-trade, for which express purpose he had been early taken -from school, might deem it necessary, on the prospect of approaching -marriage, to acquire some additional means of supporting a domestic -establishment, and, accordingly, annexed to his former occupation, or -superseded it, by a knowledge of an useful branch of the law, which, -by being taught to others, might prove to himself a source of revenue. -Thus combining the record of Rowe with the tradition of Aubrey, and -with the evidence derived from our author's own works, an inference has -been drawn which, though not amounting to certainty, approaches the -confine of it with no small pretensions. - -Of the events and circumstances which must have occurred to Shakspeare -in the interval between his leaving the free-school of Stratford, -and his marriage, scarcely any thing has transpired; the following -anecdote, however, which is still preserved at Stratford and the -neighbouring village of Bidford, may be ascribed with greater -propriety to this than to any subsequent period of his life. We -shall give it in the words of the author of the "Picturesque Views -on the Avon," who professes to have received it on the spot, as one -of the traditional treasures of the place. Speaking of Bidford, -which is still equally notorious for the excellence of its ale, and -the thirsty clay of its inhabitants, he adds, "there were antiently -two societies of village-yeomanry in this place, who frequently met -under the appellation of Bidford Topers. It was a custom with these -heroes to challenge any of their neighbours, famed for the love of -good ale, to a drunken combat: among others the people of Stratford -were called out to a trial of strength, and in the number of their -champions, as the traditional story runs, our Shakspeare, who forswore -all thin potations, and addicted himself to ale as lustily as Falstaff -to his sack, is said to have entered the lists. In confirmation of -this tradition we find an epigram written by Sir Asten Cockayn, and -published in his poems in 1658, p. 124: it runs thus— - - -TO MR. CLEMENT FISHER, OF WINCOT. - - _SHAKSPEARE_, your _Wincot_ ale hath much renown'd, - That fox'd a beggar so (by chance was found - Sleeping) that there needed not many a word - To make him to believe he was a lord: - But you affirm (and in it seems most eager) - 'Twill make a lord as drunk as any beggar. - Bid _Norton_ brew such ale as Shakspeare fancies - Did put Kit Sly into such lordly trances: - And let us meet there (for a fit of gladness) - And drink ourselves merry in sober sadness. - -"When the Stratford lads went over to Bidford, they found the topers -were gone to Evesham fair; but were told, if they wished to try their -strength with the sippers, they were ready for the contest. This being -acceded to, our bard and his companions were staggered at the first -outset, when they thought it adviseable to sound a retreat, while the -means of retreat were practicable; and then had scarce marched half a -mile, before they were all forced to lay down more than their arms, -and encamp in a very disorderly and unmilitary form, under no better -covering than a large crab-tree; and there they rested till morning: - -"This tree is yet standing by the side of the road. If, as it has -been observed by the late Mr. T. Warton, the meanest hovel to which -Shakspeare has an allusion interests curiosity, and acquires an -importance, surely the tree that has spread its shade over him, and -sheltered him from the dews of the night, has a claim to our attention. - -"In the morning, when the company awakened our bard, the story says -they intreated him to return to Bidford, and renew the charge; but this -he declined, and looking round upon the adjoining villages, exclaimed, -'No! I have had enough; I have drank with - - Piping Pebworth, Dancing Marston, - Haunted Hillbro', Hungry Grafton, - Dudging Exhall, Papist Wicksford, - Beggarly Broom, and Drunken Bidford.' - -"Of the truth of this story I have very little doubt: it is certain -that the crab-tree is known all round the country by the name of -Shakspeare's crab; and that the villages to which the allusion is made, -all bear the epithets here given them: the people of Pebworth are still -famed for their skill on the pipe and tabor: Hillborough is now called -Haunted Hillborough; and Grafton is notorious for the poverty of its -soil."[50:A] - -To the immediate neighbourhood indeed of Stratford, and to the adjacent -country, with which, at this early period of his life, our poet seems -to have been familiarised by frequent excursions either of pleasure -or business, are to be found some allusions in his dramatic works. In -the _Taming of the Shrew_, Christopher Sly, being treated with great -ceremony and state, on waking in the bed-chamber of the nobleman, -exclaims—"What, would you make me mad? Am not I Christopher Sly, -old Sly's son of _Burton-Heath_; by birth a pedlar, by education a -card-maker, by transmutation a bear-herd, and now by present profession -a tinker? Ask Marian Hacket, the fat ale-wife of _Wincot_, if she know -me not: if she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale, -score me up for the lyingest knave in Christendom. What, I am not -bestraught!"[50:B] - -There are two villages in Warwickshire called _Burton Dorset_ and -_Burton Hastings_; but that which was the residence of old Sly, is, in -all probability, _Burton on the Heath_, on the south side of the Avon, -opposite to Bidford, and about eighteen miles from Stratford. The first -scene of the play is described as _Before an Alehouse on a Heath_, and -it is remarkable that on Burton-heath there still remains a tenement, -which was formerly a public-house, under the name of Woncott or -Onecott: yet there is much reason to conclude, from the mode in which -Wincot is spoken of, both in this place, and in the following passage, -that Burton-heath and Wincot were considerably distant: in the Second -Part of King Henry IV. Davy says to Justice Shallow, "I beseech you, -Sir, to countenance William Visor _of Wincot_ against Clemont Perkes of -the hill[50:C]," a phraseology which seems to imply, not an insulated -house, but a village, an inference which is strongly supported by -the fact that _near_ Stratford there is actually a village with the -closely resembling name of _Wilnecotte_, which, in the pronunciation -and orthography of the common people, would almost necessarily become -_Wincot_. It should likewise be mentioned that Mr. Warton is of opinion -that this is the place to which Shakspeare alludes, and he adds, "the -house kept by our genial hostess still remains, but is at present a -mill."[51:A] - -We are indebted also to the Second Part of King Henry IV. for another -local allusion of a similar kind: Silence, addressing Pistol, nicknames -him "goodman Puff of _Barson_[51:B]," a village which, under this -appellation, and that of _Barston_, is situated between Coventry -and Solyhall. It may indeed excite some surprise that we have not -more allusions of this nature to commemorate; that the scenery which -occurred to him early in life, and especially at this period, when -the imagery drawn from nature must have been impressed on his mind in -a manner peculiarly vivid and defined, when he was free from care, -unshackled by a family, and at liberty to roam where fancy led him, has -not been delineated in some portion of his works, with such accuracy as -immediately to designate its origin. For, if we consider the excursive -powers of his imagination, and the desultory and unsettled habits -which tradition has ascribed to him during his youthful residence at -Stratford, we may assert, without fear of contradiction, and as an -undoubted truth, that his rambles into the country, and for a poet's -purpose, were both frequent and extensive, and that not a stream, a -wood, or hamlet, within many miles of his native town, was unvisited by -him at various times and under various circumstances. - -Yet, if we can seldom point out in his works any distinct reference to -the actual scenery of Stratford and its neighbourhood, we may observe, -that few of the remarkable events of his own time appear to have -escaped his notice; and among these may be found one which occurred at -this juvenile period of his life, and to which we have an allusion in -Romeo and Juliet; for though the personages of the drama exist and -act in a foreign clime, yet in this, and in many similar instances, he -hesitates not to describe the events of his native country as occurring -wherever he has chosen to lay the scene. Thus the nurse, describing to -Lady Capulet the age at which Juliet was weaned, says - - "'Tis since the _earthquake_ now eleven years,"— - -a line, which, as Mr. Tyrwhitt and Mr. Malone have observed[52:A], -manifestly alludes to a phenomenon of this kind that had been felt -throughout England in the year 1580, and of which Holinshed, the -favourite historian of our bard, has given the following striking -account:—"On the sixt of April (1580), being Wednesdaie in Easter -weeke, about six of the clocke toward evening, a sudden earthquake -happening in London, and almost generallie throughout all England, -caused such an amazednesse among the people as was wonderfull for the -time, and caused them to make their earnest praiers to Almighty God! -The great clocke bell in the palace at Westminster strake of it selfe -against the hammer with the shaking of the earth, as diverse other -clocks and bels in the steeples of the cities of London and els-where -did the like. The gentlemen of the Temple being then at supper, ran -from the tables, and out of their hall with their knives in their -hands. The people assembled at the plaie-houses in the fields, as at -the Whoreater (the Theater I would saie) were so amazed, that doubting -the ruine of the galleries, they made hast to be gone. A péece of the -Temple church fell downe, some stones fell from Saint Paule's church -in London: and at Christ's church neere to Newgate-market, in the -sermon while, a stone fell from the top of the same church, which -stone killed out of hand one Thomas Greie an apprentice, and another -stone fell on his fellow-servant named Mabell Eueret, and so brused -hir that she lived but four daies after. Diverse other at that time in -that place were sore hurt, with running out of the church one over an -other for feare. The tops of diverse chimnies in the citie fell downe, -the houses were so shaken: a part of the castell at Bishops Stratford -in Essex fell downe. This earthquake indured in or about London not -passing one minute of an houre, and was no more felt. But afterward in -Kent, and on the sea coast it was felt three times; and at Sandwich at -six of the clocke the land not onelie quaked, but the sea also fomed, -so that the ships tottered. At Dover also the same houre was the like, -so that a péece of the cliffe fell into the sea, with also a péece of -the castell wall there: a piece of Saltwood castell in Kent fell downe: -and in the church of Hide the bels were heard to sound. A peece of -Sutton church in Kent fell downe, the earthquake being there not onlie -felt, but also heard. And in all these places and others in east Kent, -the same earthquake was felt three times to move, to wit, at six, at -nine, and at eleven of the clocke."[53:A] In this passage, to which we -shall again have occasion to revert, the violence and universality of -the event described, are such as would almost necessarily form an era -for reference in the poet's mind; and the date, indeed, of the _prima -stamina_ of the play in which the line above-mentioned is found, may be -nearly ascertained by this allusion. - -If, as some of his commentators have supposed, Shakspeare possessed any -grammatical knowledge of the French and Italian languages, it is highly -probable that the acquisition must have been obtained in the interval -which took place between his quitting the grammar-school of Stratford -and his marriage, a period, if our arrangement be admitted, of about -six years; and consequently, any consideration of the subject will -almost necessarily claim a place at the close of this chapter. - -That the dramas of our great poet exhibit numerous instances in which -both these languages are introduced, and especially the former, -of which we have an entire scene in Henry V., will not be denied -by any reader of his works; nor will any person, acquainted with -the literature of his times, venture to affirm, that he might not -have acquired by his own industry, and through the medium of the -introductory books then in circulation, a sufficient knowledge of -French and Italian for all the purposes which he had in view. We cannot -therefore agree with Dr. Farmer, when he asserts, that Shakspeare's -acquaintance with these languages consisted only of _a familiar phrase -or two_ picked up _in the writers of the time, or the course of his -conversation_.[54:A] - -The corrupted state of the French and Italian passages, as found in -the early editions of our poet's plays, can be no argument that he was -totally ignorant of these languages; as it would apply with nearly -equal force to prove that he was similarly situated with regard to -his vernacular tongue, which in almost every scene of these very -editions has undergone various and gross corruptions. Nor will greater -conviction result, when it is affirmed that this foreign phraseology -might be the interpolation of the players; for it remains to be -ascertained, that they possessed a larger portion of exotic literature -than Shakspeare himself. - -The author of an essay on Shakspeare's learning in the _Censura -Literaria_, from which we have already quoted a passage in favour of -his having made some progress in latinity, is likewise of opinion that -his knowledge of the French was greater than Dr. Farmer is willing to -allow. - -"I have been confirmed in this opinion," he observes, "by a casual -discovery of Shakspeare having imitated a whole French line and -description in a long French epic poem, written by Garnier, called the -_Henriade_, like Voltaire's, and on the same subject, first published -in 1594. - -"In _As You Like It_, Shakspeare gives an affecting description of the -different manners of men in the different ages of life, which closes -with these lines: - - "What ends this strange eventful history - Is second childishness and mere oblivion, - Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing." - -"Now—why have recourse for an insipid preposition to a language of -which he is said to have been totally ignorant? I always supposed -therefore that there must have been some peculiar circumstance well -known in those times, which must have induced him to give this motley -garb to his language:—but what that circumstance was I could not -discover until I accidentally in a foreign literary journal, met -with a review of a republication of that poem of Garnier at Paris, -in which were inserted, as a specimen of the poem, a description of -the appearance of the ghost of Admiral Coligny on the night after his -murder at the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and in the following lines: - - "_Sans pieds, sans mains, sans nez, sans oreilles, sans yeux, - Meurtri de toutes parts; la barbe et les cheveux - Poudreux, ensanglantez, chose presque incredible! - Tant cette vision etoit triste et horrible!_" - -"Here it immediately appeared to what author Shakspeare had gone for -the archetype of his own description of the last stage of old age, -which, by a parody on the above lines, he meant to represent like to -that mutilated ghost; and this seems to indicate that he had read that -poem in the original; for we even find the _meurtri de toutes parts_ -imitated by _sans every thing_. A friend of mine formerly mentioned -this to Mr. Steevens, and he has briefly noticed this parody, if I -recollect rightly, in his joint edition along with Johnson[55:A], but -he did not copy the original lines of Garnier; nor so far as I know -any editor since; which however are too remarkable to be altogether -consigned to oblivion; and it is not very likely, that any Englishman -will ever read through that long dull poem; neither should I myself -have known of those lines, if they had not been quoted as a specimen. -Steevens's note is so very brief as to be quite obscure in regard to -what consequence he thought deducible from the imitation: he seems -to suggest as if there might have been some English translation of -the poem published, though now unknown; this is the constant refuge -for Shakspeare's knowledge of any thing written originally in another -language. But even if the fact were true, yet no translator would have -preserved the repetition of that word _sans_; for this he must have -gone to the French poem itself, therefore must at least have been -able to read that line in French, if not also the whole description -of the ghost; and if that, why not able also to read other French -books? It may indeed, be _supposed_, that some friend may have shown -him the above description, and explained to him the meaning of the -French lines, but this is only to make a second supposition in order to -support a former one made without sufficient foundation: we may just -as well make a single supposition at once, that he was himself able -to read and understand it, since he has evidently derived from it his -own description of the decrepitude of old age. Upon the whole, if his -copy of a single word from Holinshed, viz. 'on _this_ side Tiber,' is -a proof of his having read that historian, why also is not his copy of -the repetition of _sans_, and his parody of Coligny's ghost, an equally -good proof of his having read the poem of Garnier in the original -French language? To reason otherwise is to say, that when he gives us -bad French, this proves him not to understand it; and that when he -gives us good French, applied with propriety and even with ingenuity, -yet this again equally proves that he neither understood what he wrote, -nor was so much as able to read the French lines, which he has thus so -wittily imitated."[56:A] - -Dr. Farmer has himself granted that Shakspeare _began_ to learn Latin: -why then not allow, from premises still more copious and convincing, -that he began likewise to learn French and Italian? That he wanted not -inclination for the attempt, the frequent use of these languages in his -works will sufficiently evince; that he had some leisure at the period -which we have appropriated to these acquisitions, namely, between the -years 1576 and 1582, few will be disposed to deny; and that he had -books which might enable him to make some progress in these studies, -the following list will ascertain:— - -1. A Treatyse English and French right necessarye and profitable for -all young Children. 1560. - -2. Principal Rules of the Italian Grammar, &c. Newly corrected and -imprinted by Wykes: 1560, reprinted 1567. - -3. The Italian Grammar and Dictionary: By W. Thomas. 1561. - -4. Lentulo's Italian Grammar, put into English: By Henry Grenthem. 1578. - -5. Ploiche, Peter, Introduction to the French Tongue. 1578. - -6. An Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionarie, containing foure sundrie -tongues: namelie, English, Latine, Greeke, and French: By I. Baret. -1580.[57:A] - -In short, with regard to the literature of Shakspeare, the nearest -approximation to the truth will be found to arise from taking a medium -course between the conclusions of Dr. Farmer, and of those who have -gone into a contrary extreme. That he had made some and that the -usual progress in the Latin language during the short period of his -school-education, it is, we think, in vain to deny; but that he ever -attained the power of reading a Roman classic with facility, cannot -with any probability be affirmed: it will be likewise, we are disposed -to believe, equally rational and correct, if we conclude, from the -evidence which his genius and his works afford, that his acquaintance -with the French and Italian languages was not merely confined to the -picking up _a familiar phrase or two_ from the conversation or writings -of others, but that he had actually commenced, and at an early period -too, the study of these languages, though, from his situation, and the -circumstances of his life, he had neither the means nor the opportunity -of cultivating them to any considerable extent.[58:A] - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[34:A] "Mr. Betterton," observes Mr. Malone, "was born in 1635, and had -many opportunities of collecting information relative to Shakspeare, -but unfortunately the age in which he lived was not an age of -curiosity. Had either he or Dryden or Sir William d'Avenant taken the -trouble to visit our poet's youngest daughter, who lived till 1662, or -his grand-daughter, who did not die till 1670, many particulars might -have been preserved which are now irrecoverably lost. Shakspeare's -sister, Joan Hart, who was only five years younger than him, died -at Stratford in Nov. 1646, at the age of seventy-six; and from her -undoubtedly his two daughters, and his grand-daughter Lady Bernard, had -learned several circumstances of his early history antecedent to the -year 1600." Reed's Shakspeare, p. 119, 120. - -[34:B] It has already been observed, in a note written some years after -the composition of the text, that this supposed corroboration is no -longer to be depended upon. - -[35:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 322, 323. - -[36:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 346, 347. - -[36:B] Aubrey MS.—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 213. - -[37:A] Mr. Malone is also of opinion that Shakspeare was present at -this magnificent reception of Elizabeth. Vide "Inquiry," p. 150. note -82. - -[37:B] So denominated from a tract, written by _George Gascoigne_ Esq., -entitled "The Princely Pleasures of Kenelworth Castle." It is inserted -in Nichols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i. - -[38:A] Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. i. p. 143. 4th edition. - -[38:B] Nichols's Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth, -vol. i. Laneham's Account of the Queen's Entertainment at Killingworth -Castle, 1575, p. 50. or 78. of the original pamphlet. - -[39:A] Life of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 1727. 8vo. p. 92. - -[39:B] Hurd's Moral and Political Dialogues, vol. i. p. 148. Edit. of -1788. - -[40:A] Laneham's Account, p. 65. of the Original. - -[40:B] The following extract from Laneham's Letter, which immediately -follows the passage given in the text, and in which I have dropped the -author's singular orthography, will afford the reader a curious and -very entertaining description of the costly and magnificent gardens -of Kenelworth Castle, gardens in which it is probable the youthful -Shakpeare had more than once wandered with delight:— - -"Unto this, His Honour's exquisite appointment of a beautiful garden, -an acre or more of quantity, that lieth on the north there: wherein -hard all along the castle-wall is reared a pleasant terrace of a ten -foot high, and a twelve broad: even under foot, and fresh of fine -grass; as is also the side thereof toward the garden, in which, by -sundry equal distances, with obelisks, spheres, and white bears, all of -stone, upon their curious bases, by goodly shew were set: to these two -fine arbours redolent by sweet trees and flowers, at each end one, the -garden plot under that, with fair allies green by grass, even voided -from the borders a both sides, and some (for change) with sand, not -light or too soft or soily by dust, but smooth and firm, pleasant to -walk on, as a sea-shore when the water is availd: then, much gracified -by due proportion of four even quarters: in the midst of each, upon a -base a two foot square, and high, seemly bordered of itself, a square -pilaster rising pyramidally of a fifteen foot high: simmetrically -pierced through from a foot beneath, until a two foot of the top: -whereupon for a capital, an orb of a ten inches thick: every of these -(with his base) from the ground to the top, of one whole piece; hewn -out of hard porphery, and with great art and heed (thinks me) thither -conveyed and there erected. Where, further also, by great cast and -cost, the sweetness of savour on all sides, made so repirant from the -redolent plants and fragrant herbs and flowers, in form, colour, and -quantity so deliriously variant; and fruit-trees bedecked with apples, -pears, and ripe cherries. - -"And unto these, in the midst against the terrace, a square cage, -sumptuous and beautiful, joined hard to the north wall (that a that -side gards the garden as the garden the castle), of a rare form and -excellency, was raised: in height a twenty foot, thirty long, and a -fourteen broad. From the ground strong and close, reared breast high, -whereat a soil of a fair moulding was couched all about: from that -upward, four great windows a front, and two at each end, every one a -five foot wide, as many more even above them, divided on all parts by -a transome and architrave, so likewise ranging about the cage. Each -window arched in the top, and parted from other in even distance by -flat fair bolted columns, all in form and beauty like, that supported -a comely cornish couched all along upon the bole square; which with a -wire net, finely knit, of mashes six square, an inch wide (as it were -for a flat roof) and likewise the space of every window with great -cunning and comeliness, even and tight was all over-strained. Under the -cornish again, every part beautified with great diamonds, emeralds, -rubies, and sapphires; pointed, tabled, rok and round; garnished with -their gold, by skilful head and hand, and by toil and pencil so lively -expressed, as it mought be great marvel and pleasure to consider how -near excellency of art could approach unto perfection of nature. - -"Holes were there also and caverns in orderly distance and fashion, -voided into the wall, as well for heat, for coolness, for roost a -nights and refuge in weather, as also for breeding when time is. More, -fair even and fresh holly-trees for pearching and proining, set within, -toward each end one. - -"Hereto, their diversity of meats, their fine several vessels for their -water and sundry grains; and a man skilful and diligent to look to them -and tend them. - -"But (shall I tell you) the silver sounded lute, without the sweet -touch of hand; the glorious golden cup, without the fresh fragrant -wine; or the rich ring with gem, without the fair featured finger; -is nothing indeed in his proper grace and use: even so His Honour -accounted of this mansion, till he had placed their tenants according. -Had it therefore replenished with lively birds, _English_, _French_, -_Spanish_, _Canarian_, and (I am deceived if I saw not some) _African_. -Whereby, whether it became more delightsome in change of tunes, and -harmony to the ear; or else in difference of colours, kinds, and -properties to the eye, I'll tell you if I can, when I have better -bethought me. - -"In the centre (as it were) of this goodly garden, was there placed a -very fair fountain, cast into an eight-square, reared a four foot high; -from the midst whereof a column up set in shape of two Athlants joined -together a back half; the one looking east, tother west, with their -hands upholding a fair formed bowl of a three foot over; from whence -sundry fine pipes did lively distill continual streams into the receipt -of the fountain, maintained still two foot deep by the same fresh -falling water: wherein pleasantly playing to and fro, and round about, -carp, tench, bream, and for variety, perch, and eel, fish fair-liking -all, and large: In the top, the _ragged staff_; which with the bowl, -the pillar, and eight sides beneath, were all hewn out of rich and hard -white marble. A one side _Neptune_ with his tridental fuskin triumphing -in his throne, trailed into the deep by his marine horses. On another, -_Thetis_ in her chariot drawn by her dolphins. Then _Triton_ by his -fishes. Here _Proteus_ herding his sea-bulls. There _Doris_ and her -daughters solacing a sea and sands. The waves scourging with froth -and foam, intermingled in place, with whales, whirlpools, sturgeons, -tunnies, conchs, and wealks, all engraven by exquisite device and -skill, so as I may think this not much inferior unto _Phœbus_ gates, -which (Ovid says) and peradventure a pattern to this, that _Vulcan_ -himself did cut: whereof such was the excellency of art, that the work -in value surmounted the stuff, and yet were the gates all of clean -massy silver. - -"Here were things, ye see, mought inflame any mind to long after -looking: but whoso was found so hot in desire, with the wreast of a cok -was sure of a cooler: water spurting upward with such vehemency, as -they should by and by be moistened from top to toe; the he's to some -laughing, but the she's to more sport. This some time was occupied to -very good pastime. - -"A garden then so appointed, as wherein aloft upon sweet shawdowed -walk of terrace, in heat of summer, to feel the pleasant whisking -wind above, or delectable coolness of the fountain spring beneath: to -taste of delicious strawberries, cherries and other fruits, even from -their stalks: to smell such fragrancy of sweet odours, breathing from -the plants, herbs, and flowers: to hear such natural melodious musick -and tunes of birds: to have in eye, for mirth, some time these under -springing streams; then, the woods, the waters (for both pool and -chase were hard at hand in sight,) the deer, the people (that out of -the east arbour in the base court also at hand in view,) the fruits -trees, the plants, the herbs, the flowers, the change in colours, the -birds flittering, the fountain streaming, the fish swimming, all in -such delectable variety, order, dignity; whereby, at one moment, in one -place, at hand, without travel, to have so full fruition of so many -God's blessings, by entire delight unto all senses (if all can take) -at once: for _etymon_ of the word worthy to be called _Paradise_: and -though not so goodly as _Paradise_ for want of the fair rivers, yet -better a great deal by the lack of so unhappy a tree." Pages 66-72. - -[42:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 59. - -[43:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 60. note 7. - -[43:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 214. - -[43:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 276. - -[43:D] - - "'——— For what in me was _purchased_, - Falls upon thee in a much fairer sort.' - _K. Hen. IV. P. II._ - -"_Purchase_ is here used in its strict legal sense, in -contradistinction to an acquisition by _descent_. - - 'Unless the devil have him in _fee-simple, with fine and recovery_.' - _Merry Wives of Windsor._ - - 'He is 'rested _on the case_.' _Comedy of Errors._ - - '——— with _bills_ on their necks, Be it known unto all men by - these presents,' &c. _As you like it._ - - '——— who writes himself armigero, in any _bill, warrant, - quittance, or obligation_.' _Merry Wives of Windsor._ - - 'Go with me to a notary, seal me there - Your _single bond_.' _Merchant of Venice._ - - 'Say, for non-payment that the debt should double.' - _Venus and Adonis._ - -"On a conditional bond's becoming forfeited for non-payment of money -borrowed, the whole penalty, which is usually the double of the -principal sum lent by the obligee, was formerly recoverable at law. To -this our poet here alludes. - - 'But the defendant doth that plea deny; - To 'cide his title, is impanell'd - A quest of thoughts.' _Sonnet 46._ - -"In _Much Ado about Nothing_, Dogberry charges the watch to keep their -_fellow's counsel and their own_. This Shakspeare transferred from the -oath of a grand juryman. - - 'And let my officers of such a nature - Make an _extent_ upon his house and lands.' - _As you like it._ - - 'He was taken _with the manner_.' - _Love's Labour's lost._ - - '_Enfeof'd_ himself to popularity.' - _K. Hen. IV. P. I._ - - 'He will seal the fee-simple of his salvation, and cut the - entail from all remainders, and a perpetual succession for it - perpetually.' _All's Well that ends Well._ - - 'Why, let her _accept before excepted_.' - _Twelfth Night._ - - '——— which is four terms or two actions;—and he shall laugh - without _intervallums_.' _K. Hen. IV. P. II._ - - '——— keeps leets and _law-days_.' _K. Richard II._ - - '_Pray in aid_ for kindness.' _Anthony and Cleopatra._ - -"No writer but one who had been conversant with the technical language -of leases and other conveyances, would have used _determination_ as -synonymous to _end_. Shakspeare frequently uses the word in that -sense. See vol. xii. (Reed's Shakspeare,) p. 202. n. 2.; vol. xiii. p. -127. n. 4.; and (Mr. Malone's edit.) vol. x. p. 202. n. 8. 'From and -after the _determination_ of such a term,' is the regular language of -conveyancers. - - 'Humbly complaining to Your Highness.' - _K. Richard III._ - -'Humbly complaining to Your Lordship, your orator,' &c. are the first -words of every bill in chancery. - - 'A kiss in fee farm! In witness whereof these parties - interchangeably have set their hands and seals.' - _Troilus and Cressida._ - - 'Art thou a _feodary_ for this act?' _Cymbeline._ - -"See the note on that passage, vol. xviii. p. 507, 508. n. 3. Reed's -edit. - - 'Are those _precepts_ served?' says Shallow to Davy, in _K. - Henry IV._ - -"_Precept_ in this sense is a word only known in the office of a -justice of peace. - - 'Tell me what state, what dignity, what honour, - Can'st thou _demise_ to any child of mine?' - _K. Richard III._ - -'——— hath _demised_, granted, and to farm let,' is the constant -language of leases. What _poet_ but Shakspeare has used the word -_demised_ in this sense? - -"Perhaps it may be said, that our author in the same manner may be -proved to have been equally conversant with the terms of divinity or -physic. Whenever as large a number of instances of his ecclesiastical -or medicinal knowledge shall be produced, what has now been stated will -certainly not be entitled to any weight." Malone, Reed's Shakspeare, -vol. ii. p. 276. n. 9. - -[46:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 222, 223. - -[46:B] Whiter's Specimen of a Commentary, p. 95. note. As -Mr. Whiter has not chosen to append these additional examples, I have -thought it would be satisfactory to give the few which more immediately -occur to my memory. - - "Immediately provided in that case." - _Midsummer Night's Dream._ - - "Royally attornied." _Winter's Tale._ - - "That doth _utter_ all men's ware-a." - _Winter's Tale._ - - "Thy title is _affeer'd_." (This is a law-term for confirmed.) - - "Keep leets, and law-days, and in sessions sit." - _Othello._ - - "Why should calamity be full of words? - Windy _attorneys_ to their _client_ woes." - _Richard III._ - - "But when the heart's _attorney_ once is mute, - The _client_ breaks, as desperate in his suit." - _Venus and Adonis._ - - "So now I have confessed that he is thine, - And I myself am _mortgaged to thy Will_." - _Sonnet 134._ - - "He learn'd but, _surety-like_, to write for me, - _Under that bond that him as fast doth bind_. - The _statute_ of thy beauty, &c." - _Sonnet 134._ - -[47:A] Chalmers's Apology, p. 554. The "Lawiers Logike" was written by -Abraham Fraunce. - -[50:A] Ireland's Picturesque Views, p. 229-233. - -[50:B] Act i. sc. 2. - -[50:C] Act v. sc. 1. - -[51:A] Mr. Edwards and Mr. Steevens have conjectured that _Barton_ -and _Woodmancot_, vulgarly pronounced _Woncot_, in Gloucestershire, -might be the places meant by Shakspeare; and Mr. Tollet remarks, that -_Woncot_, may be put for _Wolphmancote_, vulgarly _Ovencote_, in -Warwickshire. Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 30., and vol. xii. p. -240. - -[51:B] Act v. sc. 3. - -[52:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 38. n. 2. - -[53:A] Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. iv. p. 126. edit. of 1808. - -[54:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 85. Mr. Capel Lofft's opinion -of the Italian literature of Shakspeare is somewhat more extended -than my own. "My impression," says he, "is, that Shakspeare was not -unacquainted with the most popular authors in _Italian prose_: and that -his ear had listened to the enchanting tones of _Petrarca_ and some -others of their great poets." Preface to his Laura, p. cxcii. - -[55:A] This notice does not appear in the Variorum edition of 1803. - -[56:A] Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 287. et seq. - -[57:A] Vide Chalmers's Apology, p. 549. and Bibliotheca Reediana, p. 9. - -[58:A] Since these observations were written, a work has fallen into my -hands under the title of "A Tour in Quest of Genealogy, through several -parts of Wales, Somersetshire, and Wiltshire, in a Series of Letters -to a Friend in Dublin; interspersed with a description of Stourhead -and Stonehenge; together with various Anecdotes and curious Fragments -from a Manuscript Collection ascribed to Shakespeare. By a Barrister." -London, 1811. - -These manuscripts ascribed to Shakspeare, which, from the language and -sentiment of almost every line, are manifestly a mere fiction, are -said to have been purchased at an auction at Carmarthen, consisting of -verses and letters that passed between Shakspeare and his mistress Anne -Hatheway, together with letters to and from him and others, a journal -of Shakspeare, an account of many of his plays, memoirs of his life by -himself, &c. I have mentioned the publication in this place, as it is -worthy of remark, that the fabricator of these MSS., whoever he is, -appears to have entertained an idea similar to my own, with regard -to the period when our poet attempted the acquisition of the modern -languages; for of the supposed memoirs said to be written by Shakspeare -himself, the following, among others, is given as a specimen:— - -"Having an ernest desier to lerne forraine tonges, it was mie good happ -to have in mie fathere's howse an Italian, one Girolama Albergi, tho -he went bye the name of Francesco Manzini, a dier of woole; but he was -not what he wished to passe for; he had the breedinge of a gentilman, -and was a righte sounde scholer. It was he taught me the littel -Italian I know, and rubbed up my Latten; we redd Bandello's Novells -together, from the which I gatherid some delliceous flowres to stick -in mie dramattick poseys. He was nevew to Battisto Tibaldi, who made -a translacion of the Greek poete, Homar, into Italian; he showed me a -coppy of it given him by hys kinsman, Ercole Tibaldi." P. 202. - -I must do the author of this literary forgery, however, the justice to -say, that in taste and genius he is immeasurably beyond his youthful -predecessor, and that some of the verses ascribed to _Anna_ Hatheway, -as he terms her, possess no inconsiderable beauties. It is most -extraordinary, however, that any individual should venture to bring -forward the following lines, which are exquisitely modern in their -structure, as the production of a cottage girl of the sixteenth century. - - -TO THE BELOVYD OF THE MUSES AND MEE. - - SWEETE swanne of Avon, thou whoose art - Can mould at will the human hart, - Can drawe from all who reade or heare, - The unresisted smile and teare: - - By thee a vyllege maiden found, - No care had I for measured sounde; - To dresse the fleese that Willie wrought - Was all I knewe, was all I sought. - - At thie softe lure too quicke I flewe, - Enamored of thie songe I grew; - The distaffe soone was layd aside, - And all mie woork thie straynes supply'd. - - Thou gavest at first th' inchanting quill, - And everie kiss convay'd thie skill; - Unfelt, ye maides, ye cannot tell - The wondrous force of suche a spell. - - Nor marvell if thie breath transfuse - A charme repleate with everie muse; - They cluster rounde thie lippes, and thyne - Distill theire sweetes improv'd on myne. - ANNA HATHEWAY. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - SHAKSPEARE MARRIED TO ANNE HATHAWAY—ACCOUNT OF THE - HATHAWAYS—COTTAGE AT SHOTTERY—BIRTH OF HIS ELDEST - CHILD, SUSANNA—HAMNET AND JUDITH BAPTIZED—ANECDOTE OF - SHAKSPEARE—APPARENTLY SETTLED IN THE COUNTRY. - - -Shakspeare married and became the father of a family at a very early -period; at a period, indeed, when most young men, even in his own -days, had only completed their school-education. He had probably been -attached also to the object of his affections, who resided very near to -him, for a year or two previous to the nuptial connection, which took -place in 1582; and Mr. Malone is inclined to believe that the ceremony -was performed either at Hampton-Lacy, or at Billesley, in the August of -that year[59:A], when consequently the poet had not attained the age of -eighteen and a half! - -The maiden name of the lady who had induced her lover to enter thus -early on the world, with little more than his passion to console, -and his genius to support them, was _Anne Hathaway_, the daughter -of Richard Hathaway, a substantial yeoman, residing at Shottery, a -village about a mile distant from Stratford. It appears also from the -tomb-stone of his mistress[60:A] in the church of Stratford, that she -must have been born in 1556, and was therefore eight years older than -himself. - -Of the family of the Hathaways little now, except the record of a -few deaths and baptisms, can be ascertained with precision: in the -register-books of the parish of Stratford, the following entry, in all -probability, refers to the father of the poet's wife:— - -"Johanna, daughter of _Richard Hathaway_, otherwise Gardiner, of -Shottery, was baptized May 9, 1566."[60:B] - -As the register does not commence before 1558, the baptism of _Anne_ -could not of course be included; but it appears that the family of -this Richard was pretty numerous, for Thomas his son was baptized -at Stratford, April 12. 1569; John, another son, Feb. 3. 1574; and -William, another son, Nov. 30. 1578.[60:C] Thomas died at Stratford in -1654-5, at the advanced age of eighty-five.[60:D] That the Hathaways -have continued resident at Shottery and the neighbourhood, down to the -present age, will be evident from the note below, which records their -deaths to the year 1785, as inscribed on the floor, in the nave and -aisle of Stratford church.[60:E] - -The cottage at Shottery, in which Anne and her parents dwelt, is said -to be yet standing, and is still pointed out to strangers as a subject -of curiosity. It is now impossible to substantiate the truth of the -tradition; but Mr. Ireland, who has given a sketch of this cottage in -his Picturesque Views on the Avon, observes, "it is still occupied -by the descendants of her family, who are poor and numerous. To this -same humble cottage I was referred when pursuing the same inquiry, by -the late Mr. Harte, of Stratford, before-mentioned. He told me there -was an old oak chair, that had always in his remembrance been called -Shakspeare's courting chair, with a purse that had been likewise his, -and handed down from him to his grand-daughter Lady Bernard, and from -her through the Hathaway family to those of the present day. From the -best information I was able to collect at the time, I was induced to -consider this account as authentic, and from a wish to obtain the -smallest trifle appertaining to our Shakspeare, I became a purchaser of -these relics. Of the chair I have here given a sketch: it is of a date -sufficiently ancient to justify the credibility of its history; and -as to farther proof, it must rest on the traditional opinion and the -character of this poor family. The purse is about four inches square, -and is curiously wrought with small black and white bugles and beads; -the tassels are of the same materials. The bed and other furniture -in the room where the chair stood, have the appearance of so high -antiquity, as to leave no doubt but that they might all have been the -furniture of this house long before the time of Shakspeare. - -"The proprietor of this furniture, an old woman upwards of seventy, had -slept in the bed from her childhood, and was always told it had been -there since the house was built. Her absolute refusal to part with this -bed at any price was one of the circumstances which led to a persuasion -that I had not listened with too easy credulity to the tale she told -me respecting the articles I had purchased. By the same person I was -informed, that at the time of the Jubilee, the late George Garrick -obtained from her a small inkstand, and a pair of fringed gloves, said -to have been worn by Shakspeare."[61:A] - -Of the personal charms of the poet's mistress nothing has been -transmitted to us by which we can form the smallest estimate, nor can -we positively ascertain whether convenience, or the attraction of a -beautiful form, was the chief promoter of this early connection. Mr. -Rowe merely observes, that, "in order to settle in the world after a -family-manner, he thought fit to marry while he was yet very[62:A] -young;" language which seems to imply that _prudence_ was the prime -motive with the youthful bard. Theobald proceeds still further, and -declares "it is _probable_, a view of _interest_ might partly sway his -conduct in this point: for he married the daughter of a _substantial_ -yeoman in his neighbourhood, _and she had the start of him in age no -less than eight years_."[62:B] Capell, on the contrary, thinks that -the marriage was contracted against the wishes of his father, whose -displeasure was the consequence of their union.[62:C] - -A moment's consideration of the character of Shakspeare will induce -us to conclude that _interest_ could not be his _leading_ object in -forming the matrimonial tie. In no stage of his subsequent life does a -motive of this kind appear strongly to have influenced him; and it is -well known, from facts which we shall have occasion shortly to record, -that his juvenility at Stratford was marked, rather by carelessness -and dissipation, than by the cool calculations of pecuniary wisdom. -In short, to adopt, with slight variation, a line of his own, we may -confidently assert that at this period, - - "Love and Liberty crept in the mind and marrow of his youth." - _Timon of Athens._ - -Neither can we agree with Mr. Capell in supposing that the father of -our bard was averse to the connection; a supposition which he has built -on the idea of old Mr. Shakspeare being "a man of no little substance," -and that by this marriage of his son he was disappointed in a design -which he had formed of sending him to an [62:D]University! Now it -has been proved that John Shakspeare was, at this period, if not in -distressed yet in embarrassed circumstances, and that neither the -school-education of his son, nor his subsequent employment at home, -could be such as was calculated in any degree to prepare him for an -academical life. - -We conclude, therefore, and certainly, with every probability on our -side, that the young poet's attachment to Anne Hathaway was, not only -perfectly disinterested, but had met likewise with the approbation of -his parents. This will appear with more verisimilitude if we consider, -in the first place, that though his bride were eight years older than -himself, still she could be but in her twenty-sixth year, an age -compatible with youth, and with the most alluring beauty; secondly, it -does not appear that the finances of young Shakspeare were in the least -improved by the connection; and thirdly, we know that he remained some -years at Stratford after his marriage, which it is not likely that he -would have done, had he been at variance with his father. - -It is to be regretted, and it is indeed somewhat extraordinary, that -not a fragment of the bard's poetry, addressed to his Warwickshire -beauty, has been rescued from oblivion; for that the muse of Shakspeare -did not lie dormant on an occasion so propitious to her inspiration -we must believe, both from the costume of the times, and from his own -amatory disposition. He has himself told us that - - "Never durst poet touch a pen to write, - Until his ink were temper'd with love's sighs."— - _Love's Labour's Lost_, act iv. sc. 3. - -and we have seen that an opportunity for qualification was very early -placed within his power. That he availed himself of it, there can be no -doubt; and had his effusions, on this occasion, descended to posterity, -we should, in all probability, have been made acquainted with several -interesting particulars relative to his early life and character, and -to the person and disposition of his mistress.[63:A] - -Our ignorance on this subject, however, would have been compensated, -had any authentic documents been preserved relative to his -establishment at Stratford, in consequence of his marriage; but of his -domestic arrangements, of his business or professional employment, no -information, or tradition to be depended upon, has reached us. We can -only infer, from the evidence produced in the preceding chapter, and -from the necessity, which must now have occurred, of providing for a -family-establishment, that if, as we have reason to conclude, he had -entered on the exercise of a branch of the manorial law, previous to -his marriage, and with a view towards that event, he would, of course, -be compelled, from prudential motives, to continue that occupation, -after he had become a householder, and most probably to combine with it -the business of a woolstapler, either on his own separate interest, or -in concert with his father. - -If any further incitement were wanting to his industry, it was soon -imparted; for, to the claims upon him as a husband, were added, during -the following year, those which attach to the name of a parent; his -eldest child, Susanna, being born in May 1583, and baptized on the 26th -of the same month. Thus, scarcely had our poet completed his nineteenth -year, when the most serious duties of life were imperiously forced -upon his attention, under circumstances perhaps of narrow fortune not -altogether calculated to render their performance easy and pleasant; -a situation which, on a superficial view, would not appear adapted to -afford that leisure, that free and unincumbered state of intellect, -so necessary to mental exertion; but with Shakspeare the pressure of -these and of pecuniary difficulties served only to awaken that energy -and elasticity of mind, which, ultimately directing his talents into -their proper channel, called forth the brightest and most successful -emanations of a genius nearly universal. - -The family of the youthful bard gathered round him with rapidity; for, -in 1584-5, it was increased by the birth of twins, a son and daughter, -named Hamnet and Judith, who were baptized on February the 2d, of the -same year. - -The boy was christened by the name of Hamnet in compliment to his -god-father Mr. Hamnet Sadler, and the girl was called Judith, from a -similar deference to his wife, Mrs. Judith Sadler, who acted as her -sponsor. Mr. Hamnet or Hamlet Sadler, for they were considered as -synonymous names, and therefore used indiscriminately[65:A], appears -to have been some relation of the Shakspeare family; he is one of -the witnesses to Shakspeare's will, and is remembered in it in the -following manner:—"_Item_, I give and bequeath to Hamlet Sadler -twenty-six shillings eight-pence, to buy him a ring." Mr. Sadler died -at Stratford in October 1624, and is supposed to have been born about -the year 1550. His wife was buried there March 23. 1613-14, and Mr. -Malone conjectures that our poet was probably god-father to their son -_William_, who was baptized at Stratford, February 5. 1597-8.[65:B] In -the Stratford Register are to be found entries of the baptism of six of -Mr. Sadler's children, four sons and two daughters, William being the -last but one. - -An anecdote of Shakspeare, unappropriated to any particular period of -his life, and which may with as much, if not more, probability, be -ascribed to this stage of his biography, as to any subsequent era, has -been preserved as a tradition at Stratford. A drunken blacksmith, with -a carbuncled face, reeling up to Shakspeare, as he was leaning over a -mercer's door, exclaimed, with much vociferation, - - "Now, Mr. SHAKSPEARE, tell me, if you can, - The difference between a youth and a young man:" - -a question which immediately drew from our poet the following reply: - - "Thou son of fire, with _thy face like a maple_, - The same difference as between a scalded and a coddled apple." - -A part of the wit of this anecdote, which, says Mr. Malone, "was -related near fifty years ago to a gentleman at Stratford, by a -person then above eighty years of age, whose father might have been -contemporary with Shakspeare," turns upon the comparison between the -blacksmith's face and a species of maple, the bark of which, according -to Evelyn, is uncommonly rough, and the grain undulated and crisped -into a variety of curls. - -It would appear, indeed, from a book published in 1611, under the -title of _Tarleton's Jeasts_, that this fancied resemblance was a -frequent source of sarcastic wit; for it is there recorded of this once -celebrated comedian, that, "as he was performing some part 'at the Bull -in Bishopsgate-street, where the Queen's players oftentimes played,' -while he was 'kneeling down to aske his father's blessing,' a fellow -in the gallery threw an apple at him, which hit him on the cheek. -He immediately took up the apple, and, advancing to the audience, -addressed them in these lines: - - 'Gentlemen, this fellow, with _his face of mapple_, - Instead of a pippin hath throwne me an apple; - But as for an apple he hath cast a crab, - So instead of an honest woman God hath sent him a drab.' - -'The people,' says the relator, 'laughed heartily; for the fellow had a -quean to his wife.'"[66:A] - -Shakspeare was now, to all appearance, settled in the country; he -was carrying on his own and his father's business; he was married -and had a family around him; a situation in which the comforts of -domestic privacy might be predicted within his reach, but which augured -little of that splendid destiny, that universal fame and unparalleled -celebrity, which awaited his future career. - -In adherence, therefore, to the plan, which we have announced, of -connecting the circumstances of the times with our author's life, -we have chosen this period of it, as admirably adapted for the -introduction of a survey of country life and manners, its customs, -diversions and superstitions, as they existed in the age of Shakspeare. -These, therefore, will be the subject of the immediately following -chapters, in which it shall be our particular aim, among the numerous -authorities to which we shall be obliged to have recourse, to draw -from the poet himself those passages which throw light upon the topics -as they rise to view; an arrangement which, when it shall have been -carried, in all its various branches, through the work, will clearly -show, that from Shakspeare, more than from any other poet, is to be -collected the history of the times in which he lived, so far as that -history relates to popular usage and amusement. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[59:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 139. note 4. - -[60:A] "Heere Lyeth Interrid The Bodye of Anne, Wife of Mr. William -Shakespeare, Who Depted. This Life The 6th Day of Avgvst, 1623, Being -of The Age of 67 Yeares."—Wheler's Stratford, p. 76. - -[60:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 133. - -[60:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 134. Note by Malone. - -[60:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 128. - -[60:E] "Richard Hathaway, of Shottery, died 15th April, 1692. Robert -Hathaway died 4th March, 1728, aged 64. Edmund Hathaway died 14th -June, 1729, aged 57. Jane his wife died 12th Dec. 1729, aged 64. John -Hathaway died 11th Oct. 1731, aged 39. Abigail, wife of John Hathaway, -jun. of Luddington, died 5th of May, 1735, aged 29. Mary her daughter -died 13th July, 1735, aged 10 weeks. Robert Hathaway, son of Robert -and Sarah Hathaway, died the 1st of March, 1723, aged 21. Ursula, wife -of John Hathaway, died the 23d of Janry. 1731, aged 50. John Hathaway, -sen. died the 5th of Sept. 1753, aged 73. John Hathaway, of Haddington, -died the 23d of June, 1775, aged 67. S. H. 1756. S. H. 1785."—Wheler's -History and Antiquities of Stratford-upon-Avon, p. 55. - -[61:A] Ireland's Views, p. 206-209. - -[62:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 60. - -[62:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 193. - -[62:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 355. note 1. - -[62:D] Ibid. - -[63:A] Building on the high credibility of Shakspeare having employed -his poetical talents, at this period, on the subject nearest to his -heart, two ingenious gentlemen have been so obliging as not only to -furnish him with words on this occasion, but to offer these to the -world as the genuine product of his genius. It is scarcely necessary to -add, that I allude to the Shakspeare Papers of young Ireland; and to a -Tour in Quest of Genealogy, by a Barrister. - -[65:A] Thus in the will of Shakspeare we read, "I give and bequeath to -_Hamlet_ Sadler;" when at the close, Mr. Sadler as a witness writes -his Christian name _Hamnet_. See Malone's note on this subject, Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 135. - -[65:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 158, note 1. - -[66:A] Malone's Historical Account of the English Stage, Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 140. note 4. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - A VIEW OF COUNTRY LIFE DURING THE AGE OF SHAKSPEARE;—ITS - MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.—RURAL CHARACTERS. - - -It may be necessary, in the commencement of this chapter, to remark, -that rural life, in the strict acceptation of the term, will be at -present the exclusive object of attention; a survey of the manners and -customs of the metropolis, and of the superior orders of society, being -deferred to a subsequent portion of the work. - -No higher character will, therefore, be introduced in this sketch -than the _country squire_, constituting according to Harrison, who -wrote about the year 1580, one of the second order of gentlemen; for -these, he remarks, "be divided into two sorts, as the baronie or -estate of lords (which conteineth barons and all above that degree), -and also those that be no lords, as knights, esquires, and simple -gentlemen."[68:A] He has also furnished us, in another place, with a -more precise definition of the character under consideration. "Esquire -(which we call commonlie squire) is a French word, and so much in -Latine as Scutiger vel Armiger, and such are all those which beare -armes, or armoires, testimonies of their race from whence they be -descended. They were at the first costerels or bearers of the armes of -barons, or knights, and thereby being instructed in martiall knowledge, -had that name for a dignitie given to distinguish them from common -souldiers called Gregarii Milities when they were together in the -field."[68:B] - -It is curious to mark the minute distinctions of gentlemen as detailed -at this period, in the various books of _Armorie_ or _Heraldrie_. The -science, indeed, was cultivated, in the days of Shakspeare, with an -enthusiasm which has never since been equalled, and the treatises on -the subject were consequently multitudinous. - - "—— If no gentleman, why then no arms,"[69:A] - -exclaims our poet; the aspirants, therefore, to this distinction -were numerous, and in the _Gentleman's Academie_; or, _The Booke of -St. Albans_, published by Gervase Markham in 1595, which he says in -the dedication was _then_ absolutely "necessarie and behovefull to -the accomplishment of the gentlemen of this flourishing ile—in the -heroicall and excellent study of Armory," we find "nine sortes" and -"foure maner" of gentlemen expressly distinguished. - - - "Of nine sortes of gentlemen: - -"First, there is a gentleman of ancestry and blood. - -"A gentleman of blood. - -"A gentleman of coat-armour, and those are three, one of the kings -badge, another of lordship, and the third of killing a pagan. - -"A gentleman untriall: a gentleman Ipocrafet: a gentleman spirituall -and temporall: there is also a gentleman spirituall and temporall.— - - - "The divers manner of gentlemen: - -"There are foure maner of gentlemen, to wit, one of auncestrie, which -must needes bee of blood, and three of coate-armour, and not of blood: -as one a gentleman of coate-armour of the kings badge, which is of -armes given him by an herauld: another is, to whome the king giveth a -lordeshippe, to a yeoman by his letters pattents, and to his heires for -ever, whereby hee may beare the coate-armour of the same lordeshippe: -the thirde is, if a yeoman kill a gentleman, Pagan or Sarazen, whereby -he may of right weare his coate-armour: and some holde opinion, that -if one Christian doe kill an other, and if it be lawfull battell, they -may weare each others coate-armour, yet it is not so good as where the -Christian killes the Pagan." - -We have also the virtues and vices proper or contrary to the character -of the gentleman, the former of which are divided into five amorous and -four sovereign: "the five amorous are these,—lordly of countenance, -sweet in speech, wise in answere, perfitte in government and cherefull -to faithfulnes: the foure soveraigne are these fewe,—oathes are no -swearing, patient in affliction, knowledge of his owne birth, and to -feare to offend his soveraigne."[70:A] The vices which are likewise -enumerated as _nine_, are all modifications of cowardice, lechery, and -drunkenness. - -That the character of the gentleman was still estimated, in the -reign of Elizabeth, according to this definition of the Prioress of -Sopewell, we have consequently the authority of Markham to assert, who -tells us, that the study of his modernised edition of the Booke of St. -Albans was still "behovefull to the accomplishment of the gentleman" of -1595. - -The mansion-houses of the country-gentlemen were, in the days of -Shakspeare, rapidly improving both in their external appearance, and -in their interior comforts. During the reign of Henry the Eighth, and -even of Mary, they were, if we except their size, little better than -cottages, being thatched buildings, covered on the outside with the -coarsest clay, and lighted only by lattices; when Harrison wrote, -in the age of Elizabeth, though the greater number of manor-houses -still remained framed of timber, yet he observes, "such as be latelie -builded, are cōmonlie either of bricke or hard stone, or both; their -roomes large and comelie, and houses of office further distant -from their lodgings."[72:A] The old timber mansions, too, were now -covered with the finest plaster, which, says the historian, "beside -the delectable whitenesse of the stuffe itselfe, is laied on so -even and smoothlie, as nothing in my judgment can be done with more -exactnesse[73:A]:" and at the same time, the windows, interior -decorations, and furniture were becoming greatly more useful and -elegant. "Of old time our countrie houses," continues Harrison, -"instead of glasse did use much lattise, and that made either of -wicker or fine rifts of oke in chekerwise. I read also that some -of the better sort, in and before the time of the Saxons, did make -panels of horne insteed of glasse, and fix them in woodden calmes. -But as horne in windows is now quite laid downe in everie place, so -our lattises are also growne into lesse use, because glasse is come -to be so plentifull, and within a verie little so good cheape if not -better then the other.—The wals of our houses on the inner sides in -like sort be either hanged with tapisterie, arras worke, or painted -cloths, wherein either diverse histories, or hearbes, beasts, knots, -and such like are stained, or else they are seeled with oke of our -owne, or wainescot brought hither out of the east countries, whereby -the roomes are not a little commanded, made warme, and much more close -than otherwise they would be. As for stooves we have not hitherto used -them greatlie, yet doo they now begin to be made in diverse houses -of the gentrie.—Likewise in the houses of knights, gentlemen, &c. -it is not geson to behold generallie their great provision of Turkie -worke, pewter, brasse, fine linen, and thereto costlie cupbords of -plate, worth five or six hundred or a thousand pounds, to be deemed by -estimation."[73:B] - -The house of every country-gentleman of property included a neat chapel -and a spacious hall; and where the estate and establishment were -considerable, the mansion was divided into two parts or sides, one for -the state or banqueting-rooms, and the other for the household; but -in general, the latter, except in baronial residences, was the only -part to be met with, and when complete had the addition of parlours; -thus Bacon, in his Essay on Building, describing the houshold side of -a mansion, says, "I wish it divided at the first into a hall, and a -chappell, with a partition betweene; both of good state and bignesse: -and those not to goe all the length, but to have, at the further end, -a winter, and a summer parler, both faire: and under these roomes a -faire and large cellar, sunke under ground: and likewise, some privie -kitchins, with butteries and pantries, and the like."[74:A] It was the -custom also to have windows opening from the parlours and passages -into the chapel, hall, and kitchen, with the view of overlooking or -controlling what might be going on; a trait of vigilant caution, -which may still be discovered in some of our ancient colleges and -manor-houses, and to which Shakspeare alludes in King Henry the Eighth, -where he describes His Majesty and Butts the physician entering at a -window above, which overlooks the council-chamber.[74:B] We may add, -in illustration of this system of architectural espionage, that Andrew -Borde, when giving instructions for building a house in his _Dietarie -of Health_, directs "many of the chambers to have a view into the -chapel:" and that Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, in a letter, dated -1573, says, "if it please Her Majestie, she may come in through my -gallerie, and see the disposition of the hall in dynner-time, at _a -window opening thereunto_."[74:C] - -The hall of the country-squire was the usual scene of eating and -hospitality, at the upper end of which was placed the orsille or high -table, a little elevated above the floor, and here the master of the -mansion presided, with an authority, if not a state, which almost -equalled that of the potent baron. The table was divided into upper and -lower messes, by a huge saltcellar, and the rank and consequence of the -visitors were marked by the situation of their seats above, and below, -the saltcellar; a custom which not only distinguished the relative -dignity of the guests, but extended likewise to the nature of the -provision, the wine frequently circulating only above the saltcellar, -and the dishes below it, being of a coarser kind than those near the -head of the table. So prevalent was this uncourteous distinction, that -Shakspeare, in his Winter's Tale, written about the year 1604, or -1610, designates the inferior orders of society by the term "_lower -messes_." - - ————————— "Lower messes, - Perchance, are to this business purblind."[75:A] - -Dekkar, likewise, in his play called _The Honest Whore_, 1604, mentions -in strong terms the degradation of sitting beneath the salt: "Plague -him, set him beneath the salt; and let him not touch a bit, till every -one has had his full cut."[75:B] Hall too, in the sixth satire of his -second book, published in 1597, when depicting the humiliated state of -the squire's chaplain, says, that he must not - - "ever presume to sit _above the salt_:" - -and Jonson, in his Cynthia's Revells, speaking of a coxcomb, says, -"his fashion is, not to take knowledge of him that is beneath him in -clothes. He never drinkes _below the salt_." See act i. sc. 2. - -This invidious regulation appears to have extended far into the -seventeenth century; for Massinger in his _City Madam_, acted in 1632, -thus notices it: - - ——————— "My proud lady - Admits him to her table, marry, ever - _Beneath the salt_, and there he sits the subject - Of her contempt and scorn:"[75:C] - -and Cartright still later: - - ——— "Where you are best esteem'd, - You only pass under the favourable name - Of humble cousins that sit _beneath the salt_." - _Love's Convert._ - -The luxury of eating and of good cooking were well understood in the -days of Elizabeth, and the table of the country-squire frequently -groaned beneath the burden of its dishes; at Christmas and at -Easter especially, the hall became the scene of great festivity; "in -gentlemen's houses, at Christmas," says Aubrey, "the first dish that -was brought to table was a boar's head, with a lemon in his mouth. At -Queen's Coll. Oxon. they still retain this custom, the bearer of it -bringing it into the hall, singing to an old tune an old Latin rhyme, -_Apri caput defero, &c._ The first dish that was brought up to table -on Easter-day was a red-herring riding away on horseback; _i. e._ a -herring ordered by the cook something after the likeness of a man on -horseback, set in a corn sallad. The custom of eating a gammon of bacon -at Easter (which is still kept up in many parts of England) was founded -on this, _viz._ to shew their abhorrence of Judaism at that solemn -commemoration of our Lord's resurrection."[76:A] - -Games and diversions of various kinds, such as mumming, masqueing, -dancing, loaf-stealing, &c. &c. were allowed in the hall on these days; -and the servants, or heralds, wore the coats of arms of their masters, -and cried '_Largesse_' thrice. The hall was usually hung round with -the insignia of the squire's amusements, such as hunting, shooting, -fishing, &c.; but in case he were a justice of the peace, it assumed -a more terrific aspect. "The halls of the justice of peace," observes -honest Aubrey, "were dreadful to behold. The skreen was garnished with -corslets and helmets, gaping with open mouths, with coats of mail, -launces, pikes, halberts, brown bills, bucklers."[76:B] - -The following admirable description of an old English hall, which still -remains as it existed in the days of Elizabeth, is taken from the notes -to Mr. Scott's recent poem of Rokeby, and was communicated to the bard -by a friend; the story which it introduces, I have also added, as it -likewise occurred in the same reign, and affords a curious though not -a pleasing trait of the manners of the times; as, while it gives a -dreadful instance of ferocity, it shows with what ease justice, even in -the case of the most enormous crimes, might be set aside. - -Littlecote-House stands in a low and lonely situation. On three sides -it is surrounded by a park that spreads over the adjoining hill; on -the fourth, by meadows which are watered by the river Kennet. Close on -one side of the house is a thick grove of lofty trees, along the verge -of which runs one of the principal avenues to it through the park. It -is an irregular building of great antiquity, and was probably erected -about the time of the termination of feudal warfare, when defence came -no longer to be an object in a country-mansion. Many circumstances in -the interior of the house, however, seem appropriate to feudal times. -The hall is very spacious, floored with stones, and lighted by large -transom windows, that are clothed with casements. Its walls are hung -with old military accoutrements, that have long been left a prey to -rust. At one end of the hall is a range of coats of mail and helmets, -and there is on every side abundance of old-fashioned pistols and guns, -many of them with matchlocks. Immediately below the cornice hangs a -row of leathern jerkins, made in the form of a shirt, supposed to -have been worn as armour by the vassals. A large oak-table, reaching -nearly from one end of the room to the other, might have feasted the -whole neighbourhood, and an appendage to one end of it made it answer -at other times for the old game of shuffle-board. The rest of the -furniture is in a suitable style, particularly an arm-chair of cumbrous -workmanship, constructed of wood, curiously turned, with a high back -and triangular seat, said to have been used by Judge Popham in the -reign of Elizabeth. The entrance into the hall is at one end by a low -door, communicating with a passage that leads from the outer door, -in the front of the house, to a quadrangle within; at the other it -opens upon a gloomy staircase, by which you ascend to the first floor, -and, passing the doors of some bed-chambers, enter a narrow gallery, -which extends along the back front of the house from one end to the -other of it, and looks upon an old garden. This gallery is hung with -portraits, chiefly in the Spanish dresses of the sixteenth century. In -one of the bed-chambers, which you pass in going towards the gallery, -is a bedstead with blue furniture, which time has now made dingy and -threadbare, and in the bottom of one of the bed-curtains you are shewn -a place where a small piece has been cut out and sown in again; a -circumstance which serves to identify the scene of the following story: - -"It was a dark rainy night in the month of November, that an old -midwife sate musing by her cottage fire-side, when on a sudden she -was startled by a loud knocking at the door. On opening it she found -a horseman, who told her that her assistance was required immediately -by a person of rank, and that she should be handsomely rewarded, but -that there were reasons for keeping the affair a strict secret, and, -therefore, she must submit to be blind-folded, and to be conducted in -that condition to the bed-chamber of the lady. After proceeding in -silence for many miles through rough and dirty lanes, they stopped, and -the midwife was led into a house, which, from the length of her walk -through the apartment, as well as the sounds about her, she discovered -to be the seat of wealth and power. When the bandage was removed from -her eyes, she found herself in a bed-chamber, in which were the lady -on whose account she had been sent for, and a man of a haughty and -ferocious aspect. The lady was delivered of a fine boy. Immediately the -man commanded the midwife to give him the child, and, catching it from -her, he hurried across the room, and threw it on the back of the fire, -that was blazing in the chimney. The child, however, was strong, and by -its struggles rolled itself off upon the hearth, when the ruffian again -seized it with fury, and, in spite of the intercession of the midwife, -and the more piteous entreaties of the mother, thrust it under the -grate, and raking the live coals upon it, soon put an end to its life. -The midwife, after spending some time in affording all the relief in -her power to the wretched mother, was told that she must be gone. Her -former conductor appeared, who again bound her eyes, and conveyed her -behind him to her own home; he then paid her handsomely, and departed. -The midwife was strongly agitated by the horrors of the preceding -night; and she immediately made a deposition of the fact before a -magistrate. Two circumstances afforded hopes of detecting the house -in which the crime had been committed; one was, that the midwife, as -she sate by the bed-side, had, with a view to discover the place, cut -out a piece of the bed-curtain, and sown it in again; the other was, -that as she had descended the staircase, she had counted the steps. -Some suspicions fell upon one Darrell, at that time the proprietor of -Littlecote-House and the domain around it. The house was examined, and -identified by the midwife, and Darrell was tried at Salisbury for the -murder. By corrupting his judge, he escaped the sentence of the law; -but broke his neck by a fall from his horse in hunting, in a few months -after. The place where this happened is still known by the name of -Darrell's Hill: a spot to be dreaded by the peasant whom the shades of -evening have overtaken on his way. - -"Littlecote-House is two miles from Hungerford, in Berkshire, through -which the Bath road passes. The fact occurred in the reign of -Elizabeth. All the important circumstances I have given exactly as they -are told in the country." Rokeby, 4to. edit. notes, p. 102-106. - -The usual fare of country-gentlemen, relates Harrison, was "foure, -five, or six dishes, when they have but _small resort_;" and -accordingly, we find that Justice Shallow, when he invites Falstaffe -to dinner, issues the following orders: "Some pigeons, Davy; a -couple of short-legged hens; a joint of mutton; and any pretty -little tiny kickshaws, tell William Cook."[79:A] But on feast-days, -and particularly on the festivals above-mentioned, the profusion -and cost of the table were astonishing. Harrison observes that the -country-gentlemen and merchants contemned butchers meat on such -occasions, and vied with the nobility in the production of rare and -delicate viands, of which he gives a long list[79:B]; and Massinger -says, - - "Men may talk of _country-christmasses_— - Their thirty-pound butter'd eggs, their pies of carps tongues, - Their pheasants drench'd with ambergris, the carcases - Of three fat wethers bruised for gravy, to - Make sauce for a single peacock; yet their feasts - Were fasts, compared with the city's."[80:A] - -It was the custom in the houses of the country-gentlemen to retire -after dinner, which generally took place about eleven in the morning, -to the garden-bower or an arbour in the orchard, in order to partake -of the banquet or dessert; thus Shallow, addressing Falstaffe after -dinner, exclaims, "Nay, you shall see mine orchard: where, in an -_arbour_, we will eat a last year's pippin of my own graffing, with a -dish of carraways, and so forth."[80:B] From the banquet it was usual -to retire to evening prayer, and thence to supper, between five and -six o'clock; for in Shakspeare's time, there were seldom more than two -meals, dinner and supper; "heretofore," remarks Harrison, "there hath -beene much more time spent in eating and drinking than commonlie is in -these daies, for whereas of old we had breakfasts in the forenoone, -beverages, or nuntions after dinner, and thereto reare suppers -generallie when it was time to go to rest. Now these od repasts, -thanked be God, are verie well left, and ech one in manner (except -here and there some yoong hungrie stomach that cannot fast till dinner -time) contenteth himselfe with dinner and supper onelie. The nobilitie, -_gentlemen_, and merchantmen, especiallie at great meetings, doo sit -commonlie till two or three of the clocke at afternoone, so that with -manie is an hard matter to rise from the table to go to evening praier, -and returne from thence to come time enough to supper."[81:A] - -The supper which, on days of festivity, was often protracted to a -late hour, and often too as substantial as the dinner, was succeeded, -especially at Christmas, by gambols of various sorts, and sometimes -the squire and his family would mingle in the amusements, or retiring -to the tapestried parlour, would leave the hall to the more boisterous -mirth of their household; then would the BLIND HARPER, who sold his -_FIT of mirth for a groat_, be introduced, either to provoke the -dance, or to rouse their wonder by his minstrelsy; his "matter being -for the most part stories of old time, as the tale of Sir Topas, the -reportes of Bevis of Southampton, Guy of Warwicke, Adam Bell, and -Clymme of the Clough, and such other old romances or historical rimes, -made purposely for recreation of the common people at Christmasse -dinners and brideales."[81:B] Nor was the evening passed by the parlour -fire-side dissimilar in its pleasures; the harp of history or romance -was frequently made vocal by one of the party. "We ourselves," says -Puttenham, who wrote in 1589, "have written for pleasure a little brief -romance, or historical ditty, in the English tong of the Isle of Great -Britaine, in short and long meetres, and by breaches or divisions, to -be more commodiously sung to the harpe in places of assembly, where the -company shal be desirous to heare of old adventures, and valiaunces -of noble knights in times past, as are those of King Authur and his -Knights of the Round Table, Sir Bevys of Southampton, Guy of Warwicke, -and others like."[81:C] - -The _posset_ at bed-time, closed the joyous day, a custom to which -Shakspeare has occasionally alluded; thus Lady Macbeth says of the -"surfeited grooms," "I have drugg'd their possets[82:A];" Mrs. Quickly -tells Rugby, "Go; and we'll have a posset for't soon at night, in -faith, at the latter end of a sea-coal fire[82:B];" and Page, cheering -Falstaffe, exclaims, "Thou shall eat a posset to-night at my[82:C] -house." Thomas Heywood also, a contemporary of Shakspeare, has -particularly noticed this refection as occurring just before bed-time: -"Thou shall be welcome to beef and bacon, and perhaps a bag-pudding; -and my daughter Nell shall pop a _posset_ upon thee when thou goest to -bed."[82:D] - -In short, hospitality, a love of festivity, and an ardent attachment -to the sports of the field, were prominent traits in the character -of the country-gentleman in Shakspeare's days. The floor of his hall -was commonly occupied by his greyhounds, and on his hand was usually -to be found his favorite hawk. His conversation was very generally on -the subject of his diversions; for as Master Stephen says, "Why you -know, an'a man have not skill in the hawking and hunting languages -now-a-dayes, I'll not give a rush for him. They are more studied than -the _Greeke_, or the _Latine_."[82:E] Classical acquirements were, -nevertheless, becoming daily more fashionable and familiar with the -character which we are describing; but still an intimacy with heraldry, -romance, and the chroniclers, constituted the chief literary wealth of -the country-gentleman. In his dress he was plain, though occasionally -costly; yet Harrison complains in 1580, that the gaudy trappings of the -French were creeping even into the rural and mercantile world: "Neither -was it merrier," says he, "with England, than when an Englishman was -knowne abroad by his owne cloth, and contented himselfe at home with -his fine carsie hosen, and a meane slop: his coat, gowne, and cloak of -browne, blue, or puke, with some pretie furniture of velvet or furre, -and a doublet of sad tawnie, or blacke velvet, or other comelie silke, -without such cuts and gawrish colours as are worne in these daies, -and never brought in but by the consent of the French, who thinke -themselves the gaiest men, when they have most diversities of jagges -and change of colours about them."[83:A] - -Of the female part of the family of the country-gentleman, we must -be indulged in giving one description from Drayton, which not only -particularizes the employments and dress of the younger part of the -sex, but is written with the most exquisite simplicity and beauty; he -is delineating the well-educated daughter of a country-knight: - - "He had, as antique stories tell, - A daughter cleaped Dawsabel, - A maiden fair and free: - And for she was her father's heir, - Full well she was ycond the leir - Of mickle courtesy. - - The silk well couth she twist and twine, - And make the fine march-pine, - And with the needle work: - And she couth help the priest to say - His mattins on a holy day, - And sing a psalm in kirk. - - She wore a frock of frolic green, - Might well become a maiden queen, - Which seemly was to see; - A hood to that so neat and fine, - In colour like the columbine, - Ywrought full featously. - - Her features all as fresh above, - As is the grass that grows by Dove, - And lythe as lass of Kent. - Her skin as soft as Lemster wool, - As white as snow on Peakish Hull, - Or swan that swims in Trent. - - This maiden in a moon betime, - Went forth when May was in the prime, - To get sweet setywall, - The honey-suckle, the harlock, - The lily, and the lady-smock, - To deck her summer-hall."[84:A] - -Some heightening to the picture of the country-gentleman which we have -just given, may be drawn from the character of the upstart squire or -country-knight, as it has been pourtrayed by Bishop Earle, towards the -commencement of the seventeenth century; for the absurd imitation of -the one is but an overcharged or caricature exhibition of the costume -of the other. The upstart country-gentleman, remarks the Bishop, "is -a holiday clown, and differs only in the stuff of his clothes, not -the stuff of himself, for he bare the kings sword before he had arms -to wield it; yet being once laid o'er the shoulder with a knighthood, -he finds the herald his friend. His father was a man of good stock, -though but a tanner or usurer; he purchased the land, and his son the -title. He has doffed off the name of a country-fellow, but the look -not so easy, and his face still bears a relish of churne-milk. He is -guarded with more gold lace than all the gentlemen of the country, yet -his body makes his clothes still out of fashion. His house-keeping is -seen much in the distinct families of dogs, and serving-men attendant -on their kennels, and the deepness of their throats is the depth of -his discourse. A hawk he esteems the true burden of nobility, and is -exceeding ambitious to seem delighted in the sport, and have his fist -gloved with his [84:B]jesses. A justice of peace he is to domineer -in his parish, and do his neighbour wrong with more right. He will -be drunk with his hunters for company, and stain his gentility with -droppings of ale. He is fearful of being sheriff of the shire by -instinct, and dreads the assize-week as much as the prisoner. In sum, -he's but a clod of his own earth, or his land is the dunghill and he -the cock that crows over it: and commonly his race is quickly run, and -his children's children, though they scape hanging, return to the place -from whence they came."[85:A] - -Notwithstanding the hospitality which generally prevailed among the -country-gentlemen towards the close of the sixteenth century, the -injurious custom of deserting their hereditary halls for the luxury -and dissipation of the metropolis, began to appear; and, accordingly, -Bishop Hall has described in a most finished and picturesque manner the -deserted mansion of his days; - - "Beat the broad gates, a goodly hollow sound - With double echoes doth againe rebound; - But not a dog doth bark to welcome thee, - Nor churlish porter canst thou chafing see: - All dumb and silent, like the dead of night, - Or dwelling of some sleepy Sybarite! - The marble pavement hid with desert weed, - With house-leek, thistle, dock, and hemlock-seed.— - Look to the towered chimnies, which should be - The wind-pipes of good hospitalitie:—— - Lo, there th'unthankful swallow takes her rest, - And fills the tunnel with her circled nest."[85:B] - -That it was no very uncommon thing for country-gentlemen to spend -their Christmas in London at this period, is evident from a letter -preserved by Mr. Lodge, in his Illustrations of British History; -it is written by William Fleetwood, afterwards Queen's Serjeant, -to the Earl of Derby; is dated New Yere's Daye, 1589, and contains -the following passage:—"The gentlemen of Norff. and Suffolk were -commanded to dep{r}te from London before Xtemmas, and to repaire -to their countries, and there to kepe hospitalitie amongest their -neighbours.[86:A]" The fashion, however, of annually visiting -the capital did not become general, nor did the character of the -country-squire, such as it was in the days of Shakspeare, alter -materially during the following century.[86:B] - -The _country-clergyman_, the next character we shall attempt to -notice, was distinguished, in the time of Shakspeare, by the -appellation of _Sir_: a title which the poet has uniformly bestowed -on the inferior orders of this profession, as _Sir_ Hugh in the Merry -Wives of Windsor, _Sir_ Topas in the Twelfth Night, _Sir_ Oliver in As -You like It, and _Sir_ Nathaniel in Love's Labour's lost. This custom, -which was not entirely discontinued until the close of the reign of -Charles II., owes its origin to the language of our universities, which -confers the designation of _Dominus_ on those who have taken their -first degree or bachelor of arts, and not, as has been supposed, to -any claim which the clergy had upon the order of knighthood. The word -_Dominus_ was naturally translated _Sir_; and as almost every clergyman -had taken his first degree, it became customary to apply the term to -the lower class of the hierarchy. "_Sir_ seems to have been a title," -remarks Dr. Percy, "formerly appropriated to such of the inferior -clergy as were only _readers_ of the service, and not admitted to be -preachers, and therefore were held in the lowest estimation, as appears -from a remarkable passage in Machell's MS. _Collections for the History -of Westmoreland and Cumberland_, in six volumes, folio, preserved in -the Dean and Chapter's library at Carlisle. The Rev. Thomas Machell, -author of the Collections, lived temp. Car. II. Speaking of the little -chapel of Martindale in the mountains of Westmoreland and Cumberland, -the writer says, 'There is little remarkable in or about it, but a -neat chapel yard, which, by the peculiar care of the old reader, _Sir -Richard_[89:A], is kept clean, and as neat as a bowling-green.' - -"Within the limits of myne own memory all _readers_ in chapels were -called _Sirs_[89:B], and of old have been writ so; whence, I suppose, -such of the laity as received the noble order of knighthood being -called _Sirs_ too, for distinction sake had _Knight_ writ after them; -which had been superfluous, if the title _Sir_ had been peculiar to -them."[90:A] - -Shakspeare has himself indeed sufficiently marked the distinction -between priesthood and knighthood, when he makes Viola say, "I am one -that had rather go with _Sir Priest_ than _Sir Knight_."[90:B] - -Were we to estimate the diameter of the country-clergy, during the age -of Elizabeth, from the sketches which Shakspeare has given us of them, -I am afraid we should be induced to appreciate their utility and moral -virtue on too low a scale. It will be a fairer plan to exhibit the -picture from the delineation of one of their own order, a competent -judge, and who was likewise a contemporary. "The apparell of our -clergiemen," records Harrison, "is comlie, and, in truth, more decent -than ever it was in the popish church: before the universities bound -their graduats unto a stable attire, afterward usurped also even by -the blind Sir Johns. For if you peruse well my chronolojie, you shall -find, that they went either in diverse colors, like plaiers, or in -garments of light hew, as yellow, red, greene, &c.: with their shoes -piked, their haire crisped, their girdles armed with silver; their -shoes, spurres, bridles, &c. buckled with like metall: their apparell -(for the most part) of silke, and richlie furred; their cappes laced -and butned with gold: so that to meet a priest in those daies, was to -behold a peacocke that spreadeth his taile when he danseth before the -henne: which now (I saie) is well reformed. Touching hospitalitie, -there was never any greater used in England, sith by reason that -marriage is permitted to him that will choose that kind of life, their -meat and drinke is more orderly and frugallie dressed; their furniture -of houshold more convenient, and better looked unto; and the poore -oftener fed generallie than heretofore they have beene." Then, alluding -to those who reproach the country-clergy for not being so prodigal of -good cheer as in former days, he adds, "To such as doo consider of the -curtailing of their livings, or excessive prices wherevnto things are -growen, and how their course is limited by law, and estate looked into -on every side, the cause of their so dooing is well inough perceived. -This also offendeth manie, that they should after their deaths leave -their substances to their wives and children: whereas they consider -not, that in old time such as had no lemans nor bastards (verie few -were there God wot of this sort) did leave their goods and possessions -to their brethren and kinsfolk, whereby (as I can shew by good record) -manie houses of gentilitie have growen and beene erected. If in anie -age some one of them did found a college, almes-house, or schoole, -if you looke unto these our times, you shall see no fewer deeds of -charitie doone, nor better grounded upon the right stub of pietie -than before. If you saie that their wives be fond, after the decease -of their husbands, and bestow themselves not so advisedlie as their -calling requireth, which God knoweth these curious surveiors make -small accompt of in truth, further than thereby to gather matter of -reprehension: I beseech you then to look into all states of the laitie, -and tell me whether some duchesses, countesses, barons, or knights' -wives, doo not fullie so often offend in the like as they: for Eve will -be Eve, though Adam would saie naie. Not a few also find fault with -our thread-bare gowns, as if not our patrons but our wives were causes -of our wo: but if it were knowne to all, that I know to have beene -performed of late in Essex, where a minister taking a benefice (of -lesse than twentie pounds in the Quéen's bookes so farre as I remember) -was inforced to paie to his patrone, twentie quarters of otes, ten -quarters of wheat, and sixtéene yéerlie of barleie, which he called -hawkes-meat; and another left the like in farme to his patrone forten -pounds by the yéere, which is well worth fortie at the least, the cause -of our thread-bare gowns would easilie appeere, for such patrones doo -scrape the wooll from our clokes."[91:A] - -This delineation is, upon the whole, a favourable one; but the -author in the very next page admits that the country-clergy -had notwithstanding fallen into "general contempt" and "small -consideration;" that the cause of this was not merely owing to the -poverty of the ministry, but was for the most part attributable either -to the iniquity of the patron or the immorality of the priest, will -but too clearly appear from the relation of Harrison himself, and from -other contemporary evidence. The historian declares that it was the -custom of some patrons to "bestow advowsons of benefices upon their -bakers, butlers, cookes, good archers, falconers, and horsekéepers, -insted of other recompence for their long and faithfull service[92:A];" -and the following letter from the Talbot papers presents us with a -frightful view of the manners of the country-clergy at the commencement -of the reign of James I. - - - "Ad. Slack to the Lady Bowes. - - "Right wor{ll}. - - "I understand that one Raphe Cleaton ys curate of the chappell - at Buxton; his wages are, out of his neighbour's benevolence, - about v{li} yearely: S{r} Charles Cavendishe had the tythes - there this last yeare, ether of his owne right or my Lords, as - th' inhabitants saye. The minister aforenamed differeth litle - from those of the worste sorte, and hath dipt his finger both - in manslaughter and p'jurie, &c. The placinge or displacing - of the curate there resteth in Mr. Walker, commissarie of - Bakewell, of which churche Buxton is a chappell of ease. - - "I humbly thanke yo{r} Wor{pp} for yo{re} l{re} to the justices - at the cessions; for S{r} Peter Fretchvell, togither w{th} Mr. - Bainbrigg, were verie earnest against the badd vicar of Hope; - and lykewyse S{r} Jermane Poole, and all the benche, savinge - Justice Bentley, who use some vaine —— on his behalfe, and - affirmed that my La. Bowes had been disprooved before My Lord - of Shrowesburie in reports touching the vicar of Hope; but - such answere was made therto as his mouthe was stopped: yet - the latter daie, when all the justic's but himselffe and one - other were rysen, he wold have had the said vicar lycensed to - sell ale in his vicaredge, althoe the whole benche had comanded - the contrarye; whereof S{r} Jermane Poole being adv'tised, - retyrned to the benche (contradicting his speeche) whoe, w{th} - Mr. Bainbrigge, made their warrant to bringe before them, him, - or anie other person that shall, for him, or in his vicaridge, - brue, or sell ale, &c. He ys not to bee punished by the - Justices for the multytude of his women, untyll the basterds - whereof he is the reputed father bee brought in. I am the more - boulde to wryte so longe of this sorrie matter, in respect you - maye take so much better knowledge of S{r} Jo. Bentley, and his - p'tialytie in so vile a cause; and esteeme and judge of him - accordinge to y{r} wisdome and good discretion. Thus, humbly - cravinge p'don, I com̄itt y{r} good Wors. to the everlasting - Lorde, who ever keepe you. This 12th of Octob. 1609. - - "Yo{r} La' humble poore tenant, at comandm{t}. - - "AD. SLACK.[93:A] - - "To the right wor{ll} my good Ladie, the - La. Bowes of Walton, geive theise." - -That men who could thus debase themselves should be held in little -esteem, and their services ill requited, cannot excite our wonder; and -we consequently read without surprise, that in the days of Elizabeth, -the minstrel and the cook were often better paid than the priest;—thus -on the books of the Stationers' Company for the year 1560, may be found -the following entry: - - _s._ _d._ - "Item, payd to the preacher vi 2 - Item, payd to the minstrell xij 0 - Item, payd to the coke xv 0"[93:B] - -Let us not conclude, however, that the age of Shakspeare was without -instances of a far different kind, and that religion and virtue were -altogether excluded from what ought to have been their most favoured -abode; it will be sufficient to mention the name of _Bernard Gilpin_, -the most exemplary of parish-priests, whose humility, benevolence, -and exalted piety were never exceeded, and whose ministerial labours -were such as to form a noble contrast to the shameful neglect of the -pastoral care which existed around him. Indeed we are inclined to -infer, notwithstanding the numerous individual instances of profligacy -and dissipation which may be brought forward, that the country clergy -then, as now, if considered in the aggregate, possessed more real -virtue and utility than any other equally numerous body of men; but -that aberrations from the stricter decency of their order were, as is -still very properly the case in the present day, marked with avidity, -and censured with abhorrence. To the younger clergy in the country, -also, was frequently committed the task of education, a labour of -unspeakable importance, but in the period of which we are writing, -attended too often with the most undeserved contumely and contempt. -In the Scholemaster of Ascham may be found the most bitter complaints -of the barbarous and disgraceful treatment of the able instructor of -youth; and the following sketches of the clerical tutor from Peacham -and Hall, will still further heighten and authenticate the picture. -The former of these writers observes, "Such is the most base and -ridiculous parsimony of many of our Gentlemen, (if I may so terme -them) that if they can procure some poore Batchelor of Art from the -Universitie to teach their children to say grace, and serve the cure of -an impropriation, who wanting meanes and friends, will be content upon -the promise of ten pounds a yeere at his first comming, to be pleased -with five; the rest to be set off in hope of the next advouson, (which -perhaps was sold before the young man was borne): Or if it chance to -fall in his time, his lady or master tels him; 'Indeed Sir we are -beholden unto you for your paines, such a living is lately falne, but I -had before made a promise of it to my butler or bailiffe, for his true -and extraordinary service.' - -"Is it not commonly seene, that the most Gentlemen will give better -wages, and deale more bountifully with a fellow who can but a dogge, -or reclaime a hawke, than upon an honest, learned, and well qualified -man to bring up their children? It may be, hence it is, that dogges -are able to make syllogismes in the fields, when their young masters -can conclude nothing at home, if occasion of argument or discourse be -offered at the table."[95:A] - -The domestic chaplain of Bishop Hall is touched with a glowing pencil, -and while it faithfully exhibits the servile and depressed state of the -poor tutor, is, at the same time, wrought up with much point and humour. - - "A gentle squire would gladly entertaine - Into his house some trencher-chapelaine; - Some willing man, that might instruct his sons. - And that would stand to good conditions. - First, that he lie upon the truckle-bed, - While his young maister lieth o'er his head: - Second, that he do, upon no default, - Never presume to sit above the salt: - Third, that he never change his trencher twise; - Fourth, that he use all common courtesies; - Sit bare at meales, and one half rise and wait: - Last, that he never his young maister beat; - But he must aske his mother to define - How manie jerks she would his breech should line. - All these observ'd, he could contented be, - To give five markes, and winter liverie."[95:B] - -From the description of the character of the country clerical tutor, it -is an easy transition to that of the _rural pedagogue or schoolmaster_, -a personage of not less consequence in the days of Elizabeth, than in -the present period. He frequently combined, indeed, in the sixteenth -century, the reputation of a conjuror with that of a schoolmaster, -and accordingly in the _Comedy of Errors_, _Pinch_, in the dramatis -personæ, is described as "a schoolmaster, and a conjuror," and the -following not very amiable portrait of his person is given towards the -conclusion of the play:— - - "They brought one Pinch; a hungry lean-faced villain, - A meer anatomy, a mountebank, - A thread-bare juggler, and a fortune-teller; - A needy, hollow-eye'd, sharp-looking wretch, - A living dead man: this pernicious slave, - Forsooth, took him on as conjuror."[96:A] - -Ben Jonson also alludes to this union of occupations when he says, -"I would have ne'er a cunning _schoolemaster_ in England, I mean a -Cunningman as a schoolemaster; that is, a Conjurour."[96:B] - -A less formidable figure of a schoolmaster has been given us by -Shakspeare, under the character of Holofernes, in _Love's Labour's -Lost_, where he has drawn a full-length caricature of the too frequent -pedantry of this profession. Yet Holofernes, though he speak _a -leash of languages at once_, is not deficient either in ability or -discrimination; he ridicules with much good sense and humour the -literary fops of his day, the "rackers of orthography;" and his -conversation is described by his friend, Sir Nathaniel, the Curate, -as possessing all the requisites to perfection. "Sir: your reasons at -dinner have been sharp and sententious; pleasant without scurrility, -witty without affection, audacious without impudency, learned without -opinion, and strange without heresy."[96:C] "It is very difficult," -remarks Dr. Johnson, "to add any thing to this character of the -schoolmaster's table-talk, and perhaps all the precepts of Castiglione -will scarcely be found to comprehend a rule for conversation so justly -delineated, so widely dilated, and so nicely limited."[96:D] - -The country-schoolmasters in the reigns of Elizabeth and James, were, -however, if we trust to the accounts of Ascham and Peacham, in general -many degrees below the pedagogue of Shakspeare in ability; tyranny and -ignorance appear to have been their chief characteristics; to such an -extent, indeed, were they deficient in point of necessary knowledge, -that Peacham, speaking of bad masters, declares, "it is a generall -plague and complaint of the whole land; for, for one discreet and able -teacher, you shall finde twenty ignorant and carelesse; who (among so -many fertile and delicate wits as _England_ affordeth) whereas they -make one scholler, they marre ten."[97:A] - -Ascham had endeavoured, by every argument and mode of persuasion in -his power, to check the severe and indiscriminate discipline which -prevailed among the teachers in his time; it would seem in vain; for -Peacham, about the year 1620, found it necessary to recommend lenity -in equally strenuous terms, and has given a minute and we have no -doubt a faithful picture of the various cruelties to which scholars -were then subjected; a summary of the result of this conduct may be -drawn, indeed, from his own words, where he says, "Masters for the -most part so behave themselves, that their very name is hatefull to -the scholler, who trembleth at their comming in, rejoyceth at their -absence, and looketh his master (returned) in the the face, as his -deadly enemy."[97:B] - -To the charges of undue severity and defective literature, we must -add, I am afraid, the infinitely more weighty accusation of frequent -immorality and buffoonery. Ludovicus Vives, who wrote just before -the age of Shakspeare, asserts, that "some schoolmasters taught -Ovid's books of love to their scholars, and some made expositions, -and expounded the vices[97:C];" and Peacham, at the close of the era -we are considering, censures in the strongest terms their too common -levity and misconduct: "the diseases whereunto some of them are very -subject, are _humour_ and _folly_ (that I may say nothing of the grosse -ignorance and insufficiency of many) whereby they become ridiculous and -contemptible both in the schoole and abroad. Hence it comes to passe, -that in many places, especially in Italy, of all professions that of -_pedanteria_ is held in basest repute: the schoole-master almost in -every comedy being brought upon the stage, to paralell the _Zani_ -or _Pantaloun_. He made us good sport in that excellent comedy of -_Pedantius_, acted in our Trinity Colledge in _Cambridge_, and if I be -not deceived, in _Priscianus Vapulans_, and many of our English plays. - -"I knew one, who in winter would ordinarily in a cold morning, whip his -boyes over for no other purpose than to get himselfe a heat: another -beat them for swearing, and all the while he sweares himself with -horrible oathes, he would forgive any fault saving that. - -"I had I remember myselfe (neere _S. Albanes_ in _Hertfordshire_, where -I was borne) a master, who by no entreaty would teach any scholler he -had, farther than his father had learned before him; as, if he had -onely learned but to reade English, the sonne, though he went with -him seven yeeres, should goe no further: his reason was, they would -then proove saucy rogues, and controule their fathers; yet these are -they that oftentimes have our hopefull gentry under their charge and -tuition, to bring them in science and civility."[98:A] - -We must, I apprehend, from these representations, be induced to -conclude, that ignorance, despotism, and self-sufficiency were leading -features in the composition of the country-schoolmaster, during this -period of our annals; it would not be just, however, to infer from -these premises that the larger schools were equally unfortunate in -their conductors; on the contrary, most of the public seminaries of -the capital, and many in the large provincial towns, were under the -regulation of masters highly respectable for their erudition, men, -indeed, to whom neither Erasmus nor Joseph Scaliger would have refused -the title of ripe and good scholars. - -We shall now pass forward, in the series of our rural characters, to -the delineation of one of great importance in a national point of view, -that of the substantial Farmer or Yeoman, of whom Harrison has left -us the following interesting definition:—"This sort of people have -a certaine preheminence, and more estimation than labourers and the -common sort of artificers, and these commonlie live wealthilie, kéepe -good houses, and travell to get riches. They are also for the most part -farmers to gentlemen, or at the leastwise artificers, and with grazing, -frequenting of markets, and kéeping of servants (not idle servants, as -the gentlemen doo, but such as get both their owne and part of their -masters living) do come to great welth, in somuch that manie of them -are able and doo buie the lands of unthriftie gentlemen, and often -setting their sonnes to the schooles, to the universities, and to the -Ins of the court; or otherwise leaving them sufficient lands whereupon -they may live without labour, doo make them by those meanes to become -gentlemen: these were they that in times past made all France afraid. -And albeit they be not called master, as gentlemen are, or sir as to -knights apperteineth, but onelie John and Thomas, &c.: yet have they -beene found to have doone verie good service: and the kings of England -in foughten battels, were woont to remaine among them (who were their -footmen) as the French kings did amongst their horssemen: the prince -thereby shewing where his chiefe strength did consist."[99:A] - -After this description of the rank which the farmer held in society, -we shall proceed to state the mode in which he commonly lived in the -age of Elizabeth; and in doing this we have chosen, as usual, to adopt -at considerable length the language of our old writers; a practice to -which we shall in future adhere, while detailing the manners, customs, -&c. of our ancestors, a practice which has indeed peculiar advantages; -for the authenticity of the source is at once apparent, the diction -possesses a peculiar charm from its antique cast, and the expression -has a raciness and force of colouring, which owes its origin to actual -inspection, and which, consequently, it is in vain to expect, on such -subjects, from modern composition. - -The houses or cottages of the farmer were built, in places abounding -in wood, in a very strong and substantial manner, with not more than -four, six, or nine inches between stud and stud; but in the open and -champaine country, they were compelled to use more flimsy materials, -with here and there a girding to which they fastened their splints, and -then covered the whole with thick clay to keep out the wind. "Certes -this rude kind of building," says Harrison, "made the Spaniards in -quéene Maries daies to wonder, but chéeflie when they saw what large -diet was used in manie of these so homelie cottages, in so much that -one of no small reputation amongst them said after this manner: 'These -English (quoth he) have their houses made of sticks and durt, but -they fare commonlie so well as the king.' Whereby it appeareth that -he liked better of our good fare in such coarse cabins, than of their -owne thin diet in their prince-like habitations and palaces."[100:A] -The cottages of the peasantry usually consisted of but two rooms on -the ground-floor, the outer for the servants, the inner for the master -and his family, and they were thatched with straw or sedge; while the -dwelling of the substantial farmer was distributed into several rooms -above and beneath, was coated with white lime or cement, and was very -neatly roofed with reed; hence Tusser, speaking of the farm-house, -gives the following directions for repairing and preserving its thatch -in the month of May: - - "Where houses be reeded (as houses have need) - Now pare of the mosse, and go beat in the reed: - The juster ye drive it, the smoother and plaine, - More handsome ye make it, to shut off the raine."[100:B] - -A few years before the era of which we are treating, the venerable -Hugh Latimer, describing in one of his impressive sermons the economy -of a farmer in his time, tells us that his father, who was a yeoman, -had no land of his own, but only "a farm of three or four pounds by -the year at the utmost; and hereupon he tilled so much as kept half a -dozen men. He had a walk for an hundred sheep; and my mother milked -thirty kine. He kept his son at school till he went to the university, -and maintained him there; he married his daughters with five pounds or -twenty nobles a piece; he kept hospitality with his neighbours, and -some alms he gave to the poor; and all this he did out of the said -farm."[101:A] - -Land let, at this period, it should be remembered, at about a shilling -per acre; but in the reign of Elizabeth its value rapidly increased, -together with a proportional augmentation of the comfort of the farmer, -who even began to exhibit the elegancies and luxuries of life. Of the -change which took place in rural economy towards the close of the -sixteenth century, the following faithful and interesting picture has -been drawn by the pencil of Harrison, who, noticing the additional -splendour of gentlemen's houses, remarks,—"In times past the costlie -furniture staied _there_, whereas now it is descended yet lower, even -unto manie farmers, who by vertue of their old and not of their new -leases, have for the most part learned also to garnish their cupbords -with plate, their ioined beds with tapistrie and silke hangings, and -their tables with carpets and fine naperie, whereby the wealth of our -countrie (God be praised therefore, and give us grace to imploie it -well) dooth infinitlie appeare. Neither doo I speake this in reproch -of anie man, God is my judge, but to shew that I do rejoise rather, to -see how God hath blessed us with his good gifts; and whilest I behold -how that in a time wherein all things are growen to most excessive -prices, and what commoditie so ever is to be had, is daily plucked from -the commonaltie by such as looke in to everie trade, we doo yet find -the means to obtein and atchive such furniture as here to fore hath -beene unpossible. There are old men yet dwelling in the village where -I remaine, which have noted three things to be marvellouslie altered in -England within their sound remembrance; and other three things too too -much encreased. _One_ is, the multitude of chimnies latelie erected, -wheras in their yoong daies there were not above two or three, if so -manie in most uplandish townes of the realme, (the religious houses, -and manor places of their lords alwaies excepted, and peradventure some -great personages) but ech one made his fire against a rere dosse in the -hall, where he dined and dressed his meat. - -"The _second_ is the great (although not generall) amendment of -lodging, for (said they) our fathers (yea and wee ourselves also) -have lien full oft upon straw pallets, on rough mats covered onlie -with a shéet, under coverlets made of dagswain or hop harlots (I use -their owne termes) and a good round log under their heads instead of -a bolster or pillow. If it were so that our fathers or the good man -of the house, had within seven yeares after his mariage purchased -a matteres or flockebed, and thereto a sacke of chaffe to rest his -head upon, he thought himselfe to be as well lodged as the lord of -the towne, that peradventure laie seldome in a bed of downe or whole -fethers; so well were they contented, and with such base kind of -furniture: which also is not verie much amended as yet in some parts -of Bedfordshire, and elsewhere further off from our southerne parts. -Pillowes (said they) were thought méet onelie for women in child -bed. As for servants, if they had anie shéet above them it was well, -for seldome had they anie under their bodies, to kéepe them from the -pricking straws that ran oft through the canvas of the pallet, and -rased their hardened hides. - -"The _third_ thing they tell of, is the exchange of vessell, as of -treene platters into pewter, and wodden spoones into silver or tin. For -so common was all sorts of tréene stuff in old time, that a man should -hardlie find four péeces of pewter (of which one was peradventure a -salt) in a good farmer's house, and yet for all this frugalitie (if it -may so be justly called) they were scarce able to live and paie their -rents at their daies without selling of a cow, or an horsse, or more, -although they paid but foure pounds at the uttermost by the yeare. Such -also was their povertie, that if some one od farmer or husbandman had -béene at the alehouse, a thing greatlie used in those daies, amongst -six or seven of his neighbours, and there in a braverie to shew what -store he had, did cast downe his purse, and therein a noble or six -shillings in silver unto them (for few such men then cared for gold -because it was not so readie paiment, and they were oft inforced to -give a penie for the exchange of an angell) it was verie likelie that -all the rest could not laie downe so much against it: whereas in my -time, although peradventure foure poundes of old rent be improved to -fortie, fiftie, or an hundred pounds, yet will the farmer as another -palme or date trée thinke his gaines verie small toward the end of -his terme, if he have not six or seven yeares rent lieing by him, -therewith to purchase a new lease, beside a faire garnish of pewter on -his cupbord, with so much in od vessell going about the house, thrée -or foure feather beds, so manie coverlids and carpets of tapistrie, a -silver salt, a bowle for wine (if not an whole neast) and a dozzen of -spoones to furnish up the sute."[103:A] - -To this curious delineation of the furniture and household -accommodation of the farmer, it will be necessary, in order to complete -the sketch, to add a few things relative to his diet and hospitality. -Contrary to what has taken place in modern times, the hours for meals -were later with the artificer and the husbandman than with the higher -order of society; the farmer and his servants usually sitting down to -dinner at one o'clock, and to supper at seven, while the nobleman and -gentleman took the first at eleven in the morning, and the second at -five in the afternoon. - -It would appear that, from the cottage to the palace, good eating was -as much cultivated in the days of Elizabeth as it has been in any -subsequent period; and the rites of hospitality, more especially in the -country, were observed with a frequency and cordiality which a further -progress in civilisation has rather tended to check, than to increase. - -Of the larder of the cotter and the shepherd, and of the hospitality -of the former, a pretty accurate idea may be acquired from the simple -yet beautiful strains of an old pastoral bard of Elizabeth's days, who, -describing a nobleman fatigued by the chase, the heat of the weather, -and long fasting, adds that he— - - "Did house him in a peakish graunge, - Within a forrest great: - - Wheare, knowne, and welcom'd, as the place - And persons might afforde, - Browne bread, whig, bacon, curds, and milke, - Were set him on the borde: - - A cushion made of lists, a stoole - Half backed with a houpe, - Were brought him, and he sitteth down - Besides a sorry coupe. - - The poor old couple wish't their bread - Were wheat, their whig were perry, - Their bacon beefe, their milke and curds - Weare creame, to make him mery."[104:A] - -The picture of the shepherd youth is so exquisitely drawn that, though -only a portion of it is illustrative of our subject, we cannot avoid -giving so much of the text as will render the figure complete. - - "Sweet growte, or whig, his bottle had - As much as it might hold: - - A sheeve of bread as browne as nut, - And cheese as white as snowe, - And wildings, or the season's fruite, - He did in scrip bestow: - - And whil'st his py-bald curre did sleepe, - And sheep-hooke lay him by, - On hollow quilles of oten strawe - He piped melody:— - - — — — — — — — With the sun - He doth his flocke unfold, - And all the day on hill or plaine - He merrie chat can hold: - - And with the sun doth folde againe; - Then jogging home betime, - _He turnes a crab_, or tunes a round, - Or sings some merrie ryme: - - _Nor lackes he gleeful tales to tell, - Whil'st round the bole doth trot_; - And sitteth singing care away, - Till he to bed hath got. - - Theare sleeps he soundly all the night, - Forgetting morrow cares, - Nor feares he blasting of his corne - Nor uttering of his wares, - - Or stormes by seas, or stirres on land, - Or cracke of credite lost, - Not spending franklier than his flocke - Shall still defray the cost. - - Wel wot I, sooth they say that say: - More quiet nightes and daies - The shepheard sleepes and wakes than he - Whose cattel he doth graize."[105:A] - -The lines in Italics allude to the favourite beverage of the peasantry, -and the mode in which they recreated themselves over the spicy bowl. -To _turne a crab_ is to roast a wilding or wild apple in the fire for -the purpose of being thrown hissing hot into a bowl of nut-brown ale, -into which had been previously put a toast with some spice and sugar. -To this delicious compound Shakspeare has frequently referred; thus in -_Love's Labour's Lost_ one of his designations of winter is, - - "When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl:"[105:B] - -and Puck, describing his own wanton tricks in _Midsummer Night's -Dream_, says— - - "And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl, - In very likeness of a roasted crab, - And when she drinks, against her lips I bob."[106:A] - -The very expression to _turn a crab_ will be found in the following -passages from two old plays, in the first of which the good man says he -will - - "Sit down in _his_ chaire by _his_ wife faire Alison, - And _turne a crabbe_ in the fire;"[106:B] - -and in the second, Christmas is personified - - —— "sitting in a corner _turning crabs_, - Or coughing o'er a warmed pot of ale."[106:C] - -Nor can we omit, in closing this series of quotations, the following -stanza of a fine old song in the curious comedy of _Gammer Gurton's -Needle_, first printed in 1575: - - "I love no rost, but a nut brown toste, - and _a crab layde in the fyre_; - A lytle bread shall do me stead, - much bread I not desyre. - - No froste nor snow, no winde, I trow, - can hurte me if I wolde, - I am so wrapt, and throwly lapt - of joly good ale, and olde. - - Back and syde go bare, go bare, - booth foote and hande go colde; - But belly, God sende thee good ale ynoughe, - whether it be newe or olde."[106:D] - -To tell gleeful tales, "whilst round the bole doth trot," was an -amusement much more common among our ancestors, during the age of -Elizabeth, and the subsequent century, than it has been in any later -period. The _Winter's Tale_ of Shakspeare owes its title to this -custom, of which an example is placed before us in the first scene of -the second act. - - _Her._ Come Sir— - —— Pray you, sit by us, - And tell 's a _tale_. - - _Mam._ Merry, or sad, shal't be? - - _Her._ As merry as you will.[107:A] - -And Burton, the first edition of whose Anatomy of Melancholy was -published in 1617, enumerates, among the ordinary recreations of -Winter, "merry tales of errant knights, queens, lovers, lords, ladies, -giants, dwarfs, thieves, cheaters, witches, fayries, goblins, friars, -&c.—which some delight to hear, some to tell; all are well pleased -with;" and he remarks shortly afterwards, "when three or four good -companions meet, they tell old stories by the fire-side, or in the sun, -as old folks usually do, remembering afresh and with pleasure antient -matters, and such like accidents, which happened in their younger -years."[107:B] Milton also, in his _L'Allegro_, first printed in 1645, -gives a conspicuous station - - —— "to the spicy nut-brown ale, - With stories told of many a feat:" - -and adds, - - "Thus done the tales, to bed they creep, - By whispering winds soon lull'd to sleep."[107:C] - -The farmer's daily diet may be drawn with sufficient accuracy from -the curious old Georgic of Tusser, a poem which, more than any other -that we possess, throws light upon the agricultural manners and customs -of the age. In Lent, says this entertaining bard, the farmer must in -the first place consume his red herring, and afterwards his salt fish, -which should be kept in store, indeed, and considered as good even when -Lent is past, and with these leeks and peas should be procured for -pottage, with the view of saving milk, oatmeal, and bread: at Easter -veale and bacon are to be the chief articles; at Martilmas salted beef, -"when country folk do dainties lack:" at Midsummer, when mackrel are -out of season, grasse (that is sallads, &c.) fresh beef and pease: at -Michaelmas fresh herring and fatted [108:A]crones: at All Saints pork -and souse, sprats and spurlings: at Christmas he enjoins the farmer -to "plaie and make good cheere," and he concludes by advising him, as -was the custom in Elizabeth's time, to observe Fridays, Saturdays, and -Wednesdays as fish-days; to "keep embrings well and fasting dayes," -and of fish and fruit be scarce, to supply their want with butter and -cheese.[108:B] To these recommendations he adds, in another place, that - - "Good ploughmen look weekly of custom and right, - For rostmeat on sundaies, and thursday at night:" - -and he subsequently gives directions for writing what he terms -"husbandlie posies," that is, economical proverbs in rhyme, to be hung -up in the Hall, the parlour, the Ghest's chamber, and the good man's -own bed chamber.[108:C] - -If the farmer have a visitor, our worthy bard is not illiberal in -his allowance, but advises him to place three dishes on his table at -dinner, well dressed, which, says he, will be sufficient to pleese -your friend, and will _become_ your Hall.[109:A] - -On days of feasting and rejoicing, however, it appears to have been -a common custom for the guests to bring their victuals with them, -forming as it were a pic-nic meal; thus, Harrison, describing the -occasional mirth and hospitality of the farmer, says,—"In feasting -the husbandmen doo exceed after their maner: especiallie at bridales, -purifications of women, and such od meetings, where it is incredible -to tell what meat is consumed and spent, ech one bringing such a dish, -or so manie with him as his wife and he doo consult upon, but alwaies -with this consideration, that the léefer fréend shall have the better -provision. This also is commonlie séene at these bankets, that the good -man of the house is not charged with any thing saving bread, drink, -sauce, houseroome, and fire. (He then gives us the following naïve -and pleasing picture of their festivity and content.) The husbandmen -are sufficientlie liberall, and verie fréendlie at their tables, and -when they méet, they are so merie without malice, and plaine without -inward Italian or French craft and subtiltie, that it would doo a -man good to be in companie among them. Herein only are the inferiour -sort somewhat to be blamed, that being thus assembled, their talke is -now and then such as savoureth of scurrilitie and ribaldrie, a thing -naturallie incident to carters and clowns, who thinke themselves not to -be merie and welcome, if their foolish veines in this behalfe be never -so little restreined. This is moreover to be added in these meetings, -that if they happen to stumble upon a péece of venison, and a cup of -wine or verie strong beere or ale (which latter they commonlie provide -against their appointed daies) they thinke their chéere so great, and -themselves to have fared so well, as the lord Maior of London, with -whome when their bellies be full they will not often sticke to make -comparison, (saying, _I have dined so well as my lord maior_) because -that of a subject there is no publike officer of anie citie in Europe, -that may compare in port and countenance with him during the time of -his office."[109:B] - -The dress of the farmer during the middle of the sixteenth century -was plain and durable; consisting, for common purposes, of coarse gray -cloth or fustian, in the form of trunk-hose, frock, or doublet. - -To this account of the farmer's mode of living, it will be proper to -add a brief description of his coadjutor in domestic economy, the -English housewife, a personage of no small importance; for, as honest -Tusser has justly observed, - - "House keping and husbandry, if it be good, - must love one another, as cousinnes in blood. - The wife to, must husband as well as the man, - or farewel thy husbandry, doe what thou can."[110:A] - -Of the qualifications necessary to constitute this useful character, -Gervase Markham has given us a very curious detail, in his work -entitled "The English Housewife;" which, though not published until the -close of the Shakspearian era, appears, from the dedication to Frances, -Countess Dowager of Exeter, to have been written long anterior to its -transmission to the press; for it is there said, "That much of it was -a manuscript which many years ago belonged to an honourable Countess, -one of the greatest glories of our[110:B] kingdom." It is a delineation -which, as supposed of easy practical application, does honour to the -sex and to the age. After expatiating on the necessity of a religious -example to her household, on the part of the good housewife, he thus -proceeds: - -"Next unto her sanctity and holiness of life, it is meet that our -_English_ Housewife be a woman of great modesty and temperance, as -well inwardly as outwardly; inwardly, as in her behaviour and carriage -towards her husband, wherein she shall shun all violence of rage, -passion and humour, coveting less to direct than to be directed, -appearing ever unto him pleasant, amiable and delightful; and, tho' -occasion of mishaps, or the mis-government of his will may induce her -to contrary thoughts, yet vertuously to suppress them, and with a -mild sufferance rather to call him home from his error, than with the -strength of anger to abate the least spark of his evil, calling into -her mind, that evil and uncomely language is deformed, though uttered -even to servants; but most monstrous and ugly, when it appears before -the presence of a husband: outwardly, as in her apparel, and dyet, both -which she shall proportion according to the competency of her husband's -estate and calling, making her circle rather strait than large: for it -is a rule, if we extend to the uttermost, we take away increase; if we -go a hairs bredth beyond, we enter into consumption: but if we preserve -any part, we build strong forts against the adversaries of fortune, -provided that such preservation be honest and conscionable: for as -lavish prodigality is brutish, so miserable covetousness is hellish. -Let therefore the Housewife's garments be comely and strong, made as -well to preserve the health, as to adorn the person, altogether without -toyish garnishes, or the gloss of light colours, and as far from the -vanity of new and fantastick fashions, as near to the comely imitation -of modest matrons. Let her dyet be wholesome and cleanly, prepared at -due hours, and cook'd with care and diligence, let it be rather to -satisfie nature, than her affections, and _apter_ to kill _hunger_ than -revive _new_ appetites; let it proceed _more_ from the provision of -her own yard, than the furniture of the markets; and let it be rather -esteemed for the familiar acquaintance she hath without it, than for -the strangeness and rarity it bringeth from other countries. - -"To conclude, _our English_ Housewife must be of chast thoughts, -stout courage, patient, untired, watchful, diligent, witty, pleasant, -constant in friendship, full of good neighbour-hood, wise in discourse, -but not frequent therein, sharp and quick of speech, but not bitter -or talkative, secret in her affairs, comfortable in her counsels, and -generally skilful in the worthy knowledges which do belong to her -vocation."[111:A] - -These knowledges, he then states, should consist in an intimacy with -domestic physic, with cookery, with the distillation of waters, -with the making and preserving of wines, with the making and dying -of cloth, with the conduct of dairies, and with malting, brewing, -and baking; for all which he gives very ample directions. Markham, -indeed, seems to have taken the greater part of this picture from his -predecessor Tusser, in whose poems on husbandry may be found, among -many others, the following excellent precepts for the conduct of the -good house-wife:— - - "In Marche and in Aprill from morning to night: - in sowing and setting good huswives delight. - To have in their garden or some other plot: - to trim up their house and to furnish their pot. - - Have millons at Mihelmas, parsneps in lent: - in June, buttred beanes, saveth fish to be spent. - With those and good pottage inough having than: - thou winnest the heart of thy laboring man. - - From Aprill begin til saint Andrew be past: - so long with good huswives their dairies doe last. - Good milche bease and pasture, good husbandes provide: - good huswives know best all the rest how to guide. - - But huswives, that learne not to make their owne cheese: - with trusting of others, have thes for their feese. - Their milke slapt in corners their creame al to sost: - their milk pannes so flotte, that their cheeses be lost. - - Where some of a kowe maketh yerely a pounde: - these huswives crye creake for their voice will not sounde. - The servauntes suspecting their dame, lye in waighte: - with one thing or other they trudge away straight. - - Then neighbour (for god's sake) if any such be: - if you know a good servant, waine her to me. - Such maister, suche man, and such mistres such mayde: - such husbandes and huswives, suche houses araide. - - For flax and for hemp, for to have of her owne: - the wife must in May take good hede it be sowne. - And trimme it and kepe it to serve at a nede: - the femble to spin and the karle for her fede. - - Good husbandes abrode seketh al wel to have: - good huswives at home seketh al wel to save. - Thus having and saving in place where they meete: - make profit with pleasure suche couples to greete.[113:A]" - -But it is in "The points of _Huswifry_ united to the comfort of -_Husbandry_," of the good old poet, that we recognise the most perfect -picture of the domestic economy of agricultural life in the days of -Elizabeth. This material addition to the husbandry of our author -appeared in 1570, and embraces a complete view of the province of the -_Huswife_, with all her daily labours and duties, which are divided -into—1st, _Morning Works_; 2dly, _Breakfast Doings_; 3dly, _Dinner -Matters_; 4thly, _Afternoon Works_; 5thly, _Evening Works_; 6thly, -_Supper-Matters_; and 7thly, _After-Supper Matters_. - -From the details of this arrangement we learn, that the servants in -summer rose at four, and in winter at five o'clock; that in the latter -season they were called to breakfast on the appearance of the day-star, -and that the huswife herself was the carver and distributer of the -meat and pottage. We find, likewise, and it is the only objectionable -article in the admonitions of the poet, that he recommends his dame -not to scold, but to thrash heartily her maids when refractory; and he -adds a circumstance rather extraordinary, but at the same time strongly -recommendatory of the effects of music, that - - "Such servants are oftenest painfull and good, - That sing in their labour, as birds in the wood." - -Dinner, he enjoins, should be taken at noon; should be quickly -dispatched; and should exhibit plenty, but no dainties. - -The bare table, he observes, will do as well, as if covered with a -cloth, which is liable to be cut; and that wooden and pewter dishes and -tin vessels for liquor are the best, as most secure; and then, with his -accustomed piety, he advises the regular use of grace— - - "At dinner, at supper, at morning, at night, - Give thanks unto God." - -As soon as dinner is over, the servants are again set to work, and he -very humanely adds, - - "To servant in seikness, see nothing ye grutch, - A thing of a trifle shall comfort him much." - -Many precepts, strictly economical, then follow, in which the huswife -is directed to save her parings, drippings, and skimmings for the sake -of her poultry, and for "medicine for cattle, for cart, and for shoe;" -to employ the afternoon, like a good sempstress, in making and mending; -to keep her maids cleanly in their persons, to call them quarterly to -account, to mark and number accurately her linen, to save her feathers, -to use little spice, and to make her own candle. - -The business of the evening commences with preparations for supper, -as soon as the hens go to roost; the hogs are then to be served, the -cows milked, and as night comes on, the servants return, but none -empty-handed, some bringing in wood, some logs, &c. The cattle, both -without and within doors, are next to be attended to, all clothes -brought into the house, and no door left unbolted, and the duties of -the evening close with this injunction: - - "Thou woman, whom pity becometh the best, - Grant all that hath laboured time to take rest." - -Supper now is spread, and the scene opens with an excellent persuasive -to cheerfulness and hospitality: - - "Provide for thy husband, to make him good cheer, - Make merry together, while time ye be here. - A-bed and at board, howsoever befall, - Whatever God sendeth, be merry withall. - No taunts before servants, for hindering of fame, - No jarring too loud, for avoiding of shame." - -The servants are then ordered to be courteous, and attentive to each -other, especially at their meals, and directions are given for the next -morning's work. - -The last section, entitled "After-supper matters," is introduced and -terminated in a very moral and impressive manner. The first couplet -tells us to - - "Remember those children, whose parents be poor, - Which hunger, yet dare not to crave at thy door;" - -the bandog is then ordered to have the bones and the scraps; the -huswife looks carefully to the fire, the candle, and the keys; the -whole family retire to rest, at nine in winter, and at ten in summer, -and the farmer's day closes with four lines which ought to be written -in letters of gold, and which, if duly observed, would ensure a great -portion of the happiness obtainable by man: - - "Be lowly, not sullen, if aught go amiss, - What wresting may lose thee, that win with a kiss. - Both bear and forbear, now and then as ye may, - Then wench, God a mercy! thy husband will say."[115:A] - -Frugality and domestic economy were not, however, the constant -attributes of the farmer's wife in the age of which we are treating; -the luxury of dress, both in England and Scotland, had already -corrupted the simplicity of country-habits. Stephen Perlet, who -visited Scotland in 1553, and Fines Moryson, who made a similar tour -in 1598[118:A], agree in describing the dress of the common people -of both countries as nearly if not altogether the same; the picture, -therefore, which Dunbar has given us of the dress of a rich farmer's -wife, in Scotland, during the middle of the sixteenth century, will -apply, with little fear of exaggeration, to the still wealthier dames -of England. He has drawn her in a robe of fine scarlet with a white -hood; a gay purse and gingling keys pendant at her side from a silken -belt of silver tissue; on each finger she wore two rings, and round her -waste was bound a sash of grass-green silk, richly embroidered with -silver.[118:B] To this rural extravagancy in dress, Warner will bear an -equal testimony; for, describing two old gossips cowering over their -cottage-fire, and chatting how the world was changed in their time, - - "When we were maids (quoth one of them) - Was no such new found pride: - Then wore they shooes of ease, now of - An inch-broad, corked hye: - Black karsie stockings, worsted now, - Yea silke of youthful'st dye: - - Garters of lystes, but now of silke, - Some edged deep with gold: - With costlier toyes, for courser turns, - Than us'd, perhaps of old. - - Fring'd and ymbroidered petticoats - Now begge. But heard you nam'd, - Till now of late, busks, perrewigs, - Maskes, plumes of feathers fram'd, - - Supporters, posters, fardingales - Above the loynes to waire, - That be she near so bombe-thin, yet - She crosse-like seems foure-squaire? - - Some wives, grayheaded, shame not locks - Of youthfull borrowed haire: - Some, tyring arte, attyer their heads - With only tresses bare: - - Some, (grosser pride than which, think I, - No passed age might shame) - By arte, abusing nature, heads - Of antick't hayre doe frame. - - Once starching lack't the tearme, because - Was lacking once the toy, - And lack't we all these toyes and tearmes, - It were no griefe but joy.— - - Now dwels ech drossell in her glas: - When I was yong, I wot, - On holly-dayes (for sildome els - Such ydell times we got) - A tubb or paile of water cleere - Stood us in steede of glas."[119:A] - -Luxury and extravagance soon spread beyond the female circle, and the -_Farmer's Heir_ of forty pounds a year, is described by Hall, in 1598, -as dissipating his property on the follies and fopperies of the day. - - "Vilius, the wealthy farmer, left his heire - Twice twenty sterling pounds to spend by yeare:— - But whiles ten pound goes to his wife's new gowne, - Nor little lesse can serve to suit his owne; - Whiles one piece pays her idle waiting-man, - Or buys an hoode, or silver-handled fanne, - Or hires a Friezeland trotter, halfe yard deepe, - To drag his tumbrell through the staring Cheape; - Or whiles he rideth with two liveries, - And's treble rated at the subsidies; - One end a kennel keeps of thriftlesse hounds; - What think ye rests of all my younker's pounds - To diet him, or deal out at his doore, - To coffer up, or stocke his wasting store?"[119:B] - -In contrast to this character, who keeps a pack of hounds, and sports -a couple of liveries, it will be interesting to bring forward the -picture of the _poor copyholder_, as drawn by the same masterly pencil; -the description of the wretched hovel is given in all the strength of -minute reality, and the avidity of the avaricious landlord is wrought -up with several strokes of humour. - - "Of one bay's breadth, God wot, a silly cote, - Whose thatched spars are furr'd with sluttish soote - A whole inch thick, shining like black-moor's brows, - Through smoke that downe the headlesse barrel blows. - At his bed's feete feeden his stalled teame, - His swine beneath, his pullen o'er the beame. - A starved tenement, such as I guesse - Stands straggling on the wastes of Holdernesse: - Or such as shivers on a Peake hill side, &c.— - Yet must he haunt his greedy landlord's hall - With often presents at each festivall: - With crammed capons everie new-yeare's morne, - Or with greene cheese when his sheepe are shorne: - Or many maunds-full of his mellow fruite, - To make some way to win his weighty suite.— - The smiling landlord shews a sunshine face, - Feigning that he will grant him further grace; - And leers like Esop's foxe upon the crane, - Whose neck he craves for his chirurgian."[120:A] - -We shall close these characters, illustrative of rural manners, as they -existed in the reigns of Elizabeth and James 1st, with a delineation -of the _plain Country Fellow or down right Clown_, from the accurate -pen of Bishop Earle, who has touched this homely subject with singular -point and spirits. - -"A _plain country fellow_ is one that manures his ground well, but -lets himself lye fallow and untilled. He has reason enough to do his -business, and not enough to be idle or melancholy. He seems to have -the punishment of _Nebuchadnezzar_, for his conversation is among -beasts, and his tallons none of the shortest, only he eats not grass, -because he loves not sallets. His hand guides the plough, and the -plough his thoughts, and his ditch and land-mark is the very mound of -his meditations. He expostulates with his oxen very understandingly, -and speaks gee, and ree, better than English. His mind is not much -distracted with objects, but if a good fat cow come in his way, he -stands dumb and astonished, and though his haste be never so great, -will fix here half an hour's contemplation. His habitation is some poor -thatched roof, distinguished from his barn by the loop-holes that let -out smoak, which the rain had long since washed through, but for the -double ceiling of bacon on the inside, which has hung there from his -grandsire's time, and is yet to make rashers for posterity. His dinner -is his other work, for he sweats at it as much as at his labour; he -is a terrible fastner on a piece of beef, and you may hope to stave -the guard off sooner. His religion is a part of his copy-hold, which -he takes from his land-lord, and refers it wholly to his discretion: -yet if he give him leave he is a good Christian to his power, (that -is,) comes to church in his best cloaths, and sits there with his -neighbours, where he is capable only of two prayers, for rain, and -fair weather. He apprehends God's blessings only in a good year, or a -fat pasture, and never praises him but on _good ground_. Sunday, he -esteems a day to make merry in, and thinks a bag-pipe as essential to -it as evening prayer, where he walks very solemnly after service with -his hands coupled behind him, and censures the dancing of his parish. -His compliment with his neighbour is a good thump on the back, and his -salutation commonly some blunt curse. He thinks nothing to be vices, -but pride and ill husbandry, from which he will gravely dissuade the -youth, and has some thrifty hob-nail proverbs to clout his discourse. -He is a niggard all the week, except only market-day, where, if his -corn sell well, he thinks he may be drunk with a good conscience. He -is sensible of no calamity but the burning a stack of corn or the -overflowing of a meadow, and thinks Noah's flood the greatest plague -that ever was, not because it drowned the world, but spoiled the -grass. For death he is never troubled, and if he get in but his harvest -before, let it come when it will, he cares not."[122:A] - -The _nine_ characters which have now passed in brief review before us, -namely, the _Rural Squire_; the _Rural Coxcomb_; the _Rural Clergyman_; -the _Rural Pedagogue_; the _Farmer_ or _substantial Yeoman_; the -_Farmer's Wife_; the _Farmer's Heir_; the _Poor Copyholder_, and the -mere _Ploughman_ or _Country Boor_, will, to a certain extent, point -out the personal manners, condition, and mode of living of those -who inhabited the country, during the period in which Shakspeare -flourished. They have been given from the experience, and, generally, -in the very words of contemporary writers, and may, therefore, be -considered as faithful portraits. To complete the picture, a further -elucidation of the customs of the country, as drawn from its principal -occurrences and events, will be the subject of the ensuing chapter, in -which the references to the works of our immortal bard will be more -frequent than could take place while collecting mere out-line draughts -of rural character. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[68:A] Holinshed's Chronicles, edit. of 1807, in six vols. 4to. vol. i. -p. 276. - -[68:B] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 273. - -[69:A] Taming of the Shrew, act ii. sc. 1. - -[70:A] Of the very rare tract from which these extracts are taken, the -following is the entire title-page:—"The Gentleman's Academie; or, -the Booke of St. Albans: containing three most exact and excellent -Bookes: the first of Hawking, the second of all the proper Termes of -Hunting, and the last of Armorie: all compiled by Juliana Barnes, in -the Yere from the Incarnation of Christ 1486. And now reduced into a -better method, by G. M. London. Printed for Humphrey Lownes, and are to -be sold at his shop in Paules Church-yard, 1595." This curious edition -of the _Booke of St. Albans_, accommodated to the days of Shakspeare, -contains 95 leaves 4to. and I shall add the interesting dedication: - - "To the Gentlemen of England: - and all good fellowship - of Huntsmen and - Falconers. - -"Gentlemen, this booke, intreting of Hawking, Hunting, and Armorie; -the originall copie of the which was doone at St. Albans, about what -time the excellent arte of printing was first brought out of Germany, -and practised here in England: which booke, because of the antiquitie -of the same, and the things therein contained, being so necessarie and -behovefull to the accomplishment of the gentlemen of this flourishing -ile, and others which take delight in either of these noble sports, or -in that heroicall and excellent study of Armory, I have revived and -brought again to light the same which was almost altogether forgotten, -and either few or none of the perfect copies thereof remaining, except -in their hands, who wel knowing the excellency of the worke, and the -rarenesse of the booke, smothered the same from the world, thereby to -inrich themselves in private with the knowledge of these delights. -Therfore I humbly crave pardon of the precise and judicial reader, -if sometimes I use the words of the ancient authour, in such plaine -and homely English, as that time affoorded, not being so regardful, -nor tying myself so strictly to deliver any thing in the proper and -peculiar wordes and termes of arte, which for the love I beare to -antiquitie, and to the honest simplicitie of those former times, I -observe as wel beseeming the subject, and no whit disgracefull to the -worke, our tong being not of such puritie then, as at this day the -poets of our age have raised it to: of whom, and in whose behalf I wil -say thus much, that our nation may only thinke herself beholding for -the glory and exact compendiousnes of our longuage. Thus submitting our -academy to your kind censures and friendly acceptance of the same, and -requesting you to reade with indifferency, and correct with judgement; -I commit you to God. - - G. M." - -From this dedication we learn that the original edition of the Booke -of St. Albans was as scarce towards the close of the sixteenth century -as at the present day; that "few or none of the perfect copies" were -to be obtained; for that those were in the hands of _Bibliomaniacs_ -who (like too many now existing) "smother'd them from the world." We -have, therefore, every reason to conclude, from "the rarenesse (and -consequent value) of the booke" of 1486, that the copy of Juliana's -work in the library of Shakspeare, was the edition by Markham of -1595. I shall just add, that the copy now before me, was purchased at -the Roxburgh sale, for 9_l._ 19_s._ 6_d._! It is, notwithstanding, -probable, from the _peculiarities_ attending Markham's re-impression, -that this sum, great as it may appear, will be exceeded at some future -sale. - -The attachment of _Gervase Markham_ to the subjects which employed -the pen of his favourite Prioress, is very happily introduced by Mr. -Dibdin, while alluding to the similar propensities of the _modern -Markham_, Mr. Haslewood. "Up starts FLORIZEL, and blows his -bugle, at the annunciation of any work, new or old, upon the -diversions of _Hawking_, _Hunting_, or _Fishing_! Carry him through -CAMILLO'S cabinet of Dutch pictures, and you will see how -instinctively, as it were, his eyes are fixed upon a sporting piece by -Wouvermans. The hooded hawk, in his estimation, hath more charms than -Guido's Madonna:—how he envies every rider upon his white horse!—how -he burns to bestride the foremost steed, and to mingle in the fair -throng, who turn their blue eyes to the scarcely bluer expanse of -heaven! Here he recognises _Gervase Markham_, spurring his courser; and -there he fancies himself lifting _Dame Juliana_ from her horse! Happy -deception! dear fiction! says Florizel—while he throws his eyes in an -opposite direction, and views every printed book upon the subject, from -_Barnes_ to _Thornton_." Bibliomania, p. 729, 730. - -The following very amusing description of "the difference twixt -Churles and Gentlemen," will prove an adequate specimen of Markham's -edition, will be appropriate to the subject in the text, and may be -compared with the accurate reprint of the edition of W. De Worde by Mr. -Haslewood. - -"There was never gentleman, nor churle ordained, but hee had father and -mother: Adam and Eve had neither father nor mother, and therefore in -the sonnes of Adam and Eve, first issued out both gentleman and churle. -By the sonnes of Adam and Eve, to wit, Seth, Abell, and Caine, was the -royall blood divided from the rude and barbarous, a brother to murder -his brother contrary to the law, what could be more ungentlemanly or -vile? in that, therefore, became Caine and al his ofspring churles, -both by the curse of God, and his owne father. Seth was made a -gentleman through his father and mother's blessing, from whose loynes -issued Noah, a gentleman by kind and linage. Noah had three sonnes -truely begotten, two by the mother, named Cham and Sem, and the third -by the father called Japhet, even in these three, after the world's -inundation, was both gentlenes and vilenes discerned, in Cham was -grose barbarisme founde towardes his owne father in discovering his -privities, and deriding from whence hee proceeded. Japhet the yongest -gentlemanlike reproved his brother, which was to him reputed a vertue, -where Cham for his abortive vilenes became a churle both through the -curse of God and his father Noah. When Noah awoke, hee said to Cham his -sonne knowest not thou how it is become of Caine the sonne of Adam, and -of his churlelike blood, that for them all the worlde is drowned save -eight persons, and wilt thou nowe begin barbarisme againe, whereby the -world in after ages shall be brought to consummation? well upon thee it -shall bee and so I pray the Great one it maye fall out, for to thee I -give my curse, and withall the north part of the world, to draw thine -habitation unto, for there shall it be where sorrow, care, colde, and -as a mischievous and unrespected churle thou shall live, which part -of the earth shall be termed Europe, which is the country of churles. -Japhet come hither my sonne, on thee will I raine my blessing, deare -insteede of Seth: Adams sonne, I make thee a gentleman, and thy renowne -shall stretch through the west part of the world, and to the end of -the Occident, where wealth and grace shall flourish, there shall be -thine habitation, and thy dominion shall bee called Asia, which is the -cuntrie of gentlemen. And Sem my sonne, I make thee a gentleman also, -to multiply the blood of Abell slaine so undeservedlie, to thee I give -the orient, that part of the world which shal be called Africa, which -is the country of temperateres: and thus divided Noah the world and -his blessings. From the of-spring of gentlemanly Japhet came Abraham, -Moyses, Aaron and the Prophets, and also the king of the right line of -Mary, of whom that only absolute gentleman Jesus was borne, perfite God -and perfite man, according to his manhood king of the lande of Juda and -the Jewes, and gentleman by his mother Mary princesse of coat armor." -Fol. 44. - -[72:A] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 316. - -[73:A] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 315. - -[73:B] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 315. 317. - -[74:A] Bacon's Essayes or Counsels, 4to. edit., 1632, p. 260. - -[74:B] Act v. sc. 2. - -[74:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 184. note 5. by Steevens. - -[75:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 236. - -[75:B] Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 531. - -[75:C] Massinger's Plays, _apud_ Gifford, vol. iv. p. 7. - -[76:A] From a MS. of Aubrey's in the Ashmole Museum, as quoted by Mr. -Malcolm in his Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London, part i. -p. 220. 4to. - -[76:B] Aubrey's MS. Malcolm, p. 221, 222. - -[79:A] Henry IV. part ii. act v. sc. 1. - -[79:B] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 281. The particulars of the diet of our -ancestors in the age of Shakspeare will be given in a subsequent part -of the work. - -[80:A] City Madam, act ii. sc. 1. - -Gervase Markham in his English House-Wife, the first edition of which -was published not long after Shakspeare's death, after mentioning in -his second chapter, which treats of cookery, the manner of "ordering -great feasts," closes his observations under this head, with directions -for "a more humble feast, or an ordinary proportion which any good man -may keep in his family, for the entertainment of his true and worthy -friend;" this _humble feast_ or _ordinary proportion_, he proceeds -to say, should consist for the first course of "sixteen full dishes, -that is, dishes of meat that are of substance, and not empty, or for -shew—as thus, for example; first, a shield of brawn with mustard; -secondly, a boyl'd capon; thirdly, a boyl'd piece of beef; fourthly, a -chine of beef rosted; fifthly, a neat's tongue rosted; sixthly, a pig -rosted; seventhly, chewets bak'd; eighthly, a goose rosted; ninthly, -a swan rosted; tenthly, a turkey rosted; the eleventh, a haunch of -venison rosted; the twelfth, a pasty of venison; the thirteenth, a -kid with a pudding in the belly; the fourteenth, an olive-pye; the -fifteenth, a couple of capons; the sixteenth, a custard or dowsets. Now -to these full dishes may be added sallets, fricases, quelque choses, -and devised paste, as many dishes more which make the full service no -less than two and thirty dishes, which is as much as can conveniently -stand on one table, and in one mess; and after this manner you may -proportion both your second and third course, holding fulness on one -half of the dishes, and shew in the other, which will be both frugal in -the spendor, contentment to the guest, and much pleasure and delight to -the beholders." P. 100, 101. ninth edition of 1683, small 4to. - -[80:B] Henry IV. part ii. act v. sc. 3. - -[81:A] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 287. - -[81:B] Puttenham's Art of English Poesie, p. 69, reprint of 1811. - -[81:C] Ibid. p. 33. - -[82:A] Macbeth, act ii. sc. 2. - -[82:B] Merry Wives of Windsor, act i. sc. 4. - -[82:C] Merry Wives of Windsor, act v. sc. 5. - -[82:D] Heywood's Edward II. p. 1. - -[82:E] Jonson's Every Man in his Humour, act i. sc. 1. Acted in the -year 1598. - -[83:A] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 290. - -[84:A] Chalmers' Poets, vol. iv. p. 435, 436. Drayton, Fourth Eclogue. - -[84:B] "A term in hawking, signifying the short straps of leather which -are fastened to the hawk's legs, by which he is held on the fist, or -joined to the leash." Bliss. - -[85:A] Earle's Microcosmography; or a Piece of the World discovered, in -Essays and Characters. Edition of 1811, by Philip Bliss. - -[85:B] Hall's Satires, book v. sat. 2. printed in 1598. - -[86:A] Lodge's Illustrations of British History, Biography, and -Manners, in the Reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, Elizabeth, and -James I., vol. ii. p. 383. - -That this evil kept gradually increasing during the reign of James -I., may be proved from the testimony of Peacham and Brathwait; the -former, in his _Compleat Gentleman_, observes,—"Much doe I detest -that effeminacy of the most, that burne out day and night in their -beds, and by the fire side; in trifles, gaming, or courting their -yellow mistresses all the winter in a city; appearing but as cuckoes -in the spring, one time in the yeare to the countrey and their -tenants, leaving the care of keeping good houses at Christmas, to -the honest yeomen of the countrey;" (p. 214.) and the latter, in his -_English Gentleman_, addressing the rural fashionables of his day, -exclaims,—"Let your countrey (I say) enjoy you, who bred you, shewing -there your hospitality, where God hath placed you, and with sufficient -meanes blessed you. I doe not approve of these, who fly from their -countrey, as if they were ashamed of her, or had committed something -unworthy of her. How blame-worthy then are these _Court-comets_, -whose onely delight is to admire themselves? These, no sooner have -their bed-rid _fathers_ betaken themselves to their last home, and -removed from their crazie couch, but they are ready to sell a mannor -for a coach. They will not take it as their fathers tooke it: their -countrey houses must bee barred up, lest the poore passenger should -expect what is impossible to finde, releefe to his want, or a supply -to his necessity. No, the cage is opened, and all the birds are fled, -not one crum of comfort remaining to succour a distressed poore one. -Hospitality, which was once a _relique_ of _gentry_, and a knowne -_cognizance_ to all ancient houses, hath lost her title, meerely -through discontinuance: and _great houses_, which were at first founded -to releeve the poore, and such needfull passengers as travelled by -them, are now of no use but onely as _waymarkes_ to direct them. But -whither are these _Great ones_ gone? To the _Court_; there to spend in -boundlesse and immoderate riot, what their provident ancestors had so -long preserved, and at whose doores so many needy soules have beene -comfortably releeved." Second edition, 1633. p. 332. - -In the margin of the page from which this extract is taken, occurs the -following note:—"This is excellently seconded by a Princely pen, in -a pithy poem directed to all persons to ranke or quality to leave the -Court, and returne into their owne countrey." - -[86:B] In confirmation of this remark, I shall beg leave to give, -for the entertainment of my readers, the two following sketches of -country-squires, as they existed towards the middle of the seventeenth, -and commencement of the eighteenth century. "Mr. Hastings," relates -Gilpin from Hutchin's History of Dorsetshire, "was low of stature, but -strong and active, of a ruddy complexion with flaxen hair. His cloaths -were always of green cloth, his house was of the old fashion; in the -midst of a large park, well stocked with deer, rabbits, and fish-ponds. -He had a long narrow bowling green in it; and used to play with round -sand bowls. Here too he had a banquetting room built, like a stand, in -a large tree. He kept all sorts of hounds, that ran buck, fox, hare, -otter, and badger: and had hawks of all kinds, both long and short -winged. His great hall was commonly strewed with marrow bones; and full -of hawk-perches, hounds, spaniels, and terriers. The upper end of it -was hung with fox-skins, of this and the last year's killing. Here and -there a pole-cat was intermixed; and hunter's poles in great abundance. -The parlour was a large room, compleatly furnished in the same style. -On a broad hearth, paved with brick, lay some of the choicest terriers, -hounds and spaniels. One or two of the great chairs had litters of cats -in them, which were not to be disturbed. Of these, three or four always -attended him at dinner, and a little white wand lay by his trencher, to -defend it, if they were too troublesome. In the windows which were very -large, lay his arrows, cross-bows, and other accoutrements. The corners -of the room were filled with his best hunting and hawking poles. His -oyster table stood at the lower end of the room, which was in constant -use twice a day, all the year round; for he never failed to eat oysters -both at dinner and supper; with which the neighbouring town of Pool -supplied him. At the upper end of the room stood a small table with a -double desk; one side of which held a CHURCH BIBLE; the other the BOOK -OF MARTYRS. On different tables in the room lay hawk's-hoods, bells, -old hats, with their crowns thrust in, full of pheasant eggs; tables, -dice, cards, and store of tobacco pipes. At one end of this room was a -door, which opened into a closet, where stood bottles of strong beer -and wine; which never came out but in single glasses, which was the -rule of the house; for he never exceeded himself nor permitted others -to exceed. Answering to this closet, was a door into an old chapel; -which had been long disused for devotion; but in the pulpit, as the -safest place, was always to be found a cold chine of beef, a venison -pasty, a gammon of bacon, or a great apple-pye, with thick crust well -baked. His table cost him not much, though it was good to eat at. His -sports supplied all, but beef and mutton; except on Fridays, when he -had the best of fish. He never wanted a London pudding; and he always -sang it in with "_My part lies therein-a_." He drank a glass or two of -wine at meals; put syrup of gilly-flowers into his sack; and had always -a tun glass of small beer standing by him, which he often stirred about -with rosemary. He lived to be an hundred; and never lost his eye sight, -nor used spectacles. He got on horseback without help; and rode to -the death of the stag, till he was past four score." Gilpin's Forest -Scenery; vol. ii. p. 23. 26. - -Mr. Dibdin, in the second edition of his Bibliomania, the most pleasing -and interesting book which Bibliography has ever produced, has quoted -the above passage, and thus alludes, in his text, to the character -which it describes:—"But what shall we say to Lord Shaftesbury's -eccentric neighbour, HENRY HASTINGS? who, in spite of his hawks, -hounds, kittens, and oysters, could not forbear to indulge his -book-propensities, though in a moderate degree! Let us fancy we see -him, in his eightieth year, just alighted from the toils of the chase, -and listening, after dinner, with his 'single glass' of ale by his -side, to some old woman with 'spectacle on nose,' who reads to him a -choice passage out of John Fox's _Book of Martyrs_! A rare old boy was -this Hastings." Bibliomania, p. 379. - -Mr. Grose, the antiquary, has given us, in his sketches of some -worn-out characters of the last age, a most amusing portrait of the -country squire of Queen Anne's days: "I mean," says he, "the little -independant gentleman of three hundred pounds per annum, who commonly -appeared in a plain drab or plush coat, large silver buttons, a -jockey cap, and rarely without boots. His travels never exceeded the -distance of the county town, and that only at assize and session time, -or to attend an election. Once a week he commonly dined at the next -market town, with the attornies and justices. This man went to church -regularly, read the Weekly Journal, settled the parochial disputes -between the parish officers at the vestry, and afterwards adjourned to -the neighbouring ale-house, where he usually got drunk for the good of -his country. He never played at cards but at Christmas, when a family -pack was produced from the mantle-piece. He was commonly followed by -a couple of grey-hounds and a pointer, and announced his arrival at a -neighbours house by smacking his whip, or giving the view-halloo. His -drink was generally ale, except on Christmas, the fifth of November, or -some other gala days, when he would make a bowl of strong brandy punch -garnished with a toast and nutmeg. A journey to London was, by one of -these men, reckoned as great an undertaking, as is at present a voyage -to the East Indies, and undertaken with scarce less precaution and -preparation. - -"The mansion of one of these 'Squires was of plaister striped with -timber, not unaptly called callimanco work, or of red brick, large -casemented bow windows, a porch with seats in it, and over it a study; -the eaves of the house well inhabited by swallows, and the court set -round with holly-hocks. Near the gate a horse-block for the conveniency -of mounting. - -"The hall was furnished with flitches of bacon, and the mantle-piece -with guns and fishing rods of different dimensions, accompanied by the -broad sword, partizan, and dagger, borne by his ancestor in the civil -wars. The vacant spaces were occupied by stag's horns. Against the -wall was posted King Charles's Golden Rules, Vincent Wing's Almanack, -and a portrait of the Duke of Marlborough; in his window lay Baker's -Chronicle, Fox's Book of Martyrs, Glanvil on Apparitions, Quincey's -Dispensatory, the Complete Justice, and a Book of Farriery. - -"In the corner, by the fire side, stood a large wooden two-armed chair -with a cushion; and within the chimney corner were a couple of seats. -Here, at Christmas, he entertained his tenants assembled round a -glowing fire made of the roots of trees, and other great logs, and told -and heard the traditionary tales of the village respecting ghosts and -witches, till fear made them afraid to move. In the mean time the jorum -of ale was in continual circulation. - -"The best parlour, which was never opened but on particular occasions, -was furnished with Turk-worked chain, and hung round with portraits -of his ancestors; the men in the character of shepherds, with their -crooks, dressed in full suits and huge full-bottomed perukes: others in -complete armour or buff coats, playing on the base viol or lute. The -females likewise as shepherdesses, with the lamb and crook, all habited -in high heads and flowing robes. - - "Alas! these men and these houses are no more!" - _Grose's Olio_, 2nd edit. 1796. p. 41-44. - -[89:A] Richard Berket Reader, æt. 74. MS. note. - -[89:B] In the margin is a MS. note seemingly in the hand-writing of -Bishop Nicholson, who gave these volumes to the library: - -"Since I can remember there was not a reader in any chapel but was -called _Sir_." - -[90:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 8. note. - -[90:B] Twelfth Night, act iii. sc. 4. - -[91:A] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 233, 234. - -[92:A] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 231. - -[93:A] Lodge's Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 391. - -[93:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 221. note 7. - -[95:A] The Compleat Gentleman. Fashioning him absolut, in the most -necessary and commendable Qualities concerning Minde or Body that may -be required in a Noble Gentleman. By Henry Peacham Master of Arts: -Sometime of Trinitie Colledge in Cambridge. - -This book, which is written in an easy and elegant style, was -published in 1622, and has been several times reprinted; it is a work -of considerable interest and amusement, and throws much light on the -education and literature of its times. - -[95:B] Hall's Satires, Book ii. sat. 6. - -[96:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 451. - -[96:B] The Staple of Newes, the third Intermeane after the third act. - -[96:C] Act v. sc. 1. - -[96:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 132. note 7. - -[97:A] Compleat Gentleman, p. 22. edit. of 1634. - -[97:B] Ibid. p. 25. - -[97:C] Instruction of a Christian Woman, 4to. edit. of 1557. - -[98:A] Compleat Gentleman, p. 26, 27. - -[99:A] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 275. - -[100:A] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 315. - -[100:B] Three editions of Tusser's Poem on Husbandry are now before -me; the first printed in 1557, entitled _A Hundreth good Pointes of -Husbandrie_; the 4to. edition of 1586, termed _Five Hundred Pointes -of Good Husbandrie_; and _Tusser Redivivus_, by Daniel Hilman, first -published in 1710, and again in 1744; the quatrain just quoted is from -the copy of 1744, p. 56. - -[101:A] Gilpin's Life of Latimer, p. 2. - -[103:A] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 317, 318. - -[104:A] Warner's Albion's England, chap. 42. Chalmers's English Poets, -vol. iv. p. 602. - -[105:A] Warner in Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 552, 553. - -[105:B] Act v. sc. 2. Song at the conclusion. - -[106:A] Act ii. sc. 1. - -[106:B] Damon and Pithias, 1582. - -[106:C] Summer's Last Will and Testament, by Nash, 1600. - -[106:D] Introductory Song to the second acte. Vide Ancient British -Drama, vol. i. - -[107:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 255. - -[107:B] Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 172, 173., eighth edition of -1676. - -[107:C] Milton's Poems by Warton, second edition, p. 56. 61. - -[108:A] Crones are ewes whose teeth are so worn down, that they can no -longer live in their sheep-walk; but will sometimes, if put into good -pasture, thrive exceedingly. - -[108:B] Tusser, 4to. edit. 1586., chap. 12. fol. 25, 26. - -[108:C] Tusser, 4to. edit. 1586., fol. 138. 144, 145. - -[109:A] Tusser, 4to. of 1586. fol. 133. - -[109:B] Holinshed, vol. i. p. 282. - -[110:A] Tusser, first edit. of 1557. title-page. - -[110:B] The English House-Wife, containing the inward and outward -vertues which ought to be in a Compleat Woman. Ninth edition, 1683. -Dedication. - -[111:A] English House-Wife, p. 2, 3, 4. - -[113:A] Tusser, first edit. p. 14, 15. - -[115:A] Mayor's Tusser, p. 247. ad p. 270. - -Even this, and every other description of the duties of the Huswife, -may be traced to "The Book of Husbandry," written by Sir Anthony -Fitzherbert, of Norbury, in Derbyshire. - -This gentleman, who was a Judge of the Common Pleas, in the reign of -Henry the Eighth, is justly entitled to the appellation of "the father -of English Husbandry." His work, the first edition of which was printed -by Richard Pynson, in 1528, 4to., underwent not less than eleven -editions during the sixteenth century, and soon excited among his -countrymen a most beneficial spirit of emulation. Notwithstanding these -numerous impressions, there are probably not ten complete copies left -in the kingdom. - -One of these is, however, now before me included in a thick duodecimo, -of which the _first article_ is "Xenophon's treatise of householde," -black letter, title wanting; the colophon, "Imprinted At London in -fletestrete in the house of Thomas Berthelet. Cum privilegio ad -imprimendum solum." No date. The _second article_ is "The booke of -Husbandrye verye profitable and necessary for all maner of persons, -newlye corrected and amended by the auctor fitzherbard, with dyvers -addicions put thereunto. Anno do. 1555," black letter. Colophon, -"Imprinted at London in Flete strete at the signe of the Sunne over -agaynst the Conduit by John Weylande." Sixty-one leaves, exclusive of -the table. The _third article_ is entitled "Surveyinge," An. 1546. -Colophon, "Londini in ædibus Thome Berthelet typis impress. Cum -privilegio ad imprimendum solum." Contains sixty leaves, black letter. - -From "The booke of husbandrye," I shall extract the detail of huswifely -duties, as a specimen of the work, and as a proof of the assertion at -the commencement of this note. - - -"What workes a wyfe shoulde doe in generall. - -"First in the mornyng when thou art wakēd and purpose to rise, lift -up thy hand, and blis the and make a signe of the holy crosse. In -nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti. Amen. In the name of the -father y{e} sonne, and the holy gost. And if thou saye a Paternoster, -an Ave and a Crede, and remembre thy maker thou shalte spede much the -better, and when thou art up and readye, then firste swepe thy house; -dresse up the dysshe bord, and set al thynges in good order within -thy house, milke y{e} kie, socle thy calves, sile by thy milke, -take up thy children, and aray them, and provide for thy husbande's -breakefaste, diner, souper, and for thy children and servauntes, and -take thy parte wyth them. And to ordeyne corne and malt to the myll, -to bake and brue withal when nede is. And mete it to the myl and fro -the myl, and se that thou have thy mesure agayne besides the tole or -elles the mylner dealeth not truly wyth the, or els thy corne is not -drye as it should be, thou must make butter and chese when thou may, -serve thy swine both mornynge and eveninge, and give thy polen meate -in the mornynge, and when tyme of yeare cometh thou must take hede -how thy henne, duckes and geese do ley, and to gather up their egges -and when they waxe broudy to set them there as no beastes, swyne, nor -other vermyne hurt them, and thou must know that al hole foted foule -wil syt a moneth and all cloven foted foule wyll syt but three wekes -except a peyhen and suche other great foules as craynes, bustardes, -and suche other. And when they have brought forth theyr birdes to se -that they be well kepte from the gleyd, crowes fully martes and other -vermyn, and in the begynyng of March, or a lytle before is time for -a wife to make her garden and to get as manye good sedes and herbes -as she can, and specyally such as be good for the pot and for to eate -and as ofte as nede shall require it must be weded, for els the wede -wyll over grow the herbes, and also in Marche is time to sowe flaxe -and hempe for I have heard olde huswyves say, that better is Marche -hurdes than Apryll flaxe, the reason appereth, but howe it shoulde bee -sowen, weded, pulled, repealed, watred, washen, dried, beten, braked, -tawed, hecheled, spon, wounden, wrapped and oven, it nedeth not for me -to shewe, for they be wyse ynough, and thereof may they make shetes, -bordclothes, towels, shertes, smockes, and suche other necessaryes, and -therefore lette thy dystaffe be alwaye redy for a pastyme, that thou -be not ydell. And undoubted a woman can not get her livinge honestly -with spinning on the dystaffe, but it stoppeth a gap and must nedes be -had. The bolles of flaxe when they be rypled of, must be rediled from -the wedes and made dry with the sunne to get out the sedes. Now be it -one maner of linsede called loken sede wyll not open by the sunne, and -therefore when they be drye they must be sore brusen and broken the -wyves know how, and then wynowed and kept dry til peretime cum againe. -Thy femell hempe must be pulled fro the chucle hempe for this beareth -no sede and thou must doe by it as thou didest by the flaxe. The chucle -hempe doth beare sede, and thou must be ware that birdes eate it not as -it groweth, the hempe thereof is not so good as the femel hempe, but -yet it wil do good service. It may fortune sometime that thou shalte -have so many thinges to do that thou shalte not wel know where is best -to begyn. Then take hede which thing should be the greatest losse if it -were not done and in what space it woulde be done, and then thinke what -is the greatest los and ther begin. But I put case that, that thing -that is of the greatest losse wyll be longe in doing, that thou might -do thre or iiij other thinges in the meane whyle then loke wel if all -these thinges were set togyther whiche of them were greatest losse, and -yf these thynges be of greater losse, and may be al done in as shorte -space as the other, then do thy many thinges fyrst. It is convenient -for a husbande to have shepe of his owne for many causes, and then may -his wife have part of the wooll to make her husbande and her selfe sum -clothes. And at the least waye she may have the lockes of the shepe -therwith to make clothes or blankets, and coverlets, or both. And if -she have no wol of her owne she maye take woll to spynne of cloth -makers, and by that meanes she may have a convenient living, and many -tymes to do other workes. It is a wives occupacion to winow al maner of -cornes, to make malte wash and wring, to make hey, to shere corne, and -in time of nede to helpe her husbande to fyll the mucke wayne or donge -carte, dryve the plough, to lode hey corne and such other. Also to go -or ride to the market to sell butter, chese, mylke, egges, chekens, -kapons, hennes, pygges, gees, and al maner of corne. And also to bye al -maner of necessary thinges belonging to a houshold, and to make a true -rekening and accompt to her husband what she hath receyved and what -she hathe payed. And yf the husband go to the market to bye or sell as -they ofte do, he then to shew his wife in lyke maner. For if one of -them should use to disceive the other, he disceyveth himselfe, and he -is not lyke to thryve, and therfore they must be true ether to other. -I could peraventure shew the husbande of divers pointes that the wives -disceve their husbandes in, and in like maner how husbandes deceve -their wives. But yf I should do so, I shuld shew mo subtil pointes of -disceite then other of them knew of before. And therfore me semeth best -to holde my peace, leste I shuld do as the knight of the tower did the -which had many faire doghters, and of fatherlie love that he oughte to -them he made a boke unto a good intent that they mighte eschewe and -flee from vices and folowe vertues in the which boke he sheweth that -yf they were woed, moved, or styrred by any man after such a maner as -is there shewed that they shuld withstande it, in the which booke he -shewed so manye wayes how a man shuld attaine to his purpose to bryng a -woman to vice, the which waies were so naturall and the wayes to come -to theyr purpose was so subtylly contrived and craftely shewed that -hard it wolde be for any woman to resist or deny their desyre. And by -the sayd boke hath made both the man and the woman to know mo vyces -subtylty and crafte then ever they shoulde have knowen if the boke had -not bene made, the which boke he named him selfe the knighte of the -tower. And thus I leave the wyves to use theyr occupations at theyr -owne discression." Fol. 45, 46, 47. - -[118:A] See Antiquarian Repertory, vol. i. p. 236; and Moryson's -Itinerary, part iii. fol. 1617. - -[118:B] The Freirs of Berwick; Pinkerton's Ancient Scotish Poems, 12mo. -2 vols. 1786. v. 2. p. 70. - -[119:A] Warner's Albion's England, book ix. chap. xlvii. - -[119:B] Hall's Satires, book v. satire 4. - -[120:A] Hall's Satires, book v. satire 4. - -[122:A] Earle's Microcosmography, p. 64. et seq. edit. of 1811, by -Philip Bliss. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - A VIEW OF _COUNTRY LIFE_ DURING THE AGE OF SHAKSPEARE; ITS - MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.—RURAL HOLYDAYS, AND FESTIVALS. - - -The record of rural festivity and amusement, must, as far as it is -unaccompanied by any detail of riot or intemperance, be a subject of -pleasing contemplation to every good and cheerful mind. Labour, the -destined portion of by far the greater part of human beings, requires -frequent intervals of relaxation; and the encouragement of innocent -diversion at stated periods, may be considered, therefore, both in a -moral and political point of view, as essentially useful. The sports -and amusements of our ancestors on their holydays and festivals, while -they had little tendency to promote either luxury or dissipation, -contributed very powerfully to preserve some of the best and most -striking features of our national manners and character, and were -frequently mingled with that cheerful piety which forms the most -heart-felt species of devotion, where religion, mixing with the social -rite, offers up the homage of a happy and contented heart. - -It may be necessary here to mention, that in enumerating the various -ceremonial and feast days of rural life, we have purposely omitted -those which are _peculiarly_ occupied by _superstitious_ observances, -as they will with more propriety be included under a subsequent -chapter, appropriated to the consideration of popular superstitions. - -The ushering in of the New Year, or _New Years tide_, with rejoicings, -presents, and good wishes, was a custom observed, during the sixteenth -century, with great regularity and parade, and was as cordially -celebrated in the court of the prince as in the cottage of the peasant. - -To end the old year _merrily_ and begin the new one _well_, and in -_friendship_ with their neighbours, were the objects which the common -people had in view in the celebration of this tide or festival. -New-Years Eve, therefore, was spent in festivity and frolic by the -men; and the young women of the village carried about, from door to -door, a bowl of spiced ale, which they offered to the inhabitants of -every house where they stopped, singing at the same time some rude -congratulatory verses, and expecting some small present in return. This -practice, however, which originated in pure kindness and benevolence, -soon degenerated into a mere pecuniary traffic, for Selden, in his -Table Talk, thus alludes to the subject, while drawing the following -curious comparison: "The pope in sending relicks to princes, does as -_wenches_ do by their _wassails_ at _New Years Tide_.—They _present -you_ with a _cup_, and you must _drink_ of a slabby stuff; but the -meaning is, you must _give_ them _money_ ten times more than it is -worth."[124:A] - -It was customary also, on this eve, for the young men and women to -exchange their clothes, which was termed _Mumming_ or _Disguising_; -and when thus dressed in each other's garments, they would go from one -neighbour's cottage to another, singing, dancing, and partaking of -their good cheer; a species of masquerading which, as may be imagined, -was often productive of the most licentious freedoms. - -On the succeeding morning, the first of the New Year, presents, called -new-year's gifts, were given and received, with the mutual expression -of good wishes, and particularly that of a _happy New Year_. The -compliment was sometimes paid at each other's doors in the form of a -song; but more generally, especially in the north of England and in -Scotland, the house was entered very early in the morning, by some -young men and maidens selected for the purpose, who presented the -spiced bowl, and hailed you with the gratulations of the season. - -The custom of interchanging gifts on this day, though now nearly -obsolete, was, in the days of Shakspeare, observed most scrupulously; -and not merely in the country, but, as hath been just before hinted, -even in the palace of the monarch. In fact the wardrobe and jewelry of -Elizabeth appear to have been supported principally by these annual -contributions. - -As a brief summary of these presents, though given not in the country, -but at court, will yet, as including almost every rank in life, from -the peer to the dustman, place in a strong light the prevalence of this -custom, and point out of what these gifts usually consisted in a town, -and therefore, by inference, of what they must have included in the -country, its introduction will not, we should hope, be considered as -altogether digressive from the nature of our subject. - -To Mr. Nichols, who, in his work entitled "Queen Elizabeth's -Progresses," has printed, from the original rolls in vellum, some very -copious lists of New Year's gifts annually presented to this popular -monarch, are we indebted for the following curious enumeration. - -"From all these rolls," says he, "and more of them perhaps are still -existing, it appears that the greatest part, if not all the peers -and peeresses of the realm, all the bishops, the chief officers of -state, and several of the Queen's houshold servants, even down to her -apothecaries, master cook, serjeant of the pastry, &c. gave New Year's -gifts to Her Majesty; consisting, in general, either of a sum of money, -or jewels, trinkets, wearing apparel, &c. The largest sum given by any -of the temporal lords was 20_l._; but the Archbishop of Canterbury -gave 40_l._, the Archbishop of York 30_l._, and the other spiritual -lords 20_l._ and 10_l._; many of the temporal lords and great officers, -and most of the peeresses, gave rich gowns, petticoats, smocks, -kirtles, silk stockings, cypres garters, sweet-bags, doblets, mantles, -some embroidered with pearles, garnets, &c. looking-glasses, fans, -bracelets, caskets studded with precious stones, jewels ornamented with -sparks of diamonds in various devices, and other costly trinkets. Sir -Gilbert Dethick, Garter King of Arms, gave a book of the states in King -William the Conqueror's time, and a book of the arms of the noblemen -in Henry the Fifth's time; Absolon, the master of the Savoy, a Bible -covered with cloth of gold, garnished with silver, and gilt, and two -plates with the royal arms; _Petruchio Ubaldino_, a book covered with -vellum of Italian; Lambarde, the antiquary, his Pandecta of all the -Rolls, &c. in the Tower of London. The Queen's physician presented her -with a box of foreign sweetmeats; another physician with two pots, one -of green ginger, the other of orange flowers; two other physicians -gave each a pot of green ginger, and a pot of the rinds of lemons; her -apothecaries a box of lozenges, a box of ginger candy, a box of grene -ginger, a box of orange candit, a pot of conserves, a pot of wardyns -condite, a box of wood with prunolyn, and two boxes of _manus Christi_; -Mrs. Blanch a Parry, a little box of gold to put in cumphetts, and -a little spoon of gold; Mrs. Morgan a box of cherryes, and one of -aberycocks; her master cook a fayre marchepayne; her serjeant of the -pastry a fayre pie of quinces oringed; a box of peaches of Jenneway -(Genoa); a great pie of quynses and wardyns guilte; _Putrino_, an -Italian, presented her with two pictures; _Innocent Corry_ with a -box of lutestrings; _Ambrose Lupo_ with another box of lutestrings, -and a glass of sweet water; _Petro Lupo_, _Josepho Lupo_, and _Cæsar -Caliardo_, each with a pair of sweet gloves; a cutler with a meat knyfe -with a fan haft of bone, _a conceit in it_; _Jaromy_ with twenty-four -drinking-glasses; _Jeromy Bassano_ two drinking-glasses; Smyth, -_dustman_, two boltes of cambrick."[126:A] - -The Queen, though she made returns in plate and other articles, took -sufficient care that the balance should be in her own favour; hence, -as the custom was found to be lucrative, and had indeed been practised -with success by her predecessors on the throne, it was encouraged -and rendered fashionable to an extent hitherto unprecedented in this -kingdom. In the country, however, with the exception of the extensive -households of the nobility, this interchange was conducted on the pure -basis of reciprocal kindness and good will, and without any view of -securing patronage or support; it was, indeed, frequently the channel -through which charity delighted to exert her holy influence, and though -originating in the heathen world, became sanctified by the Christian -virtues. - -To the rejoicings on New Year's tide succeeded, after a short interval, -the observance of the TWELFTH DAY, so called from its being the twelfth -after the Nativity of our Saviour, and the day on which the _Eastern -Magi_, guided by the star, arrived at Bethlehem to worship the infant -Jesus. - -This festive day, the most celebrated of the twelve for the peculiar -conviviality of its rites, has been observed in this kingdom ever since -the reign of Alfred, in whose days, says Collier, "a Law was made with -relation to Holidays, by virtue of which the _twelve_ days _after_ the -Nativity of our Saviour were made Festivals."[127:A] - -In consequence of an idea, which seems generally to have prevailed, -that the _Eastern Magi_ were kings, this day has been frequently termed -the _Feast of the Three Kings_; and many of the rites with which it -is attended, are founded on this conception; for it was customary to -elect, from the company assembled on this occasion, a king or queen, -who was usually elevated to this rank by the fortuitous division of a -cake containing a bean or piece of coin, and he or she to whom this -symbol of distinction fell, in dividing the cake, was immediately -chosen king or queen, and then forming their ministers and court from -the company around, maintained their state and character until midnight. - -The _Twelfth Cake_ was almost always accompanied by the _Wassail Bowl_, -a composition of spiced wine or ale, or mead, or metheglin, into which -was thrown roasted apples, sugar, &c. The term _Wassail_, which in -our elder poets is connected with much interesting imagery, and many -curious rites, appears to have been first used in this island during -the well-known interview between Vortigern and Rowena. Geoffrey of -Monmouth relates, on the authority of Walter Calenius, that this lady, -the daughter of Hengist, knelt down, on the approach of the king, and -presenting him with a cup of wine, exclaimed "Lord king _wæs heil_," -that is, literally "Health be to you." Vortigern being ignorant of -the Saxon language, was informed by an interpreter, that the purport -of these words was to wish him health, and that he should reply by -the expression _drinc-heil_, or "Drink the health;" accordingly, on -his so doing, Rowena drank, and the king receiving the cup from her -hand, kissed and pledged her.[128:A] Since this period, observes the -historian, the custom has prevailed in Britain of using these words -whilst drinking; the person who drank to another saying _was-heil_, and -he who received the cup answering _drinc-heil_. - -It soon afterwards became a custom in villages, on Christmas-Eve, New -Year's Eve, and Twelfth Night, for itinerant minstrels to carry to -the houses of the gentry, and others, where they were generally very -hospitably received, a bowl of spiced wine, which being presented with -the Saxon words just mentioned, was therefore called a _Wassail-bowl_. -A bowl or cup of this description was likewise to be found in almost -every nobleman's and gentleman's house, (and frequently of massy -silver,) until the middle of the seventeenth century, and which was -in perpetual requisition during the revels of Christmas. In "_The -Antiquarian Repertory_, vol. i. p. 217," relates Mr. Douce, "there is -an account, accompanied with an engraving, of an oaken chimney-piece -in a very old house at Berlen, near Snodland in Kent, on which is -carved a wassel-bowl resting on the branches of an apple-tree, -alluding, probably, to part of the materials of which the liquor was -composed. On one side is the word =wassheil=, and on the other -=drincheile=."[129:A] "This is certainly," he adds, "a very -great curiosity of its kind, and at least as old as the fourteenth -century. Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, in his will gave to Sir John -Briddlewood a silver cup called _wassail_: and it appears that John -Duke of Bedford, the regent, by his first will bequeathed to John -Barton, his maitre d'hotel, a silver cup and cover, on which was -inscribed WASHAYL."[129:B] - -In consequence of the _Wassail-bowl_ being peculiar to scenes of -revelry and festivity, the term _wassail_ in time became synonymous -with feasting and carousing, and has been used, therefore, by many of -our poets either to imply drinking and merriment, or the place where -such joviality was expected to occur. Thus Shakspeare makes Hamlet say -of the king "draining his draughts of Rhenish down," that he - - "Keeps _wassel_:"[129:C] - -and in Macbeth, the heroine of that play declares that she will -convince the two chamberlains of Duncan - - "With wine and _wassel_."[129:D] - -In Anthony and Cleopatra also, Cæsar, advising Anthony to live more -temperately, tells him to leave his - - "Lascivious _wassals_."[129:E] - -And lastly, in Love's Labour's Lost, Biron, describing the character -of Boyet, says, - - "He is wit's pedler: and retails his wares - At wakes, and _wassels_, meetings, markets, fairs."[130:A] - -Ben Jonson has given us two curious personifications of the Wassal; the -first in his Forest, No. 3. whilst giving an account of a rural feast -in the hall of Sir Robert Wroth; he says, - - "The rout of rural folk come thronging in, - Their rudenesse then is thought no sin— - The jolly _Wassal_ walks the often round, - And in their cups their cares are drown'd:"[130:B] - -and the second in "Christmas, His Masque, as it was presented at Court -1616," where _Wassall_, as one of the ten children of Christmas, is -represented in the following quaint manner. _Like a neat Sempster, and -Songster; her Page bearing a browne bowle, drest with Ribbands, and -Rosemarie before her._[130:C] - -Fletcher, in his Faithful Shepherdess, has given a striking description -of the festivity attendant on the Wassal bowl: - - ——— "The woods, or some near town - That is a neighbour to the bordering down, - Hath drawn them thither, 'bout some lusty sport, - Or spiced _Wassel-Boul_, to which resort - All the young men and maids of many a cote, - Whilst the trim minstrell strikes his merry note."[130:D] - -The persons thus accompanying the Wassal bowl, especially those who -danced and played, were called _Wassailers_, an appellation which it -was afterwards customary to bestow on all who indulged, at any season, -in intemperate mirth. Hence Milton introduces his Lady in Comus making -use of the term in the following beautiful passage: - - ——————— "Methought it was the sound - Of riot and ill-manag'd merriment, - Such as the jocund flute, or gamesome pipe - Stirs up among the loose unletter'd hinds, - When for their teeming flocks, and granges full, - In wanton dance, they praise the bounteous Pan, - And thank the gods amiss. I should be loath - To meet the rudeness, and swill'd insolence, - Of such late _wassailers_."[131:A] - -During the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. the celebration of -Twelfth Night was, equally with Christmas-Day, a festival through -the land, and was observed with great ostentation and ceremony in -both the Universities, at Court, at the Temple, and at Lincoln's -and Gray's-Inn. Many of the Masques of Ben Jonson were written for -the amusement of the royal family on this night, and Dugdale in his -_Origines Juridicales_, has given us a long and particular account of -the revelry at the Temple on each of the twelve days of Christmas, -in the year 1562. It appears from this document that the hospitable -rites of St. Stephen's Day, St. John's Day, and Twelfth Day, were -ordered to be exactly alike, and as many of them are, in their -nature, perfectly rural, and were, there is every reason to suppose, -observed, to a certain extent, in the halls of the country-gentry and -substantial yeomanry, a short record here, of those that fall under -this description, cannot be deemed inapposite. - -The breakfast on Twelfth Day is directed to be of brawn, mustard, and -malmsey; the dinner of two courses, to be served in the hall, and after -the first course "cometh in the Master of the Game, apparalled in green -velvet: and the Ranger of the Forest also, in a green suit of satten; -bearing in his hand a green bow and divers arrows, with either of them -a hunting horn about their necks: blowing together three blasts of -venery, they pace round about the fire three times. Then the Master -of the Game maketh three curtesies," kneels down, and petitions to be -admitted into the service of the Lord of the Feast. - -"This ceremony performed, a huntsman cometh into the hall, with a fox -and a purse-net; with a cat, both bound at the end of a staff; and with -them nine or ten couple of hounds, with the blowing of hunting-horns. -And the fox and cat are by the hounds set upon, and killed beneath the -fire. This sport finished, the Marshal (an officer so called, who, with -many others under different appellations, were created for the purpose -of conducting the revels) placeth them in their several appointed -places." - -After the second course, the "antientest of the Masters of the Revels -singeth a song, with the assistance of others there present;" and after -some repose and revels, supper, consisting of two courses, is then -served in the hall, and, being ended, "the Marshall presenteth himself -with drums afore him, mounted upon a scaffold, born by four men; and -goeth three times round about the harthe, crying out, aloud, 'A Lord, a -Lord,' &c., then he descendeth, and goeth to dance." - -"This done, the Lord of Misrule (an officer whose functions will be -afterwards noticed) addresseth himself to the Banquet; which ended -with some minstralsye, mirth and dancing, every man departeth to -rest."[133:A] - -Herrick, who was the contemporary of Shakspeare for the first -twenty-five years of his life, that is, from the year 1591 to 1616, has -given us the following curious and pleasing account of the ceremonies -of Twelfth Night, as we may suppose them to have been observed in -almost every private family: - - -"TWELFTH-NIGHT, - -OR KING AND QUEEN. - - Now, now the mirth comes - With the cake full of plums, - Where Beane's the king of the sport here; - Beside, we must know, - The Pea also - Must revell, as Queene, in the court here. - - Begin then to chuse, - This night as ye use, - Who shall for the present delight here, - Be a King by the lot, - And who shall not - Be Twelfe-day Queene for the night here. - - Which knowne, let us make - Joy-sops with the cake; - And let not a man then be seen here, - Who unurg'd will not drinke - To the base from the brink - A health to the King and the Queene here. - - Next crowne the bowle full - With gentle lambs-wooll; - Adde sugar, nutmeg and ginger, - With store of ale too; - And thus ye must doe - To make the _wassaile_ a swinger. - - Give then to the King - And Queene wassailing; - And though with ale ye be whet here; - Yet part ye from hence, - As free from offence, - As when ye innocent met here." - _Herrick's Hesperides_, p. 376, 377. - -The _Twelfth Day_ was the usual termination of the festivities of -Christmas with the higher ranks; but with the vulgar they were -frequently prolonged until Candlemas, to which period it was thought a -point of much importance to retain a portion of their Christmas cheer. - -It should not be forgotten here, that Shakspeare has given the -appellation of _Twelfth Night_ to one of his best and most finished -plays. No reason for this choice is discoverable in the drama itself, -and from its adjunctive title of _What You Will_, it is probable, that -the name was meant to be no otherwise appropriate than as designating -an evening on which dramatic mirth and recreation were, by custom, -peculiarly expected and always acceptable.[134:A] - -It appears from a passage from Warner's Albion's England, that between -Twelfth Day and Plough-Monday, a period was customarily fixed upon -for the celebration of games in honour of the Distaff, and which was -termed ROCK-DAY.[135:A] The notice in question is to be found in the -lamentations of the Northerne-man over the decline of festivity, where -he exclaims, - - "_Rock_, and plow-mondaies, _gams_ sal gang, - With saint-feasts and kirk sights."[135:B] - -That this festival was observed not only during the immediate days of -Warner and Shakspeare, but for some time afterwards, we learn from -a little poem by Robert Herrick, which was probably written between -the years 1630 and 1640. Herrick was born in 1591, and published his -collection of poems, entitled Hesperides, in 1648. He gives us in his -title the additional information that _Rock_, or _Saint Distaff's -Day_, was the morrow after Twelfth Day; and he advises that it should -terminate the sports of Christmas. - - - "SAINT DISTAFF'S OR THE MORROW AFTER - TWELFTH-DAY. - - Partly worke and partly play - Ye must on S. _Distaff's day_: - From the plough soone free your teame; - Then come home and fother them. - If the Maides a spinning goe, - Burne the flax, and fire the tow: - Scorch their plackets, but beware - That ye singe no maiden-haire. - Bring in pailes of water then, - Let the Maides bewash the men. - Give S. _Distaffe_ all the right, - Then bid Christmas sport _good night_. - And next morrow, every one - To his owne vocation."[136:A] - -The first Monday after Twelfth Day used to be celebrated by the -ploughmen as a Holiday, being the season at which the labours -of the plough commenced, and hence the day has been denominated -PLOUGH-MONDAY. Tusser, in his poem on husbandry, after observing that -the "old guise must be kept," recommends the ploughmen on this day to -the hospitality of the good huswife: - - "Good huswives, whom God hath enriched ynough, - forget not the feasts, that belong to the plough: - The meaning is only to joy and be glad, - for comfort with labour, is fit to be had." - -He then adds, - - "Plough-Munday, next after that Twelftide is past, - bids out with the plough, the worst husband is last: - If plowman get hatchet, or whip to the skreene, - maids loveth their cocke, if no water be seene." - -These lines allude to a custom prevalent in the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, and which Mr. Hilman, in a note on the passage, -has thus explained: "After Christmas, (which formerly, during the -twelve days, was a time of very little work,) every gentleman -feasted the farmers, and every farmer their servants and task-men. -_Plough-monday_ puts them in mind of their business. In the morning the -men and maid-servants strive who shall shew their diligence in rising -earliest; if the ploughman can get his whip, his plough-staff, hatchet, -or any thing that he wants in the field, by the fire-side, before the -maid hath got her kettle on, then the maid loseth her _Shrovetide_ -cock, and it wholly belongs to the men. Thus did our forefathers -strive to allure youth to their duty, and provided them innocent mirth, -as well as labour. On this _Plough-Monday_ they have a good supper -and some strong drink, that they might not go immediately out of one -extreme into another."[137:A] - -In the northern and north-western parts of England, the entire day was -usually consumed in parading the streets, and the night was devoted -to festivity. The ploughmen, apparently habited only in their shirts, -but in fact with flannel jackets underneath, to keep out the cold, and -these shirts decorated with rose-knots of various coloured riband, went -about collecting what they called "_plough-money_ for drink." They were -accompanied by a plough, which they dragged along, and by music, and -not unfrequently two of the party were dressed to personate an _old -woman_, whom they called _Bessy_, and a _Fool_, the latter of these -characters being covered with skins, with a hairy cap on his head, and -the tail of some animal pendent from his back. On one of these antics -was devolved the office of collecting money from the spectators by -rattling a box, into which their contributions were dropped, while the -rest of the ploughmen were engaged in performing a _sword-dance_, a -piece of pageantry derived from our northern ancestors, and of which -Olaus Magnus has left us an accurate description in his history of the -Gothic nations.[137:B] It consisted, for the most part, in forming -various figures with the swords, sheathed and unsheathed, commencing -in slow time, and terminating in very rapid movements, which required -great agility and address to be conducted with safety and effect.[137:C] - -It was the opinion of Dr. Johnson that Shakspeare alluded to the -_sword-dance_, where, in _Anthony and Cleopatra_, he makes his hero -observe of Augustus, that - - ——————— "He, at Philippi, kept - His sword even like a dancer."[138:A] - -But Mr. Malone has remarked, with more probability, that the allusion -is to the English custom of dancing with a sword _worn by the side_; in -confirmation of which idea, he quotes a passage from _All's Well That -Ends Well_, where Bertram, lamenting that he is kept from the wars, -says, - - "I shall stay here the forehorse to a smock, - Creaking my shoes on the plain masonry, - Till honour be bought up, and no _sword worn_. - But one to _dance_ with."[138:B] - -It has been observed in a preceding page, that, among the common -people, the festivities of Christmas were frequently protracted to -CANDLEMAS-DAY. This was done under the idea of doing honour to the -Virgin Mary, whose _purification_ is commemorated by the church at this -period. It was generally, remarks Bourne, "a day of festivity, and more -than ordinary observation among women, and is therefore called the -_Wives Feast-Day_."[138:C] The term _Candlemas_, however, seems to have -arisen from a custom among the Roman Catholics, of consecrating tapers -on this day, and bearing them about lighted in procession, to which -they were enjoined by an edict of Pope Sergius, A. D. 684; but on what -foundation is not accurately ascertained. At the Reformation, among the -rites and ceremonies which were ordered to be retained in a convocation -of Henry VIII., this is one, and expressedly because it was considered -as symbolical of the spiritual illumination of the Gospel.[138:D] - -From Candlemas to Hallowmas, the tapers which had been lighted all -the winter in Cathedral and Conventual Churches ceased to be used; and -so prevalent, indeed, was the relinquishment of candles on this day in -domestic life, that it has laid the foundation of one of the proverbs -in the collection of Mr. Ray: - - On _Candlemas-day_ throw _Candle_ and _Candlestick_ away. - -On this day likewise the Christmas greens were removed from churches -and private houses. Herrick, who may be considered as the contemporary -of Shakspeare, being five-and-twenty at the period of the poet's death, -has given us a pleasing description of this observance; he abounds, -indeed, in the history of local rites, and, though surviving beyond -the middle of the seventeenth century, paints with great accuracy -the manners and superstitions of the Shakspearean era. He has paid -particular attention to the festival that we are describing, and -enumerates the various greens and flowers appropriated to different -seasons in a little poem entitled - - -"CEREMONIES FOR CANDLEMASSE EVE. - - DOWN with the Rosemary and Bayes, - Down with the Misleto; - Instead of Holly, now up-raise - The greener Box (for show). - - The Holly hitherto did sway; - Let Box now domineere; - Untill the dancing Easter-day, - On Easter's Eve appeare. - - Then youthfull Box which now hath grace, - Your houses to renew; - Grown old, surrender must his place, - Unto the crisped Yew. - - When Yew is out, then Birch comes in, - And many Flowers beside; - Both of a fresh and fragrant kinne, - To honour Whitsontide. - - Green Bushes then, and sweetest Bents, - With cooler Oken boughs; - Come in for comely ornaments, - To re-adorn the house."[140:A] - -The usage which we have alluded to, of preserving the Christmas cheer -and hospitality to Candlemas, is immediately afterwards recorded and -connected with a singular superstition, in the following poems under -the titles of - - -"CEREMONIES FOR CANDLEMASSE DAY. - - KINDLE the Christmas Brand, and then - Till sunne-set, let it burne; - Which quencht, then lay it up agen, - Till Christmas next returne. - - Part must be kept wherewith to teend[140:B] - The Christmas Log next yeare; - And where 'tis safely kept, the fiend - Can do no mischiefe there.—— - - * * * * * - - End now the white-loafe, and the pye, - And let all sports with Christmas dye."[140:C] - -To the exorcising power of the Christmas Brand is added, in the -subsequent effusion, a most alarming denunciation against those who -heedlessly leave in the Hall on Candlemas Eve, any the smallest portion -of the Christmas greens. - - -"CEREMONY UPON CANDLEMAS EVE - - DOWN with the Rosemary, and so - Down with the Baies, and Misletoe: - Down with the Holly, Ivie, all - Wherewith ye drest the Christmas Hall: - That so the superstitious find - No one least Branch there left behind: - For look, how many leaves there be, - Neglected there, maids, trust to me, - So many _goblins_ you shall see."[141:A] - -The next important period of feasting in the country occurred at -SHROVE-TIDE, which among the Roman Catholics was the time appointed -for _shriving_ or _confession of sins_, and was also observed as -a _carnival_ before the commencement of Lent. The former of these -ceremonies was dispensed with at the Reformation; but the rites -attending the latter were for a long time supported with a rival -spirit of hilarity. The Monday and Tuesday succeeding _Shrove_ Sunday, -called _Collop Monday_ and _Pancake Tuesday_, were peculiarly devoted -to _Shrovetide Amusement_; the first having been, in papal times, the -period at which they took leave of flesh, or slices of meat, termed -_collops_ in the north, which had been preserved through the winter by -salting and drying, and the second was a relic of the feast preceding -Lent; eggs and collops therefore on the Monday, and pancakes, as a -delicacy, on the Tuesday, were duly if not religiously served up. - -Tusser, in his very curious and entertaining poem on agriculture, thus -notices some of the old observances at _Shrovetide_:— - - "At Shroftide to shroving, go thresh the fat hen, - If blindfold can kill her, then give it thy men: - Maids, fritters and pancakes, ynow see ye make, - Let slut have one pancake, for company sake." - -For an explanation of the obsolete custom of "threshing the fat hen," -we are indebted to Mr. Hilman. "The hen," says he, "is hung at a -fellow's back, who has also some horse-bells about him; the rest of -the fellows are blinded, and have boughs in their hands, with which -they chase this fellow and his hen about some large court or small -enclosure. The fellow with his hen and bells shifting as well as he -can, they follow the sound, and sometimes hit him and his hen; at other -times, if he can get behind one of them, they thresh one another well -favour'dly; but the jest is, the maids are to blind the fellows, which -they do with their aprons, and the cunning baggages will endear their -sweet-hearts with a peeping hole, whilst the others look out as sharp -to hinder it. After this the hen is boil'd with bacon, and store of -pancakes and fritters are made. She that is noted for lying in bed -long, or any other miscarriage, hath the first pancake presented to -her, which most commonly falls to the dogs share at last, for no one -will own it their due." Mr. Hilman concludes his comment on the text -with a singular remark; "the loss of the above laudable custom, is one -of the benefits we have got by smoaking tobacco."[142:A] - -Shakspeare has twice noticed this season of feasting and amusement; -first, in _All's Well That Ends Well_, where he makes the Clown tell -the Countess (among a string of other similes), that his answer is "as -fit as a pancake for Shrove-tuesday[143:A];" and in the _Second Part -of King Henry IV._ he has introduced _Silence_ singing the following -song:— - - "Be merry, be merry, my wife's as all;[143:B] - For women are shrews, both short and tall: - 'Tis merry in hall, when beards wag all, - And welcome merry _shrove-tide_. - Be merry, be merry, &c." - -The third line of this song appears to have been proverbial, and of -considerable antiquity; for Adam Davie, who flourished about 1312, has -the same imagery with the same rhyme, in his _Life of Alexander_: - - "Merry swithe it is in halle, - When the _berdes waveth alle_."[143:C] - -And the subsequent passage, quoted by Mr. Reed from a writer -contemporary with Shakspeare, proves, that it was a common burden or -under song in the halls of our gentry at that period:—"which done, -grace said, and the table taken up, the plate presently conveyed into -the pantrie, the hall summons this consort of companions (upon payne -to dyne with Duke Humphfrie, or to kisse the hare's foot,) to appear -at the first call: where a song is to be sung, the under song or -holding whereof is, _It is merrie in haul where beards wag all._" The -Serving-man's Comfort, 1598, sign. C.[144:A] - -The evening of _Shrove-Tuesday_ was usually appropriated, as well -in the country as in town, to the exhibition of dramatic pieces. -Not only at Court, where Jonson was occasionally employed to write -Masques on this night[144:B], but at both the Universities, in the -provincial schools, and in the halls of the gentry and nobility, were -these the amusements of _Shrovetide_, during the days of Elizabeth -and James. Warton, speaking of these ephemeral plays, adds, in a -note, "I have seen an anonymous comedy, APOLLO SHROVING, composed -by the Master of Hadleigh-school, in Suffolk[144:C], and acted by -his scholars, on Shrove-tuesday, Feb. 7, 1626, printed 1627. 8vo. -published, as it seems, by E. W. _Shrove-tuesday_, as the day -immediately preceding Lent, was always a day of extraordinary sport -and feasting."—"Some of these festivities," he proceeds to say, "still -remain in our universities. In the PERCY HOUSHOLD-BOOK, 1512, it -appears, that the clergy and officers of Lord Percy's chapel performed -a play _before his lordship upon Shrowftewesday at night_." Pag. -345.[144:D] - -The cruel custom of _Cock-throwing_, which, until lately, was a -diversion peculiar to this day, seems to have originated from the -barbarous, yet less savage, amusement of _Cock-fighting_. "Every yeare -on _Shrove-Tuesday_," says Fitzstephen, who wrote in the reign of Henry -II., "the schoole-boyes doe bring cockes of the game to their master, -and all the forenoone they delight themselves in Cock-fighting."[145:A] -At what period this degenerated into Cock-throwing cannot now be -ascertained; Chaucer seems to allude to it in his _Nonnes Priests' -Tale_, where the Cock revenges himself on the Priest's son, because he - - —————— "gave hym a knocke - Upon his legges, when he was yonge and nice;" - -and that it was common in the sixteenth century, we have the testimony -of Sir Thomas More, who, describing the state of childhood, speaks of -his skill in casting a cok-stele, that is, a stick or cudgel to throw -at a cock.[145:B] - -The first effective blow directed against this infamous sport, was -given by the moral pencil of Hogarth, who in one of his prints called -_The Four Stages of Cruelty_, has represented, among other puerile -diversions, a groupe of boys _throwing at a Cock_, and, as Trusler -remarks, "beating the harmless feathered animal to jelly."[145:C] The -benevolent satire of this great artist gradually produced the necessary -reform, and for some time past, the magistrates have so generally -interdicted the practice, that the pastime may happily be considered as -extinct.[145:D] - -EASTER-TIDE, or the week succeeding Easter-Sunday, afforded another -opportunity for rejoicing, and was formerly a season of great -festivity. Not only, as bound by every tie of gratitude to do, did man -rejoice on this occasion, but it was the belief of the vulgar that -the sun himself partook of the exhilaration, and regularly danced on -Easter-Day. To see this glorious spectacle, therefore, it was customary -for the common people to rise before the sun on Easter-morning, and -though, as we may conclude, they were constantly disappointed, yet -might the habit occasionally lead to serious thought and useful -contemplation; metaphorically considered, indeed, the idea may be -termed both just and beautiful, "for as the earth and her valleys -standing thick with corn, are said _to laugh and sing_; so, on account -of the Resurrection, the heavens and the sun may be said to dance for -joy; or, as the Psalmist words it, the _heavens may rejoice and the -earth may be glad_."[146:A] - -The great amusement of the Easter-holidays consisted in playing at -hand-ball, a game at which, say the ritualists Belithus and Durandus, -bishops and archbishops used, upon the continent at this period, to -recreate themselves with their inferior clergy[147:A]; nor was it -uncommon for corporate bodies on this occasion in England to amuse -themselves in a similar way with their burgesses and young people; -antiently this was the custom, says Mr. Brand, at Newcastle, at the -feasts of Easter and Whitsuntide, when the mayor, aldermen, and -sheriff, accompanied by great numbers of the burgesses, used to go -yearly at these seasons to the Forth, or little mall of the town, with -the mace, sword, and cap of maintenance carried before them, and not -only countenance, but frequently join in the diversions of hand-ball, -dancing, &c.[147:B] - -The constant prize at hand-ball, during Easter, was a _tansy-cake_, -supposed to be allusive to the _bitter herbs_ used by the Jews on -this festival. Selden, the contemporary of Shakspeare, speaking of -our chief holidays, remarks, that "our Meats and Sports have much of -them relation to Church-Works. The coffin of our _Christmas Pies_, in -shape long, is in imitation of the Cratch[147:C]: our chusing Kings and -Queens on Twelfth Night, hath reference to the three kings. So likewise -our eating of fritters, _whipping_ of tops, _roasting_ of herrings, -Jack of Lents, &c. they are all in imitation of Church-Works, emblems -of martyrdom. Our _Tansies at Easter_ have reference to the _bitter -Herbs_; though at the same time 'twas always the fashion for a man -to have a _Gammon of Bacon_, to shew himself to be no _Jew_."[147:D] -Fuller has noticed this Easter game under his Cheshire, where, -explaining the origin of the proverb "When the daughter is stolen shut -Pepper Gate," he says, "The mayor of the city had his daughter, as she -was _playing at ball_ with other maidens in Pepper-street, stolen away -by a young man through the same gate, whereupon he caused it to be shut -up."[148:A] - -Another custom which prevailed in this country, during the sixteenth -century, at Easter, and is still kept up in some parts of the north, -was that of presenting children with _eggs stained with various colours -in boiling_, termed _Paste_ or more properly _Pasche Eggs_, which the -young people considered in the light of _fairings_. This observance -appears to have arisen from a superstition, prevalent among the Roman -Catholics, that eggs were an emblem of the resurrection, and, indeed, -in the Ritual of Pope Paul the Fifth, which was composed for the use of -England, Ireland, and Scotland, there is a prayer for the consecration -of eggs, in which the faithful servants of the Lord are directed to eat -this his creature of eggs _on account of the resurrection_. On this -custom Mr. Brand has well observed, that "the antient Egyptians, if the -resurrection of the body had been a tenet of their faith, would perhaps -have thought an _Egg_ no improper hieroglyphical representation of -it. The exclusion of a living creature by incubation, after the vital -principle has lain a long while dormant or extinct, is a process so -truly marvellous, that if it could be disbelieved, would be thought by -some a thing as incredible, as that the Author of _Life_ should be able -to re-animate the _dead_."[148:B] So prevalent indeed was this custom -of _egg-giving_ at Easter, that it forms the basis of an old English -proverb, which, in the collection of Mr. Ray, runs thus: - - "I'll warrant you for an _egg_ at _Easter_."[148:C] - -A popular holiday, called HOKE-DAY, or HOCK-DAY, which used to be -celebrated with much festivity in Shakspeare's native county, was -usually observed on the Tuesday following the second Sunday after -Easter-day. Its origin is doubtful, some antiquaries supposing it was -commemorative of the massacre of the Danes in the reign of Ethelred -the Unready, which took place on the 13th of November 1002; and others -that it was meant to perpetuate the deliverance of the English from -the tyrannical government of the Danes, by the death of Hardicanute -on Tuesday the 8th of June 1041. At Coventry in Warwickshire, -however, it was celebrated in memory of the former event, though the -commemoration was held on a day wide apart from that on which the -catastrophe occurred, a circumstance which originated in an ordinance -of Ethelred himself, who transferred the sports of this day to the -Monday and Tuesday in the third week after Easter. John Rouse, or Ross, -the Warwickshire historian, says, that this day was distinguished by -various sports, in which the people, divided into parties, used to draw -each other by ropes[149:A]; a species of diversion of which Spelman has -given us a more intelligible account by telling us that it "consisted -in the men and women binding each other, and especially the women the -men," and that the day, in consequence of this pastime, was called -_Binding-Tuesday_.[149:B] - -The term _hock_, by which this day is designated, is thus accounted -for by Henry of Huntingdon. "The secret letters of Ethelred, directed -to all parts of his kingdom from this city (Winchester), ordered -that all the Danes indiscriminately should be put to death; and this -was executed, as we learn from the chronicle of Wallingford, with -circumstances of the greatest cruelty, even upon women and children, -in many parts: but in other places, it seems that the English, instead -of killing their guests, satisfied themselves with what was called -_hock-shining_, or _houghing_ them, by cutting their ham-strings, so -as to render them incapable of serving in war. Hence the sports which -were afterwards instituted in our city, and from thence propagated -throughout the whole kingdom, obtained the name of _Hocktide -merriments_." - -It appears from the following passage in Laneham's Account of Queen -Elizabeth's Entertainment at Kenelworth Castle, A. D. 1575, that the -citizens of Coventry had lately been compelled to give up their annual -amusements on _Hock Tuesday_, and took the opportunity of the queen's -visit to the Earl of Leicester to petition her for a renewal of the -same. "Hereto followed," says Laneham, "as good a sport (methought), -presented in an historical cue, by certain good-hearted men of -_Coventry_, my Lord's neighbours there; who understanding among them -the thing that could not be hidden from any, how careful and studious -his Honour was that by all pleasant recreations her Highness might best -find herself welcome, and be made gladsome and merry (the groundwork -indeed and foundation of his Lordship's mirth and gladness of us all), -made petition that they mought renew now their old storial shew: Of -argument how the _Danes_, whylome here in a troublous season were for -quietness borne withal and suffered in peace; that anon, by outrage and -importable insolency, abusing both _Ethelred_ the _King_, then, and -all Estates every where beside; at the grievous complaint and counsel -of _Huna_ the _King_'s chieftain in wars on a _Saint Brice_'s night, -A. D. 1012 (as the book says, that falleth yearly on the thirteenth of -November) were all dispatched, and the realm rid. And for because the -matter mentioneth how valiantly our _English_ women for love of their -country behaved themselves, expressed in actions and rymes after their -manner, they thought it mought move some mirth to her Majesty the -rather. The thing, said they, is grounded on story, and for pastime -wont to be played in our city yearly; without ill example of manners, -papistry, or any superstition; and else did so occupy the heads of a -number, that likely enough would have had worse meditations; had an -ancient beginning and a long continuance; till now of late laid down, -they knew no cause why, unless it were by the zeal of certain their -preachers, men very commendable for their behaviour and learning, -and sweet in their sermons, but somewhat too sour in preaching away -their pastime: Wished therefore, that as they should continue their -good doctrine in pulpit, so, for matters of policy and governance of -the city, they would permit them to the _Mayor_ and _Magistrates_; -and said, by my faith, _Master Martyn, they would make their humble -petition unto her Highness, that they might have their Plays up -again_."[151:A] - -As it is subsequently stated that their play was very graciously -received by the queen, who commanded it to be represented again on the -following Tuesday, and gave the performers two bucks, and five marks -in money, we must suppose, that their petition was not rejected, and -that they were allowed to renew yearly at Coventry, their favourite -diversions on _Hock-Tuesday_. The observance of this day, indeed, -was still partially retained in the time of Spelman, who died A. D. -1641[151:B], and even Plott, who lived until 1696, mentions it then as -not totally discontinued; but the eighteenth century, we believe, never -witnessed its celebration. - -We have now reached that period of the year which was formerly -dedicated to one of the most splendid and pleasing of our festal rites. -The observance of MAY-DAY was a custom which, until the close of the -reign of James the First, alike attracted the attention of the royal -and the noble, as of the vulgar class. Henry the Eighth, Elizabeth, -and James, patronized and partook of its ceremonies; and, during this -extended era, there was scarcely a village in the kingdom but what had -a _May-pole_, with its appropriate games and dances. - -The origin of these festivities has been attributed to three different -sources, _Classic_, _Celtic_, and _Gothic_. The first appears to us -to establish the best claim to the parentage of our May-day rites, -as a relique of the _Roman Floralia_, which were celebrated on the -last four days of April, and on the first of May, in honour of the -goddess Flora, and were accompanied with dancing, music, the wearing of -garlands, strewing of flowers, &c. The _Beltein_, or rural sacrifice -of the Highlanders on this day, as described by Mr. Pennant and Dr. -Jamieson[152:A], seems to have arisen from a different motive, and -to have been instituted for the purpose of propitiating the various -noxious animals which might injure or destroy their flocks and herds. -The Gothic anniversary on May-day makes a nearer approach to the -general purpose of the _Floralia_, and was intended as a thanksgiving -to the sun, if not for the return of flowers, fruit, and grain, yet for -the introduction of a better season for fishing and hunting.[152:B] - -The modes of conducting the ceremonies and rejoicings on _May-day_, may -be best drawn from the writers of the Elizabethan period, in which this -festival appears to have maintained a very high degree of celebrity, -though not accompanied with that splendour of exhibition which took -place at an earlier period in the reign of Henry the Eighth. It may be -traced, indeed, from the era of Chaucer, who, in the conclusion of his -_Court of Love_, has described the _Feast of May_, when - - "—— Forth goth all the court both most and lest, - To fetch the floures fresh, and braunch and blome— - And namely hauthorn brought both page and grome - And than rejoysen in their great delite: - Eke ech at other throw the floures bright, - The primerose, the violete, and the gold, - With fresh garlants party blew and white."[153:A] - -And, it should be observed, that this, the simplest mode of celebrating -May-day, was as much in vogue, in the days of Shakspeare, as the -more complex one, accompanied by the morris-dance, and the games -of Robin Hood. The following descriptions, by Bourne and Borlase, -manifestly allude to the costume of this age, and to the simpler mode -of commemorating the 1st of May: "On the _Calends_, or the 1st day of -May," says the former, "commonly called _May-day_, the juvenile part -of both sexes were wont to rise a little after midnight, and walk to -some neighbouring wood, accompany'd with music, and the blowing of -horns, where they break down branches from the trees, and adorn them -with _nosegays_ and _crowns of flowers_. When this is done, they return -with their booty homewards, about the rising of the sun, and make their -doors and windows to triumph in the flowery spoil. The after part of -the day, is chiefly spent in dancing round a tall poll, which is called -a _May Poll_; which being placed in a convenient part of the village, -stands there, as it were consecrated to the _Goddess of Flowers_, -without the least violence offered it, in the whole circle of the -year."[153:B] "An antient custom," says the latter, "still retained by -the Cornish, is that of decking their doors and porches on the first of -May with green sycamore and hawthorn boughs, and of planting trees, or -rather stumps of trees, before their houses: and on May-eve, they from -towns make excursions into the country, and having cut down a tall elm, -brought it into town, fitted a straight and taper pole to the end of -it, and painted the same, erect it in the most public places, and on -holidays and festivals adorn it with flower garlands, or insigns and -streamers."[154:A] - -Now both these passages are little more than a less extended account -of what Philip Stubbes was a witness of, and described, in the year -1595, in his puritanical work, entitled _The Anatomie of Abuses_. -"Against Maie-day," relates this vehement declaimer, "every parish, -towne, or village, assemble themselves, both men, women, and children; -and either all together, or dividing themselves into companies, they -goe some to the woods and groves, some to the hills and mountaines, -some to one place, some to another, where they spend all the night in -pleasant pastimes, and in the morning they return bringing with them, -birche boughes and branches of trees to deck their assemblies withal. -But their chiefest jewel they bring from thence is the maie-pole, -which they bring home with great veneration, as thus—they have -twentie or fortie yoake of oxen, every oxe having a sweete nosegaie of -flowers tied to the tip of his hornes, and these oxen drawe home the -maie-poale, their stinking idol rather, which they covered all over -with flowers and hearbes, bound round with strings from the top to the -bottome, and sometimes it was painted with variable colours, having -two or three hundred men, women, and children following it with great -devotion. And thus equipp'd it was reared with handkerchiefes and -flagges streaming on the top, they strawe the ground round about it, -they bind green boughs about it, they set up summer halles, bowers, and -arbours, hard by it, and then fall they to banquetting and feasting, -to leaping and dauncing about it, as the heathen people did at the -dedication of their idolls.—I have heard it crediblie reported," he -sarcastically adds, "by men of great gravity, credite, and reputation, -that of fourtie, three score, or an hundred maides going to the wood, -there have scarcely the third part of them returned home againe as they -went."[154:B] - -Browne also has given a similar description of the May-day rites in -his Britannia's Pastorals:— - - "As I have seene the Lady of the May - Set in an arbour —— —— —— - Built by the May-pole, where the jocund swaines - Dance with the maidens to the bagpipe's straines, - When envious night commands them to be gone, - Call for the merry yongsters one by one, - And for their well performance some disposes, - To this a garland interwove with roses; - To that a carved hooke, or well-wrought scrip, - Gracing another with her cherry lip: - To one her garter, to another then - A handkerchiefe cast o're and o're agen; - And none returneth empty, that hath spent - His paynes to fill their rurall merriment."[155:A] - -The custom of rising early on a May-morning to enjoy the season, and -honour the day, is thus noticed by Stow:—"In the month of May," he -says, "namely, on May-day in the morning, every man, except impediment, -would walke into the sweete meddowes and green woods, there to -rejoice their spirits, with the beauty and savour of sweet flowers, -and with the harmony of birds, praysing God in their kind[155:B];" -and Shakspeare has repeated references to the same observance; in -_Midsummer-Night's Dream_, Lysander tells Hermia, - - —— "I did meet thee once with Helena, - _To do observance to a morn of May_;"[155:C] - -and again, in the same play, Theseus says,— - - "No doubt they rose up early, _to observe - The rite of May_."[156:A] - -So generally prevalent was this habit of early rising on May-day, that -Shakspeare makes one of his inferior characters in _King Henry the -Eighth_ exclaim,— - - "Pray, sir, be patient; _'tis as much impossible_ - (Unless we sweep them from the door with cannons) - _To scatter them, as 'tis to make them sleep - On May-day morning; which will never be_."[156:B] - -Herrick, the minute describer of the customs and superstitions of his -times, which were those of Shakspeare, and the _immediately_ succeeding -period, has a poem called _Corinna's Going A Maying_, which includes -most of the circumstances hitherto mentioned; he thus addresses his -mistress:— - - "Get up —— and see - The dew bespangling herbe and tree: - Each flower has wept, and bow'd toward the east, - Above an houre since;—it is sin, - Nay profanation to keep in; - When as a thousand virgins on this day, - Spring sooner than the lark, to fetch in May! - Come, my Corinna, come; and comming marke - How each field turns a street, each street a parke - Made green, and trimm'd with trees; see how - Devotion gives each house a bough, - Or branch: each porch, each doore, ere this, - An arke, a tabernacle is - Made up of white-thorn neatly enterwove.— - - There's not a budding boy, or girle, this day - But is got up, and gone to bring in May: - A deale of youth, ere this, is come - Back, and with white-thorn laden home. - Some have dispatcht their cakes and creame, - Before that we have left to dreame: - And some have wept, and woo'd, and plighted troth, - And chose their priest, ere we can cast off sloth: - Many a green gown has been given; - Many a kisse, both odde and even: - Many a glance too has been sent - From out the eye, Love's firmament: - Many a jest told of the keyes betraying - This night, and locks pickt, yet w'are not a Maying!"[157:A] - -With this, the simplest mode of celebrating the rites of May-day, -was frequently united, in the days of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, a -groupe of _Morris Dancers_, consisting of several characters, which -were often varied both in number, appellation, and dress. The _Morris -Dance_ appears to have been introduced into this kingdom about the -reign of Edward the Fourth, and is, without doubt, derived from the -_Morisco_, a dance peculiar to the _Moors_, and generally termed the -_Spanish Morisco_, from its notoriety in Spain, during the dynasty of -that people in the peninsula. The _Morris Dance_ in this country, when -performed on a May-day, and not connected with the Games of Robin Hood, -usually consisted of the Lady of the May, the Fool, or domestic buffoon -of the 15th and 16th centuries, a Piper, and two, four, or more, Morris -Dancers. The dress of these last personages, who designated the -amusement, was of a very peculiar kind; they had their faces blackened -to resemble the native Moors, and "in the reign of Henry the Eighth," -says Mr. Douce, "they were dressed in gilt leather and silver paper, -and sometimes in coats of white spangled fustian. They had purses at -their girdles, and garters to which bells were attached[158:A];" but -according to Stubbes, who wrote in 1595, the costume had been altered, -for he tells us that they were clothed in "greene, yellow, or some -other light wanton collour. And as though that were not gawdy ynough," -he continues, "they bedeeke themselves with scarffes, ribbons, and -laces hanged all over with golde ringes, precious stones, and other -jewels: this done, they tie about either legge twentie or fourtie -belles, with rich handkerchiefe in their handes, and sometimes laide a -crosse over their shoulders and neckes borrowed for the most part of -their pretie _Mopsies_ and loving _Bessies_ for bussing them in the -darke."[158:B] Feathers, too, were usually worn in their hats, and they -had occasionally bells fixed on their arms or wrists, as well as on -their legs. That these jingling ornaments were characteristic of, and -derived from, the genuine _Moorish Dance_, appears from a plate copied -by Mr. Douce from the habits of various nations, published by Hans -Weigel at Nuremberg, in 1577, and which represents the figure of an -African lady of the kingdom of Fez in the act of dancing, with bells at -her feet.[158:C] - -It was the business of these motley figures to dance round the -May-pole, which was painted of various colours; thus in Mr. Tollett's -painted glass window, at Betley in Staffordshire, which represents an -English May-game and morris-dance, the May-pole is stained yellow and -black, in spiral lines[158:D]; and Shakspeare, in allusion to this -custom, makes Hermia tell Helena, whilst ridiculing the tallness of her -form, that she is a "painted May-pole[158:E];" so Stubbes, likewise, -in a passage previously quoted, says, that the Maie-pole was "painted -with variable colours." - -That the _morris-dance_ was an almost constant attendant on the May-day -festivities, may be drawn from our usual authority, the works of -Shakspeare; for, in _All's Well That Ends Well_, the Clown affirms, -that his answer will serve all questions - - "As fit as a morris for May-day."[159:A] - -But, about the commencement of the sixteenth century, or somewhat -sooner, probably towards the middle of the fifteenth century, a very -material addition was made to the celebration of the rites of May-day, -by the introduction of the characters of Robin Hood and some of his -associates. This was done with a view towards the encouragement of -archery, and the custom was continued even beyond the close of the -reign of James I. It is true, that the May-games in their rudest form, -the mere dance of lads and lasses round a May-pole, or the simple -morris with the Lady of the May, were occasionally seen during the -days of Elizabeth; but the general exhibition was the more complicated -ceremony which we are about to describe. - -The personages who now became the chief performers in the -_morris-dance_, were four of the most popular outlaws of Sherwood -forest; that Robin Hood, of whom Drayton says,— - - "In this our spacious isle, I think there is not one, - But he hath heard some talk of him and little John;— - Of Tuck the merry friar, which many a sermon made - In praise of Robin Hood, his outlaws and their trade;— - "Of Robin's" mistress dear, his loved Marian, - —— —— —— which wheresoe'er she came, - Was sovereign of the woods, chief lady of the game: - Her clothes tuck'd to the knee, and dainty braided hair, - With bow and quiver arm'd;"[159:B] - -characters which Warner, the contemporary of Drayton and Shakspeare, -has exclusively recorded as celebrating the rites of May; for, -speaking of the periods of some of our festivals, and remarking that -"ere penticost begun our May," he adds, - - "Tho' (_then_) Robin Hood, liell John, frier Tucke, - And Marian, deftly play, - And lord and ladie gang till kirke - With lads and lasses gay: - - Fra masse and een sang sa gud cheere - And glee on ery greene."[160:A] - -These four characters, therefore, _Robin Hood_, _Little John_, _Friar -Tuck_, and _Maid Marian_, although no constituent parts of the original -English morris, became at length so blended with it, especially on the -festival of May-day, that until the practice of archery was nearly laid -aside, they continued to be the most essential part of the pageantry. - -In consequence of this arrangement, "the old _Robin Hood_ of England," -as Shakspeare calls him[160:B], was created the King or Lord of -the May, and sometimes carried in his hand, during the May-game, a -painted standard.[160:C] It was no uncommon circumstance, likewise, -for metrical interludes, of a comic species, and founded on the -achievements of this outlaw, to be performed after the morris, on -the May-pole green. In Garrick's Collection of Old Plays, occurs -one, entitled "A mery Geste of Robyn Hoode, and of hys Lyfe, wyth -a newe Playe _for to be played in Maye-Games_, very pleasaunte and -full of pastyme;" it is printed at London, in the black letter, for -William Copland, and has figures in the title page of Robin Hood and -Lytel John.[160:D] Shakspeare appears to allude to these interludes -when he represents Fabian, in the _Twelfth Night_, exclaiming on the -approach of Sir Andrew Ague-Cheek with his challenge, "More matter for -May-morning."[160:E] - -Upon this introduction of Robin Hood and his companions into the -celebration of May-day, his paramour _Maid Marian_, assumed the office -of the former Queen of May. This far-famed lady has, according to Mr. -Ritson, no part in the original and more authentic history of Robin -Hood; but seems to have been first brought forward when the story of -this hero became dramatised, which was at a very early period in this -country; and Mr. Douce is of opinion that the name, which is a stranger -to English history, has been taken from "a pretty French pastoral drama -of the eleventh or twelfth century, entitled _Le jeu du berger et de la -bergere_, in which the principal characters are _Robin_ and _Marian_, -a shepherd and shepherdess."[161:A] This appears the more probable, as -the piece was not only very popular in France, but performed at the -season when the May-games took place in England. - -_Maid Marian_, in the days of Shakspeare, was usually represented by a -delicate, smooth-faced youth, who was dressed in all the fashionable -finery of the times; and this assumption of the female garb gave, not -without some reason, great offence to the puritanical dissenters, one -of whom, exclaiming against the amusements of May-day, notices this, -amongst some other abuses, in the following very curious passage:—"The -abuses which are committed in your May-games are infinite. The first -whereof is this, that you doe use to attyre in woman's apparrell whom -you doe most commonly call _may-marrions_, whereby you infringe that -straight commandment whiche is given in Deut. xxii. 5., that men must -not put on women's apparrell for feare of enormities. Nay I myself -have seene in a may game a troupe, the greater part whereof hath been -men, and yet have they been attyred so like into women, that their -faces being hidde (as they were indeede) a man coulde not discerne them -from women. The second abuse, which of all other is the greatest, is -this, that it hath been toulde that your morice dauncers have dannced -naked in nettes: what greater enticement unto naughtiness could have -been devised? The third abuse is, that you (because you will loose no -tyme) doe use commonly to runne into woodes in the night time, amongst -maidens, to fet bowes, in so muche as I have hearde of tenne maidens -which went to fet May, and nine of them came home with childe."[162:A] - -That, in consequence of this custom, effeminate and coxcomical men were -sarcastically compared to _Maid Marian_, appears from a passage in a -pamphlet by Barnaby Rich, who, satirising the male attire, as worn by -the fops of the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., cries out,—"From -whence commeth this wearing, and this embroidering of long locks, this -curiosity that is used amongst men, in frizeling and curling of their -haire, this gentlewoman-like starcht bands, so be-edged and be-laced, -_fitter for Maid Marian in a Moris dance_, than for him that hath -either that spirit or courage that shold be in a gentleman."[162:B] - -It will not seem surprising that the converse of this was occasionally -applicable to the female sex; and that those women who adopted -masculine airs and habits should be branded with a similarity to the -clown who, though personating the lady of the May, never failed, -however nice or affected he might be, to disclose by the boldness -and awkwardness of his gesture and manner, both his rank and sex. -Thus Falstaff is represented as telling the hostess, when he means to -upbraid her for her masculine appearance and conduct, that "for _woman -hood_ Maid Marian may be the Deputy's wife of the ward to thee."[162:C] -A fancy coronet of gilt metal, or interwoven with flowers, and a -watchet coloured tunic, a kirtle or petticoat of green, as the livery -of Robin Hood, were customary articles of decoration in the dress of -the May-Queen. - -_Friar Tuck_, the next of the four characters which we have mentioned -as introduced into the May-games, was the chaplain of Robin Hood, and -is noticed by Shakspeare, who makes one of the outlaws, in the _Two -Gentlemen of Verona_, swear - - "By the bare scalp of _Robin Hood's fat friar_."[163:A] - -He is represented in the engraving of Mr. Tollet's window as a -Franciscan friar in the full clerical tonsure; for, as Mr. T. observes -in giving an account of his window, "when the parish priests were -inhibited by the diocesan to assist in the May games, the Franciscans -might give attendance, as being exempted from episcopal jurisdiction;" -he adds that "most of Shakspeare's friars are Franciscans," and that -in Sir David Dalrymple's extracts from the book of the _Universal -Kirk_, in the year 1576, he is styled "chaplain to Robin Huid, king of -May."[163:B] - -The last of this groupe was the boon companion of Robin, the "_brave -Little John_," as he is termed in one of the ballads on this popular -outlaw, and who "is first mentioned," remarks Mr. Douce, "together -with Robin Hood, by Fordun the Scotish historian, who wrote in the -fourteenth century, and who speaks of the celebration of the story of -these persons in the _theatrical performances_ of his time, and of the -minstrel's songs relating to them, which he says the common people -preferred to all _other romances_."[163:C] - -With these _four_ personages therefore, who were deemed so inseparable, -that a character in Peele's Edward I. says, "We will live and die -together, like _Robin Hood_, _Little John_, _Friar Tucke_, and _Maide -Marian_[163:D]," the performers in the simple English Morris, the -_fool_, _Tom the Piper_, and the _Morris Dancers_, peculiarly so called -from their dress and function, were, for a time, generally connected. -Tom the Piper is thus mentioned by Drayton: - - "Myself above Tom Piper to advance, - Which so bestirs him in the Morrice-dance - For penny wage."[164:A] - -And Shakspeare, alluding to the violent gesticulations and music of the -Morris dancers says, speaking of Cade the rebel, - - ——————— "I have seen him - Caper upright like a _wild morisco_, - Shaking the bloody darts, as he his bells."[164:B] - -The music accompanying the _Morris_ and the _May-games_, was either the -simple pipe, or the pipe and tabor, or the bag-pipe. In the following -passage from a curious controversial pamphlet, published towards the -close of the sixteenth century, the morris and the pipe and tabor -are thus noticed: "If Menippus, or the man in the moone, be so quick -sighted, that he beholds these bitter sweete jests, these railing -outcries; this shouting at prelates to cast them downe, and heaving -at Martin to hang him up for Martilmas biefe; what would he imagine -otherwise, then as that stranger, which seeing a Quintessence (beside -the _foole_ and the _Maid Marian_) of all the picked youth, strained -out of an whole Endship, footing the _morris about a may pole_, and -he, not hearing the crie of the hounds, for the barking of dogs, (that -is to say) the minstrelsie for the fidling, the tune for the sound, -nor the _pipe for the noise of the tabor_, bluntly demanded if they -were not all beside themselves, that they so lip'd and skip'd whithout -an occasion."[164:C] To this quotation Mr. Haslewood has annexed the -subsequent ludicrous story from a tract entitled, _Hay any worke -for Cooper_. It is a striking proof of the singular attraction and -popularity of the May-games at this period:—"There is a neighbour of -ours, an honest priest, who was sometimes (simple as he now stands) a -vice in a play, for want of a better; his name is Gliberie of Hawstead -in Essex, hee goes much to the pulpit. On a time, I thinke it was the -last _May_, he went up with a full resolution to doe his businesse -with great commendations. But, see the fortune of it. A boy in the -church, hearing either the _summer lord with his May-game, or Robin -Hood with his morice daunce_, going by the church, out goes the boye. -Good Glibery, though he were in the pulpit, yet had a mind to his old -companions abroad, (a company of merry grigs you must thinke them to -be, as merry as a vice on a stage), seeing the boy going out, finished -his matter presently with John of London's amen, saying, ha ye faith, -boy! are they there? Then ha with thee, and so came downe and among -them he goes."[165:A] - -That the music of the _bag-pipe_ was highly esteemed in the days of -Shakspeare, and even preferred to the tabor and pipe, we have a strong -instance in his _Winter's Tale_, where a servant enters announcing -Autolicus in the following terms: "If you did but hear the pedlar at -the door, you would never dance again after a tabor and pipe; no, -_the bag-pipe could not move you_[165:B];" and that especially in the -country, it was a frequent accompaniment to the morris bells, the -numerous collections of _madrigals_, published in the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, afford many proofs. Thus, from a collection -printed in 1600: - - "Harke, harke, I heare the dancing - And a nimble morris prancing; - _The bagpipe and the morris bells_, - That they are not farre hence us tells; - Come let us all goe thither, - And dance like friends together:"[165:C] - -and from another, allusive to the May-games, edited by Thomas Morley: - - "Now is the month of Maying, - When merry lads are playing; Fa la la, - Each with his bonny lasse, - Upon the greeny grasse. Fa la la. - - The spring clad all in gladness, - Doth laugh at winter's sadnesse; - And to the _bagpipe's_ sound, - The nimphs tread out their ground. - - * * * * * - - About the May-pole new with glee and merriment, - While as the _bagpipe_ tooted it, - Thirsis and Cloe fine together footed it; Fa la la."[166:A] - -The Morris and the May-game of Robin Hood attained their most perfect -form when united with the _Hobby-Horse_ and the _Dragon_. Of these -the former was the resemblance of the head and tail of a horse, -manufactured in pasteboard, and attached to a person whose business it -was, whilst he seemed to ride gracefully on its back, to imitate the -prancings and curvettings of that noble animal, whose supposed feet -were concealed by a foot-cloth reaching to the ground; and the latter, -constructed of the same materials, was made to hiss and vibrate his -wings, and was frequently attacked by the man on the hobby-horse, who -then personated the character of St. George.[166:B] - -In the reigns therefore of Elizabeth and James I. these eight -masqueraders, consisting of _Robin Hood_, _Maid Marian_, _Friar Tuck_, -_Little John_, the _Fool_, _Tom the Piper_, the _Hobby-Horse_, and -the _Dragon_, with from two to ten _morris-dancers_, or, in lieu of -them, the same number of _Robin Hood's men_, in coats, hoods, and hose -of green, with a painted _pole_ in the centre, represented the most -complete establishment of the May-game.[167:A] - -All these characters may be traced, indeed, so far back as the middle -of the fifteenth century; and, accordingly, Mr. Strutt, in his -interesting romance, entitled "Queen-hoo Hall," has introduced a very -pleasing and accurate description of the May-games and Morris of Robin -Hood, which, as written in a lively and dramatic style, and not in the -least differing from what they continued to be in the youthful days of -Shakspeare, and before they were broken in upon by the fanaticism of -the puritans, we shall copy in this place for the entertainment of our -readers. - -"In the front of the pavilion, a large square was staked out, and -fenced with ropes, to prevent the crowd from pressing upon the -performers, and interrupting the diversion; there were also two bars at -the bottom of the inclosure, through which the actors might pass and -repass, as occasion required. - -"Six young men first entered the square, clothed in jerkins of leather, -with axes upon their shoulders like woodmen, and their heads bound with -large garlands of ivy-leaves intertwined with sprigs of hawthorn. Then -followed, - -"Six young maidens of the village, dressed in blue kirtles, with -garlands of primroses on their heads, leading a fine sleek cow, -decorated with ribbons of various colours, interspersed with flowers; -and the horns of the animal were tipped with gold. These were succeeded -by - -"Six foresters, equipped in green tunics, with hoods and hosen of the -same colour; each of them carried a bugle-horn attached to a baldrick -of silk, which he sounded as he passed the barrier. After them came - -"Peter Lanaret, the baron's chief falconer, who personified _Robin -Hood_; he was attired in a bright grass-green tunic, fringed with gold; -his hood and his hosen were parti-coloured, blue and white; he had a -large garland of rose-buds on his head, a bow bent in his hand, a sheaf -of arrows at his girdle, and a bugle-horn depending from a baldrick of -light blue tarantine, embroidered with silver; he had also a sword and -a dagger, the hilts of both being richly embossed with gold. - -"Fabian a page, as _Little John_, walked at his right hand; and Cecil -Cellerman the butler, as Will Stukely, at his left. These, with ten -others of the jolly outlaw's attendants who followed, were habited -in green garments, bearing their bows bent in their hands, and their -arrows in their girdles. Then came - -"Two maidens, in orange-coloured kirtles with white[168:A] courtpies; -strewing flowers; followed immediately by - -"The _maid Marian_, elegantly habited in a watchet-coloured[168:B] -tunic reaching to the ground; over which she wore a white linen[168:C] -rochet with loose sleeves, fringed with silver, and very neatly -plaited; her girdle was of silver baudekin[168:D], fastened with a -double bow on the left side; her long flaxen hair was divided into many -ringlets, and flowed upon her shoulders; the top part of her head was -covered with a net-work cawl of gold, upon which was placed a garland -of silver, ornamented with blue violets. She was supported by - -"Two bride-maidens, in sky-coloured rochets girt with crimsom girdles, -wearing garlands upon their heads of blue and white violets. After -them, came - -"Four other females in green courtpies, and garlands of violets and -cowslips: Then - -"Sampson the smith, as _Friar Tuck_, carrying a huge quarter-staff -on his shoulder; and Morris the mole-taker, who represented Much the -miller's son, having a long pole with an inflated bladder attached to -one end[169:A]: And after them - -"The _May-pole_, drawn by eight fine oxen, decorated with scarfs, -ribbons, and flowers of divers colours; and the tips of their horns -were embellished with gold. The rear was closed by - - "The _Hobby-horse_ and the _Dragon_. - -"When the May-pole was drawn into the square, the foresters -sounded their horns, and the populace expressed their pleasure by -shouting incessantly untill it reached the place assigned for its -elevation:—and during the time the ground was preparing for its -reception, the barriers of the bottom of the inclosure were opened for -the villagers to approach, and adorn it with ribbons, garlands, and -flowers, as their inclination prompted them. - -"The pole being sufficiently onerated with finery, the square was -cleared from such as had no part to perform in the pageant; and then -it was elevated amidst the reiterated acclamations of the spectators. -The woodmen and the milk-maidens danced around it according to the -rustic fashion; the measure was played by Peretto Cheveritte, the -baron's chief minstrel, on the bagpipes accompanied with the pipe -and labour, performed by one of his associates. When the dance was -finished, Gregory the jester, who undertook to play the hobby-horse, -came forward with his appropriate equipment, and, frisking up and down -the square without restriction, imitated the galloping, curvetting, -ambling, trotting, and other paces of a horse, to the infinite -satisfaction of the lower classes of the [170:A]spectators. He was -followed by Peter Parker, the baron's ranger, who personated a dragon, -hissing, yelling, and shaking his wings with wonderful ingenuity; and -to complete the mirth, Morris, in the character of Much, having small -bells attached to his knees and elbows, capered here and there between -the two monsters in the form of a dance; and as often as he came near -to the sides of the inclosure, he cast slily a handful of meal into the -faces of the gaping rustics, or rapped them about their heads with the -bladder tied at the end of his [170:B]pole. In the mean time, Sampson, -representing Friar Tuck, walked with much gravity around the square, -and occasionally let fall his heavy staff upon the toes of such of the -crowd as he thought were approaching more forward than they ought to -do; and if the sufferers cried out from the sense of pain, he addressed -them in a solemn tone of voice, advising them to count their beads, -say a paternoster or two, and to beware of purgatory. These vagaries -were highly palatable to the populace, who announced their delight -by repeated plaudits and loud bursts of laughter; for this reason -they were continued for a considerable length of time: but Gregory, -beginning at last to faulter in his paces, ordered the dragon to fall -back: the well-nurtured beast, being out of breath, readily obeyed, and -their two companions followed their example; which concluded this part -of the pastime. - -"Then the archers set up a target at the lower part of the Green, -and made trial of their skill in a regular succession. Robin Hood -and Will Stukely excelled their comrades: and both of them lodged an -arrow in the centre circle of gold, so near to each other that the -difference could not readily be decided, which occasioned them to shoot -again; when Robin struck the gold a second time, and Stukely's arrow -was affixed upon the edge of it. Robin was therefore adjudged the -conqueror; and the prize of honour, a garland of laurel embellished -with variegated ribbons, was put upon his head; and to Stukely was -given a garland of ivy, because he was the second best performer in -that contest. - -"The pageant was finished with the archery; and the procession began -to move away, to make room for the villagers, who afterwards assembled -in the square, and amused themselves by dancing round the May-pole in -promiscuous companies, according to the ancient custom."[171:A] - -In consequence of the opposition, however, of the puritans, during -the close of Elizabeth's reign, who considered the rights of May-day -as relics of paganism, much havoc was made among the Dramatis Personæ -of this festivity. Sometimes instead of Robin and Marian, only a Lord -or Lady of the day was adopted; frequently the friar was not suffered -to appear, and still more frequently was the hobby-horse interdicted. -This zealous interference of the sectarists was ridiculed by the poets -of the day, and among the rest by Shakspeare, who quotes a line from -a satirical ballad on this subject, and represents Hamlet as terming -it an epitaph; "Else shall he suffer not thinking on," says he, "with -the hobby-horse; whose epitaph is, _For, O, for, O, the hobby horse -is forgot_."[171:B] He has the same allusion in Love's Labour's -Lost[171:C]; and Ben Jonson has still more explicitly noticed the -neglect into which this character in the May-games had fallen in his -days. - - "But see, the Hobby-horse is forgot. - Foole, it must be your lot, - To supply his want with faces, - And some other Buffon graces;"[172:A] - -and again, still more pointedly,— - - "_Clo._ They should be Morris dancers by their gingle, but they - have no napkins. - - _Coc._ No, nor a hobby-horse. - - _Clo._ Oh, he's _often forgotten_, that's no rule; but there is - no maid Marian nor Friar amongst them, which is the surer mark. - - _Coc._ Nor a Foole that I see."[172:B] - -In Beaumont and Fletcher's Tragi-comedy called _Women Pleased_, the -aversion of the puritans to this festive beast is strikingly depicted; -where the person who was destined to perform the hobby-horse, being -converted by his wife, exclaims vehemently against the task imposed -upon him. - - "_Hob._ - - I do defie thee and thy foot-cloth too, - And tell thee to thy face, this prophane riding - I feel it in my conscience, and I dare speak it, - This unedified ambling hath brought a scourge upon us.— - - _Far._ - - Will you dance no more, neighbour? - - _Hob._ - - Surely no, - Carry the beast to his crib: I have renounc'd him - And all his works. - - _Soto._ - - _Shall the Hobby-horse be forgot then? - The hopeful Hobby-horse, shall he lye founder'd?_ - - _Hob._ - - I cry out on't, - 'Twas the forerunning sin brought in those tilt-staves, - They brandish 'gainst the church, the Devil calls _May - poles_."[173:A] - -From one of these puritans, named Stephen Gosson, we learn, likewise, -that Morrice-dancers and Hobby-horses had been introduced even upon the -stage during the early part of the reign of Elizabeth; for this writer, -in a tract published about 1579, and entitled _Plays Confuted_, says, -that "the Devil beeside the beautie of the houses, and the stages, -sendeth in gearish apparell, maskes, ranting, tumbling, dauncing of -gigges, galiardes, _morisces_, _hobbi-horses_, &c."[173:B] By the -continued railings and invectives, however, of these fanatics, the -May-games were, at length, so broken in upon, that had it not been -for the _Book of Sports, or lawful Recreations upon Sunday after -Evening-prayers, and upon Holy-days_, issued by King James in 1618, -they would have been totally extinct. This curious volume permitted -May-games, Morris-dances, Whitsun-ales, the setting up of May-poles, -&c.[173:C]; and had it not allowed church-ales, and dancing on the -Sabbath, would have been unexceptionable in its tendency; for as honest -Burton observes, in allusion to this very _Declaration_ of King James, -"_Dancing_, _Singing_, _Masking_, _Mumming_, _Stage-playes_, howsoever -they be heavily censured by some severe _Catoes_, yet if _opportunely_ -and _soberly used_, may justly be approved. _Melius est fodere, quam -saltare_, saith _Augustin_: but what is that if they delight in it? -_Nemo saltat sobrius._ But in what kind of dance? I know these sports -have many oppugners, whole volumes writ against them; when as all they -say (if duly considered) is but _ignoratio Elenchi_; and some again, -because they are now cold and wayward, past themselves, cavil at all -such youthful sports in others, as he did in the Comedy; they think -them, _illico nasci senes_, &c. Some out of preposterous zeal object -many times trivial arguments, and because of some abuse, will quite -take away the good use, as if they should forbid wine, because it makes -men drunk; but in my judgment they are too stern: there _is a time for -all things, a time to mourn, a time to dance_. Eccles. 3. 4. _a time -to embrace, a time not to embrace_, (ver. 5.) _and nothing better than -that a man should rejoice in his own works_, ver. 22. For my part, I -will subscribe to the _King's Declaration_, and was ever of that mind, -those _May-games_, _Wakes_, and _Whitsun-ales_, &c. if they be not at -_unseasonable_ hours, may justly be permitted. Let them freely feast, -sing and dance, have their _poppet-playes_, _hobby-horses_, _tabers_, -_crouds_, _bag-pipes_, &c., play at _ball_, and _barley-brakes_, -and what sports and recreations they like best."[174:A] All these -festivities, however, on _May-day_, were again set aside, by still -greater enthusiasts, during the period of the Commonwealth, and were -once more revived at the Restoration; at present, few vestiges remain -either of those ancient rites, or of those attendant on other popular -periodical festivals.[174:B] - -Several of the amusements, and some of the characters attendant on -the celebration of May-day, were again introduced at WHITSUNTIDE, -especially the morris-dance, which was as customary on this period of -festivity as on the one immediately preceding it. Thus Shakspeare, in -King Henry V., makes the Dauphin say, alluding to the youthful follies -of the English monarch, - - ————— "Let us do it with no show of fear; - No, with no more, than if we heard that England - Were busied with a _Whitsun Morris-dance_."[175:A] - -The rural sports and feasting at Whitsuntide were usually designated -by the term _Whitsun-ales_; _ale_ being in the time of Shakspeare, and -for a century or two, indeed, before him, synonymous with _festival_ -or _merry-making_. Chaucer and the author of Pierce Plowman use the -word repeatedly in this sense, and the following passages from our -great poet, from Jonson, and from Ascham, prove that it was familiar, -in their time, in the sense of simple carousing, church-feasting, and -Whitsuntide recreation. Launcelot, in the _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, -exclaims to Speed, "Thou hast not so much charity in thee, as to go to -the _ale_ with a Christian[175:B];" and Ascham, speaking of the conduct -of husbandmen, in his Toxophilus, observes that those which have their -dinner and drink in the field, "have fatter barnes in the harvest, than -they which will either sleape at noonetyme of the day, or els _make -merye with theyr neighbours at the ale_."[175:C] In the chorus to the -first act of _Pericles_, it is recorded of an old song, that - - "It hath been sung at festivals, - On ember-eves, and _holy-ales_."[176:A] - -And Jonson says, - - —— "All the neighbourhood, from old records - Of antique proverbs drawn from _Whitson lords_, - And their authorities at wakes and _ales_, - With country precedents, and old wives tales, - We bring you now."[176:B] - -It will be necessary, in this place, therefore, to notice briefly, as -being periods of festivity, the various _Ales_ which were observed -by our ancestors in the sixteenth century. They may be enumerated -under the heads of _Leet-ale_, _Lamb-ale_, _Bride-ale_, _Clerk-ale_, -_Church-ale_ and _Whitsun-ale_. We shall confine our attention at -present, however, principally to the two latter; for of the Lamb-ale -and Bride-ale, an occasion will occur to speak more at large in a -subsequent part of this chapter, and a very few words will suffice with -regard to the Leet-ale and the Clerk-ale; the former being merely the -dinner provided for the jury and customary tenants at the court-leet -of a manor, or _View of frank pledge_, formerly held once or twice a -year, before the steward of the leet[176:C]; to this court Shakspeare -alludes, in his _Taming of the Shrew_, where the servant tells Sly, -that in his dream he would "rail upon the hostess of the house," and -threaten to - - —— —— "present her at the leet:"[176:D] - -and the latter, which usually took place at Easter, is thus mentioned -by Aubrey in his manuscript History of Wiltshire. "In the Easter -holidays was the _Clarkes-Ale_, for his private benefit and the solace -of the neighbourhood."[176:E] - -The _Church-ale_ was a festival instituted sometimes in honour of -the church-saint, but more frequently for the purpose of contributing -towards the repair or decoration of the church. On this occasion it was -the business of the churchwardens to brew a considerable quantity of -strong ale, which was sold to the populace in the church-yard, and to -the better sort in the church itself, a practice which, independent of -the profit arising from the sale of the liquor, led to great pecuniary -advantages; for the rich thought it a meritorious duty, beside paying -for their ale, to offer largely to the holy fund. It was no uncommon -thing indeed to have four, six, or eight of these _ales_ yearly, and -sometimes one or more parishes _agreed_ to hold annually a _certain -number_ of these meetings, and to contribute individually a _certain -sum_. Of this a very curious proof may be drawn from the following -stipulation, preserved in Dodsworth's Manuscripts in the Bodleian -Library:—"The parishioners of Elveston and Okebrook, in Derbyshire, -agree jointly, to brew four _Ales_, and every _Ale_ of one quarter -of malt, betwixt this (the time of contract) and the feast of saint -John Baptist next coming. And that every inhabitant of the said town -of Okebrook shall be at the several _Ales_. And every husband and his -wife shall pay two pence, and every cottager one penny, and all the -inhabitants of Elveston shall have and receive all the profits and -advantages coming of the said _Ales_, to the use and behoof of the -said church of Elveston. And the inhabitants of Elveston shall brew -_eight Ales_ betwixt this and the feast of saint John Baptist, at the -which _Ales_ the inhabitants of Okebrook shall come and pay as before -rehersed. And if he be away at one _Ale_, to pay at the toder Ale for -both, &c."[177:A] - -The date of this document is anterior to the Reformation, but that -_church-ales_ were equally popular and frequent in the days of -Shakspeare will be evident from the subsequent passages in Carew and -Philip Stubbes. The historian of Cornwall, whose work was first printed -in 1602, says that "for the church-ale, two young men of the parish are -yerely chosen by their last foregoers, to be wardens; who, dividing -the task, make collection among the parishioners, of what soever -provision it pleaseth them voluntarily to bestow. This they imploy in -brewing, baking, and other acates, against Whitsontide; upon which -holy-dayes the neighbours meet at the church-house, and there merily -feede on their owne victuals, contributing some petty portion to the -stock; which, by many smalls, groweth to a meetley greatness: for there -is entertayned a kinde of emulation betweene these wardens, who by his -graciousness in gathering, and good husbandry in expending, can best -advance the churches profit. Besides, the neighbour parishes at those -times lovingly visit one another, and this way frankely spend their -money together. The afternoones are consumed in such exercises as olde -and yong folke (having leysure) doe accustomably weare out the time -withall."[178:A] Stubbes in his violent philippic declares that, "in -certaine townes, where drunken Bacchus bears swaie against Christmas -and Easter, Whitsunday, or some other time, the churchwardens, for so -they call them, of every parish, with the consent of the whole parish, -provide half a score or twentie quarters of mault, whereof some they -buy of the church stocke, and some is given to them of the parishioners -themselves, every one conferring somewhat, according to his ability; -which mault being made into very strong ale, or beer, is set to sale, -either in the church or in some other place assigned to that purpose. -Then, when this nippitatum, this huffe-cappe, as they call it, this -nectar of life, is set abroach, well is he that can get the soonest to -it, and spends the most at it, for he is counted the godliest man of -all the rest, and most in God's favour, because it is spent upon his -church forsooth."[178:B] - -There is but too much reason to suppose that the satire of this bitter -writer was not, in this instance, ill directed, and that meetings -of this description, though avowedly for the express benefit of the -church, were often productive of licentiousness, and consequently -highly injurious both to morals and religion. A few lines from Ben -Jonson will probably place this beyond doubt. In his Masque of Queens, -performed at Whitehall, 1609, he represents one of his witches as -exclaiming - - "I had a dagger: what did I with that? - Kill'd an infant, to have his fat: - A Piper it got, at a _Church-ale_."[179:A] - -Returning to the consideration of the _Whitsuntide_ amusements, it may -be observed, that not only was the morris a constituent part in their -celebration, but that the Maid Marian of the May-games was frequently -introduced: thus Shirley represents one of his characters exclaiming -against rural diversions in the following manner: - - ——— "Observe with what solemnity - They keep their wakes, and throw for pewter candlestickes, - How they become the morris, with whose bells - They ring all into _Whitson ales_, and sweate - Through twentie scarffes and napkins, till the Hobby-horse - Tire, and the _maide Marrian_ dissolv'd to a gelly, - Be kept for spoone meate."[179:B] - -The festivities, indeed, on this occasion, as at those on May-day, -were often regulated by a Lord and Lady of the _Whitsun-ales_.[179:C] -Very frequently, however, there was elected only a Lord of Misrule, -and as the church or holy ales were not unfrequently combined with -the merriments of this season, the church-yard, especially on the -sabbath-day, was too generally the scene of rejoicing. The severity of -Stubbes, when censuring this profanation of consecrated ground, will -scarcely be deemed too keen: "First," says he, "all the wilde heads -of the parish, flocking together, chuse them a graund captaine (of -mischiefe) whom they inrolle with the title of _my Lord of misrule_, -and him they crowne with great solemnitie, and adopt for their king. -This king annoynted, chooseth foorth twentie, fourtie, threescore, or a -hundred lustie guttes like to himselfe to wait upon his lordly majesty, -and to guarde his noble person.—(Here he describes the dress of the -morris dancers, as quoted in a former page, and proceeds as follows.) -Thus all things set in order, then have they their hobby-horses, their -dragons and other antiques, together with their baudie pipers, and -thundering drummers, to strike up the _Devils Daunce_ withall: then -martch this heathen company towards the church and church-yarde, their -pypers pypyng, their drummers thundering, their stumpes dauncing, their -belles jyngling, their handkercheefes fluttering about their heads like -madde men, their hobbie horses, and other monsters skirmishing amongst -the throng: and in this sorte they goe to the church like Devils -incarnate, with such a confused noise, that no man can heare his owne -voyce. Then the foolish people they looke, they stare, they laugh, they -fleere, and mount upon formes and pewes, to see these goodly pageants -solemnized in this sort. Then after this about the church they goe -againe and againe, and so foorth into the church yard, where they have -commonly their summer haules, their bowers, arbours, and banqetting -houses set up, wherein they feast, banquet, and daunce all that day, -and (peradventure) all that night too. And thus these terrestrial -furies spend the Sabboth day. Another sort of fantastical fooles bring -to these helhoundes (the Lord of misrule and his complices) some bread, -some good ale, some new cheese, some old cheese, some custardes, some -cracknels, some cakes, some flaunes, some tartes, some creame, some -meat, some one thing, some another; but if they knewe that as often as -they bringe anye to the maintenance of these execrable pastimes, they -offer sacrifice to the Devill and Sathanas, they would repente and with -drawe their handes, which God graunt they may."[180:A] - -Dramatic exhibitions, called _Whitsun plays_, were common, at this -season, both in town and country, and in the latter they were chiefly -of a pastoral character. Shakspeare has an allusion to them in his -_Winter's Tale_, where Perdita, addressing Florizel, says, - - ——————— "Come, take your flowers: - Methinks, I play as I have seen them do - in _Whitsun' pastorals_."[181:A] - -Soon after Whitsuntide began the season of sheep-shearing, which was -generally terminated about midsummer, and either at its commencement or -close, was distinguished by the LAMB-ALE or SHEEP-SHEARING FEAST. -At Kidlington in Oxfordshire, it seems to have been _ushered in_ by -ceremonies of a peculiar kind, for, according to Blount, "the Monday -after the Whitsun week, a fat lamb was provided, and the maidens of -the town, having their thumbs tied behind them, were permitted to run -after it, and she who with her mouth took hold of the lamb was declared -the Lady of the Lamb, which, being killed and cleaned, but with the -skin hanging upon it, was carried on a long pole before the lady and -her companions to the green, attended with music, and a morisco dance -of men, and another of women. The rest of the day was spent in mirth -and merry glee. Next day the lamb, partly baked, partly boiled, and -partly roasted, was served up for the lady's feast, where she sat, -majestically at the upper end of the table, and her companions with -her, the music playing during the repast, which, being finished, the -solemnity ended."[181:B] - -The most usual mode, however, of celebrating this important period was -by a dinner, music, with songs, and the election of a Shepherd King, an -office always conferred upon the individual whose flock had produced -the earliest lamb. The dinner is thus enjoined by the rustic muse of -Tusser:— - - "Wife make us a dinner, spare flesh neither corne, - Make wafers and cakes, for our sheepe must be shorne, - At sheep-shearing, neighbours none other things crave, - But good cheare and welcome, like neighbours to have."[182:A] - -But it is from Drayton that we derive the most minute account of the -festival; who in the fourteenth song of his Poly-Olbion, and still more -at large in his ninth Eclogue, has given a most pleasing picture of -this rural holy-day:— - - "When the new-wash'd flock from the river's side, - Coming as white as January's snow, - The ram with nosegays bears his horns in pride, - And no less brave the bell-wether doth go. - - After their fair flocks in a lusty rout, - Come the gay swains with bag-pipes strongly blown, - And busied, though this solemn sport about, - Yet had each one an eye unto his own. - - And by the ancient statutes of the field, - He that his flocks the earliest lamb should bring, - (As it fell out then, Rowland's charge to yield) - Always for that year was the shepherd's king. - - And soon preparing for the shepherd's board, - Upon a green that curiously was squar'd, - With country cates being plentifully stor'd: - And 'gainst their coming handsomely prepar'd. - - New whig, with water from the clearest stream, - Green plumbs, and wildings, cherries chief of feast, - Fresh cheese, and dowsets, curds, and clouted cream, - Spic'd syllibubs, and cyder of the best: - - And to the same down solemnly they sit, - In the fresh shadow of their summer bowers, - With sundry sweets them every way to fit, - The neighb'ring vale despoiled of her flowers.— - - When now, at last, as lik'd the shepherd's king, - (At whose command they all obedient were) - Was pointed, who the roundelay should sing, - And who again the under-song should bear."[183:A] - -Shakspeare also, in his _Winter's Tale_, has presented us not only with -a list of the good things necessary for a sheep-shearing feast, but he -describes likewise the attentions which were due, on this occasion, -from the hostess, or Shepherd's Queen. - -"Let me see," says the Clown, "what I am to buy for our sheep-shearing -feast? _Three pound of sugar; five pound of currants; rice_——What -will this sister of mine do with rice? But my father hath made -her mistress of the feast, and _she lays it on_. She hath made -me four-and-twenty nosegays for the shearers: three-man song-men -all[183:B], and very good ones; but they are most of them means[183:C] -and bases: but one Puritan amongst them, and he sings psalms to -horn-pipes. I must have _saffron_, to colour the _warden pies_; -mace,—dates,—none; that's out of my note: _nutmegs, seven_; _a race, -or two, of ginger_: but that I may beg;—_four pound of prunes, and as -many of raisins o' the sun_."[183:D] - -The culinary articles in this detail are somewhat more expensive than -those enumerated by Drayton; and Mr. Steevens, in a note on this -passage of the Winter's Tale, observes that "the expence attending -these festivities, appears to have afforded matter of complaint. Thus, -in _Questions of profitable and pleasant Concernings_, &c. 1594: 'If it -be a _sheep-shearing feast_, maister Baily can entertaine you with his -bill of reckonings to his maister of three sheapheard's wages, spent on -_fresh cates_, besides _spices_ and _saffron pottage_."[183:E] - -The shepherd's reproof to his adopted daughter, Perdita, as Polixenes -remarks, - - ——— "the prettiest low-born lass, that ever - Ran on the green-sward," - -implies indirectly the duties which were expected by the peasants, -on this day, from their rural queen, and which seems to have been -sufficiently numerous and laborious:— - - "Fye, daughter, when my old wife liv'd, upon - This day, she was both pantler, butler, cook; - Both dame and servant: welcom'd all; serv'd all: - Would sing her song, and dance her turn: now here, - At upper end o'the table, now, ithe middle; - On his shoulder, and his: her face o'fire - With labour; and the thing, she took to quench it, - She would to each one sip: You are retir'd, - As if you were a feasted one, and not - The hostess of the meeting: Pray you, bid - These unknown friends to us welcome: for it is - A way to make us better friends, more known. - Come, quench your blushes; and present yourself - That which you are, mistress o'the feast: Come on, - And bid us welcome to your _sheep-shearing_, - As your good flock shall prosper."[184:A] - -It should be remarked that one material part of this welcome appears, -from the context, to have consisted in the distribution of various -flowers, suited to the ages of the respective visitors, a ceremony -which was, probably, customary at this season of rejoicing. - - "_Perdita._ Give me those flowers there, Dorcas.—Reverend sirs, - For you there's rosemary, and rue; these keep - Seeming, and savour, all the winter long: - Grace, and remembrance, be to you both, - And welcome to our shearing!——— - ——————————— Here's flowers for you; - Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram; - The marigold, that goes to bed with the sun, - And with him rises weeping; these are flowers - Of middle summer, and, I think, they are given - To men of middle age: You are very welcome.— - ———— ———— ——— Now, my fairest friend, - I would, I had some flowers of the spring, that might - Become your time of day; and yours, and yours; - That wear upon your virgin branches yet - Your maidenheads growing:—O, these I lack, - To make you garlands of."[185:A] - -A custom somewhat allied to this, that of scattering flowers on the -streams at _shearing time_, has been long observed in the south-west -of England, and is thus alluded to as an ancient rite by Dyer, in his -beautifully descriptive poem entitled _The Fleece_: - - ——— "With light fantastic toe, the nymphs - Thither assembled, thither ev'ry swain; - And o'er the dimpled stream a thousand flowers, - Pale lilies, roses, violets and pinks, - Mixt with the greens of burnet, mint and thyme, - And trefoil, sprinkled with their sportive arms. - Such custom holds along the irriguous vales, - From Wreakin's brow to rocky Dolvoryn, - Sabrina's early haunt."[185:B] - -That one of the principal seasons of rejoicing should take place on -securely collecting the fruits of the field, it is natural to expect; -and accordingly, in almost every country, a HARVEST-HOME, or Feast, has -been observed on this occasion. - -Much of the festivity and jocular freedom however, which subsisted -formerly at this period, has been worn away by the increasing -refinements and distinctions of society. In the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, and, indeed, during a part of the eighteenth, -the Harvest, or _Mell_, Supper, as it was sometimes called, from the -French word _Mesler_, to mingle or mix together, was a scene not -only remarkable for merriment and hospitality, but for a temporary -suspension of all inequality between master and man. The whole family -sate down at the same table, and conversed, danced, and sang together -during the entire night without difference or distinction of any kind; -and, in many places indeed, this freedom of manner subsisted during the -whole period of getting in the Harvest. Thus Tusser, recommending the -social equality of the Harvest-tide, exclaims, - - "In harvest time, harvest folke, _servants and al_, - should make _altogither_, good cheere in the hal: - And fil out the blacke bol, of bleith to their song, - and let them be merrie, _al harvest time long_."[186:A] - -Of this ancient convivial licence, a modern rural poet has drawn a most -pleasing picture, lamenting, at the same time, that the Harvest-Feast -of the present day is but the phantom of what it was:— - - "The aspect only with the substance gone. - - * * * * * - - Behold the sound oak table's massy frame - Bestride the kitchen floor! the careful dame - And gen'rous host invite their friends around, - _While all that clear'd the crop, or till'd the ground, - Are guests by right of custom:—— - Here once a year Distinction low'rs its crest, - The master, servant, and the merry guest, - Are equal all_; and round the happy ring - The reaper's eyes exulting glances fling, - And, warm'd with gratitude, he quits his place, - With sun-burnt hands and ale-enliven'd face, - Refills the jug his honour'd host to tend, - To serve at once the master and the friend; - Proud thus to meet his smiles, to share his tale, - His nuts, his conversation, and his ale. - _Such were the days,——of days long past I sing._"[186:B] - -It will be necessary to enter a little more minutely into the rites -and ceremonies which accompanied this annual feast in the days of -Shakspeare, and fortunately we can appeal to a few curious documents -on which dependence can be placed. Hentzner, a learned German who -travelled through Germany, England, France, and Italy, towards the -close of the sixteenth century, and whose Itinerary, as far as it -relates to this country, has been translated by the late Lord Orford, -says, "as we were returning to our inn (from Windsor), we happened -to meet some country people _celebrating their harvest-home_; their -last load of corn they crown with flowers, having besides an image -richly dressed, by which, perhaps, they would signify Ceres; this they -keep moving about, while men and women, men and maid servants, riding -through the streets in the cart, shout as loud as they can till they -arrive at the barn."[187:A] Dr. Moresin also, another foreigner, who -published, in the reign of James I., an elaborate work on the "Origin -and Increase of Depravity in Religion," relates that he saw "in England -the country people bringing home, in a cart from the harvest field, -a figure made of corn, round which men and women were promiscuously -singing, preceded by a piper and a drum."[187:B] - -To this custom of accompanying home the last waggon-load of corn, at -the close of harvest, with music, Shakspeare is supposed to allude in -the _Merchant of Venice_, where Lorenzo tells the musicians to pierce -his mistress' ear with sweetest touches, - - "And draw her home with musick."[187:C] - -It was usual also, not only to feast the men and women, but to reward -likewise the boys and girls who were in any degree instrumental in -getting in the harvest; accordingly Tusser humanely observes, - - "Once ended thy harvest, let none be begilde, - please such as did please thee, man, woman and _child_: - Thus doing, with alwaie such helpe as they can, - thou winnest the praise, of the labouring man;"[188:A] - -an injunction which Mr. Hilman has further explained by subjoining to -this stanza the following remark:—"Every one," says he, "that did -any thing towards the Inning, must now have some reward, as ribbons, -laces, rows of pins to boys and girls, if never so small, for their -encouragement, and to be sure plumb-pudding." - -The most minute account, however, which we can now any where meet -with, of the ceremonies and rejoicings at Harvest-Home, as they -existed during the prior part of the seventeenth century, and which -we may justly consider as not deviating from those that accompanied -the same festival in the reign of Elizabeth, is to be found among the -poems of Robert Herrick, and will be valued, not exclusively for its -striking illustration of the subject, but for its merit, likewise, as a -descriptive piece. - - -"THE HOCK-CART, OR HARVEST-HOME.[188:B] - - COME, Sons of Summer, by whose toile - We are the Lords of wine and oile: - By whose tough labours, and rough hands, - We rip up first, then reap our lands. - Crown'd with the eares of corne, now come, - And, to the pipe, sing Harvest-home. - Come forth, my Lord, and see the cart - Drest up with all the country art. - See, here a _Maukin_, there a sheet, - As spotlesse pure, as it is sweet: - The horses, mares, and frisking fillies, - Clad, all, in linnen, white as lillies. - The Harvest swaines, and wenches bound - For joy, to see the _Hock-cart_ crown'd. - About the cart, heare, how the rout - Of rurall younglings raise the shout; - Pressing before, some coming after, - These with a shout, and these with laughter. - Some blesse the cart; some kisse the sheaves; - Some prank them up with oaken leaves: - Some crosse the fill-horse; some with great - Devotion, stroak the home-borne wheat: - While other rusticks, lesse attent - To prayers, then to merryment, - Run after with their breeches rent. - Well, on, brave boyes, to your Lord's hearth, - Glitt'ring with fire; where, for your mirth, - Ye shall see first the large and cheefe - Foundation of your feast, fat beefe: - With upper stories, mutton, veale - And bacon, which makes full the meale; - With sev'ral dishes standing by, - As here a custard, there a pie, - And here all tempting frumentie. - And for to make the merry cheere, - If smirking wine be wanting here, - There's that, which drowns all care, stout beere; - Which freely drink to your Lord's health, - Then to the plough, the commonwealth; - Next to your flailes, your fanes, your fats; - Then to the maids with wheaten hats; - To the rough sickle, and crookt sythe, - Drink frollick boyes, till all be blythe. - Feed, and grow fat; and as ye eat, - Be mindfull, that the lab'ring neat, - As you, may have their fill of meat. - And know, besides, ye must revoke - The patient oxe unto the yoke, - And all goe back unto the plough - And harrow, though they're hang'd up now. - And, you must know, your Lord's word true, - Feed him ye must, whose food fils you. - And that this pleasure is like raine, - Not sent ye for to drowne your paine, - But for to make it spring againe."[189:A] - -We must not forget that, during the reign of Elizabeth, another -_feast-day_ fell to the lot of the husbandman, at the close of -wheat-sowing, in October. This was termed, from one of the chief -articles provided for the table, THE SEED-CAKE, and is no where -recorded so distinctly as by the agricultural muse of Tusser:— - - "Wife sometime this week, if the weather hold cleer, - an end of wheat-sowing, we make for this yeere: - Remember thou therefore, though I do it not, - the _seed-cake_, the _pastries_, and _furmenty pot_."[190:A] - -Proceeding with the year, and postponing the consideration of All -Hallowmas to the chapter on superstitions, we reach the eleventh -of November, or the festival of St. Martin, usually called -MARTINMAS, or MARTLEMAS, a day formerly devoted to feasting and -conviviality, and on which a stock of salted provisions was laid in -for the winter. This custom of killing cattle, swine, &c. and _curing_ -them against the approaching season, was, during the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, common every where, though _now_ only partially -observed in a few country-villages; for smoke-dryed meat in those days -was more generally relished than at present. We find Tusser, therefore, -as might be expected, recommending this savoury diet; in one place -saying to his farmer,— - - "For Easter, at _Martilmas_, hang up a beefe— - With that and the like, yer grasse beef come in, - thy folke shall look cheerely, when others look thin;"[190:B] - -and again,— - - "_Martilmas_ beefe doth bear good tacke, - When countrey folke do dainties lacke;"[190:C] - -so, likewise, in _The Pinner of Wakefield_, printed in 1559, - - "A piece of beef hung up since _Martlemas_." - -Moresin tells us, in the reign of James I., that there were -great rejoicings and feasting on this day throughout Europe, an -assertion which is verified by the ancient Calendar of the church -of Rome, where under the eleventh of November occur the following -observations:—"Martinalia, Geniale Festum. Vina delibantur et -defecantur. Vinalia veterum festum huc translatum. Bacchus in Martini -figura.—The Martinalia, a genial feast. Wines are tasted of and -drawn from the lees. The Vinalia, a feast of the Antients, removed to -this day. Bacchus in the figure of Martin."[191:A] J. Boëmus Aubanus -likewise informs us, as Mr. Brand remarks, "that in Franconia, there -was a great deal of eating and drinking at this season; no one was so -poor or niggardly that on the _Feast of St. Martin_ had not his dish of -the _entrails_ either of _oxen_, _swine_, or _calves_. They drank, too, -he says, very liberally of _wine_ on the occasion."[191:B] - -In this country, merriment and good cheer were equally conspicuous on -St. Martin's feast; the young danced and sang, and the old regaled -themselves by the fire-side. A modern poet, who has beautifully copied -the antique, under the somewhat stale pretence of discovering an -ancient manuscript, presents us with a specimen of his manufacture -of considerable merit, under the title of _Martilmasse Daye_; this, -as being referred to the age of Elizabeth, and recording, with due -attention to historical costume, the mirth and revelry which used -formerly to distinguish this period, may be admitted here as a species -of traditional evidence of no exceptionable kind. The poem, which is -supposed to have been found at Norwich, at an ancient Hostelrie, whilst -under repair, consists of six stanzas, two of which, however, though -possessing poetical and descriptive point, we have omitted, as not -referable to any peculiar observance of the day:— - - "It is the day of Martilmasse, - Cuppes of ale should freelie passe; - What though Wynter has begunne - To push downe the summer sunne, - To our fire we can betake - And enjoie the cracklinge brake, - Never heedinge winter's face - On the day of Martilmasse.— - - Some do the citie now frequent, - Where costlie shews and merriment - Do weare the vaporish ev'ninge out - With interlude and revellinge rout; - Such as did pleasure Englandes Queene, - When here her royal Grace was seene,[192:A] - Yet will they not this day let passe, - The merrie day of Martilmasse. - - Nel hath left her wool at home, - The Flanderkin hath stayed his loom,[192:B] - No beame doth swinge nor wheel go round - Upon Gurguntums walled ground;[192:C] - Where now no anchorite doth dwell - To rise and pray at Lenard's bell: - Martyn hath kicked at Balaam's ass, - So merrie be old Martilmasse. - - When the dailie sportes be done, - Round the market crosse they runne, - Prentis laddes, and gallant blades, - Dancinge with their gamesome maids, - Till the beadel, stoute and sowre, - Shakes his bell, and calls the houre; - Then farewell ladde and farewell lasse, - To' th' merry night of Martilmasse."[193:A] - -Shakspeare has an allusion to this formerly convivial day in the -_Second Part of King Henry IV._, where Poins, asking Bardolph after -Falstaff, says: "How doth the _martlemas_, your master?" an epithet -by which, as Johnson observes, he means the latter spring, or the old -fellow with juvenile passions.[193:B] - -We have now to record the closing and certainly the greatest festival -of the year, the celebration of CHRISTMAS, a period which our ancestors -were accustomed to devote to hospitality on a very large scale, to the -indulgence indeed of hilarity and good cheer for, at least, twelve -days, and sometimes, especially among the lower ranks, for six weeks. - -Christmas was always ushered in by the due observance of its _Eve_, -first in a religious and then in a festive point of view. "Our -forefathers," remarks Bourne, "when the common devotions of the _Eve_ -were over, and night was come on, were wont to light up _candles_ of -an uncommon size, which were called _Christmas-candles_, and to lay -a _log_ of wood upon the fire, which they termed a _Yule-clog_, or -Christmas-block. These were to illuminate the house, and turn the -night into day; which custom, in some measure, is still kept up in the -northern parts."[194:A] - -This mode of rejoicing, at the winter solstice, appears to have -originated with the Danes and Pagan Saxons, and was intended to be -emblematical of the return of the sun, and its increasing light and -heat; _gehol_ or _Geol_, Angl. Sax. _Jel_, _Jul_, _Huil_, or _Yule_, -Dan. Sax. Swed., implying the idea of _revolution_ or of _wheel_, -and not only designating, among these northern nations, the month -of December, called _Jul_-Month, but the great feast also of this -period.[194:B] On the introduction of Christianity, the illuminations -of the _Eve of Yule_ were continued as representative of the _true -light_ which was then ushered into the world, in the person of our -Saviour, the _Day spring from on High_. - -The ceremonies and festivities which were observed on Christmas-Eve -during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and which in some -parts of the north have been partially continued, until within -these last thirty years, consisted in bringing into the house, with -much parade and with vocal and instrumental harmony, the _Yule_ or -_Christmas-block_, a massy piece of fire-wood, frequently the enormous -root of a tree, and which was usually supplied by the carpenter -attached to the family. This being placed in the centre of the -great hall, each of the family, in turn, sate down upon it, sung a -_Yule-Song_, and drank to a _merry Christmas_ and a _happy new year_. -It was then placed on the large open hearth in the hall chimney, and, -being lighted with the last year's brand, carefully preserved for this -express purpose, the music again struck up, when the addition of fuel -already inflamed, expedited the process, and occasioned a brilliant -conflagration. The family and their friends were then feasted with -_Yule-Dough_ or _Yule-cakes_, on which were impressed the figure of the -child Jesus; and with bowls of _frumenty_, made from wheat cakes or -creed wheat, boiled in milk, with sugar, nutmeg, &c. To these succeeded -tankards of spiced ale, while preparations were usually going on among -the domestics for the hospitalities of the succeeding day. - -In the curious collection of Herrick is preserved a poem descriptive -of some of these observances, and which was probably written for the -express purpose of being sung during the kindling of the Yule-clog. - - "COME, bring with a noise, - My merrie, merrie boyes, - The Christmas Log to the firing; - While my good Dame, she - Bids ye all be free, - And drink to your hearts desiring. - - With the last yeere's brand - Light the new block, and - For good success in his spending, - On your psalteries play, - That sweet luck may - Come while the Log is a teending.[195:A] - - Drink now the strong beere, - Cut the white loafe here,[195:B] - The while the meat is a shredding - For the rare mince-pie, - And the plums stand by - To fill the paste that's a kneading."[195:C] - -It was customary on this _eve_, likewise, to decorate the windows -of every house, from the nobleman's seat to the cottage, with bay, -laurel, ivy, and holly leaves, which were continued during the whole -of the Christmas-holidays, and frequently until Candlemas. Stowe, in -his Survey of London, particularly mentions this observance:—"Against -the feast of _Christmas_," says he, "every man's house, as also their -parish churches, were decked with holm, ivie, bayes, and whatsoever the -season of the yeere aforded to be greene: The conduits and standards -in the streetes were likewise garnished. Amongst the which, I read, -that in the yeere 1444, by tempest of thunder and lightning, on the -first of February at night, Paul's steeple was fired, but with great -labour quenched, and toward the morning of Candlemas day, at the Leaden -Hall in Cornhill, a standard of tree, beeing set up in the midst of -the pavement fast in the ground, nayled full of holme and ivy, for -disport of Christmas to the people; was torne up, and cast downe by the -_malignant spirit_ (as was thought) and the stones of the pavement all -about were cast in the streetes, and into divers houses, so that the -people were sore agast at the great tempests."[196:A] - -This custom, which still prevails in many parts of the kingdom, -especially in our parish-churches, is probably founded on a very -natural idea, that whatever is green, at this bleak season of the year, -may be considered as emblematic of joy and victory, more particularly -the laurel, which had been adopted by the Greeks and Romans, for this -express purpose. That this was the opinion of our ancestors, and that -they believed the _malignant spirit_ was envious of, and interested in -destroying these symbols of their triumph, appears from the passage -just quoted from Stowe. - -It has been, indeed, conjectured, that this mode of ornamenting -churches and houses is either allusive to numerous figurative -expressions in the prophetic Scriptures typical of Christ, as the -_Branch of Righteousness_, or that it was commemorative of the style -in which the first Christian churches in this country were built, the -materials for the erection of which being usually _wrythen wands or -boughs_[196:B]; it may have, however, an origin still more remote, -and fancy may trace the misletoe, which is frequently used on these -occasions, to the times of the ancient Druids, an hypothesis which -acquires some probability from a passage in Dr. Chandler's Travels in -Greece, where he informs us, "It is related where Druidism prevailed, -the _houses_ were _decked_ with _evergreens_ in _December_, that the -Sylvan spirits might repair to them, and remain unnipped with frost -and cold winds, until a milder season had renewed the foliage of their -darling abodes."[197:A] - -The morning of the Nativity was ushered in with the chaunting of -_Christmas Carols_, or _Pious Chansons_. _The Christmas Carol_ was -either _scriptural_ or _convivial_, the first being sung morning and -evening, until the twelfth day, and the second during the period of -feasting or carousing. - -"As soon as the morning of the Nativity appears," says Bourne, "it is -customary among the common people to sing a _Christmas Carol_, which -is a song upon the birth of our Saviour, and generally sung from the -Nativity to the Twelfth-day; this custom," he adds, "seems to be an -imitation of the _Gloria in Excelsis_, or _Glory be to God on High_, -&c. which was sung by the angels, as they hovered o'er the fields of -Bethlehem on the morning of the Nativity; for even that song, as the -learned Bishop Taylor observes, was a Christmas Carol. _As soon_, says -he, _as these blessed Choristers had sung their Xmas Carol, and taught -the Church a hymn, to put into her offices for ever, on the anniversary -of this festivity; the angels_," &c.[197:B] We can well remember that, -during the early period of our life, which was spent in the north of -England, it was in general use for the young people to sing a _carol_ -early on the morning of this great festival, and the burthen of which -was, - - "All the angels in heaven do sing - On a Chrismas day in the morning;" - -customs such as this, laudable in themselves and highly impressive on -the youthful mind, are, we are sorry to say, nearly, if not totally, -disappearing from the present generation. - -To the carols, hymns, or pious chansons, which were sung about the -streets at night, during Christmas-tide, Shakspeare has two allusions; -one in _Hamlet_, where the Prince quotes two lines from a popular -ballad entitled "_The Songe of Jepthah's Daughter_," and adds, "The -first row of the pious chanson will show you more[198:A];" and the -other in the _Midsummer-Night's Dream_, where Titania remarks that - - "No night is now with _hymn_ or _carol_ blest."[198:B] - -Upon the first of these passages Mr. Steevens has observed that the -"_pious chansons_ were a kind of _Christmas carols_, containing some -scriptural history thrown into loose rhymes, and sung about the streets -by the common people;" and upon the second, that "_hymns_ and _carols_, -in the time of Shakspeare, during the season of Christmas, were sung -every night about the streets, as a pretext for collecting money from -house to house." - -Carols of this kind, indeed, were, during the sixteenth century, sung -at Christmas, through every town and village in the kingdom; and -Tusser, in his _Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie_, introduces -one for this season, which he orders to be sung to the tune of _King -Salomon_.[198:C] - -The chief object of the common people in chaunting these _nightly_ -carols, from house to house, was to obtain money or _Christmas-Boxes_, -a term derived from the usage of the Romish priests, who ordered masses -at this time to be made to the Saints, in order to atone for the -excesses of the people, during the festival of the Nativity, and as -these masses were always purchased of the priest, the poor were allowed -to gather money in this way with the view of liberating themselves -from the consequence of the debaucheries of which they were enabled to -partake, through the hospitality of the rich. - -The _convivial_ or _jolie carols_ were those which were sung either -by the company, or by itinerant minstrels, during the revelry that -daily took place, in the houses of the wealthy, from Christmas-Eve -to Twelfth Day. They were also frequently called _Wassel Songs_, and -may be traced back to the Anglo-Norman period. Mr. Douce, in his very -interesting "Illustrations of Shakspeare and of Ancient Manners," has -given us a Christmas-carol of the thirteenth or fourteenth century -written in the Norman language, and which may be regarded, says he, -"as the most ancient drinking song, composed in England, that is -extant. This singular curiosity," he adds, "has been written on a -spare leaf in the middle of a valuable miscellaneous manuscript of the -fourteenth century, preserved in the British Museum, Bibl. Regal. 16, -E. 8."[199:A] To the original he has annexed a translation, admirable -for its fidelity and harmony, and we are tempted to insert three -stanzas as illustrative of manners and diet which still continued -fashionable in the days of Shakspeare. We shall prefix the first stanza -of the original, as a specimen of the language, with the observation, -that from the word _Noel_, which occurs in it, Blount has derived the -term _Ule_ or _Yule_; the French _Nouël_ or Christmas, he observes, -the Normans corrupted to _Nuel_, and from _Nuel_ we had _Nule_, or -_Ule_.[199:B] - - "Seignors ore entendez a nus, - De loinz sumes renuz a wous, - Pur quere NOEL; - Car lem nus dit que en cest hostel - Soleit tenir sa feste anuel - A hi cest jur." - - "Lordings, from a distant home, - To seek old CHRISTMAS we are come, - Who loves our minstrelsy: - And here, unless report mis-say, - The grey-beard dwells; and on this day - Keeps yearly wassel, ever gay, - With festive mirth and glee. - - Lordings list, for we tell you true; - CHRISTMAS loves the jolly crew - That cloudy care defy: - His liberal board is deftly spread - With manchet loaves and wastel-bread; - His guests with fish and flesh are fed, - Nor lack the stately pye. - - Lordings, it is our hosts' command, - And Christmas joins him hand in hand, - To drain the brimming bowl: - And I'll be foremost to obey: - Then pledge me sirs, and drink away, - For CHRISTMAS revels here to day - And sways without controul. - Now _Wassel_ to you all! and merry may ye be! - But foul that wight befall, who _Drinks_ not _Health_ to me!"[200:A] - -_Manchet loaves_, _wastel-bread_, and the _stately pye_, that is, -a _peacock_ or _pheasant_ pye, were still common in the days of -Shakspeare. During the prevalence of chivalry, it was usual for the -knights to take their vows of enterprise, at a solemn feast, on the -presentation to each knight, in turn, of a roasted peacock in a golden -dish. For this was afterwards substituted, though only in a culinary -light, and as the most magnificent dish which could be brought to -table, a peacock in a pie, preserving as much as possible the form of -the bird, with the head elevated above the crust, the beak richly gilt, -and the beautiful tail spread out to its full extent. In allusion to -these superb dishes a ludicrous oath was prevalent in Shakspeare's -time, which he has, with much propriety, put into the mouth of Justice -Shallow, who, soliciting the stay of the fat knight, exclaims, - - "By _cock and pye_, sir, you shall not away to night."[201:A] - -The use of the peacock, however, as one of the articles of a second -course, continued to the close of the seventeenth century; for Gervase -Markham, in the ninth edition of his _English House-Wife_, London 1683, -enumerating the articles and ordering of a _great feast_, mentions -this, among other birds, now seldom seen as objects of cookery; "then -in the second course she shall first preferr the lesser wild-fowl, as -&c. then the lesser land-fowl as &c. &c. then the great wild-fowl, as -_bittern_, _hearn_, _shoveler_, _crane_, bustard, and such like. Then -the greater land-fowl, as PEACOCKS, phesant, _puets_, _gulls_, -&c."[201:B] - -Numerous collections of _Carols_, or _festal chansons_, to be sung -at the various feasts and ceremonies of the Christmas-holidays, were -published during the sixteenth century. One of the earliest of these -was printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1521, and entitled _Christmasse -carolles_. It contains, among many very curious specimens of this -species of popular poetry, one, which not only contributed to the -hilarity of our ancestors in the reigns of Henry, Elizabeth, and James, -but is still in use, though with many alterations, in Queen's College, -Oxford; it is designated as _a Carol bryngyng in the bores head_, which -was the first dish served up at the baron's high table in the great -hall on Christmas-day, and was usually accompanied by a procession, -with the sound of trumpets and other instruments. - - "_Caput Apri defero, - Reddens laudes Domino._ - The bores head in hande bringe I, - With garlandes gay and rosemary. - I pray you all synge merily, - _Qui estis in convivio_. - - The bores head, I understande, - Is the chefe servyce in this lande: - Loke wherever it be fande - _Servite cum cantico_. - - Be gladde lordes, both more and lasse, - For this hath ordayned our stewarde - To chere you all this christmasse, - The bores head with mustarde."[202:A] - -For the hospitality, indeed, the merriment and good cheer, which -prevailed during the season of Christmas, this country was peculiarly -distinguished in the sixteenth century. Setting aside the splendid -manner in which this festival was kept at court, and in the capital, we -may appeal to the country, in confirmation of the assertion; the hall -of the nobleman and country-gentleman, and even the humbler mansions -of the yeoman and husbandman, vied with the city in the exhibition -of plenty, revelry, and sport. Of the mode in which the farmer and -his servants enjoyed themselves, on this occasion, a good idea may -be formed from the poem of Tusser, the first edition of which thus -admonishes the housewife:— - - "Get ivye and hull, woman deck up thyne house: - and take this same brawne, for to seeth and to souse. - Provide us good chere, for thou know'st the old guise: - olde customes, that good be, let no man despise. - - At Christmas be mery, and thanke god of all - and feast thy pore neighbours, the great with the small."[202:B] - -And in subsequent impressions, the articles of the _Christmas -husbandlie fare_ are more particularly enumerated; for instance, good -drinke, a blazing fire in the hall, brawne, pudding and souse, and -mustard _with all_, beef, mutton, and pork, shred or minced pies _of -the best_, pig, veal, goose, capon, and turkey, cheese, apples, and -nuts, with _jolie carols_; a pretty ample provision for the rites of -hospitality, and a powerful security against the inclemencies of the -season! - -The Hall of the baron, knight, or squire, was the seat of the same -festivities, the same gambols, wassailing, mummery, and mirth, which -usually took place in the palaces and mansions of the metropolis, and -of these Jonson has given us a very curious epitome in his _Masque of -Christmas_, where he has personified the season and its attributes in -the following manner: - - -"_Enter CHRISTMAS with two or three of the Guard._ - - "He is attir'd in round hose, long stockings, a close - doublet, a high crownd hat with a broach, a long thin beard, - a truncheon, little ruffes, white shoes, his scarffes, and - garters tyed crosse, and his drum beaten before him.— - - -"The names of his CHILDREN, with their attyres. - - "_Mis-rule._ In a velvet cap with a sprig, a short cloake, - great yellow ruffe like a reveller, his torch-bearer bearing a - rope, a cheese and a basket. - - "_Caroll._ A long tawny coat, with a red cap, and a flute at - his girdle, his torch-bearer carrying a song booke open. - - "_Minc'd Pie._ Like a fine cooke's wife, drest neat; her man - carrying a pie, dish, and spoones. - - "_Gamboll._ Like a tumbler, with a hoope and bells; his - torch-bearer arm'd with a cole-staffe, and a blinding cloth. - - "_Post And Paire._ With a paire-royall of aces in his hat; - his garment all done over with payres, and purrs; his squier - carrying a box, cards and counters. - - "_New-Yeares-Gift._ In a blew coat, serving-man like, with - an orange, and a sprig of rosemarie guilt on his head, his - hat full of broaches, with a coller of gingerbread, his - torch-bearer carrying a march-paine, with a bottle of wine on - either arme. - - "_Mumming._ In a masquing pied suite, with a visor, his - torch-bearer carrying the boxe, and ringing it. - - "_Wassall._ Like a neat sempster, and songster; her page - bearing a browne bowle, drest with ribbands, and rosemarie - before her. - - "_Offering._ In a short gowne, with a porter's staffe in his - hand; a wyth borne before him, and a bason by his torch-bearer. - - "_Babie-Coche._ Drest like a boy, in a fine long coat, biggin, - bib, muckender, and a little dagger; his usher bearing a great - cake with a beane, and a pease."[203:A] - -Of these personified attributes we have already noticed, at -some length, the most material, such as _Misrule_, _Caroll_, -_New-Year's-Gift_ and _Wassall_; to the account, however, which has -been given of the Summer Lord of Misrule, from Stubbes's Anatomie of -Abuses, it will be here necessary to add, that the sway of this mock -prince, both in town and country, was still more absolute during the -Christmas-holidays; "what time," says Holinshed, "of old ordinarie -course there is alwaies one appointed to make sport in the court, -called commonlie Lord of Misrule: whose office is not unknowne to -such as have beene brought up in noblemen's houses, and among great -house-keepers, which use liberal feasting in that season."[204:A] -Stowe, likewise, has recorded, in his Survey, the universal domination -of this holiday monarch. "In the feast of Christmas," he remarks, -"there was in the king's house, wheresoever he was lodged, a _Lord of -Misrule_, or _Master of merry desports_, and the like had yee in the -house of every nobleman of honour, or good worship, were he spirituall -or temporall. Amongst the which, the Maior of London, and either of the -Sheriffes had their severall Lords of Misrule, ever contending without -quarrell or offence, who should make the rarest pastimes to delight -the beholders. These Lords beginning their rule on Alhallow Eve, -continued the same til the morrow after the feast of the Purification, -commonly called Candlemas-day: In all which space, there were fine and -subtill disguisings, maskes and mummeries, with playing at cardes for -counters, nayles and points _in every house_, more for pastime than for -gaine."[204:B] - -In short, the directions which are to be found for a grand Christmas -in the capital, were copied with equal splendour and profusion in the -houses of the opulent gentlemen in the country, who made it a point to -be even lavish at this season of the year. We may, therefore, consider -the following description as applying accurately to the Christmas -hospitality of the Baron's hall. - -"On Christmas-day, service in the church ended, the gentlemen presently -repair into the hall to breakfast, with brawn, mustard, and malmsey. - -"At dinner the butler, appointed for the Christmas, is to see the -tables covered and furnished: and the ordinary butlers of the house -are decently to set bread, napkins, and trenchers, in good form, at -every table; with spoones and knives. At the first course is served in -a fair and large bore's head, upon a silver platter, with minstralsye. - -"Two 'servants' are to attend at supper, and to bear two fair torches -of wax, next before the musicians and trumpeters, and stand above the -fire with the music, till the first course be served in through the -hall. Which performed, they, with the musick, are to return into the -buttery. The like course is to be observed in all things, during the -time of Christmas. - -"At night, before supper, are revels and dancing, and so also after -supper, during the twelve daies of Christmas. The Master of the Revels -is, after dinner and supper, to sing a caroll, or song; and command -other gentlemen then there present to sing with him and the company; -and so it is very decently performed."[205:A] - -Beside the revelry and dancing here mentioned, we may add, that it was -customary, at this season, after the Christmas sports and games had -been indulged in, until the performers were weary, to gather round the -ruddy fire, and tell tales of legendary lore, or popular superstition. -Herrick, recording the diversions of this period, mentions one of them -as consisting of "winter's tales about the hearth[205:B];" and Grose, -speaking of the source whence he had derived many of the superstitions -narrated in the concluding section of his "Provincial Glossary," says, -that he gives them, as they had, from age to age, been "related to a -closing circle of attentive hearers, assembled in a winter's evening, -round the capacious chimney of an old hall or manor-house;" and he -adds, that tales of this description formed, among our ancestors, "a -principal part of rural conversation, in all large assemblies, _and -particularly those in Christmas holidays, during the burning of the -Yule-block_."[205:C] - -Of the conviviality which universally reigned during these holidays, -a good estimate may be taken by a few lines from the author of -Hesperides, who, addressing a friend at Christmas-tide, makes the -following request: - - ———— "When your faces shine - With bucksome meat and cap'ring wine, - Remember us in cups full crown'd,— - Untill the fired chesnuts leape - For joy, to see the fruits ye reape - From the plumpe challice, and the cup, - That tempts till it be tossed up:— - —— —— —— —— carouse - Till Liber Pater[206:A] twirles the house - About your eares;—— - "Then" to the bagpipe all addresse, - Till sleep takes place of wearinesse: - And thus throughout, with Christmas playes, - Frolick the full twelve holy-dayes."[206:B] - -We shall close this detail of the ceremonies and festivities of -Christmas with a passage from the descriptive muse of Mr. Walter -Scott, in which he has collected, with his usual accuracy, and with -his almost unequalled power of costume-painting, nearly all the -striking circumstances which distinguished the celebration of this high -festival, from an early period, to the close of the sixteenth century. -They form a picture which must delight, both from the nature of its -subject, and from the truth and mellowness of its colouring. - - —— "Well our Christian sires of old - Loved when the year its course had rolled, - And brought blithe Christmas back again, - With all his hospitable train. - Domestic and religious rite - Gave honour to the holy night: - On Christmas eve the bells were rung;— - The damsel donned her kirtle sheen; - The hall was dressed with holly green; - Forth to the wood did merry-men go, - To gather in the misletoe. - Then opened wide the baron's hall - To vassal, tenant, serf and all; - Power laid his rod of rule aside, - And Ceremony doffed his pride. - The heir with roses in his shoes, - That night might village partner chuse; - The lord, underogating, share - The vulgar game of "post and pair." - All hailed, with uncontrolled delight, - And general voice, the happy night, - That to the cottage, as the crown, - Brought tidings of salvation down. - The fire with well dried logs supplied, - Went roaring up the chimney wide; - The huge hall-table's oaken face, - Scrubbed till it shone, the day to grace, - Bore then upon its massive board - No mark to part the squire and lord. - Then was brought in the lusty brawn, - By old blue-coated serving-man; - Then the grim boar's-head frowned on high, - Crested with bays and rosemary. - Well can the green-garbed ranger tell, - How, when, and where, the monster fell; - What dogs before his death he tore, - And all the baiting of the boar. - The wassol round, in good brown bowls, - Garnished with ribbons, blithely trowls. - There the huge sirloin recked: hard by - Plumb-porridge stood, and Christmas pye; - Nor failed old Scotland to produce, - At such high tide, her savoury goose. - Then came the merry masquers in, - And carols roared with blithesome din; - If unmelodious was the song, - It was a hearty note, and strong. - Who lists may in their mumming see - Traces of ancient mystery; - White shirts supplied the masquerade, - And smutted cheeks the visors made; - But, O! what masquers, richly dight, - Can boast of bosoms half so light! - England was merry England, when - Old Christmas brought his sports again. - 'Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale; - 'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale; - A Christmas gambol oft could cheer - The poor man's heart through half the year."[208:A] - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[124:A] Selden, under the article Pope. The _Table Talk_, though not -printed until A. D. 1689, is a work illustrative of the era under our -consideration. - -[126:A] Nichols's Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth, -vol. i. preface, p. 25-28. - -[127:A] Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 163. - -[128:A] Galfred. Monumeth. l. 3. c. 1. _Robert_ of _Gloucester_ gives -us a similar account of the origin of this ceremony, and makes the -same observation as to its general prevalency. The rude lines of the -ancient poet have been thus beautifully paraphrased in the Antiquarian -Repertory:— - - 'Health, my Lord King,' the sweet Rowena said— - 'Health,' cried the Chieftain to the Saxon maid; - Then gaily rose, and, 'mid the concourse wide, - Kiss'd her hale lips, and plac'd her by his side. - At the soft scene such gentle thoughts abound, - That healths and kisses 'mongst the guests went round: - From this the social custom took its rise, - We still retain, and still must keep the prize. - -[129:A] "The ingenious remarker on this representation observes, that -it is the figure of the old Wassel-Bowl, so much the delight of our -hardy ancestors, who on the vigil of the New-Year never failed to -assemble round the glowing hearth, with their chearful neighbours, -and then in the spicy Wassel-Bowl (which testified the goodness of -their hearts) drowned every former animosity, an example worthy modern -imitation. _Wassel_ was the word, _Wassel_ every guest returned as he -took the circling goblet from his friend, whilst song and civil mirth -brought in the infant year." Brand's Observations, by Ellis, vol. i. p. -3. - -[129:B] Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare and of Ancient Manners, -vol. ii. p. 209, 210. - -[129:C] Act i. sc. 4. Reed's edit. vol. xviii. p. 64. - -[129:D] Act i. sc. 7. Reed, vol. x. p. 88. - -[129:E] Act i. sc. 4. Reed, vol. xvii. p. 49. - -[130:A] Act v. sc. 2. Reed, vol. vii. p. 165. - -[130:B] Epigrammes i. booke folio 1640, p. 50. - -[130:C] Jonson's Works, fol. vol. ii. 1640. - -[130:D] Act v. sc. 1. - -[131:A] Warton's Milton, 2d edit. p. 160. The _Peg Tankard_, a species -of Wassail-Bowl introduced by the Saxons, was still in use in the days -of Shakspeare. I am in possession of one, which was given to a member -of my family about one hundred and fifty years ago; it is of chased -silver, containing nearly two quarts, and is divided by four pegs. - -This form of the _wassail_ or _wish-health bowl_ was introduced -by _Dunstan_, with the view of checking the intemperance of his -countrymen, which for a time it effected; but subsequently the remedy -was converted into an additional stimulus to excess; "for, refining -upon Dunstan's plan, each was obliged to drink precisely to a pin, -whether he could sustain a quantity of liquor equal to others or not: -and to that end it became a rule, that whether they exceeded, or fell -short of the prescribed bumper, they were alike compelled to drink -_again_, until they reached the next mark. In the year 1102, the -_priests_, who had not been backward in joining and encouraging these -drunken assemblies, were ordered to avoid such abominations, and wholly -to _discontinue_ the practice of "DRINKING TO PEGS." Some of these PEG -or PIN CUPS, or _Bowls_, and PIN or PEG TANKARDS, are yet to be found -in the cabinets of antiquaries; and we are to trace from their use -some common terms yet current among us. When a person is much elated, -we say he is "IN A MERRY PIN," which no doubt originally meant, he had -reached that _mark_ which had deprived him of his usual sedateness -and sobriety: we talk of taking a man "A PEG LOWER," when we imply we -shall check him in any forwardness; a saying which originated from a -regulation that deprived all those of their turn of drinking, _or of -their Peg_, who had become troublesome in their liquor: from the like -rule of society came also the expression of "HE IS A PEG TOO LOW," -_i. e._ has been restrained too far, when we say that a person is not in -equal spirits with his company; while we also remark of an individual, -that he is getting on "PEG BY PEG," or, in other words, he is taking -greater freedoms than he ought to do, which formerly meant, he was -either drinking out of his turn, or, contrary to express regulation, -did not confine himself to his proper portion, or _peg_, but drank -into the _next_, thereby taking a double quantity." Brady's Clavis -Calendaria, vol. ii. p. 322, 323. 1st edit. - -[133:A] Nichols's Progresses of Elizabeth, vol. i. Entertainments at -the Temple, &c. p. 22. 24. - -[134:A] The only rite that still lingers among us on the Twelfth -Day, is the election of a King and Queen, a ceremony which is now -usually performed by drawing tickets, and of which Mr. Brand, in his -commentary on Bourne's Antiquities of the Common People, has extracted -the subsequent detail from the Universal Magazine of 1774:—"I went to -a Friend's house in the country to partake of some of those innocent -pleasures that constitute a merry Christmas; I did not return till I -had been present at _drawing King and Queen_, and _eaten_ a _Slice_ of -the _Twelfth Cake_, made by the fair hands of my good friend's Consort. -After Tea Yesterday, a _noble Cake_ was produced, and two _Bowls_, -containing the _fortunate chances_ for the different sexes. Our Host -_filled up_ the _tickets_; the whole company, except the _King_ and -_Queen_, were to be _Ministers of State_, _Maids of Honour_, or _Ladies -of the Bed-chamber_. - -"Our kind _Host_ and _Hostess_, whether by _design_, or _accident_ -became _King_ and _Queen_. According to _Twelfth-Day Law_, each _party_ -is to _support_ their _character_ till Mid-night. After supper one -called for a _Kings Speech_, &c." Observations on Popular Antiquities, -edit. of 1810, p. 228. - -[135:A] Dr. Johnson's definition of the word _Rock_ in the sense of the -text, is as follows: - -"(_rock_, Danish; _rocca_, Italian; _rucca_, Spanish; _spinrock_, -Dutch) A distaff held in the hand, from which the wool was spun by -twirling a ball below." I shall add one of his illustrations: - - "A learned and a manly soul - I purpos'd her; that should with even powers, - The _rock_, the spindle, and the sheers, controul - Of destiny, and spin her own free hours. - _Ben Jonson._" - -[135:B] Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 564. Albion's England, chap. 24. - -[136:A] Hesperides, p. 374. - -[137:A] Tusser Redivivus, p. 79, 80. - -[137:B] Olai Magni Gent. Septent. Breviar. p. 341. - -[137:C] See Brand on Bourne's Antiquitates Vulgares, p. 194; and -Strutt's Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, p. 307. edit. -of 1810. Of this curious exhibition on _Plough-Monday_, I have often, -during my boyhood, at York, been a delighted spectator, and, as far as -I can now recollect, the above description appears to be an accurate -detail of what took place. - -[138:A] Act iii. sc. 9. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 171. - -[138:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 172. - -[138:C] Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 244. - -[138:D] Fuller's Church History, p. 222. - -[140:A] Hesperides, p. 337. - -[140:B] _Teend_, to kindle. - -[140:C] Hesperides, p. 337, 338. - -[141:A] Hesperides, p. 361. Dramatic amusements were frequent on -this day, as well in the halls of the nobility in the country, as at -court. With regard to their exhibition in the latter, many documents -exist; for instance, in a chronological series of Queen Elizabeth's -payments for plays acted before her (from the Council Registers) is the -following entry: - -"18th March, 1573-4. To Richard Mouncaster, (Mulcaster, the -Grammarian,) for two plays presented before her on Candlemas-day and -Shrove-tuesday last, 20 marks."[141:B] - -[141:B] Gentleman's Magazine, vide life of Richard Mulcaster, May, -June, and July, 1800. - -[142:A] Hilman's Tusser, p. 80. Mr. Hilman seems to have had as great -an aversion to tobacco as King James; for, in another part of his -notes, he observes, that "_Suffolk_ and _Essex_ were the counties -wherein our author was a farmer, and no where are better dairies for -butter, and neater housewives than there, _if too many of them at -present do not smoke tobacco_." p. 19. - -[143:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 272, 273. Act ii. sc. -2. Warner has also noticed this culinary article as appropriated -to Shrove-Tuesday in his Albion's England, chapter xxiv., where, -enumerating the feasts and holidays of his time, he says, they had - - "At fasts-eve pan-puffes."— - _Chalmers's Poets_, vol. iv. p. 564. - -_Shrove_ or _Pancake Tuesday_, is still called, in the North, -_Fastens_, or _Fasterns E'en_, as preceding _Ash-Wednesday_, the first -day of Lent; and the turning of these cakes in the pan is yet observed -as a feat of dexterity and skill. - -Of the _pancake-bell_ which used to be rung on Shrove-Tuesday, -Taylor, the Water Poet, has given us the following most singular -account:—"Shrove-Tuesday, at whose entrance in the morning all the -whole kingdom is unquiet, but by that time the clocke strikes eleven, -which (by the help of a knavish sexton) is commonly before nine, then -there is a bell rung, cal'd pancake-bell, the sound whereof makes -thousands of people distracted, and forgetful either of manners or -humanitie." See his Works, folio, 1630. p. 115. - -[143:B] —_my wife's as all_;] _i. e._ as all women are. Farmer. - -[143:C] Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. i. p. 225. note (p). - -[144:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 235. - -[144:B] See his Masque on the Shrove-tuesday at night 1608, and -Chloridia, a Masque, at Shrove-tide, 1630. - -[144:C] The author of _Apollo Shroving_ was _William Hawkins_, -who likewise published "Corolla varia contexta per Guil. Haukinum -scholarcham Hadleianum in agro Suffolcienci. Cantabr. ap. Tho. Buck." -12mo. 1634. - -It may be observed, that _Shrove-Tuesday_ was considered by the -_apprentices_ as their peculiar _holiday_, and it appears that in -the days of Shakspeare, they claimed a right of punishing, at this -season, women of ill-fame. To these customs Dekker and Sir Thomas -Overbury allude, when the former says: "They presently (like Prentises -upon Shrove-Tuesday) take the lawe into their owne handes and do what -they list." Seven Deadly Sinnes of London, 4to. p. 35. 1606. And when -the latter, in his Characters, speaking of a bawd, remarks: "Nothing -daunts her so much as the approach of Shrove-Tuesday;" and describing a -"roaring boy," adds, "he is a supervisor of brothels, and in them is a -more unlawful reformer of vice than prentices on Shrove-Tuesday." - -[144:D] History of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 387. - -[145:A] Stow's Survey of London, edit. of 1618, p. 142. - -[145:B] Vide Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 250. - -[145:C] Vide Hogarth Moralized, p. 134. - -[145:D] "In some places," says Mr. Strutt, "it was a common practice -to put the cock into an earthern vessel made for the purpose, and to -place him in such a position that his head and tail might be exposed to -view; the vessel, with the bird in it, was then suspended across the -street, about twelve or fourteen feet from the ground, to be thrown -at by such as chose to make trial of their skill; two-pence was paid -for four throws, and he who broke the pot, and delivered the cock from -his confinement, had him for a reward. At North-Walsham, in Norfolk, -about forty years ago, some wags put an owl into one of these vessels; -and having procured the head and tail of a dead cock, they placed them -in the same position as if they had appertained to a living one; the -deception was successful; and at last, a labouring man belonging to the -town, after several fruitless attempts, broke the pot, but missed his -prize; for the owl being set at liberty, instantly flew away, to his -great astonishment, and left him nothing more than the head and tail -of the dead bird, with the potsherds, for his money and his trouble; -this ridiculous adventure exposed him to the continual laughter of the -town's people, and obliged him to quit the place, to which I am told he -returned no more." Sports and Pastimes, p. 251. - -"For many years," observes Mr. Brady, "our public diaries, and monthly -publications, took infinite pains to impress upon the minds of the -populace a just abhorrence of such barbarities (cock-fighting and -cock-throwing); and, by way of strengthening their arguments, they -failed not to detail in the most pathetic terms the following fact, -which for the interest it contains is here transcribed, from the -Obituary of the Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1789. 'Died, April 4th, -at Tottenham, JOHN ARDESOIF, esquire, a young man of large fortune, -and in the splendour of his horses and carriages, rivalled by few -country-gentlemen. His table was that of hospitality, where it may be -said he sacrificed too much to conviviality. _Mr. Ardesoif_ was very -fond of cock-fighting, and had a favourite cock upon which he had won -many profitable matches. The last bet he laid upon this cock he lost, -which so enraged him, that he had the bird tied to a spit, and roasted -alive before a large fire. The screams of the miserable animal were so -affecting, that some gentlemen who were present attempted to interfere, -which so enraged _Mr. Ardesoif_, that he seized a poker, and with the -most furious vehemence declared, that he would kill the first man who -interfered: but in the midst of his passionate asseverations, _he fell -down dead upon the spot_.' Clavis Calendaria, 1st edit. vol. i. p. 200, -201." - -[146:A] Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 268. - -[147:A] Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 277. "Why they should play -at _Hand Ball_ at this time," observes Mr. Bourne, "rather than any -other game, I have not been able to find out, but I suppose it will -readily be granted, that this custom of so playing, was the original of -our present recreations and diversions on Easter Holy Days," p. 277. - -[147:B] Brand on Bourne, p. 280. note. The _morris dance_, of which -such frequent mention is made in our old poets, was frequently -performed at Easter; but, as we shall have occasion to notice this -amusement, at some length, under the article "May-Day," we shall here -barely notice that Warner has recorded it as an Easter diversion in the -following line: - - "At _Paske begun_ our _morrise_: and ere Penticost our May." - _Albion's England_, Chap. xxiv. - -[147:C] _Rack_ or _Manger_. - -[147:D] Selden's Table-Talk, art. Christmas. - -[148:A] Fuller's Worthies, p. 188. - -[148:B] Bourne apud Brand, p. 316. - -[148:C] The following whimsical custom, relates Mr. Brand, "is still -retained at the city of Durham on these holidays. On one day the men -take off the women's shoes, which are only to be redeem'd by a present; -on another day the women take off the men's in like manner." Bourne -apud Brand, p. 282. - -Stow also records, that in the week before Easter there were "great -shewes made, for the fetching in of a twisted tree, or With, as they -tearmed it, out of the Woods into the King's house, and the like into -every man's house of Honor or Worship," p. 150.; but whether this was -general throughout the kingdom, is not mentioned. - -[149:A] Vide Ross, as published by Hearne, p. 105. - -[149:B] Spelman's Glossary, under the title Hock-day. - -[151:A] Nichols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i. Laneham's -Letter, p. 32-34. - -[151:B] That Hock-tide was _generally_ observed in the days of -Shakspeare, is evident from the following passage in Withers's "Abuses -Stript and Whipt." 8vo. London. 1618. - - "Who think (forsooth) because that once a yeare - They can affoord the poore some slender cheere, - Observe their country feasts, or common doles, - And entertaine their Christmass Wassaile Boles, - Or els because that, _for the Churche's good, - They in defence of HOCKTIDE custome stood_: - A Whitsun-ale, or some such goodly motion, - The better to procure young men's devotion: - What will they do, I say, that think to please - Their mighty God with such fond things as these? - Sure, very ill." P. 232. - -[152:A] Vide Pennant's Scotland, p. 91.; and Jamieson's Etymological -Dictionary of the Scottish Language. - -[152:B] Olaus Magnus de Gentibus Septentrionalibus, lib. xv. c. 8. - -[153:A] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. i. p. 378. - -[153:B] Bourne's Antiquitates Vulgares apud Brand, p. 283. - -[154:A] Vide Borlase's Natural History of Cornwall, &c. - -[154:B] Stubbes's Anatomie of Abuses, p. 109. edit. 1595, 4to. - -[155:A] Book ii. Song 4. Chalmers's Poets, vol. vi. p. 296.—It was no -uncommon thing also for the milk-maids to join the procession to the -May-pole on this day, leading a cow decorated with ribands of various -colours, intermingled with knots of flowers, and wreathes of oaken -leaves, and with the horns of the animal gilt. - -[155:B] Stow's Survey of London, p. 150. 1618. - -[155:C] Act i. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 327. - -[156:A] Act iv. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 452, 453.—"The -_rite_ of this month," observes Mr. Steevens, "was once so universally -observed, that even authors thought their works would obtain a more -favourable reception, if published on _May-day_. The following is a -title-page to a metrical performance by a once celebrated poet, Thomas -Churchyard: - - 'Come bring in _Maye_ with me, - My _Maye_ is fresh and greene; - A subjectes harte, an humble mind, - To serve a mayden Queene. - -'A discourse of rebellion, drawne forth for to warne the wanton wittes -how to kepe their heads on their shoulders. - -'Imprinted at London, in Flete-streat by William Griffith, Anno Domini -1570. The _first_ of _Maye_.'" - -[156:B] Act v. sc. 3. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 201. - -[157:A] Herrick's Hesperides, p. 74, 75. - -[158:A] Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 473. - -[158:B] Anatomie of Abuses, p. 107. - -[158:C] Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 474. - -[158:D] Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 440. - -[158:E] Midsummer-Night's Dream, act iii. sc. 2. Reed's Shakspeare, -vol. iv. p. 427. - -[159:A] Act ii. sc. 2. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 278. - -[159:B] Drayton's Poly-Olbion, Song 26. Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. -373, 374. - -[160:A] Warner's Albion's England, chapter 21. Chalmers's Poets, vol. -iv. p. 564. - -[160:B] As You Like It, act i. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. -13. - -[160:C] Lysons's Environs of London, vol. i. p. 227. - -[160:D] Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature and scarce Books, vol. i. p. -401. - -[160:E] Act iii. sc. 4. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 364. - -[161:A] Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 451. - -[162:A] Fetherston's Dialogue agaynst light, lewde, and lascivious -dancing, 1582, 12mo. sign. D. 7. apud Douce. - -[162:B] The honestie of this age, 1615, 4to. p. 35. - -[162:C] First part of King Henry IV. act iii. sc. 3. Reed's Shakspeare, -vol. xi. p. 362. - -[163:A] Act iv. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 266. - -[163:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 438. - -[163:C] Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 450. Fordun's -Scotichronicon, 1759, folio, tom. ii. p. 104. "In this time," says -Stow, that is, about the year 1190, in the reign of Richard I. "were -many robbers, and outlawes, among the which Robin Hood and Little John, -renowned theeves, continued in woods, despoyling and robbing the goods -of the rich." Annals, p. 159. - -[163:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 267. note by Malone. - -[164:A] Eclogue iii. Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 433. - -[164:B] Second Part of King Henry the Sixth, act iii. sc. 1. Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. xiii. p. 276. - -[164:C] Plaine Percevall the peace-maker of England, &c. &c. Vide -Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 250. - -[165:A] Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 251. - -[165:B] Act iv. sc. 3. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 345. - -[165:C] Canto Madrigals, of 5 and 6 parts, apt for the viols and -voices. Made and newly published by Thomas Weelkes of the Coledge at -Winchester, Organist. At London printed by Thomas Este, the assigne of -Thomas Morley. 1600. 4to. - -[166:A] Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 34. - -[166:B] It is probable indeed from the subsequent Madrigal, that the -Hobby-horse was frequently attached to, and provided for, by the town -or village. - - "Our country swains, in the morris daunce, - Thus woo'd and win their brides; - _Will, for our towne, the hobby horse - A pleasure frolike rides_."[166:C] - -[166:C] Vide Cantus primo. Madrigals to 3, 4, 5, and 6 voyces. Made and -newly published by Thomas Weelkes at London, printed by Thomas Este, -1597, 4to. Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 9-10. - -[167:A] "The English were famed," observes Dr. Grey, "for these and -such like diversions; and even the old, as well as young persons, -formerly followed them: a remarkable instance of which is given by Sir -William Temple, (Miscellanea, Part 3. Essay of Health and Long Life,) -who makes mention of a Morrice Dance in Herefordshire, from a noble -person, who told him he had a pamphlet in his library written by a very -ingenious gentleman of that county, which gave an account how, in such -a year of King James's reign, there went about the country a sett of -Morrice Dancers, composed of _ten_ men, who danced a Maid Marian, and -a taber and pipe: and how these ten, one with another, made up twelve -hundred years. 'Tis not so much, says he, that so many in one county -should live to that age, as that they should be in vigour and humour to -travel and dance." Grey's Notes on Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 382. - -[168:A] _Courtpie_, in women's dress, a short vest. Strutt. - -[168:B] _Watchet-coloured_, pale blue. Strutt. - -[168:C] _Rochet_, a lawn garment resembling a surplice gathered at the -wrists. Strutt. - -[168:D] _Baudekin_, a cloth of gold tissue, with figures in silk, for -female dress. Strutt. - -[169:A] The mole-taker, in this place, personates the character of the -_fool_ or domestic buffoon. - -[170:A] The management of the hobby-horse appears to have been the -most difficult part of the May-day festivities, and from the following -passage in an old play, to have required some preparatory discipline. -A character personating this piece of pageantry, and angry with the -mayor of the town as being his rival, calls out, "Let the mayor play -the hobby-horse among his brethren, an he will, I hope our towne-lads -cannot want a hobby-horse. Have I practic'd my reines, my careeres, my -pranckers, my ambles, my false trotts, my smooth ambles and Canterbury -paces, and shall master mayor put me besides the hobby-horse? Have I -borrowed the fore horse bells, his plumes and braveries, nay had his -mane new shorne and frizl'd, and shall the mayor put me besides the -hobby-horse?" The Vow breaker, by Sampson. - -[170:B] The morris-dance in this description of the May-game seems to -have been performed chiefly by the fool, with the occasional assistance -of the hobby-horse, which was always decorated with bells, and the -dragon. - -[171:A] Strutt's Queenhoo-Hall, a romance, vol. i. p. 13. et seq. - -[171:B] Act iii. sc. 2. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 198. - -[171:C] Act iii. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 53, 54. - -[172:A] Entertainment of the Queen and Prince at Althorpe. 1603. fol. -edit. vol. i. p. 99. - -[172:B] The Metamorphosed Gipsies, fol. edit. vol. 2. p. 65.—This folio -edition of Jonson's works, in two volumes, dated 1640, is not regularly -paged to the close of each volume; for instance, in vol. i. the Dramas -terminate at p. 668, and then the Epigrammes, Forest, Masques, &c. -commence with p. 1. - -[173:A] Act iv. sc. 1.—Jonson in his _Bartholmew Fayre_, acted in the -year 1614, has a character of this kind, a Baker, who has undergone a -similar conversion, and is thus introduced:— - - "_Win. W._ What call you the Reverend _Elder_, you told me of? - your Banbury-man. - - _Joh._ _Rabbi Busy_, Sir, he is more than an _Elder_, he is a - _Prophet_, Sir. - - _Quar._ O, I know him! a Baker, is he not? - - _Joh._ Hee was a Baker, Sir, but hee do's dreame now, and see - visions, he has given over his Trade. - - _Quar._ I remember that too: out of a scruple hee tooke, that - (in spic'd conscience) those Cakes hee made, were serv'd to - _Bridales_, _May poles_, _Morrisses_, and such prophane feasts - and meetings; his Christen-name is _Zeale-of-the-land_ Busye." - Jonson's Works, fol. edit. vol. ii. p. vi. act i. sc. 3. - -[173:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 198, note, Steevens. - -[173:C] Wilson, censuring these indulgences, places the era of the -publication of the Book of Sports under 1617, and says of it, that -"some of the Bishops, pretending _Recreations_, and _liberty_ to -servants and the common people (of which they carved to themselves too -much already) procured the King to put out a Book to permit dancing -about _May-poles_, _Church-ales_, and such debauched exercises upon -the Sabbath-Day after Evening-Prayer (being a specious way to make the -King, and them, acceptable to the _Rout_): which Book came out with -a command, injoyning all Ministers to read it to their parishioners, -and to approve of it; and those that did not, were brought into the -high _Commission_, imprisoned and suspended." The History of Great -Britain, being the Life and Reign of King James the First, relating to -what passed from his first access to the Crown, till his death. Folio, -London 1653. p. 105. - -[174:A] Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, 8th edit. fol. p. 174. - -[174:B] "The last May-pole in London was taken down in 1717, and -conveyed to Wanstead in Essex, where it was fixed in the Park for -the support of an immensely large telescope. Its original height was -upwards of one hundred feet above the surface of the ground, and its -station on the East side of Somerset-House, where the new church now -stands.—POPE thus perpetuates its remembrance: - - Amidst the area wide they took their stand, - Where the tall May-pole once o'erlook'd the Strand." - Clavis Calendaria, vol. i. p. 318. - -[175:A] Act ii. sc. 4. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 354. - -[175:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 231. act ii. sc. 6. - -[175:C] Ascham's Works apud Bennet, p. 62, 63. - -[176:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xxi. p. 155. - -[176:B] Jonson's Works, fol. edit. - -[176:C] "A leet," observes Bullokar, in his _English Expositor_, 1616, -"is a court, or law-day, holden commonly every half year." - -[176:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 33. act i. sc. 2. - -[176:E] Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 129, note. - -[177:A] MSS. Bibl. Bod., vol. cxlviii. fol. 97. - -[178:A] Carew's Survey of Cornwall, edit. of 1769. p. 68. - -[178:B] Anatomie of Abuses, A. D. 1595. - -[179:A] Jonson's Works, fol. edit. vol. i. p. 166. - -[179:B] The Lady of Pleasure, act i. - -[179:C] The former of which is thus noticed by Sir Philip Sidney:— - - "Strephon, with leavy twigs of laurell tree, - A garlant made on temples for to weare, - _For he then chosen was the dignitie - Of village Lord that Whitsuntide to beare_." - The Countesse of Pembroke's Arcadie, - 7th edit. fol. 1629. p. 84. - -[180:A] Anatomie of Abuses, 1595. p. 107. - -[181:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 341. Act iv. sc. 3.—Whitsun -playes or mysteries, which at first were exclusively drawn from the -sacred page, may be traced to the fourteenth century; those which -were performed at Chester have been attributed to Ranulph Higden, the -chronicler, who died 1363. - -[181:B] Blount's Ancient Tenures, p. 49, and Strutt's Sports and -Pastimes, p. 316. - -[182:A] Tusser apud Hilton, p. 80. - -[183:A] Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 443. - -[183:B] Singers of catches in three parts. - -[183:C] By _means_ are meant tenors. - -[183:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 323, 324. Act iv. sc. 2. - -[183:E] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 323. note 5. - -[184:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 334. Act iv. sc. 3.—I believe -the custom of choosing a king and queen at the sheep-shearing feast, -is still continued in several of our counties; that it was commonly -observed, at least, in the time of Thomson, is evident from the -following lines, taken from his description of this festival:— - - "One, chief, in gracious dignity enthron'd, - Shines o'er the rest, the _Pas'tral Queen_, and rays - Her smiles, sweet-beaming on her _Shepherd King_." - Summer. - -[185:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 334, 335. 337, 338. 340. - -[185:B] Dyer's Fleece, book i. _sub finem_. - -[186:A] Tusser Redivivus, p. 104. In the first edition of Tusser, 1557, -this stanza is as follows:— - - "Then welcome thy harvest folke, serveauntes and all: - with mirth and good chere, let them furnish the hall. - The harvest lorde nightly, must give thee a song: - fill him then the blacke boll, or els he hath wrong." - Reprint by Sir Egerton Brydges, p. 19. - -[186:B] Bloomfield's Farmer's Boy, Summer, l. 299. - -[187:A] Paul Hentzner's Travels in England, during the reign of Queen -Elizabeth, translated by Horace, late Earl of Orford. Edit. of 1797. p. -55. - -[187:B] "Anglos vidi spiceam ferre domum in Rheda Imaginem circum -cantantibus promiscuê viris et fœminis, præcedente tibicine aut -tympano." Deprav. Rel. Orig. in verbo _Vacina_. - -[187:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 376. Act v. sc. 1. - -[188:A] Tusser Redivivus, p. 104. - -[188:B] _Hock-cart_,—by this word is meant the _high_ or -_rejoicing-cart_, and was applied to the last load of corn, as -typical of the close of harvest. Thus _Hock-tide_ is derived from the -Saxon _Hoah_-+tid+, or high tide, and is expressive of the height of -festivity. - -[189:A] Hesperides, p. 113-115. - -[190:A] Tusser Redivivus, p. 81. - -[190:B] Ibid. p. 147. - -[190:C] Ibid. p. 77. - -[191:A] Brand on Bourne's Antiquities, p. 392. note edit. 1810. - -[191:B] Ibid. p. 393, 394. - -[192:A] The magnificent reception of Queen Elizabeth at Norwich in -1578, has been recorded with great minuteness, in two tracts, by -Bernard Goldingham and Thomas Churchyard the poet, which are reprinted -in Mr. Nichols's Progresses; these accounts are likewise incorporated -by Abraham Fleming as a supplement to Holinshed, and will be found -in the last edition of this chronicler, in vol. iv. p. 375. The pomp -and pageantry which were exhibited during this regal visit were -equally gorgeous, quaint, and operose; "order was taken there," says -Churchyard, "that every day, for sixe dayes together, a shew of some -strange device should be seene; and the maior and aldermen appointed -among themselves and their breethren, that no person reteyning to -the Queene, shoulde be unfeasted, or unbidden to dinner and supper, -during the space of those sixe dayes: which order was well and wisely -observed, and gained their citie more fame and credite, than they wot -of: for that courtesie of theirs shall remayne in perpetuall memorie, -whiles the walles of their citie standeth."—Nichols's Progresses of Q. -Elizabeth, vol. ii. p. 56. - -[192:B] The wise policy of Elizabeth in establishing the Flemings in -this country gave birth to our vast superiority in the woollen trade; -and the first pageant which met the eyes of Elizabeth on her entrance -into Norwich was the _artizan-strangers_ pageant, illustrative of the -whole process of the manufactory, "a shewe which pleased her Majestie -so greatly, as she particularly viewed the knitting and spinning of -the children, perused the loombes, and noted the several workes and -commodities which were made by these meanes."—Nichols's Progresses, -vol. ii. p. 13. - -[192:C] Gerguntum, a fabulous kind of Briton, who is supposed to have -built Norwich Castle; in the procession which went out of Norwich -to meet the Queen, on the 16th of August, 1578, was "one whiche -represented King GURGUNT, some tyme king of Englande, whiche buylded -the castle of Norwich, called Blanch Flowre, and layde the foundation -of the citie. He was mounted uppon a brave courser, and was thus -furnished: his body armed, his bases of greene and white silke; on his -head a black velvet hat, with a plume of white feathers. There attended -upon him three henchmen in white and greene: one of them did beare his -helmet, the seconde his tergat, the thirde his staffe."—Nichols's -Progresses, vol. ii. p. 5, 6. - -[193:A] The Cabinet, vol. ii. p. 75, 76. - -[193:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 66. - -[194:A] Bourne's Antiquities, p. 172. - -[194:B] A great display of literature on the etymon of the word _Yule_ -will be found in the _Allegories Orientales_ of M. Count de Gebelin, -Paris, 1773. - -[195:A] _Teending_, a word derived from the Saxon, means _kindling_. - -[195:B] _White-loafe_, sometimes called at this period _wastel-bread_ -or cake, from the French _wastiaux_, pastry; implied white bread well -or twice baked, and was considered as a delicacy. - -[195:C] Hesperides, p. 309, 310. - -[196:A] Stowe's Survey of London, 4to. edit., 1618, p. 149, 150. - -[196:B] Vide Gentleman's Magazine for 1765. - -[197:A] Brand on Bourne's Antiquities, p. 193. - -[197:B] Ibid. p. 200, 201. - -[198:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 143. Act ii. sc. 2. - -[198:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 361. Act ii. sc. 2. - -[198:C] Chap. xxx. fol. 57. edit. 1586. - -[199:A] Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 214. - -[199:B] Vide Blount's Ancient Tenures of Land, and Jocular Customs of -some Manors. Beckwith's edit. 8vo. 1784. - -[200:A] Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 215-217. 219. - -[201:A] Act v. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 213. - -[201:B] English House-Wife, p. 99. The pies which he recommends -immediately subsequent to this enumeration are somewhat curious, and -rather of a more substantial nature than those of modern days; for -instance, _red-deer pye_, _gammon of bacon pye_, _wild-bore pye_, and -_roe-pye_. - -[202:A] Vide Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 143. - -[202:B] A hundreth good poyntes of husbandry, 1557. p. 10. - -[203:A] Christmas, His Masque; as it was presented at Court 1616. -Jonson's Works, folio edit. 1640. vol. ii. - -[204:A] Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. iii. p. 1032. edit. 1808. - -[204:B] Stowe's Survey of London, p. 149. edit. 1618. - -[205:A] Nichols's Progresses and Processions of Queen Elizabeth, vol. -i. p. 20, 21. Anno 1562. - -[205:B] Hesperides, p. 145. - -[205:C] Provincial Glossary, Preface, p. 8. 8vo. 1787. - -[206:A] _Liber Pater_, Bacchus. - -[206:B] Hesperides, p. 146. The following passages place in a strong -and interesting point of view, the hospitality of our ancestors during -this season of the year, and will add not a little to the impression -derived from the text. - -"Heretofore, noblemen and gentlemen of fair estates had their heralds -who wore their coate of armes at Christmas, and at other solemne times, -and cryed largesse thrice. They lived in the country like petty kings. -They always eat in Gothic Halls where the Mummings and Loaf-stealing, -and other Christmas sports, were performed. The hearth was commonly -in the middle; whence the saying, _round about our coal-fire_." -Antiquarian Repertory, No. xxvi. from the MS. Collections of Aubrey, -dated 1678. - -"An English Gentleman at the opening of the great day, _i. e._ on -Christmas Day in the morning, had all his tenants and neighbours -entered his Hall by day-break. The strong beer was broached, and the -black jacks went plentifully about with toast, sugar, nutmegg, and -good Cheshire cheese. The Hackin, (the great sausage) must be boiled -by day-break, or else two young men must take the maiden (_i. e._ the -cook,) by the arms and run her round the market place till she is -ashamed of her laziness. - -"In Christmass Holidays, the tables were all spread from the first to -the last; the sirloins of beef, the minced pies, the plumb-porridge, -the capons, turkeys, geese, and plumb-puddings, were all brought upon -the board: every one eat heartily, and was welcome, which gave rise to -the proverb, 'Merry in the hall when beards wag all.'" From a Tract -entitled "Round about our Coal-Fire, or Christmas Entertainments;" of -which the first edition was published, I believe, about the close of -the seventeenth century. - -"Our ancestors considered Christmas in the double light of a holy -commemoration and a cheerful festival; and accordingly distinguished it -by devotion, by vacation from business, by merriment and hospitality. -They seemed eagerly bent to make themselves and every body about them -happy.—The great hall resounded with the tumultuous joys of servants -and tenants, and the gambols they played served as amusement to the -lord of the mansion and his family, who, by encouraging every art -conducive to mirth and entertainment, endeavoured to soften the rigour -of the season, and mitigate the influence of winter."—_The World_, No. -104. - -[208:A] Scott's Marmion. Introduction to Canto Sixth. 8vo. edit. p. -300-303. - -"At present, Christmas meetings," remarks Mr. Brady, "are chiefly -confined to family parties, happy, it must be confessed, though less -jovial in their nature; perhaps, too, less beneficial to society, -because they can be enjoyed on other days not, as originally was the -case, set apart for more general conviviality and sociability; not such -as our old ballads proclaim, and history confirms, in which the most -frigid tempers gave way to relaxation, and all in eager joy were ready -to exclaim, in honour of the festivity,— - - "For, since such delights are thine, - CHRISTMAS, with thy bands I join." - _Clavis Calendaria_, vol. ii. p. 319. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE COUNTRY - CONTINUED—WAKES—FAIRS—WEDDINGS—BURIALS. - - -Having described, in as brief a manner as was consistent with the -nature of our work, the various circumstances accompanying the -celebration of the most remarkable holidays and festivals, in -the country, during the age of Shakspeare, from whose inimitable -compositions we have drawn many pertinent illustrations on nearly -all the subjects as they passed before us; we shall proceed, in the -present chapter, to notice those remaining topics which are calculated -to complete, on the scale adopted, a tolerably correct view of rural -manners and customs, as they existed in the latter half of the -sixteenth, and prior portion of the seventeenth, century. - -A natural transition will carry us, from the description of the rural -festival, to the gaieties of the WAKE or FAIR. Of these terms, indeed, -the former originally implied the vigil which preceded the festival in -honour of the Saint to whom the parish-church was dedicated; for "on -the Eve of this day," remarks Mr. Borlase, in his Cornwall, "prayers -were said, and hymns were sung all night in the church; and from -these watchings the festivals were stiled _Wakes_; which name still -continues in many parts of England, though the vigils have been long -abolished."[209:A] The religious institution, however, of the _Wake_, -whether held on the vigil or Saint's day, was soon forgotten; mirth -and feasting early became the chief objects of this meeting[209:B], -and it, at length, degenerated into something approaching towards a -secular Fair. These Wakes or Fairs, which were rendered more popular in -proportion as they deviated from their devotional origin, were, until -the reign of Henry the Sixth, always held on a Sunday and its eve, a -custom that continued to be partially observed as late as the middle of -the seventeenth century; hence ale-houses, and places of public resort, -in the immediate neighbourhood of church-yards, the former scene of -Wakes, were still common at the close of Shakspeare's life; thus Sir -Thomas Overbury, describing a Sexton, in his _Characters_, published -in 1616, says: "At every church-style commonly there's an ale-house; -where let him (the Sexton) bee found never so idle-pated, hee is still -a grave drunkard." - -The increasing licentiousness and conviviality, however, which attended -these church-yard assemblies, frequented as they were by pedlars and -hawkers of every description, finally occasioned their suppression -in all places, at least, where much traffic was expected. In their -room regular Fairs were established, to which in central or peculiar -stations, the resort, at fixed periods, was immense. - -Yet the _Wake_, the meeting for mere festivity and frolic, still -continued in every village and small town, and though not preceded by -any vigil in the church, was popularly termed the _Wake-Day_. Tusser, -in his catalogue of the "Old Guise," has not forgotten this season of -merriment; on the contrary, he seems to welcome its return with much -cordiality:— - - "Fil oven ful of flawnes, Ginnie passe not for sleepe, - to morrow thy father his wake-daie wil keepe: - Then every wanton may danse at hir wil, - both Tomkin and Tomlin, and Jankin with Gil."[210:A] - -Mr. Hilman, in his edition of Tusser, has made the following -observations on this passage.—"Waking in the church," says he, "was -left off because of some abuses, and we see here it was converted to -wakeing at the oven. The other continued down to our author's days, and -in a great many places continues still to be observed with all sorts -of rural merriments; such as dancing, wrestling, cudgel-playing, &c." -Bourne observes, that the feasting and sporting, on this occasion, -usually lasted for two or three days[211:A]; and Bishop Hall gives -an impressive idea of the revelry and glee which distinguished these -rural assemblages, when he exclaims, "What should I speak of our _merry -Wakes_, and May games—in all which put together, you may well say, -no Greek can be _merrier_ than they."[211:B] Indeed from one end of -the kingdom to the other, from north to south, it would appear, that, -among the country-villages, during the reigns of Elizabeth and her two -immediate successors, Wakes formed one of the principal amusements -of the peasantry, and were anticipated with much eagerness and -expectation. In confirmation of this we need only remark that Drayton, -speaking of Lancashire, declares, that - - —— "every village smokes at _wakes_ with lusty cheer;"[211:C] - -and that Herrick, in Devonshire, has written a very curious little -poem, entitled _The Wake_, which, as strikingly descriptive of the -various business of this festivity, claims here an introduction:— - - "Come Anthea, let us two - Go to feast, as others do. - Tarts and custards, creams and cakes, - Are the junketts still at _Wakes_: - Unto which the tribes resort, - Where the businesse is the sport: - Morris-dancers thou shalt see, - Marian too in pagentrie: - And a Mimick to devise - Many grinning properties. - Players there will be, and those - Base in action as in clothes: - Yet with strutting they will please - The incurious villages. - Neer the dying of the day, - There will be a cudgell-play, - Where a coxcomb will be broke, - Ere a good _word_ can be spoke: - But the anger ends all here, - Drencht in ale, or drown'd in beere. - Happy Rusticks, best content - With the cheapest merriment: - And possesse no other feare, - Than to want the _Wake_ next yeare."[212:A] - -Of the pedlars or hawkers who, in general, formed a constituent part of -these _village-wakes_ an accurate idea may be drawn from the character -of the pedlar Autolycus, in the _Winter's Tale_ of Shakspeare, who is -delineated with the poet's customary strength of pencil, rich humour, -and fidelity to nature. The wares in which he dealt are curiously -enumerated in the following passages:— - - "_Serv._ He hath songs, for men, or women, of all sizes; no - milliner can so fit his customers with gloves[212:B]: he has - the prettiest love-songs for maids; he hath ribands of all - the colours i' the rainbow; points more than all the lawyers - in Bohemia can learnedly handle, though they come to him - by the gross; inkles, caddisses[212:C], cambricks, lawns: - why, he sings them over, as they were gods or goddesses: you - would think, a smock were a she-angel; he so chants to the - sleeve-hand, and the work about the square on't."[212:D] - - - "_Enter Autolycus, singing._ - - "Lawn, as white as driven snow; - Cyprus, black as e'er was crow; - Gloves as sweet as damask roses; - Masks for faces, and for noses; - Bugle bracelet, necklace-amber, - Perfume for a lady's chamber: - Golden quoifs, and stomachers, - For my lads to give their dears; - Pins and poking-sticks of steel, - What maids lack from head to heel: - Come, buy of me, come; come buy, come buy; - Buy, lads, or else your lasses cry; - Come buy, &c."[213:A] - -At the close of the feast Autolycus is represented as re-entering, -and declaring "Ha, ha! what a fool honesty is! and trust, his sworn -brother, a very simple gentleman! I have sold all my trumpery; not -a counterfeit stone, not a riband, glass, pomander[213:B], brooch, -table-book, ballad, knife, tape, glove, shoe-tye, bracelet, horn-ring, -to keep my pack from fasting: they throng who should buy first; as -if my trinkets had been hallowed, and brought a benediction to the -buyer."[213:C] - -In the North, the Village-Wake is still kept up, under the title of -_The Hopping_, a word derived from the Anglo-Saxon, and thus applied, -because dancing was the favourite amusement of these meetings. The -reign of Elizabeth, indeed, was marked by a peculiar propensity to -this exercise, and neither wake nor feast could be properly celebrated -without the country lads and lasses footing it on the green or yard, or -in bad weather, in the Manor-hall. - -In an old play, entitled "A Woman Killed With Kindness," the production -of Thomas Heywood, and acted in 1604, is to be found a very humorous -description of one of these _Hoppings_, and particularly curious, as it -enumerates the names of the dances then in vogue among these rustic -performers. The poet, after remarking that now - - ————————— "the mad lads - And country lasses, every mother's child, - With nosegays and bride laces in their hats, - Dance all their country measures, rounds and jigs," - -thus introduces his couples: - - "_Jenkin._ Come, Nick, take you Joan Miniver to trace withal; - Jack Slime, traverse you with Sisly Milk-pail; I will take Jane - Trubkin, and Roger Brickbat shall have Isabel Motley; and now - strike up; we'll have a crash here in the yard.— - - _Jack Slime._ Foot it quickly; if the music overcome not my - melancholy, I shall quarrel; and if they do not suddenly strike - up, I shall presently strike them down. - - _Jen._ No quarrelling, for God's sake: truly, if you do, I - shall set a knave between ye. - - _Jack Slime._ I come to dance, not to quarrel; come, what shall - it be? Rogero? - - _Jen._ Rogero! no; we will dance 'The Beginning of the World.' - - _Sisly._ I love no dance so well, as 'John, come kiss me now.' - - _Nicholas._ I have ere now deserved a cushion; call for the - Cushion-dance. - - _R. Brick._ For my part, I like nothing so well as 'Tom Tyler.' - - _Jen._ No; we'll have 'The hunting of the Fox.' - - _Jack Slime._ 'The Hay! the Hay!' there's nothing like 'The - Hay.' - - _Nich._ I have said, do say, and will say again. - - _Jen._ Every man agree to have it as Nick says. - - _All._ Content. - - _Nich._ It hath been, it now is, and it shall be. - - _Sisly._ What? Mr. Nicholas? What? - - _Nich._ 'Put on your smock a Monday.' - - _Jen._ So, the dance will come cleanly off: come, for God's - sake, agree of something; if you like not that, put it to the - musicians; or let me speak for all, and we'll have 'Sellenger's - Round.' - - _All._ That, that, that! - - _Nich._ No, I am resolved, thus it shall be. First take hands, - then take ye to your heels. - - _Jen._ Why, would you have us run away? - - _Nich._ No; but I would have you shake your heels. Music, - strike up. - _They dance._"[214:A] - -The _Fair_ or greater wake was usually held, as hath been observed, in -a central situation, and its period and duration were, as at present, -proclaimed by law. It was a scene of extensive business as well as -of pleasure; for before provincial cities had attained either wealth -or consequence, all communication between them was difficult, and -neither the necessaries nor the elegances of life could be procured -but at stated times, and at fixed depôts. It was usual, therefore, to -go fifty or a hundred miles to one of these fairs, in order both to -purchase goods and accommodations for the ensuing year, and to dispose -of the superfluous products of art or cultivation. In the reign of -Henry VI. the monks of the priories of Maxtoke in Warwickshire, and -of Bicester in Oxfordshire, laid in their annual stores of common -necessaries at Sturbridge Fair in Cambridgeshire, at least one hundred -miles distant, and notwithstanding the two cities of Oxford and -Coventry were in their immediate neighbourhood.[215:A] In the reign of -Henry VIII., it appears, from the Household-Book of Henry Percy, fifth -Earl of Northumberland, that His Lordship's family were supplied with -necessaries for the whole year from fairs. "He that stands charged -with my Lordes House for the houll Yeir, if he maye possible, shall -be at all Faires, where the greice Emptions shall be boughte for the -House for the houll Yeir, as Wine, Wax, Beiffes, Muttons, Wheite and -Malt[215:B];" and, in the reign of Elizabeth, Tusser recommends to his -farmer the same plan, both for purchase and sale: - - "At Bartilmewtide, or at Sturbridge faire, - buie that as is needful, thy house to repaire: - Then sel to thy profit, both butter and cheese, - who buieth it sooner, the more he shall leese."[215:C] - -That this custom prevailed until the commencement of the eighteenth -century, and to nearly the same extent, is evident from a note on the -just quoted lines of Tusser by Mr. Hilman. "Sturbridge Fair," says -he, "stocks the country (namely, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex,) with -clothes, and all other houshold necessaries; and they (the farmers) -again, sell their butter and cheese, and whatever else remains on their -hands; nay, there the shopkeepers supply themselves with divers sorts -of commodities." - -In the third year, indeed, of James I., Sturbridge Fair began to -acquire such celebrity, that hackney coaches attended it from London; -and it subsequently became so extensive that for several years not less -than sixty coaches have been known to ply at this fair, then esteemed -the largest in England. - -Sturbridge Fair is still annually proclaimed, but now in such a state -of decline, that its extinction, at least in a commercial light, cannot -be far distant. - -To these brief notices of wakes and fairs, it may be necessary to -subjoin a slight detail of the state of _Country-Inns_ and Ale-houses -during the age of Shakspeare. - -To "take mine ease in mine inn" is a proverbial phrase, which the -poet has placed in the mouth of Falstaff[216:A], and which implies a -degree of comfort which has always been the peculiar attribute of an -English house of public entertainment. That it was not less felt and -enjoyed in Shakspeare's time than in our own, is very apparent from the -accounts which have been left us by Harrison and Fynes Moryson; the -former writing towards the close of the sixteenth, and the latter at -the commencement of the seventeenth century. These descriptions, which -are curiously faithful and highly interesting, paint the provincial -hostelries of England as in a most flourishing state, and, according -to Harrison, indeed, greatly superior to those which existed in the -metropolis. - -"Those townes," says the historian, "that we call thorowfaires, have -great and sumptuous innes builded in them, for the receiving of such -travellers and strangers as passe to and fro. The manner of harbouring -wherein, is not like to that of some other countries, in which the -host or goodman of the house dooth chalenge a lordlie authoritie over -his ghests, but clean otherwise, sith every man may use his inne as -his owne house in England, and have for his monie how great or little -varietie of vittels, and what other service himselfe shall thinke -expedient to call for. Our innes are also verie well furnished with -naperie, bedding, and tapisserie, especiallie with naperie: for beside -the linnen used at the tables, which is commonlie washed dailie, is -such and so much as belongeth unto the estate and calling of the ghest. -Ech commer is sure to lie in cleane sheets, wherein no man hath béene -lodged since they came from the landresse, or out of the water wherein -they were last washed. If the traveller have an horsse, his bed dooth -cost him nothing, but if he go on foote he is sure to paie a penie for -the same: but whether he be horsseman or footman if his chamber be once -appointed he may carie the kaie with him, as of his owne house so long -as he lodgeth there. It he loose oughts whilest he abideth in the inne, -the host is bound by a generall custome to restore the damage, so that -there is no greater securitie anie where for travellers than in the -gretest ins of England." He then, after enumerating the depredations -to which travellers are subject on the road, completes the picture by -the following additional touches. "In all innes we have plentie of ale, -biere, and sundrie kinds of wine, and such is the capacitie of some of -them, that they are able to lodge two hundred or three hundred persons, -and their horsses at ease, and thereto with a verie short warning make -such provision for their diet, as to him that is unacquainted withall -may seeme to be incredible. And it is a world to see how ech owner of -them contendeth with other for goodnesse of interteinment of their -ghests, as about finesse and change of linnen, furniture of bedding, -beautie of rooms, service at the table, costlinesse of plate, strength -of drinke, varietie of wines, or well using of horsses. Finallie -there is not so much omitted among them as the gorgeousnes of their -verie signes at their doores, wherein some doo consume thirtie or -fortie pounds, a meere vanitie in mine opinion, but so vaine will they -needs be, and that not onelie to give some outward token of the inne -keeper's welth, but also to procure good ghests to the frequenting of -their houses, in hope there to be well used."[218:A] - -"As soone as a passenger comes to an inne," remarks Moryson, "the -servants run to him, and one takes his horse and walkes him till he be -cold, then rubs him down, and gives him meat. Another servant gives -the passenger his private chamber, and kindles his fire; the third -pulls off his bootes and makes them cleane; then the host or hostess -visits him; and if he will eate with the hoste, or at a common table -with others, his meale will cost him sixpence, or in some places but -four-pence; but if he will eate in his chamber he commands what meate -he will according to his appetite; yea the kitchin is open to him to -order the meate to be dressed as he likes beste. After having eaten -what he pleases, he may, with credit, set by a part for the next day's -breakfast. His bill will then be written for him, and, should he object -to any charge, the host is ready to alter it."[218:B] - -Taverns and ale-houses were frequently distinguished in Shakspeare's -time by a _bush or tuft of ivy_ at their doors; a custom which more -particularly prevailed in Warwickshire, and is still practised, -remarks Mr. Ritson, in this county "at statute-hirings, wakes, &c. -by people who sell ale at no other time."[218:C] The poet alludes -to this observance in his Epilogue to _As You Like It_:—"If it be -true," he says, "that _Good wine needs no bush_, 'tis true, that -a good play needs no epilogue: _Yet to good wine they do use good -bushes_."[218:D] Several old plays mention the same custom, and Bishop -Earle, in his _Microcosmography_, tells us that "A Tavern is a degree, -or (if you will) a pair of stairs above an ale-house, where men are -drunk with more credit and apology. If the vintner's rose be at door, -it is a sign sufficient, but the absence of this is supplied by the -_ivy-bush_."[218:E] - -That houses of this description, the whole furniture of which, -according to Earle, consisted but of a stool, a table, and a [219:A]pot -de chambre, were as numerous two hundred years ago as at present, and -the scene of the same disgusting and intemperate orgies, is but too -apparent from the invective of Robert Burton:—"See the mischief," he -exclaims; "many men knowing that merry company is the only medicine -against melancholy, will therefore neglect their business, and in -another extream, spend all their dayes among good fellows, in a Tavern -or an Ale-house, and know not otherwise how to bestow their time but -in drinking; malt-worms, men fishes, or water-snakes, _Qui bibunt -solum ranarum more, nihil comedentes_, like so many frogs in a puddle. -'Tis their sole exercise to eat, and drink; to sacrifice to _Volupia_, -_Rumina_, _Edulica_, _Potina_, _Mellona_, is all their religion. They -wish for _Philoxenus'_ neck, _Jupiter's trinoctium_, and that the sun -would stand still as in _Joshua's_ time, to satisfie their lust, that -they might _dies noctesque pergræcari et bibere_. Flourishing wits, -and men of good parts, good fashion, and good worth, basely prostitute -themselves to every rogues company, to take tobacco and drink, to roar -and sing scurrile songs in base places. - - "_Invenies aliquem cum percussore jacentem, - Permistum nautis, aut furibus, aut fugitivis._" - Juvenal. - -"What _Thomas Erastus_ objects to _Paracelsus_, that he would lye -drinking all day long with carr-men and tapsters in a Brothel-house, is -too frequent amongst us, with men of better note: like _Timocreon_ of -_Rhodes_, _multa bibens, et multa vorans_, &c. They drown their wits -and seeth their brains in ale."[219:B] - -Few ceremonies are better calculated to throw light on the manners and -customs of a country, than those attendant on WEDDINGS and BURIALS, -and with these, as they occurred in _rural life_, during the reigns of -Elizabeth and James, we shall close this chapter. - -The style of courtship which prevailed in Shakspeare's time, may be -drawn, with considerable accuracy, from the numerous love-dialogues -interspersed throughout his plays. From these specimens not much -disparity, either in language or manner, appears to have existed -between the addresses of the courtier and the country-gentleman; the -female character was indeed, at this period, greatly less important -than at present; the blandishments of gallantry, and the elegancies of -compliment were little known, and consequently the expression of the -tender passion admitted of neither much variety nor much polish. The -amatory dialogues of Hamlet, Hotspur, and Henry the Fifth, are not more -refined than those which occur between Master Fenton and Anne Page, -in the _Merry Wives of Windsor_; between Lorenzo and Jessica in the -_Merchant of Venice_, and between Orlando and Rosalind, in _As You Like -It_. These last, which may be considered as instances taken from the -middle class of life, together with a few drawn from the lower rank -of rural manners, such as the courtship of Touchstone and Audrey, and -of Silvius and Phœbe, in _As You Like It_, will sufficiently apply -to the illustration of our present subject; but it must be remarked -that, in point of fancy, sentiment, and simplicity, the most pleasing -love-scenes in Shakspeare are those that take place between Romeo and -Juliet, and between Florizel and Perdita; the latter especially present -a most lovely and engaging picture, on the female side, of pastoral -naïveté and sweetness; and will, in part, serve to show, how far, in -the opinion of Shakspeare, refinement was, at that time, compatible, as -a just representation of nature, with cottage-life. - -_Betrothing_ or _plighting of troth_, as an _affiance_ or _promise of -future marriage_, was still, there is reason to suppose, often observed -in Shakspeare's time, especially in the country, and as a _private_ -rite. The interchange of rings was the ceremony used on this occasion, -to which the poet refers in his _Two Gentlemen of Verona_: - - "_Julia._ Keep this remembrance for thy Julia's sake. - (_Giving a ring._) - - _Pro._ Why then we'll make exchange; here take you this. - - _Jul._ And seal the bargain with a holy kiss."[220:A] - -The _public_ celebration of this contract, or what was termed -_espousals_[221:A], was formerly in this country, as well as upon the -continent, a constant preliminary to marriage. It usually took place in -the church, and though nearly, if not altogether, disused, towards the -close of the fifteenth century, is minutely described by Shakspeare in -his _Twelfth Night_. Olivia, addressing Sebastian, says,— - - "Now go with me, and with this holy man, - Into the chantry by: there _before him_ - And underneath that _consecrated roof - Plight me the full assurance of your faith_; - That my most jealous and too doubtful soul - May live at peace. He shall conceal it - Whiles you are willing it shall come to note; - What time we will our _celebration_ keep - According to my birth."[221:B] - -A description of what passed at this ceremony of espousals or -betrothing, is given by the priest himself in the first scene of the -subsequent act, who calls it - - "A contract of eternal bond of love - Confirm'd by _mutual joinder of your hands_, - Attested by the _holy close of lips_, - Strengthened by _interchangement of your rings_; - And all the ceremony of this compact - Seal'd in my function, by _my testimony_."[221:C] - -These four observances, therefore; 1st, _the joining of hands_; 2dly, -the _mutually given kiss_; 3dly, the _interchangement of rings_; and -4thly, the _testimony of witnesses_: appear to have been essential -parts of the public ceremony of betrothing or espousals, which usually -preceded the marriage rite by the term of forty days. The oath indeed, -administered on this occasion, was to the following effect:—"You swear -by God and his holy saints herein and by all the saints of Paradise, -that you will take this woman whose name is N. to wife within forty -days, if holy church will permit." The priest then joining their -hands, said—"And thus you affiance yourselves;" to which the parties -answered,—"Yes, sir."[222:A] So frequently has Shakspeare referred to -this custom of troth-plighting, that, either privately or publickly, -we must conclude it to have been of common usage in his days: thus, in -_Measure for Measure_, Mariana says to Angelo, - - "This is the _hand_, which with a _vow'd contract_, - Was fast belock'd in thine:"[222:B] - -and then addressing the duke, she exclaims, - - "As there is sense in truth, and truth in virtue, - I am _affianc'd_ this man's wife."[222:C] - -So in _King John_, King Philip, and the Arch-duke of Austria, -encouraging the connection of the Dauphin and Blanch: - - "_K. Phil._ It likes us well;—Young princes, _close your hands_. - - _Aust._ And your _lips_ too; for, I am well assur'd, - That I did so, when I was first _assur'd_."[222:D] - -One immoral consequence arising from this custom of public betrothing -was, that the parties, depending upon the priest as a witness, -frequently cohabited as man and wife. It would appear, indeed, from a -passage in Shakspeare, that the ceremony of troth-plight, at least -among the lower orders, was considered as a sufficient warrant for -intercourse of this kind; for he makes the jealous Leontes, in his -_Winter's Tale_, exclaim, - - "My wife's a hobby horse; deserves a name - As rank as any flax-wench, that _puts to - Before her troth-plight_."[223:A] - -We must not forget, however, to remark, while on the subject of -betrothing, that a singular proof of delicacy and attention to the fair -sex, on this occasion, during the sixteenth century, has been quoted by -Mr. Strutt, from a manuscript in the Harleian library, and which runs -thus: "By the civil law, whatever is given _ex sponsalitia largitate, -betwixt them that are promised in marriage_, hath a condition, for the -most part silent, that it may be had again if marriage ensue not; but -if the man should have had a kiss for his money, he should lose one -half of what he gave. Yet with the woman it is otherwise; for kissing -or not kissing, whatever she gave, she may have it again."[223:B] - -Concerning the customs attendant on the celebration of the _marriage -rite_, among the middle and inferior ranks, in the country, during -the period which we are endeavouring to illustrate, much information, -of the description we want, may be found in Shakspeare and his -contemporaries. - -The procession accompanying a rural bride, of some consequence, or of -the middle rank, to church, has been thus given us:—"The bride being -attired in a gown of sheep's russet, and a kirtle of fine worsted, her -hair attired with a 'billement of gold, and her hair as yellow as gold -hanging down behind her, which was curiously combed and plaited, she -was led to church between two sweet boys, with bride laces and rosemary -tied about their silken sleeves. There was a fair bride-cup of silver, -gilt, carried before her, wherein was a goodly branch of rosemary, -gilded very fair, hung about with silken ribbands of all colours. -Musicians came next, then a groupe of maidens, some bearing great -bride-cakes, others garlands of wheat finely gilded; and thus they -passed on to the church."[224:A] - -Rosemary being supposed to strengthen the memory, was considered as an -emblem of fidelity, and, at this period, was almost as constantly used -at weddings as at funerals: "There's rosemary," says Ophelia, "that's -for remembrance."[224:B] Many passages, illustrative of this usage at -weddings, might be taken from our old plays, during the reign of James -I., but two or three will suffice. - - —— "will I be _wed_ this morning, - Thou shalt not be there, nor once be graced with - A piece of _rosemary_."[224:C] - - "Were the _rosemary_ branches dipp'd, and all - The hippocras and cakes eat and drunk off; - Were these two arms encompass'd with the hands - Of bachelors to lead me to the church."[224:D] - - "_Phis._ Your master is to be married to-day? - - _Trim._ Else all this _rosemary_ is lost."[224:E] - -Of the peculiarities attending the marriage-ceremony within the -church, a pretty good idea may be formed from the ludicrous wedding -of Catharine and Petruchio in the _Taming of the Shrew_. It appears -from this description, that it was usual to drink wine at the altar -immediately after the service was closed, a custom which was followed -by the Bridegroom's saluting the bride. - - "He calls for wine:—A health, quoth he; as if - He had been aboard, carousing to his mates - After a storm:—Quaff'd off the muscadel, - And threw the sops all in the sexton's face;— - This done, he took the bride about the neck; - And kiss'd her lips with such a clamorous smack, - That, at the parting, all the church did echo."[225:A] - -In the account of the procession just quoted, we find that a bride-cup -was carried before the bride; out of this all the persons present, -together with the new-married couple, were expected to drink in the -church. This custom was prevalent, in Shakspeare's time, among every -description of people, from the regal head to the thorough-paced -rustic; accordingly we are informed, on the testimony of an assisting -witness, that the same ceremony took place at the marriage of the -Elector Palatine to King James's daughter, on the 14th day of February, -1612-13: there was "in conclusion," he relates, "a joy pronounced by -the king and queen, and seconded with congratulation of the lords there -present, which crowned with draughts of _Ippocras_ out of a _great -golden bowle_, as an health to the prosperity of the marriage, (began -by the prince Palatine and answered by the princess.) After which were -served up by six or seven barons so many bowles filled with wafers, so -much of that work was consummate."[225:B] - -This _bride-cup_ or _bowl_ was, therefore, frequently termed the -_knitting_ or _contracting cup_: thus in Ben Jonson's _Magnetick -Lady_, _Compass_ says to _Practise_, after enquiring for a licence, - - ———————— "Mind - The Parson's pint t'engage him— - A _knitting-cup_ there must be;"[226:A] - -and Middleton, in one of his Comedies, gives us the following line:— - - "Even when my lip touch'd the _contracting cup_."[226:B] - -The salutation of the Bride at the altar was a very ancient custom, and -is referred to by several of the contemporaries of Shakspeare; Marston, -for instance, represents one of his female characters saying, - - "The _kisse thou gav'st me in the church_, here take."[226:C] - -It was still customary at this period, to bless the bridal bed at -night, in order to dissipate the supposed illusions of the Devil; a -superstitious rite of which Mr. Douce has favoured us with the form, -taken from the Manual for the use of Salisbury in the 13th[226:D] -century. It is noticed by Chaucer also in his _Marchantes Tale_, and is -mentioned as one of the marriage-ceremonies in the "Articles ordained -by King Henry VII. for the regulation of his Household."[226:E] -Shakspeare alludes to this ridiculous fashion in the person of Oberon, -who tells his fairies, - - "To the best _bride-bed_ will we, - Which by us shall blessed be."[226:F] - -To this brief description of marriage-ceremonies, it will be necessary -to subjoin some account of those which accompanied the _mere rustic_ -wedding, or _Bride-ale_; and fortunately we have a most curious -picture of the kind preserved by Laneham, in his _Letter on the Queens -Entertainment at Kenelworth Castle_, in 1575, one part of which was the -representation of a _country Bride-ale_ set in order in the Tylt-yard, -and exhibited in the great court of the castle. This grotesque piece -of pageantry, a faithful draught of rural costume, as it then existed, -must have afforded Her Majesty no small degree of amusement. - -"Thus were they marshalled. First, all the lustie lads and bold -bachelors of the parish, suitably every wight with his blue buckram -bridelace upon a branch of green broom (cause rosemary is scant there) -tied on his left arm (for a that side lies the heart), and his alder -poll for a spear in his right hand, in martial order ranged on afore, -two and two in a rank: Some with a hat, some in a cap, some a coat, -some a jerkin, some for lightness in his doublet and his hose, clean -trust with a point afore: Some boots and no spurs, he spurs and no -boots, and he neither one nor t'other: One a saddle, another a pail -or a pannel fastened with a cord, for girts wear geazon: And these -to the number of a sixteen wight riding men and well beseem: But the -bridegroom foremost, in his father's tawny worsted jacket (for his -friends were fain that he should be a bridegroom before the _Queen_), a -fair straw hat with a capital crown, steeple-wise on his head: a pair -of harvest gloves on his hands, as a sign of good husbandry: A pen and -inkhorn at his back; for he would be known to be bookish: lame of a -leg, that in his youth was broken at foot-ball: Well beloved yet of his -mother, that lent him a new mufflar for a napkin that was tied to his -girdle for losing. It was no small sport to mark this minion in his -full appointment, that through good schoolation became as formal in his -action, as had he been a bridegroom indeed; with this special grace by -the way, that ever as he would have framed him the better countenance, -with the worse face he looked. - -"Well, Sir, after these horsemen, a lively morrice-dance, according -to the ancient manner; six dancers, maid-marian, and the fool. Then -three pretty puzels, (maids or damsels from _pucelle_) as bright as -a breast of bacon, of a thirty year old a piece, that carried three -special spice-cakes of a bushel of wheat (they had it by measure out of -my _Lords_ backhouse), before the bride: Cicely with set countinance, -and lips so demurely simpering, as it had been a mare cropping of a -thistle. After these, a lovely lubber woorts[228:A], freckle-faced, -red-headed, clean trussed in his doublet and his hose taken up now -indeed by commission, for that he was so loth to come forward, for -reverence belike of his new cut canvass doublet; and would by his -good will have been but a gazer, but found to be a meet actor for -his office: That was to bear the bride-cup, formed of a sweet sucket -barrel, a faire-turned foot set to it, all seemly besilvered and -parcel gilt, adorned with a beautiful branch of broom, gayly begilded -for rosemary; from which, two broad bride laces of red and yellow -buckeram begilded, and gallantly streaming by such wind as there was, -for he carried it aloft: This gentle cup-bearer, yet had his freckled -physiognomy somewhat unhappily infested as he went, by the busy flies, -that flocked about the bride-cup for the sweetness of the sucket that -it savoured on; but he, like a tall fellow, withstood their malice -stoutly (see what manhood may do), beat them away, killed them by -scores, stood to his charge, and marched on in good order. - -"Then followed the worshipful bride, led (after the country manner) -between two ancient parishioners, honest townsmen. But a stale -stallion, and a well spred, (hot as the weather was) God wot, and ill -smelling was she; a thirty-five year old, of colour brown-bay not very -beautiful indeed, but ugly, foul ill favoured; yet marvellous vain of -the office, because she heard say she should dance before the _Queen_, -in which feat she thought she would foot it as finely as the best: -Well, after this bride, came there by two and two, a dozen damsels for -bride-maids; that for favor, attyre, for fashion and cleanliness, were -as meet for such a bride as a treen ladle for a porridge-pot; more (but -for fear of carrying all clean) had been appointed, but these few were -enow."[229:A] - -From a passage in Ben Jonson's _Tale of a Tub_, we learn that the dress -of the downright rustic, on his wedding day, was as follows: - - "He had on a lether doublet, with long points, - And a paire of pin'd-up breech's, like pudding bags: - With yellow stockings, and his hat turn'd up - With a silver claspe, on his leere side."[229:B] - -Of the ceremonies attendant on _Christenings_, it will be necessary to -mention two that prevailed at this period, and which have since fallen -into disuse. Shakspeare, who generally transfers the customs of his own -times to those periods of which he is treating, represents Henry VIII. -saying to Cranmer, whom he had appointed Godfather to Elizabeth, - - "Come, come, my lord, you'd spare your _spoons_;"[230:A] - -and again in the dialogue between the porter and his man: - - "_Port._ On my Christian conscience, this one christening will - beget a thousand; here will be father, godfather, and all - together. - - "_Man._ The _spoons_ will be the bigger, sir."[230:B] - -In the days of Elizabeth and her predecessor, Mary, it was usual -for the sponsors at christenings to present the child with silver -spoons gilt, on the handles of which were engraved the figures of the -apostles, whence they were commonly called _apostle-spoons_: thus -Ben Jonson in _Bartholomew Fair_; "and all this for the hope of two -_apostle-spoons_, to suffer."[230:C] The opulent frequently gave a -complete set of spoons, namely, the twelve apostles; those less rich, -selected the four evangelists, and the poorer class were content to -offer a single spoon, or, at most, two, on which were carved their -favourite saint or saints. - -Among the higher ranks, in the reign of Henry VIII. the practice at -christenings was to give _cups_ or bowls of gold or silver. Accordingly -Holinshed, describing the christening of Elizabeth, relates that "the -archbishop of Canturburie gave to the princesse a standing cup of gold: -the dutches of Norfolke gave to her a standing cup of gold, fretted -with pearle: the marchionesse of Dorset gave three gilt bolles, pounced -with a cover: and the marchionesse of Excester gave three standing -bolles graven, all gilt with a cover."[230:D] - -In the Harleian MS. Vol. 6395, occurs a scarce pamphlet, entitled -_Merry Passages and Jeasts_, from which Dr. Birch transcribed the -following curious anecdote, as illustrative both of the custom of -offering spoons, and of the intimacy which subsisted between Shakspeare -and Jonson. "Shakspeare," says the author of this collection, who names -_Donne_ as his authority for the story, "was godfather to one of Ben -Jonson's children, and after the christening, being in deepe study, -Jonson came to cheer him up, and ask'd him why he was so melancholy: No -'faith Ben, says he, not I; but I have been considering a great while -what should be the fittest gift for me to bestow upon my godchild, -and I have resolved at last. I pr'ythee what? says he.—I'faith, Ben, -I'll give him a douzen good _latten_ (Latin) _spoons_, and thou shalt -translate them."[231:A] It was not until the close of the seventeenth -century, that this practice of spoon-giving at christenings ceased as a -general custom. - -Another baptismal ceremony, now laid aside, was the use of the -chrisome, or white cloth, which was put on the child after the -performance of the sacred rite. To this usage Dame Quickly alludes -in describing the death of Falstaff, though, in accordance with her -character, she corrupts the term: "'A made a finer end, and went away, -an it had been any _christom_ child."[231:B] - -Previous to the Reformation, oil was used, as well as water, in -baptism, or rather a kind of mixture of oil and balsam, which in the -Greek was called Χρισμα; hence the white cloth worn on this occasion, -as an emblem of purity, was denominated the _chrismale_ or -_chrism-cloth_. During the era of using this holy unction, with which -the priest made the sign of the cross, on the breast, shoulders, and -head of the child, the _chrismale_ was worn only for seven days, as -symbolical, it is said, of the seven ages of life; but after the -Reformation, the oil being omitted, it was kept on the child until the -purification of the mother, when, after the ceremony of churching, it -was returned to the minister, by whom it had been originally supplied. -If the child died during the month of wearing the chrisome-cloth, it -was buried in it, and children thus situated were called in the bills -of mortality _chrisoms_. This practice, which was common in the days -of Shakspeare, continued in use for nearly a century afterwards; for -Blount in his _Glossography_, 1678, explains the word _chrisoms_ as -meaning such children as die within the month of birth, because during -that time they use to wear the chrisom-cloth.[232:A] - -We shall now proceed to consider some of the peculiarities accompanying -the _Funeral Rites_ of this period; and, in the first place, we shall -notice the _passing-bell_. This was rung at an early era of the church, -to solicit the prayers of all good christians for the welfare of the -soul _passing_ into another world: thus Durandus, who wrote towards the -close of the twelfth century, says: "Verum _aliquo moriente_, campanæ -debent pulsari, _ut populus hoc audiens, oret pro illo_:" "when any one -is _dying_, the bells must be tolled, _that the people may put up their -prayers for him_."[232:B] This custom of ringing a bell for a soul just -departing, which is _now_ relinquished, the bell only tolling after -death, we have reason to believe was still observed in Shakspeare's -time; for he makes Northumberland in _King Henry IV._ remark on the -"bringer of unwelcome news," that - - ——————————— "his tongue - Sounds ever after as a sullen bell, - Remember'd knolling a _departing_ friend."[232:C] - -Another benefit formerly supposed to be derived from the sounding of -the passing-bell, and which, from the scene of Cardinal Beaufort's -death, was probably a part of Shakspeare's creed, consisted in the -discomfiture of the evil spirits, who were supposed to surround the bed -of the dying person; and who, terrified by the tolling of the holy -bell, were compelled to keep aloof; accordingly Durandus mentions it -as one of the effects of bell-ringing, _ut dæmones timentes[233:A] -fugiant_; and in the Golden Legende, printed by Wynkyn de Worde 1498, -it is observed that "the evill spirytes that ben in the regyon of the -ayre, doubte moche when they here the bells rongen: and this is the -cause why the belles ben rongen—to the ende that the feindes and -wycked spirytes shold be abashed and flee."[233:B] - -That these opinions, indeed, relative to the _passing-bell_, continued -to prevail, as things of general belief, during the greater part of -the seventeenth century, is evident from the works of the pious Bishop -Taylor, in which are to be found several forms of prayer for the -souls of the _departing_, to be offered up _during the tolling of the -passing-bell_. In these the violence of Hell is deprecated, and it is -petitioned, that the spirits of darkness may be driven far from the -couch of the dying sinner.[233:C] - -So common, indeed, was this practice, that almost every individual had -an exclamation or form of prayer ready to be recited on hearing the -passing-bell, whence the following proverbial rhyme: - - "When the Bell begins to toll - Cry, _Lord have mercy on the soul_." - -In the _Vittoria Corombona_ of Webster, this custom is alluded to in a -manner singularly wild and striking. Cornelia says: - - "_Cor._ I'll give you a saying which my grand-mother - Was wont, when she _heard the bell_, to sing o'er unto her - lute. - - _Ham._ Do an you will, do. - - _Cor._ Call for the robin-red-breast, and the wren, - Since o'er shady groves they hover, - And with leaves and flowers do cover - The friendless bodies of unburied men. - Call unto his funeral dole - The ant, the field-mouse, and the mole, - To raise him hillocks that shall keep him warm, - And (when gay tombs are robb'd) sustain no harm, - But keep the wolf far thence: that's foe to men, - For with his nails he'll dig them up again." - _Ancient British Drama_, vol. iii. p. 41. - -Even so late as the commencement of the eighteenth century, it appears -that this custom of praying during the passing-bell still lingered in -some parts of the country; for Mr. Bourne, the first edition of whose -book was published in 1725, after vindicating the practice, adds,—"I -know several religious families in this place (Newcastle), and I hope -it is so in other places too, who always observe it, whenever the -melancholy season offers; and therefore it will at least sometimes -happen, when we put up our prayers constantly at the tolling of the -bell, that we shall pray for a soul departing. And though it be -granted, that it will oftener happen otherwise, as the regular custom -is so little followed; yet that can be no harmful praying for the -dead."[234:A] - -Immediately after death a ceremony commenced, the most offensive -part of which has not been laid aside for more than half a century. -This was called the _Licke_ or _Lake-wake_, a term derived from the -Anglo-Saxon _Lic_ a corpse, and _Wæcce_ a _wake_ or _watching_. It -originally consisted of a meeting of the friends and relations of the -deceased, for the purpose of watching by the body from the moment -it ceased to breathe, to its exportation to the grave; a duty which -was at first performed with solemnity and piety, accompanied by the -singing of psalms and the recitation of the virtues of the dead. It -speedily, however, degenerated into a scene of levity, of feasting, and -intoxication; to such a degree, indeed, that it was thought necessary -at a provincial synod held in London during the reign of Edward III. to -issue a canon for the restriction of the watchers to the near relations -and most intimate friends of the deceased, and only to such of these -as offered to repeat a fixed number of psalms for the benefit of his -soul.[235:A] To this regulation little attention, we apprehend, was -paid; for the Lake-wake appears to have been observed as a meeting of -revelry during the whole of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; -and Mr. Bourne, so late as the year 1725, declares, that it was _then_ -"a scene of sport and drinking and lewdness."[235:B] - -In Scotland during the period of which we are treating, and even down -to the rebellion of 1745, the Lake-wake was observed with still greater -form and effect than in England, though not often with a better moral -result. Mr. Pennant describing it, when speaking of the Highland -customs, under the mistaken etymology of _Late_-wake, says, that the -evening after the death of any person, the relations or friends of -the deceased met at the house, attended by a bag-pipe or fiddle; the -nearest of kin, be it wife, son, or daughter, opened a melancholy ball, -dancing and _greeting_, i. e. crying violently at the same time; and -this continued till day-light, but with such gambols and frolics among -the younger part of the company, that the loss which occasioned them -was often more than supplied by the consequences of that night.[235:C] -Mrs. Grant, however, in her lately published work on the Superstitions -of the Highlanders, has given us a more favourable account of this -ancient custom, which she has connected with a wild traditionary tale -of much moral interest. - -A peasant of Glen Banchar, a dreary and secluded recess in the central -Highlands, "was fortunate in all respects but one. He had three very -fine children, who all, in succession, died after having been weaned, -though, before, they gave every promise of health and firmness. Both -parents were much afflicted; but the father's grief was clamorous and -unmanly. They resolved that the next should be suckled for two years, -hoping, by this, to avoid the repetition of such a misfortune. They did -so; and the child, by living longer, only took a firmer hold of their -affections, and furnished more materials for sorrowful recollection. At -the close of the second year, he followed his brothers; and there were -no bounds to the affliction of the parents. - -"There are, however, in the economy of Highland life, certain duties -and courtesies which are indispensable; and for the omission of which -nothing can apologise. One of those is, to call in all their friends, -and feast them at the time of the greatest family distress. The -death of the child happened late in spring, when sheep were abroad -in the more inhabited _straths_; but, from the blasts in that high -and stormy region, were still confined to the cot. In a dismal snowy -evening, the man, unable to stifle his anguish, went out, lamenting -aloud, for a lamb to treat his friends with at the _Late-wake_. At -the door of the cot, however, he found a stranger standing before the -entrance. He was astonished, in such a night, to meet a person so far -from any frequented place. The stranger was plainly attired; but had -a countenance expressive of singular mildness and benevolence, and, -addressing him in a sweet, impressive voice, asked him what he did -there amidst the tempest. He was filled with awe, which he could not -account for, and said, that he came for a lamb. 'What kind of lamb do -you mean to take?' said the stranger. 'The very best I can find,' he -replied, 'as it is to entertain my friends; and I hope you will share -of it.'—'Do your sheep make any resistance when you take away the -lamb, or any disturbance afterwards?'—'Never,' was the answer. 'How -differently am I treated!' said the traveller. 'When I come to visit -my sheepfold, I take, as I am well entitled to do, the best lamb to -myself; and my ears are filled with the clamour of discontent by these -ungrateful sheep, whom I have fed, watched, and protected.' - -"He looked up in amaze; but the vision was fled. He went however for -the lamb, and brought it home with alacrity. He did more: It was the -custom of these times—a custom, indeed, which was not extinct till -after 1745—for people to dance at _Late-wakes_. It was a mournful kind -of movement, but still it was dancing. The nearest relation of the -deceased often began the ceremony weeping; but did, however, begin it, -to give the example of fortitude and resignation. This man, on other -occasions, had been quite unequal to the performance of this duty; but -at this time he, immediately on coming in, ordered music to begin, -and danced the solitary measure appropriate to such occasions. The -reader must have very little sagacity or knowledge of the purport and -consequences of visions, who requires to be told, that many sons were -born, lived, and prospered afterwards in this reformed family."[237:A] - -Some vestiges of the _Lake-wake_ still remain at this day in remote -parts of the north of England, especially at the period of _laying -out_, or _streeking_ the corpse, as it is termed; and here it may be -remarked, that in the time of Shakspeare, the practice of _winding the -corse_, or putting on the _winding-sheet_, was a ceremony of a very -impressive kind, and accompanied by the solemn melody of dirges. Some -lines strikingly illustrative of this pious duty, are to be found in -the _White Devil; or Vittoria Corombona_ of Webster, published in 1612. -Francisco, Duke of Florence, tells Flaminio, - - "I found them _winding_ of Marcello's corse; - And there is such a solemn melody, - 'Tween doleful songs, tears, and sad elegies; - Such as old grandames, watching by the dead, - Were wont to outwear the nights with; that, believe me, - I had no eyes to guide me forth the room, - They were so o'ercharged with water.—— - - _Cornelia, the Moor, and three other ladies, discovered WINDING - Marcello's corse. A SONG._ - - _Cor._ This rosemary is wither'd, pray get fresh; - I would have these herbs grow up in his grave, - When I am dead and rotten. Reach the bays, - I'll tie a garland here about his head: - 'Twill keep my boy from lightning. This _sheet_ - I have kept this twenty years, and every day - Hallow'd it with my prayers; I did not think - He should have worn it."[237:B] - -Another exquisite passage of this fine old poet alludes to the same -practice—a villain of ducal rank, expiring from the effect of poison, -exclaims, - - "O thou soft natural death! that art joint-twin - To sweetest slumber!—no rough-bearded comet - Stares on thy mild departure; the dull owl - Beats not against thy casement; the hoarse wolf - Scents not thy carion. _Pity winds thy corse_, - Whilst horror waits on princes."[238:A] - -After the funeral was over, it was customary, among all ranks, to -give a cold, and sometimes a very ostentatious, entertainment to the -mourners. To this usage Shakspeare refers, in the character of Hamlet: - - "Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the _funeral bak'd meats_ - Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables," - -a passage which Mr. Collins has illustrated by the following quotation -from a contemporary writer: "His corpes was with funerall pompe -conveyed to the church, and there sollemnly enterred, nothing omitted -which necessitie or custom could claime; a sermon, a _banquet_, and -like observations."[238:B] - -The funeral feast is not yet extinct; it may occasionally be met -with in places remote from the metropolis, and more particularly in -the northern counties among some of the wealthy yeomanry. Mr. Douce -considers the practice as "certainly borrowed from the _cœna feralis_ -of the Romans," and adds, "in the North this feast is called an _arval_ -or _arvil supper_; and the loaves that are sometimes distributed among -the poor, _arval-bread_. Not many years since one of these arvals was -celebrated in a village in Yorkshire at a public-house, the sign of -which was the family arms of a nobleman whose motto is VIRTUS POST -FUNERA VIVIT. The undertaker, who, though a clerk, was no scholar, -requested a gentleman present to explain to him the meaning of these -Latin words, which he readily and facetiously did in the following -manner; _Virtus_, a parish clerk, _vivit_, lives well, _post funera_, -at an _arval_. The latter word is apparently derived from some lost -Teutonic term that indicated a funeral pile on which the body was -burned in times of Paganism."[239:A] - -A few observations must still be added on the pleasing, though now -nearly obsolete, practice of carrying ever-greens and garlands at -funerals, and of decorating the grave with flowers. There is something -so strikingly emblematic, so delightfully soothing in these old -rites, that though the prototype be probably heathen, their disuse -is to be regretted. "The carrying of ivy, or laurel, or rosemary, or -some of those ever-greens," says Bourne, "is an emblem of the soul's -immortality. It is as much as to say, that though the body be dead, yet -the soul is ever-green and always in life: it is not like the body, and -those other greens which die and revive again at their proper seasons, -no autumn nor winter can make a change in it, but it is unalterably the -same, perpetually in life, and never dying. - -"The Romans, and other heathens upon this occasion, made use of -cypress, which being once cut, will never flourish nor grow any more, -as an emblem of their dying for ever, and being no more in life. -But instead of that, the antient Christians used the things before -mentioned; they laid them under the corps in the grave, to signify, -that they who die in Christ, do not cease to live. For though, as to -the body they die to the world, yet as to their souls, they live to God. - -"And as the carrying of these ever-greens is an emblem of the soul's -immortality, so it is also of the resurrection of the body: for as -these herbs are not entirely plucked up, but only cut down, and will, -at the returning season, revive and spring up again; so the body, like -them, is but cut down for a while, and will rise and shoot up again at -the resurrection."[239:B] - -The _bay_ and _rosemary_ were the plants usually chosen, the former -as being said to revive from the root, when apparently dead, and the -latter from its supposed virtue in strengthening the memory: - - "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance."[240:A] - -Shakspeare has frequently noticed these ever-greens, garlands, and -flowers, as forming a part of the tributary rites of the departed, as -elegant memorials of the dead: at the funeral of Juliet he adopts the -rosemary:— - - "Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary - On this fair corse, and as the custom is, - In all her best array bear her to church."[240:B] - -_Garlands_ of flowers were formerly either hung up in country-churches, -as a mark of honour and esteem, over the seats of those who had died -virgins, or were remarkable for chastity and fidelity, or were placed -in the form of crowns on the coffins of the deceased, and buried with -them, for the same purpose. Of these crowns and garlands, which were in -frequent use until the commencement of the last century, a very curious -account has been given by a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine. - -"In this nation (as well as others)," he observes, "by the abundant -zeal of our ancestors, virginity was held in great estimation; insomuch -that those which died in that state were rewarded, at their deaths, -with a garland or crown on their heads, denoting their triumphant -victory over the lusts of the flesh. Nay, this honour was extended even -to a widow that had enjoyed but one husband (saith Weever in his Fun. -Mon. p. 12.) And, in the year 1733, the present clerk of the parish -church of Bromley in Kent, by his digging a grave in that church-yard, -close to the east end of the chancel wall, dug up one of these crowns, -or garlands, which is most artificially wrought in fillagree work with -gold and silver wire, in resemblance of myrtle (with which plant the -funebrial garlands of the ancients were composed) whose leaves are -fastened to hoops of large wire of iron, now something corroded with -rust, but both the gold and silver remains to this time very little -different from its original splendor. It was also lined with cloth of -silver, a piece of which, together with part of this curious garland, I -keep as a choice relic of antiquity. - -"Besides these crowns, the ancients had also their depository garlands, -the use of which were continued even till of late years, (and -perhaps are still retained in many parts of this nation, for my own -knowledge of these matters extends not above twenty or thirty miles -round London,) which garlands at the funerals of the deceased, were -carried solemnly before the corpse by two maids, and afterward hung -up in some conspicuous place within the church, in memorial of the -departed person, and were (at least all that I have seen) made after -the following manner, viz. the lower rim or circlet, was a broad hoop -of wood, whereunto was fixed, at the sides thereof, part of two other -hoops crossing each other at the top, at right angles, which formed the -upper part, being about one third longer than the width; these hoops -were wholly covered with artificial flowers of paper, dyed horn, or -silk, and more or less beauteous, according to the skill and ingenuity -of the performer. In the vacancy of the inside, from the top, hung -white paper, cut in form of gloves, whereon was wrote the deceased's -name, age, &c. together with long slips of various coloured paper, or -ribbons. These were many times intermixed with gilded or painted empty -shells of blown eggs, as farther ornaments; or, it may be, as emblems -of the bubbles or bitterness of this life; whilst other garlands had -only a solitary hour-glass hanging therein, as a more significant -symbol of mortality. - -"About forty years ago, these garlands grew much out of repute, and -were thought, by many, as very unbecoming decorations for so sacred a -place as the church; and at the reparation, or new beautifying several -churches, where I have been concerned, I was obliged, by order of -the minister and churchwardens, to take the garlands down, and the -inhabitants were strictly forbidden to hang up any more for the future. -Yet, notwithstanding, several people, unwilling to forsake their -ancient and delightful custom, continued still the making of them, and -they were carried at the funerals, as before, to the grave, and put -therein, upon the coffin, over the face of the dead; this I have seen -done in many places." Bromley in Kent. _Gentleman's Magazine for June -1747._ - -Shakspeare has alluded to these maiden rites in _Hamlet_, where the -priest, at the interment of Ophelia, says, - - —— "Here she is allow'd her virgin _crants_, - Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home - Of bell and burial."[242:A] - -The term _crants_, observes Johnson, on the authority of a -correspondent, is the German word for _garlands_, and was probably -retained by us from the Saxons.[242:B] - -The _strewments_ mentioned in this passage refer to a pleasing custom, -which is still, we believe, preserved in Wales, of scattering flowers -over the graves of the deceased.[242:C] It is manifestly copied from -the funeral rites of the Greeks and Romans, and was early introduced -into the Christian church; for St. Jerom, in an epistle to his friend -Pammachius on the death of his wife, remarks, "whilst other husbands -strawed violets and roses, and lilies, and purple flowers, upon the -graves of their wives, and comforted themselves with such like offices, -Pammachius bedewed her ashes and venerable bones with the balsam of -alms[242:D];" and Mr. Strutt, in his _Manners and Customs of England_, -tells us, "that of old it was usual to adorn the graves of the deceased -with roses and other flowers (but more especially those of lovers, -round whose tombs they have often planted rose trees): Some traces," he -observes, "of this ancient custom are yet remaining in the church-yard -of Oakley, in Surry, which is full of rose trees planted round the -graves."[243:A] - -Many of the dramas of our immortal bard bear testimony to his -partiality for this elegantly affectionate tribute; a practice which -there is reason to suppose was in the country at least not uncommon in -his days: thus Capulet, in _Romeo and Juliet_, observes, - - "Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse;"[243:B] - -and the Queen in _Hamlet_ is represented as performing the ceremony at -the grave of Ophelia: - - "_Queen._ Sweets to the sweet: Farewell! - (_Scattering Flowers._) - I hop'd, thou should'st have been my Hamlet's wife; - I thought, thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, - And not have _strew'd thy grave_."[243:C] - -It was considered, likewise, as a duty incumbent on the survivors, -annually to plant shrubs and flowers upon, and to tend and keep neat, -the turf which covered the remains of their beloved friends; in -accordance with this usage, Mariana is drawn in _Pericles_ decorating -the tomb of her nurse: - - ————— "I will rob Tellus of her weed, - To strew thy green with flowers: the yellows, blues, - The purple violets, and marigolds, - Shall, as a chaplet, hang upon thy grave, - While summer days do last;"[243:D] - -and Arviragus, in _Cymbeline_, pathetically exclaims, - - —————— "With fairest flowers, - Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele, - I'll sweeten thy sad grave: Thou shall not lack - The flower, that's like thy face, pale primrose; nor - The azur'd hare-bell, like thy veins; no, nor - The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander, - Out-sweeten'd not thy breath."[244:A] - -The only relic which yet exists in this country of a custom so -interesting, is to be found in the practice of protecting the hallowed -mound by twigs of osier, an attention to the mansions of the dead, -which is still observable in most of the country-church-yards in the -south of England. - -We have thus advanced in pursuit of our object, namely, _A Survey of -Country Life during the Age of Shakspeare_, as far as a sketch of -its manners and customs, resulting from a brief description of rural -characters, holidays, and festivals, wakes, fairs, weddings, and -burials, will carry us; and we shall now proceed with the picture, by -adding some account of those diversions of our ancestors which could -not with propriety find a place under any of the topics that have been -hitherto noticed; endeavouring in our progress to render the great -dramatic bard the chief illustrator of his own times. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[209:A] Brand on Bourne's Antiquities, p. 333. - -[209:B] Mr. Strutt, in a quotation from an old MS. legend of St. John -the Baptist, preserved in Dugdale's Warwickshire, tells us,—"In -the beginning of holi churche, it was so that the pepul cam to the -chirche with candellys brinnyng, and wold _wake_ and comme with Light -toward the chirche in their devocions, and after they fell to lecherie -and songs, daunces, harping, piping, and also to glotony and sinne, -&c."—Sports and Pastimes, p. 322. - -"It appears," says Mr. Brand, "that in antient times the parishioners -brought _rushes_ at the Feast of Dedication, wherewith to strew the -Church, and from that circumstance the Festivity itself has obtained -the name of _Rush-bearing_, which occurs for a Country-Wake in a -Glossary to the Lancashire dialect."—Brand ap. Ellis, vol. i. p. 436. - -[210:A] Hilman's Tusser, p. 81. - -[211:A] Bourne's Antiquit. Vulg. p. 330. - -[211:B] Triumph of Pleasure, p. 23. - -[211:C] Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 378. Poly-Olbion, Song xxvii. - -[212:A] Hesperides, p. 300, 301. - -[212:B] In Shakspeare's time the business of the milliner was -transacted by men. - -[212:C] _Caddisses_,—a kind of narrow worsted galloon. - -[212:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 345. 347, 348. - -[213:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 349. - -[213:B] _Pomander_,—a little ball of perfumes worn either in the -pocket or about the neck. - -[213:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 375, 376. - -[214:A] Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 435, 436. The third edition -of _A Woman Killed With Kindness_, was printed in 4to. 1617. - -[215:A] Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. i. p. 279. note. - -[215:B] Establishment and Expences of the Houshold of Henry Percy, the -fifth Earl of Northumberland, A. D. 1512. p. 407. - -[215:C] Hilman's Tusser, p. 110. - -[216:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 358. - -[218:A] Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. i. p. 414, 415. Edit. of 1807. - -[218:B] Moryson's Itinerary, part iii. p. 151. folio. London, 1617. - -[218:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 189. note. - -[218:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 189, 190. - -[218:E] Bliss's edition, 1811. p. 37, 38. - -[219:A] Earle's Microcosmography, p. 38. - -[219:B] Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, 8th edit. p. 191. - -[220:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 213. Act ii. sc. 2. - -[221:A] "Vincent de Beauvais, a writer of the 13th century, in his -_Speculum historiale_, lib. ix. c. 70., has defined _espousals to -be a contract of future marriage_, made either by a simple promise, -by earnest or security given, by a ring, or by an oath." Douce's -Illustrations, vol. i. p. 109. - -[221:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 395. Act iv. sc. 3. - -[221:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 403. Act v. sc. 1. - -[222:A] Douce's Illustrations, vol. i. p. 113. - -[222:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 395. - -[222:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 396. - -[222:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 405. Here _assur'd_ is taken -in the sense of _affianced_ or _contracted_. If necessary, many more -instances of betrothing, and troth-plighting, might be brought forward -from our author's dramas. - -[223:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 240. - -[223:B] Strutt's Manners and Customs, vol. iii. p. 155. - -[224:A] History of Jack of Newbury, 4to. chap. ii. - -[224:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 291. - -[224:C] Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks, by Barry, 1611. Vide Ancient -British Drama, vol. ii. - -[224:D] Beaumont and Fletcher's Scornful Lady, 1616. - -[224:E] A Faire Quarrel, by Middleton and Rowley, 1617. Besides -rosemary, flowers of various kinds were frequently strewn before the -bride as she passed to church; a custom alluded to in a well-known line -of Shakspeare, - - "Our _Bridal Flowers_ serve for a buried corse:" - -and more explicitly depicted in the following passage from one of his -contemporaries:— - - "_Adriana._ Come straw apace, Lord shall I never live - To walke to Church on flowers? O 'tis fine, - To see a Bride trip it to Church so lightly, - As if her new Choppines would scorne to bruise - A silly flower!" - Barry's Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks, - act v. sc. 1. 4to. 1611. - -[225:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 114, 115, 116. Act iii. sc. 2. - -[225:B] Finet's Philoxenis, 1656, p. 11. quoted by Mr. Reed in his -Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 115. note. - -[226:A] Folio edit. p. 44. Act iv. sc. 2. - -[226:B] _No Wit, no Help like a Womans_, 8vo. 1657. Middleton was -contemporary with Shakspeare, and commenced a dramatic writer in 1602. - -[226:C] _Insatiate Countess_, 4to. 1603. - -[226:D] Douce's Illustrations, vol. i. p. 199. - -[226:E] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 459. note, by Steevens. - -[226:F] _Midsummer-Night's Dream_, act v. sc. 2. Vide Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 459. - -[228:A] _Woorts_; of this word I know not the precise meaning; but -suppose it is meant to imply _plodded_ or _stumbled on_. - -[229:A] Nichols's Queen Elizabeth's Progresses, vol. i.—Laneham's -Letter, p. 18, 19, 20. - -[229:B] Jonson's Works, fol. edit. of 1640, vol. ii. A Tale of a Tub, -p. 72.—Much of the spirit and costume of the _rural wedding_ of the -sixteenth century continued to survive until within these eighty years. -"I have received," says Mr. Brand, who wrote in 1776, "from those who -have been present at them, the following account of the customs used at -_vulgar Northern Weddings_, about _half a century ago_:— - -"The young women in the neighbourhood, with bride-favours (knots of -ribbands) at their breasts, and nosegays in their hands, attended the -Bride on her wedding-day in the morning.—_Fore-Riders_ announced -with shouts the arrival of the Bridegroom; after a kind of breakfast, -at which the _bride-cakes_ were set on and the _barrels broached_, -they walked out towards the church.—The Bride was led by _two young -men_; the Bridegroom by _two young women_: Pipers preceded them, while -the crowd tossed up their hats, shouted and clapped their hands. An -indecent custom prevailed after the ceremony, and that too before the -altar:—Young men strove who could first _unloose_, or rather pluck off -the Bride's garters: Ribbands supplied their place on this occasion; -whosoever was so fortunate as to tear them thus off from her leggs, -bore them about the church in triumph. - -"It is still usual for the young men present to _salute_ the _Bride_ -immediately after the performing of the marriage service. - -"Four, with their horses, were waiting without; they _saluted_ the -Bride at the church gate, and immediately mounting, contended who -should first carry home the good news, and WIN what they call the -KAIL;" i. e. _a smoking prize of spice-broth_, which stood ready -prepared to reward the victor in this singular kind of race. - -"Dinner succeeded; to that dancing and supper; after which a _posset_ -was made, of which the Bride and Bridegroom were always to taste -first.—The men departed the room till the Bride was undressed by her -_maids_, and put to bed; the Bridegroom in his turn was undressed -by his men, and the ceremony concluded with the well-known rite of -_throwing the stocking_."—Bourne's Antiquitates Vulg. apud Brand, p. -371, 372, 373. edit. 1810. - -[230:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 197. - -[230:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 203. - -[230:C] Ben Jonson's Works, fol. edit. 1640. vol. ii. p. 6. - -[230:D] Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. iii. p. 787. edit. 1808. - -[231:A] Capell's Notes and Various Readings on Shakspeare, vol. i.; and -Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 198.—L'Estrange, a nephew to Sir Roger -L'Estrange, appears to have been the compiler of these anecdotes. Of -the truth of the story, however, as far as it relates to Shakspeare and -Jonson, there is reason to entertain much doubt. - -[231:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 343. Act ii. sc. 3. - -[232:A] Vide Douce's Illustrations, vol. i. p. 488.; and Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 345. - -[232:B] Vide Rationale Divinorum Officiorum: the first edition was -printed in 1459. - -[232:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 16. - -[233:A] Durandi Rational. lib. i. c. 4. - -[233:B] For an account of three editions of De Worde's Golden Legende, -see Dibdin's Typographical Antiquit. vol. ii. p. 73. - -[233:C] These forms of prayer are transcribed by Bourne in his -Antiquitates Vulgares.—Vide Brand's edit. p. 10. Bishop Taylor died in -1667. - -[234:A] Bourne apud Brand, p. 9. - -[235:A] Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 546. - -[235:B] Antiquitates Vulgares apud Brand, p. 23. - -[235:C] Tour in Scotland. - -[237:A] Essays on the Superstitions of the Highlanders of Scotland, -vol. i. p. 184-188. - -[237:B] Ancient British Drama, vol. iii. p. 40. - -[238:A] Ancient British Drama, vol. iii. p. 36. - -[238:B] The Tragique Historie of the Faire Valeria of London, 1598. -Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 43. note. - -[239:A] Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 202, 203. - -[239:B] Bourne's Antiquitates Vulg. p. 33, 34. - -[240:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 294. - -[240:B] Ibid. vol. xx. p. 217, 218. - -[242:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 335, 336. - -[242:B] Ibid. p. 336. note. - -[242:C] See Pratt's Gleanings in Wales, and Mason's Elegy in a -Church-yard in Wales. - -[242:D] Bourne's Antiq. apud Brand, p. 45. - -[243:A] Anglo Saxon Æra, vol. i. p. 69. - -[243:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 219. - -[243:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 337. - -[243:D] Ibid. vol. xxi. p. 297, 298. - -[244:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 576.—In Mr. Malkin's -notes on Mason's Elegy, we have the following elegant and pleasing -description of this pathetic custom, as it still exists in Wales:—"It -is a very antient and general practice in Glamorgan," he remarks, "to -plant flowers on the graves; so that many Church-yards have something -like the splendour of a rich and various parterre. Besides this it is -usual to strew the graves with flowers and ever-greens, within the -Church as well as out of it, thrice at least every year, on the same -principle of delicate respect as the stones are whitened. - -"No flowers or ever-greens are permitted to be planted on graves but -such as are sweet-scented: the pink and polyanthus, sweet williams, -gilliflowers, and carnations, mignionette, thyme, hyssop, camomile, -rosemary, make up the pious decoration of this consecrated garden.—— - -"The white rose is always planted on a virgin's tomb. The red rose is -appropriated to the grave of any person distinguished for goodness, and -especially benevolence of character. - -"In the Easter week most generally the graves are newly dressed, and -manured with fresh earth, when such flowers or ever-greens as may be -wanted or wished for are planted. In the Whitsuntide Holidays, or -rather the preceding week, the graves are again looked after, weeded, -and other wise dressed, or, if necessary, planted again.—This work the -nearest relations of the deceased always do with their own hands, and -never by servants or hired persons.— - -"When a young couple are to be married, their ways to the Church are -strewed with sweet-scented flowers and ever-greens. When a young -unmarried person dies, his or her ways to the grave are also strewed -with sweet flowers and ever-greens; and on such occasions it is the -usual phrase, that those persons are going to their nuptial beds, not -to their graves.—None ever molest the flowers that grow on graves; -for it is deemed a kind of sacrilege to do so. A relation or friend -will occasionally take a pink, if it can be spared, or a sprig of -thyme, from the grave of a beloved or respected person, to wear it in -remembrance; but they never take much, lest they should deface the -growth on the grave.— - -"These elegant and highly pathetic customs of South Wales make the -best impression on the mind. What can be more affecting than to see -all the youth of both sexes in a village, and in every village through -which the corpse passes, dressed in their best apparel, and strewing -with sweet-scented flowers the ways along which one of their beloved -neighbours goes to his or her marriage-bed." - - Malkin's Scenery, Antiquities, and Biography of - South Wales, 4to. 1804. p. 606. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - VIEW OF COUNTRY LIFE DURING THE AGE OF SHAKSPEARE - CONTINUED—DIVERSIONS. - - -The attempt to describe all the numerous rural diversions which were -prevalent during the age of Shakspeare, would be, in the highest -degree, superfluous; for the greatest part of them, it is evident, -must remain, with such slight or gradual modification as to require -but little notice. It will be, therefore, our endeavour, in the -course of this chapter, after giving a catalogue of the principal -country-diversions of the era in question, to dwell only upon those -which are now either entirely obsolete, or which have subsequently -undergone such alterations as to render their former state an object of -novelty and curiosity. - -This catalogue may be taken, with tolerable accuracy, from Randal Holme -of Chester, and from Robert Burton; the former enumerating the games -and diversions of the sixteenth century, and the latter those of the -prior part of the seventeenth. If to these, we add the notices to be -drawn from Shakspeare, the sketch will, there is reason to suppose, -prove sufficiently extensive. - -In the list of Randal Holme will be found the names of some juvenile -sports, which are now perhaps no longer explicable; this poetical -antiquary, however, shall speak for himself. - - "—— They dare challenge for to throw the sledge; - To jumpe or lepe over ditch or hedge; - To wrastle, play at stool-balle, or to runne; - To pitch the barre or to shote offe the gunne; - To play at loggets, nineholes, or ten pinnes; - To trye it out at fote balle by the shinnes; - At ticke tacke, seize noddy, maw, or ruffe; - Hot-cockles, leape froggè, or blindman's buffe; - To drinke the halfer pottes, or deale att the whole canne; - To playe at chesse, or pue, and inke-horènne; - To daunce the morris, playe at barley breake; - At alle exploytes a man can thynke or speake; - Att shove-grote, 'venter poynte, att crosse and pyle; - Att "Beshrewe him that's last att any style;" - Att lepynge over a Christmàs bon fyer, - Or att the "drawynge dame owte o' the myre;" - At "Shoote cock, Gregory," stoole-ball, and what not: - Pickè-poynt, top, and scourge to make him hot."[247:A] - -Burton, after mentioning _Hawking_, _Hunting_, _Fowling_, and -_Fishing_, says, "many other sports and recreations there be, much in -use, as _ringing_, _holding_, _shooting_, (with the bow,) _keelpins_, -_tronks_, _coits_, _pitching bars_, _hurling_, _wrestling_, _leaping_, -_running_, _fencing_, _mustring_, _swimming_, _wasters_, _foiles_, -_foot-ball_, _balown_, _quintan_, &c., and many such which are the -common recreations of the Country folks."[247:B] He subsequently adds -_bull_ and _bear baiting_ as common to both countrymen and[247:C] -citizens, and then subjoins to the list of rural amusements, _dancing_, -_singing_, _masking_, _mumming_, and _stage-players_.[247:D] For -the ordinary recreations of _Winter_ as well in _the country_ as in -town, he recommends "_cards_, _tables_ and _dice_, _shovelboord_, -_chess-play_, the _philosopher's game_, _small trunks_, _shuttle-cock_, -_balliards_, _musick_, _masks_, _singing_, _dancing_, _ule games_, -_frolicks_, _jests_, _riddles_, _catches_, _purposes_, _questions and -commands_, and _merry tales_."[247:E] - -From this statement it will immediately appear, that many of the rural -diversions of this period are those likewise of the present day, and -that no large portion of the catalogue can with propriety call for a -more extended notice. - -At the head of those which demand some brief elucidation, we shall -place the _Itinerant Stage_, a _country_ amusement, however, which, -in the days of Elizabeth, was fast degenerating into contempt. The -performance of secular plays by strolling companies of minstrels, had -been much encouraged for two or three centuries, not only by the -vulgar, but by the nobility, into whose castles and halls they were -gladly admitted, and handsomely rewarded. At the commencement of the -sixteenth century, the custom was still common, and Mr. Steevens, as a -proof of it, has furnished us with the following entry from the fifth -Earl of Northumberland's Household Book, which was begun in the year -1512:— - - -"Rewards to Players. - -"Item, to be payd to the said Richard Gowge and Thomas Percy for -rewards to players for playes playd in Chrystinmas by _stranegers_ in -my house after xxd. every play by estimacion somme xxxiijs. iiijd. -Which ys appoynted to be paid to the said Richard Gowge and Thomas -Percy at the said Christynmas in full contentacion of the said reward -ys xxxiijs. iiijd."[248:A] - -That these itinerants were still occasionally admitted into the -country-mansions of the great, during the reign of Elizabeth, we have -satisfactory evidence; but it may be sufficient here to remark, that -Elizabeth herself was entertained with an historical play at Kenelworth -Castle, by performers who came for that purpose from Coventry; and that -Shakspeare has favoured us with another instance, by the introduction -of the following scene in his _Taming of the Shrew_, supposed to have -been written in 1594:— - - "_Lord._ Sirrah, go see what trumpet 'tis that sounds:— - Exit _Servant_. - Belike, some noble gentleman; that means, - Travelling some journey, to repose him here.— - Re-enter a _Servant_. - How now? who is it? - - _Serv._ An it please your honour, - Players that offer service to your lordship. - - _Lord._ Bid them come near:— - - Enter Players. - - Now, fellows, you are welcome. - - _1 Play._ We thank your honour. - - _Lord._ Do you intend to stay with me to night? - - _2 Play._ So please your lordship to accept our duty. - - _Lord._ With all my heart.— - Go, sirrah, take them to the buttery, - And give them friendly welcome every one: - Let them want nothing that my house affords."[249:A] - -From this passage it may be deduced, that the _itinerant_ players of -this period were held in no higher estimation than menial servants; -an inference which is corroborated by referring to the anonymous play -of _A Taming of a Shrew_, written about 1590, where the entry of the -players is thus marked, "Enter two of the plaiers, _with packs at -their backs_." The abject condition of these _strollers_, Mr. Pope has -attributed, perhaps too hastily, to the stationary performers of this -reign; "the _top_ of the profession," he observes, "were then mere -players, not gentlemen of the stage; they were led into the _buttery_ -by the steward, not placed at the lord's table, or the lady's[249:B] -toilette;" a passage on which Mr. Malone has remarked, that Pope "seems -not to have observed, that the players here introduced are _strollers_; -and there is no reason to suppose that our author, Heminge, Burbage, -Condell, &c. who were licensed by King James, were treated in this -manner."[249:C] - -On the other hand Mr. Steevens supports the opinion of Pope by -asserting, that "at the period when this comedy (_Taming of a Shrew_) -was written, and for many years after, the profession of a player was -scarcely allowed to be reputable. The imagined dignity," he continues, -"of those who did not belong to itinerant companies, is, therefore, -unworthy consideration. I can as easily believe that the blundering -editors of the first folio were suffered to lean their hands on Queen -Elizabeth's chair of state, as that they were admitted to the table of -the Earl of Leicester, or the toilette of Lady Hunsden. Like Stephen, -in _Every Man in his Humour_, the greatest indulgence our histrionic -leaders could have expected, would have been a trencher and a napkin in -the _buttery_."[250:A] - -The inference, however, which Mr. Malone has drawn, appears to have -the authority of Shakspeare himself; for when Hamlet is informed of -the arrival of the players, he exclaims, "How chances it, they travel; -their _residence_, both in _reputation_ and profit, was _better both -ways_[250:B];" a question, the drift of which even Mr. Steevens -explains in the following words. "How chances it they travel?—i. e. -_How happens it that they are become strollers?_—Their residence, -both in reputation and profit, was better both ways—i. e. _To have -remained in a settled theatre was the more honourable as well as the -more lucrative situation_."[250:C] We have every reason, therefore, to -suppose, that the difference between the _stroller_ and the _licensed_ -performer was in Shakspeare's time considerable; and that the latter, -although not the companion of lords and countesses, was held in a very -respectable light, if his personal conduct were good, and became the -occasional associate of the first literary characters of the age; while -the former was frequently degraded beneath the rank of a servant, and, -in the statute, indeed, 39 Eliz. ch. 4. he is classed with rogues, -vagabonds, and sturdy beggars. - -This depreciation of the character of the _itinerant player_, towards -the close of Elizabeth's reign, soon narrowed his field of action; -the opulent became unwilling to admit into their houses persons thus -legally branded; and the _stroller_ was reduced to the necessity of -exhibiting his talents at wakes and fairs, on temporary scaffolds and -barrel heads; "if he pen for thee once," says Ben Jonson, addressing a -strolling player, "thou shalt not need to travell, with thy pumps full -of gravell, any more, after a _blinde jade and a hamper_, and _stalk -upon boards and barrel-heads_ to an old crackt trumpet."[250:D] - -Many country-towns, indeed, at this period, were privileged to hold -fairs by exhibiting a certain number of stage-plays at their annual -fairs. Of these, Manningtree in Essex was one of the most celebrated; -Heywood mentions it as notorious for yearly plays at its fair[251:A]; -and that its festivity on these occasions was equally known, is evident -from Shakspeare's comparison of Falstaff to a "roasted Manningtree ox -with a pudding in his belly."[251:B] The histrionic fame of Manningtree -Mr. Malone proves by two quotations from Nashe and Decker; the former -exclaiming in a poem, called _The choosing of Valentines_, - - ——— "Or see a play of strange moralitie, - Shewen by bachelrie of _Manning-tree_, - Whereto the countrie franklins flock-meale swarme;" - -and the latter observing, in a tract entitled _Seven deadly Sinnes of -London_, 1607, that "Cruelty has got another part to play; it is acted -like the old _morals_ at _Manningtree_."[251:C] - -This custom of stage-playing at annual fairs continued to support a few -itinerant _companies_; but in general, after the halls of the nobility -and gentry were shut against them[251:D], they divided into small -parties of three or four, and at length became mere jugglers, jesters, -and _puppet-show_ exhibitors. This last-mentioned amusement, indeed, -and its professors, seem to have been known, in this country, under -the name of _motions_, and _motion-men_, as early as the commencement -of the sixteenth century[252:A]; and the term, indeed, continued to -be thus applied in the time of Jonson, who repeatedly uses it, in his -_Bartholomew Fair_.[252:B] The degradation of the STROLLING companies, -by the statutes of Elizabeth and James, rendered the exhibition of -automaton figures, at this period, common throughout the kingdom. They -are alluded to by Shakspeare under the appellation of _drolleries_; -thus in the _Tempest_, Alonzo, alarmed at the _strange shapes bringing -in the banquet_, exclaims - - "Give us kind keepers, heavens! What were these?" - -a question to which Sebastian replies, - - "_A LIVING drollery_,"[252:C] - -meaning by this epithet to distinguish them from the wooden puppets, -the performers in the shows called _drolleries_. - -A very popular annual diversion was celebrated, during the age of -Shakspeare, and for more than twenty-five years after, on the _Cotswold -Hills_ in Gloucestershire. It has been said that the rural games which -constituted this anniversary, were _founded_ by one Robert Dover on the -accession of James I.;[252:D] but it appears to be ascertained that -Dover was only the _reviver_, with additional splendour, of sports -which had been yearly exhibited, at an early period, on the same spot, -and perhaps only discontinued for a short time before their revival -in 1603. "We may learn from Rudder's History of Glocestershire," says -Mr. Chalmers, "that, in more early times, there was at Cottswold a -customary meeting, every year, at Whitsontide, called an _ale_, or -_Whitson-ale_, which was attended by all the lads, and the lasses, of -the _villegery_, who, annually, chose a Lord and Lady of the _Yule_, -who were the authorized rulers of the _rustic revellers_. There is -in the Church of Cirencester, says Rudder, an ancient monument, in -_basso relievo_, that evinces the antiquity of those games, which -were known to Shakspeare, before the accession of King James. They -were known, also, to Drayton early in that reign: for upon the map -of Glocestershire, which precedes the _fourteenth song_, there is a -representation of a _Whitsun-ale_, with a _may pole_, which last is -inscribed '_Heigh for Cotswold_.' - - "Ascending, next, faire Cotswold's plaines, - She _revels_ with the _Shepherd's_ swaines."[253:A] - -Mr. Strutt also is of opinion that the Cotswold games had a much higher -origin than the time of Dover, and observes that they are evidently -alluded to in the following lines by John Heywood the epigrammatist: - - "He fometh like a bore, the beaste should seeme bolde, - For he is as fierce as a _lyon of Cotswold_."[253:B] - -In confirmation of these statements it may be added, that Mr. Steevens -and Mr. Chalmers have remarked, that in Randolph's poems, 1638, is to -be found "An eclogue on the noble assemblies _revived_ on Cotswold -hills by Mr. Robert Dover;" and in D'Avenant's poems published the same -year, a copy of verses "In celebration of the yearely _preserver_ of -the games at Cotswold."[253:C] - -The _Reviver_ of these far-famed games was an enterprising attorney, a -native of Barton on the Heath in Warwickshire, and consequently a near -neighbour to Shakspeare's country-residence. He obtained permission -from King James to be the director of these annual sports, which he -superintended in person for forty years. They were resorted to by -prodigious multitudes of people, and by all the nobility and gentry -for sixty miles round, until "the rascally rebellion," to adopt the -phraseology of Anthony Wood, "was begun by the Presbyterians, which -gave a stop to their proceedings, and spoiled all that was generous and -ingenious elsewhere."[254:A] - -They consisted originally, and previous to the direction of -Dover, merely of athletic exercises, such as wrestling, leaping, -cudgel-playing, sword and buckler fighting, pitching the bar, throwing -the sledge, tossing the pike, &c. &c. To these Dover added _coursing_ -for the gentlemen and _dancing_ for the ladies; a temporary castle -of boards being erected for the accommodation of the fair sex, and a -silver collar adjudged as a prize for the fleetest greyhound. - -To these two eras of the Cotswold Games Shakspeare alludes in the -second part of _King Henry IV._, and in the _Merry Wives of Windsor_. -Justice Shallow refers to the original state of this diversion, when in -the first of these dramas he enumerates among the _swinge-bucklers_, -"Will Squeele, a _Cotsole_ man[254:B];" and to Dover's improvement of -them, when, in the second, he represents Slender asking Page, "How -does your _fallow greyhound_, Sir? I heard say, he was out-run on -Cotsale."[254:C] - -Dover, tradition says, was highly delighted with the superintendance of -these Games, and assumed, during his direction of them, a great deal -of state and consequence. "_Captain_ Dover," relates Granger, a title -which courtesy had probably bestowed on this public-spirited attorney, -"had not only the permission of James I. to celebrate the Cotswold -Games, but appeared in the very cloaths which that monarch had formerly -worn[254:D], and with much more dignity in his air and aspect."[254:E] - -In 1636, there was published at London a small quarto, entitled, -"_Annalia Dubrensia, upon the yearly Celebration of Mr. Robert Dover's -Olympic Games, upon Cotswold Hills_," a book consisting entirely of -recommendatory verses, written by Jonson, Drayton, Randolph, and many -others, and with a print prefixed of Dover on horseback. - -It is probable that, at this period, and for many subsequent years, -there were several places in the kingdom which had Games somewhat -similar to those of Cotswold, though not quite so celebrated; for Heath -says, that a carnival of this kind was kept every year, about the -middle of July, upon Halgaver-moor, near Bodwin in Cornwall; "resorted -to by thousands of people. The sports and pastimes here held were so -well liked," he relates, "by Charles the Second, when he touched here -in his way to Sicily, that he became a brother of the jovial society. -The custom," he adds, "of keeping this Carnival is said to be as old as -the Saxons."[255:A] - -Of the four great rural diversions, _Hawking_, _Hunting_, _Fowling_ and -_Fishing_, the first will require the greatest share of our attention, -as it is now nearly, if not altogether extinct, and was, during the -reigns of Elizabeth and James, the most prevalent and fashionable of -all amusements. - -To the very commencement, indeed, of the seventeenth century, we may -point, as to the zenith of its popularity and reputation; for although -it had been introduced into this country as early as the middle of the -eighth century[255:B], it was, until the commencement of the sixteenth, -nearly, if not entirely, confined to the highest rank of society. -During the reigns of Elizabeth and James, however, it descended from -the nobility to the gentry and wealthy yeomanry, and no man could then -have the smallest pretension to the character of a gentleman who kept -not a cast of hawks. Of this a ludicrous instance is given us by Ben -Jonson, in his _Every Man in his Humour_: - - "_Master Stephen._ How does my coussin Edward, uncle? - - _Knowell._ O, well cousse, goe in and see: I doubt he be scarce - stirring yet. - - _Steph._ Uncle, afore I goe in, can you tell me, an' he have - ere a booke of the sciences of hawking, and hunting? I would - faine borrow it. - - _Know._ Why, I hope you will not a hawking now, will you? - - _Steph._ No, cousse; but I'll practise against next yere uncle. - I have bought me a hawke, and a hood, and bells, and all; I - lacke nothing but a booke to keepe it by. - - _Know._ O, most ridiculous. - - _Steph._ Nay, looke you now, you are angrie, uncle: why - you know, an' a man have not skill in the hawking, and - hunting-languages now-a-days, I'll not give a rush for him. - They are more studied than the Greeke, or the Latine. He is for - no gallant's company without 'hem.—A fine jest ifaith! Slid a - gentleman mun show himselfe like a gentleman!"[256:A] - -That the character of Master Stephen is not, in this respect, -overcharged, but represents faithfully the fashionable folly of the -age, is evident from many contemporary writers, and especially from -that sensible old author Richard Brathwait, who, speaking of dogs and -hawks, says, "they are to be used only as pleasures and recreations, of -which to speake sparingly were much better, than onely to discourse of -them, _as if our whole reading were in them_. Neither doe I speake this -without just cause; for I have noted this fault in many of our younger -brood of _Gentry_, who either for want of education in learning, or -their owne neglect of learning, have no sooner attained to the strength -of making their fist a pearch for a _hawke_, but by _the helpe of some -bookes of faulconry_, whereby they are instructed in the words of art, -they will run division upon discourse of this pleasure: whereas, if -at any time they be interrupted by occasion of some other conference, -these _High-flyers_ are presently to bee _mewed_ up, for they are taken -from their element."[256:B] - -Many of the best books on the Art of Falconry were written, indeed, -as might be expected, during this universal rage for the amusement, -and the _hawking coxcombs_ of the day, adopting their language on all -occasions, became necessarily obtrusive and pedantic in a disgusting -degree. Of these manuals the most popular were written by George -Turberville, Gervase Markham, and Edmund Best.[257:A] - -But the most detrimental consequence arising from the universality of -this elegant diversion, was the immense expense that attended it, and -which frequently involved those who were not opulent in utter ruin: a -result not to be wondered at, when we find, that at the commencement of -the seventeenth century, a goss-hawk and a tassel-hawk were not to be -purchased for less than a hundred marks; and that in the reign of James -I., Sir Thomas Monson gave one thousand pounds for a cast of hawks. -Brathwait, in his usual strain of propriety, advises those who are not -possessed of _good estates_, to give up all idea of this diversion, and -exposes its indiscriminate pursuit in the following pleasant manner:— - -"This pleasure," observes he, "as it is a princely delight, so it -moveth many to be so dearely enamoured of it, as they will undergoe -any charge, rather than forgoe it: which makes mee recall to mind a -merry tale which I have read, to this effect. Divers men having entered -into discourse, touching the superfluous care (I will not say folly) -of such as kept _dogs_ and _hawkes_ for _hawking_; one _Paulus_ a -_Florentine_ stood up and spake: Not without cause (quoth hee) did -that foole of _Millan_ laugh at these; and being entreated to tell the -tale, hee thus proceeded; upon a time (quoth he) there was a citizen -of _Millan_, a physitian for such as were distracted or lunaticke; who -tooke upon him within a certaine time to cure such as were brought -unto him. And hee cured them after this sort: Hee had a plat of ground -neere his house, and in it a pit of corrupt and stinking water, wherein -he bound naked such as were mad to a stake, some of them knee-deepe, -others to the groin, and some others deeper according to the degree of -their madnesse, where hee so long pined them with water and hunger, -till they seemed sound. Now amongst others, there was one brought, whom -he had put thigh-deepe in water; who after fifteene dayes began to -recover, beseeching the physitian that hee might be taken out of the -water. The physitian taking compassion of him, tooke him out, but with -this condition, that he should not goe out of the roome. Having obeyed -him certaine dayes, he gave him liberty to walke up and downe the -house, but not to passe the out-gate; while the rest of his companions, -which were many, remaining in the water, diligently observed their -physitian's command. Now it chanced, as on a time he stood at the gate, -(for out hee durst not goe, for feare he should returne to the pit) -he beckoned to a yong _gentleman_ to come unto him, who had a _hawke_ -and two spaniels, being moved with the novelty thereof; for to his -remembrance before hee fell mad, he had never seene the like. The yong -_gentleman_ being come unto him; Sir, (quoth he) I pray you hear mee a -word or two, and answer mee at your pleasure: What is this you ride on -(quoth he) and how do you imploy him? This is a horse (replied he) and -I keepe him for _hawking_. But what call you that, you carry on your -fist, and how do you use it? This is a _hawke_ (said he) and I use to -flie with it at pluver and partridge. But what (quoth he) are these -which follow you, what doe they, or wherein doe they profit you? These -are dogges (said he) and necessary for _hawking_, to finde and retrieve -my game. And what were these birds worth, for which you provide so -many things, if you should reckon all you take for a whole yeere? Who -answering, hee knew not well, but they were worth a very little, not -above sixe crownes. The man replied; what then may be the charge you -are at with your horse, dogges and hawke? Some fiftie crowns, said -he. Whereat, as one wondering at the folly of the yong _gentleman_: -Away, away Sir, I pray you quickly, and fly hence before our physitian -returne home: for if he finde you here, as one that is maddest man -alive, he will throw you into his pit, there to be cured with others, -that have lost their wits; and more than all others, for he will set -you chin-deepe in the water. Inferring hence, that the use or exercise -of _hawking_, is the greatest folly, unlesse sometimes used by such as -are of good estate, and for recreation sake. - -"Neither is this pleasure or recreation herein taxed, but the excessive -and immoderate expence which many are at in maintaining this pleasure. -Who as they should be wary in the expence of their _coine_, so much -more circumspect in their expence of _time_. So as in a word, I could -wish yong _gentlemen_ never to bee so taken with this pleasure, as -to lay aside the dispatch of more serious occasions, for a flight of -feathers in the ayre."[259:A] - -The same prudent advice occurs in an author who wrote immediately -subsequent to Brathwait, and who, though a lover of the diversion, -stigmatises the folly of its general adoption. "As for hawking," says -he; "I commend it in some, condemne it in others; in men of qualitie -whose estates will well support it, I commend it as a generous and -noble qualitie; but in men of meane ranke and religious men[259:B], I -condemne it with Blesensis, as an idle and foolish vanitie: for I have -ever thought it a kinde of madnesse for such men, to bestow ten pounds -in feathers, which at one blast might be blowne away, and to buy a -momentary monethly pleasure with the labours and expence of a whole -yeare."[260:A] - -It is to be regretted, however, that the use of the gun has superseded, -among the opulent, the pursuit of this far more elegant and picturesque -recreation. As intimately connected, for many centuries, with the -romantic manners and costume of our ancient nobility and gentry, it -now possesses peculiar charms for the poet and the antiquary, and we -look back upon the detail of this pastime, and all its magnificent -establishments, with a portion of that interest which time has -conferred upon the splendid pageantries of chivalry. Of the estimation -in which it was held, and of the pleasure which it produced, in -Shakspeare's time, there are not wanting numerous proofs: he has -himself frequently alluded to it, and the poets Turberville, Gascoign, -and Sydney, have delighted to expatiate on its praises, and to adopt -its technical phraseology. But the most interesting eulogia, the most -striking pictures of this diversion, appear to us to be derived from a -few strokes in Brathwait, Nash, and Massinger; writers who, publishing -shortly after Shakspeare's death, and describing the amusement of their -youthful days, of course delineate the features as they existed in -Shakspeare's age, with as much, if not greater accuracy than the still -earlier contemporaries of the bard. - -"Hawking," remarks Brathwait, "is a pleasure for high and mounting -spirits: such as will not stoope to inferiour lures, having their -mindes so farre above, as they scorne to partake with them. It is rare -to consider, how a wilde _bird_ should bee so brought to hand, and so -well managed as to make us such pleasure in the ayre: but most of all -to forgoe her native liberty and feeding, and returne to her former -servitude and diet. But in this, as in the rest, we are taught to -admire the great goodnesse and bounty of God, who hath not only given -us the birds of the aire, with their flesh to feede us, with their -voice to cheere us, but with their flight to delight us."[260:B] - -"I have in my youthfull dayes," relates Nash, "beene as glad as ever -I was to come from Schoole, to see a little martin in the dead time of -the yeare, when the winter had put on her whitest coat, and the frosts -had sealed up the brookes and rivers, to make her way through the midst -of a multitude of fowle-mouth'd ravenous crows and kites, which pursued -her with more hydeous cryes and clamours, than did Coll the dog, and -Malkin the maide, the Fox in the Apologue. - - "When the geese for feare flew over the trees, - And out of their hives came the swarme of bees:" - _Chaucer in his Nunes Priests Tale._ - -and maugre all their oppositions pulled down her prey, bigger than -herselfe, being mounted aloft, steeple-high downe to the ground. And -to heare an accipitrary relate againe, how he went forth in a cleere, -calme, and sun-shine evening, about an houre before the sunne did -usually maske himselfe, unto the river, where finding of a mallard, he -whistled off his faulcon, and how shee flew from him as if shee would -never have turned head againe, yet presently upon a shoote came in, -how then by degrees, by little and little, by flying about and about, -she mounted so high, untill shee had lessened herselfe to the view of -the beholder, to the shape of a pigeon or partridge, and had made the -height of the moone the place of her flight, how presently upon the -landing of the fowle, shee came downe like a stone and enewed it, and -suddenly got up againe, and suddenly upon a second landing came downe -againe, and missing of it, in the downe come recovered it, beyond -expectation, to the admiration of the beholder, at a long; and to heare -him tell a third time, how he went forth early in a winter's morning, -to the woody fields and pastures to fly the cocke, where having by the -little white feather in his tayle discovered him in a brake, he cast of -a tasel gentle, and how he never ceased in his circular motion, untill -he had recovered his place, how suddenly upon the flushing of the cocke -he came downe, and missing of it in the downcome, what working there -was on both sides, how the cocke mounted, as if he would have pierced -the skies; how the hawke flew a contrary way, untill he had made the -winde his friend, how then by degrees he got up, yet never offered to -come in, untill he had got the advantage of the higher ground, how then -he made in, what speed the cocke made to save himselfe, and what hasty -pursuit the hawke made, and how after two long miles flight killed it, -yet in killing of it killed himselfe. These discourses I love to heare, -and can well be content to be an eye-witnesse of the sport, when my -occasions will permit."[262:A] - -To this lively and minute detail, which brings the scene immediately -before our eyes, we must be allowed to add the poetical picture of -Massinger, which, as Mr. Gifford has justly observed, "is from the hand -of a great master." - - ————————— "In the afternoon, - For we will have variety of delights, - We'll to the field again, no game shall rise - But we'll be ready for't—— - ————————— for the pye or jay, a sparrow hawk - Flies from the fist; the crow so near pursued, - Shall be compell'd to seek protection under - Our horses bellies; a hearn put from her siege, - And a pistol shot off in her breech, shall mount - So high, that, to your view, she'll seem to soar - Above the middle region of the air: - A cast of haggard falcons, by me mann'd, - Eying the prey at first, appear as if - They did turn tail; but with their labouring wings - Getting above her, with a thought their pinions - Clearing the purer element, make in, - And by turns bind with her[262:B]; the frighted fowl, - Lying at her defence upon her back, - With her dreadful beak, awhile defers her death, - But by degrees forced down, we part the fray, - And feast upon her.—— - ————————— Then, for an evening flight, - A tiercel gentle, which I call, my masters, - As he were sent a messenger to the moon, - In such a place flies, as he seems to say, - See me, or see me not! the partridge sprung, - He makes his stoop; but wanting breath, is forced - To cancelier[263:A]; then, with such speed as if - He carried lightning in his wings, he strikes - The trembling bird, who even in death appears - Proud to be made his quarry."[263:B] - -After these praises and general description of hawking, it will be -proper to mention the various kinds of hawks used for this diversion, -the different modes of exercising it, and a few of the most interesting -particulars relative to the training of the birds. - -It will be found, on consulting the _Treatise on Hawking_, by Dame -Juliana Barnes, printed by Winkin De Worde in 1496, the _Gentleman's -Academie_, by Markham, 1595, and the _Jewel for Gentrie_, published in -1614, that during this space of time, the species of hawks employed, -and the several ranks of society to which they were appropriated, had -scarcely, if at all varied. The following catalogue is, therefore, -taken from the ancient Treatyse: - - "An eagle, a bawter (a vulture), a melown; these belong unto an - Emperor. - A Gerfalcon: a Tercell of a Gerfalcon are due to a King. - There is a Falcon gentle, and a Tercel gentle; and these be for a - Prince. - There is a Falcon of the rock; and that is for a Duke. - There is a Falcon peregrine; and that is for an earl. - Also there is a Bastard; and that hawk is for a baron. - There is a Sacre and a Sacret; and these ben for a knight. - There is a Lanare and a Lanrell; and these belong to a squire. - There is a Merlyon; and that hawk is for a lady. - There is an Hoby; and that hawk is for a young man. - And these _ben_ hawks of the _tour_ and ben both _illuryd_ to be - called and reclaimed. - And yet there ben more kinds of hawks. - There is a Goshawk; and that hawk is for a yeoman. - There is a Tercel; and that is for a poor man. - There is a Sparehawk; she is an hawk for a priest. - There is a Muskyte; and he is for an holy-water clerk."[264:A] - - -To this list the _Jewel for Gentre_ adds - - A Kesterel, for a knave or servant. - -Many of these birds were held in such high estimation by our crowned -heads and nobility, that several severe edicts were issued for -the preservation of their eggs. These were mitigated in the reign -of Elizabeth; but still if any person was convicted of taking or -destroying the eggs of the falcon, gos-hawk or laner, he was liable to -suffer imprisonment for three months, and was obliged to find security -for his good behaviour for seven years, or remain confined until he did. - -Hawking was divided into two branches, land and water hawking, and -the latter was usually considered as producing the most sport. The -diversion of hawking was pursued either on horseback or on foot: on -the former in the fields and open country; on the latter, in woods, -coverts, and on the banks of rivers. When on foot, the sportsman -had the assistance of a stout pole, for the purpose of leaping over -ditches, rivulets, &c.; a circumstance which we learn from the -chronicle of Hall, where the historian tells us that Henry the Eighth, -pursuing his hawk on foot, in attempting to leap over a ditch of -muddy water with his pole, it broke, and precipitated the monarch -head-foremost into the mud, where, had it not been for the timely -assistance of one of his footmen, named John Moody, he would soon have -been suffocated; "and so," concludes the venerable chronicler, "God of -hys goodnesse preserved him."[264:B] - -The game pursued in hawking included a vast variety of birds, many -of which, once fashionable articles of the table, have now ceased to -be objects of the culinary art. Of those which are now obsolete among -epicures may be enumerated, herons, bitterns, swans, cranes, curlews, -sheldrakes, cootes, peacocks; of those still in use, teel, mallard, -geese, ducks, pheasants, quails, partridges, plovers, doves, turtles, -snipes, woodcocks, rooks, larks, starlings, and sparrows. - -Hawking, notwithstanding the occasional fatigue and hazard which it -produced, was a favourite diversion among the ladies, who in the -pursuit of it, according to a writer of the seventeenth century, did -not hesitate to assume the male attire and posture. "The [265:A]Bury -ladies," observes he, "that used _hawking_ and hunting, were once in a -great vaine of wearing breeches."[265:B] The same author has preserved -a hawking anecdote of some humour, and which occurred, likewise, at -the same place: "Sir Thomas Jermin," he relates, "going out with -his servants, and brooke hawkes one evening, at Bury, they were no -sooner abroad, but fowle were found, and he called out to one of his -falconers, Off with your jerkin; the fellow being into the wind did -not heare him; at which he stormed, and still cried out, Off with your -jerkin, you knave, off with your jerkin; now it fell out that there -was, at that instant, a plaine townsman of Bury, in a freeze jerkin, -stood betwixt him and his falconer, who seeing Sir Thomas in such a -rage, and thinking he had spoken to him, unbuttoned himself amaine, -threw off his jerkin, and besought his worshippe not to be offended, -for he would off with his doublet too, to give him content."[265:C] - -That the _training_ of hawks was a work of labour, difficulty, and -skill, and that the person upon whom the task devolved, was highly -prized, and supported at a great expense, may be readily imagined. The -_Falconer_ was, indeed, an officer of high importance in the household -of the opulent, and his whole time was absorbed in the duties of his -station. That these were various and incessant may be deduced from the -following curious character of a _falconer_, drawn by a satirist of -1615.[266:A] - -"A falkoner is the egge of a tame pullett, hatcht up among hawkes -and spaniels. Hee hath in his minority conversed with kestrils and -yong hobbies: but growing up he begins to handle the lure, and look a -fawlcon in the face. All his learning makes him but a new linguist; -for to have studied and practised the termes of Hawke's Dictionary, -is enough to excuse his wit, manners, and humanity. He hath too -many trades to thrive; and yet if hee had fewer, hee would thrive -lesse. Hee need not be envied therefore, for a monopolie, though he -be barber-surgeon, physitian, and apothecary, before he commences -_hawk-leech_; for though he exercise all these, and the art of -bow-strings together, his patients be compelled to pay him no further, -then they be able. Hawkes be his object, that is, his knowledge, -admiration, labour, and all; they be indeed his idoll, or mistresse, be -they male or female: to them he consecrates his amorous ditties, which -be no sooner framed then hallowed; nor should he doubt to overcome the -fairest, seeing he reclaimes such haggards, and courts every one with -a peculiar dialect. That he is truly affected to his sweetheart in her -fether-bed, appeares by the sequele, himselfe being sensible of the -same misery, for they be both mewed up together: but he still chuses -the worst pennance, by chusing rather an ale-house, or a cellar, for -his moulting place than the hawke's mew."[266:B] - -The training of Hawks consisted principally in the _manning_, _luring_, -_flying_, and _hooding_ them. Of these, the first and second imply -a perfect familiarity with the man, and a perfect obedience to his -voice and commands, especially that of returning to the fist at the -appointed signal.[267:A] The _flying_ includes the appropriation of -peculiar hawks to peculiar game; thus the _Faulcon gentle_, which, -according to Gervase Markham, is the principal of hawks, and adapted -either for the field or river, will fly at the partridge or the -mallard; the _Gerfaulcon_ will fly at the heron; the _Saker_ at the -crane or bittern; the _Lanner_ at the partridge, pheasant, or chooffe; -the _Barbary Faulcon_ at the partridge only; the _Merlin_ and the -_Hobby_ at the lark, or any small bird; the _Goshawk_ or _Tercel_ at -the partridge, pheasant, or hare; the _Sparrow-hawk_ at the partridge -or blackbird, and the _Musket_ at the bush only.[267:B] - -The _hooding_ of hawks, as it embraces many technical terms, which -have been adopted by our poets, and among the rest, by Shakspeare, -will require a more extended explanation, and this we shall give -in the words of Mr. Strutt. "When the hawk," he observes, "was not -flying at her game, she was usually hood-winked, with a cap or hood -provided for that purpose, and fitted to her head; and this hood was -worn abroad, as well as at home. All hawks taken upon '_the fist_,' -the term used for carrying them upon the hand, had straps of leather -called _jesses_[267:C], put about their legs; the jesses were made -sufficiently long, for the knots to appear between the middle and the -little fingers of the hand that held them, so that the _lunes_, or -small thongs of leather, might be fastened to them with two _tyrrits_, -or rings; and the lunes were loosely wound round the little finger; -lastly, their legs were adorned with _bells_, fastened with rings of -leather, each leg having one; and the leathers, to which the bells were -attached, were denominated _bewits_; and to the bewits was added the -_creance_, or long thread, by which the bird in tutoring, was drawn -back, after she had been permitted to fly; and this was called the -_reclaiming_ of the hawk. The bewits, we are informed, were useful -to keep the hawks from _winding when she bated_, that is, when she -fluttered her wings to fly after her game. Respecting the bells, -it is particularly recommended that they should not be too heavy, -to impede the flight of the bird; and that they should be of equal -weight, sonorous, shrill, and musical; not both of one sound, but the -one a semitone below the other[268:A]; they ought not to be broken, -especially in the sounding part, because, in that case, the sound -emitted would be dull and unpleasing. There is, says the Book of St. -Alban's, great choice of sparrow-hawk bells, and they are cheap enough; -but for gos-hawk bells, those made at Milan are called the best; -and, indeed, they are excellent; for they are commonly sounded with -[268:B]silver, and charged for accordingly."[268:C] - -Thomas Heywood, in his play, entitled _A Woman killed with Kindness_, -and acted before 1604, has a passage on falconry, four lines of which -have been quoted by Mr. Strutt, as allusive to the toning of the Milan -bells; but as the whole is highly descriptive of the diversion, and -is of no great length, we shall venture to transcribe it, with the -exception of a few lines, entire: - - "_Sir Charles._ So; well cast off; aloft, aloft; well flown. - O, now she takes her at the _sowse_, and strikes her down - To th' earth, like a swift thunder clap.— - Now she hath seized the fowl, and 'gins to plume her, - _Rebeck_ her not; rather stand still and _check_ her. - So: seize her _gets_, her _jesses_, and her _bells_; - Away. - - _Sir Francis._ My hawk kill'd too! - - _Sir Charles._ Aye, but 'twas at the _querre_, - Not at the _mount_, like mine. - - _Sir Fran._ Judgment, my masters. - - _Cranwell._ Your's miss'd her at the _ferre_.[269:A] - - _Wendoll._ Aye, but our Merlin first had _plumed_ the fowl, - And twice _renew'd_ her from the river too; - Her bells, Sir Francis, had not both one weight, - Nor was one semi-tune above the other: - Methinks these Milain bells do sound too full, - And spoil the mounting of your hawk.— - - _Sir Fran._ —— Mine likewise seized a fowl - Within her talons; and you saw her paws - Full of the feathers: both her petty _singles_, - And her _long singles_ griped her more than other; - The _terrials_ of her legs were stained with blood: - Not of the fowl only, she did discomfit - Some of her feathers; but she brake away."[270:A] - -To hawking and the language of falconry, Shakspeare, as we have -previously observed, has frequently had recourse, and he has selected -the terms with his wonted propriety and effect; of this five or six -instances will be adequate proof. Othello, in allusion to Desdemona, -exclaims: - - ————— "If I do prove her _haggard_, - Though that _jesses_ were my dear heart-strings, - I'd _whistle her off_, and _let her down the wind_, - To prey at fortune."[270:B] - -A _haggard_ is a species of hawk wild and difficult to be reclaimed, -and which, if not well trained, flies indiscriminately at every bird; -a fault to which Shakspeare again refers in his _Twelfth Night_, where -Viola tells the Clown that - - "He must observe their mood on whom he jests— - And, like the _haggard_, check at every feather - That comes before his eye."[270:C] - -The phrase to _whistle off_ will be best explained by a simile in -Burton, which opens his chapter on Air. "As a long-winged hawk when he -is first _whistled off the fist_, mounts aloft, and for his pleasure -fetcheth many a circuit in the air, still soaring higher and higher, -till he be come to his full pitch, and in the end when the game is -sprung, comes down amain, and _stoops_ upon a sudden."[270:D] To _let a -hawk down the wind_, was to dismiss it as worthless. - -Petruchio, soliloquising on the means which he had adopted, in order to -tame his termagant bride, says emphatically, - - "My falcon now is sharp, and passing empty; - And, till she stoop, she must not be full-gorged, - For then she never looks upon her lure. - Another way I have to man my haggard, - To make her come, and know her keeper's call, - That is,—to watch her, as we watch these kites, - That _bate_, and beat, and will not be obedient."[271:A] - -To _bate_ in this passage means to _flutter_ or _beat the wings_, as -striving to fly away, and is metaphorically used in the following -address of Juliet to the night: - - ———————— "Come, civil night,—— - Hood my unmann'd blood _bating_ in my cheeks, - With thy black mantle."[271:B] - -The same tragedy furnishes us with another obligation to falconry, -where the love-sick maiden recalls Romeo in these terms: - - "Hist! Romeo, hist!——O, for a falconer's voice - To lure this tassel-gentle back again."[271:C] - -Falstaff's page in the _Merry Wives of Windsor_ is appositely compared -to the _eyas-musket_, an unfledged hawk of the smallest species: - - "_Mrs. Ford._ How now, my _eyas-musket_? What news with you?"[271:D] - -_Eyas-musket_, remarks Mr. Steevens, is the same as _infant -Lilliputian_, and he subjoins an illustrative passage from Spenser: - - ———— "youthful gay, - Like _eyas-hawke_, up mounts into the skies, - His _newly budded_ pinions to essay."[271:E] - -If the commencement of the seventeenth century, saw _Hawking_ the -most splendid and prevalent amusement of the nobility and gentry, the -close had to witness its decline and abolition; it gave way to a more -sure and expeditious, though, perhaps, less interesting mode of killing -game, and the adoption of the gun had, before the year 1700, almost -entirely banished the art of the Falconer. - -The costume of the next great amusement of the country, that of -HUNTING, differs at present in few essential points from what it was -in the sixteenth century. The chief variations may be included in the -disuse of killing game in inclosures, and in the adoption of more -speed, and less fatigue and stratagem in the open chace; or in other -words, it is the strength and speed of the fleet blood-horse, and not -of the athletic and active huntsman, or old steady-paced hunter, that -now decide the sport. "In the modern chace," observes Mr Haslewood, -"the lithsomness of youth is no longer excited to pursue the animals. -Attendant footmen are discontinued and forgotten; while the active -and eager rustic with a hunting pole, wont to be foremost, has long -forsaken the field, nor is there a trace of the character known, except -in a country of deep clay, as parts of Sussex. Few years will pass -ere the old steady paced English hunter and the gabbling beagle will -be equally obsolete. All the sport now consists of speed. A hare is -hurried to death by dwarf fox-hounds, and a leash murdered in a shorter -period than a single one could generally struggle for existence. -The hunter boasts a cross of blood, or, in plainer phrase, a racer, -sufficiently professed to render a country sweepstakes doubtful. This -variation is by no means an improvement, and can only advantage the -plethoric citizen, who seeks to combat the somnolency arising from -civic festivals by a short and sudden excess of exercise."[272:A] - -The mode of hunting, indeed, in the reigns of Elizabeth and James, -still continued an emblem of, and a fit preparation for, the fatigues -of war; nor was it unusual to consider the toils of the chace as -initiatory to those of the camp. "The old Lord Gray, our English -Achilles," says Peacham, "when hee was Deputie of Ireland, to inure -his sonnes for the warre, would usually in the depth of winter, in -frost, snow, raine, and what weather so ever fell, cause them at -midnight to be raised out of their beds, and carried abroad on hunting -till the next morning; then perhaps come wet and cold home, having -for a breakefast, a browne loafe and a mouldie cheese, or (which is -ten times worse) a dish of Irish butter[273:A];" and Dekkar, in his -praise of hunting, remarks, that "it is a very true picture of warre, -nay, it is a warre in itselfe, for engines are brought into the field, -stratagems are contrived, ambushes are laide, onsets are given, alarams -strucke up, brave encounters are made, fierce assailings are resisted -by strength, by courage, or by policie: the enemie is pursued, and -the pursuers never give over till they have him in execution, then -is a retreate sounded, then are spoiles divided, then come they home -wearied, but yet crowned with honour and victorie. And as in battailes, -there bee several manners of fight; so in the pastime of hunting, there -are several degrees of game. Some hunt the lyon, &c.—others pursue the -long-lived hart, the couragious stag, or the nimble footed deere; these -are the noblest hunters, and they exercise the noblest game: these by -following the chace, get strength of bodie, a free, and undisquieted -minde, magnanimitie of spirit, alacritie of heart, and unwearisomnesse -to breake through the hardest labours: their pleasures are not -insatiable, but are contented to be kept within limits, for these hunt -within parkes inclosed, or within bounded forests. The hunting of the -hare teaches feare to be bold, and puts simplicitie to her shifts, that -she growes cunning and provident; &c."[273:B] - -Hunting in inclosures, that is, in parks, chases, and forests, where -the game was inclosed with a fence-work of netting stretched on posts -driven into the ground, appears to have been the custom of this -country from the time of Edward the Second to the middle of the -seventeenth century. The manuscript treatise of William Twici, grand -huntsman to Edward the Second, entitled _Le Art De Venerie, le quel -maistre Guillame Twici venour le roy d'Angleterre fist en son temps per -aprandre Autres_[274:A]; the nearly contemporary manuscript translation -of John Gyfford, with the title of _A book of Venerie, dialogue[274:B] -wise_; the tract called _The Maistre of the Game_[274:C], in manuscript -also, and written by the chief huntsman of Henry the Fourth, for the -instruction of his son, afterwards Henry the Fifth; the _Book of St. -Albans_, the first _printed_ treatise on the subject, and written by -the sister of Lord Berners, when prioress at the nunnery of Sopewell, -about 1481; the tract on the _Noble Art of Venerie_, annexed to -Turberville on Falconrie 1575, and supposed to have been written by -George Gascoigne, and the re-impression of the same in 1611, all -describe the ceremonies and preparations necessary for the pursuit -of this, now obsolete, mode of hunting, which, from its luxury and -effeminacy, forms a perfect contrast to the manly fatigues of the -_open_ chace. - -This style of hunting, indeed, exhibited great splendour and pomp, -and was certainly a very imposing spectacle; but the slaughter must -have been easy and great, and the sport therefore proportionally less -interesting. When the king, the great barons, or dignified clergy, -selected this mode of the diversion, in which either bows or greyhounds -were used, the masters of the game and the park-keepers prepared all -things essential for the purpose; and, if it were a royal hunt, the -sheriff of the county furnished stabling for the king's horses, and -carts for the dead game. A number of temporary buildings, covered with -green boughs, to shade the company from the heat of the sun or bad -weather, were erected by the foresters in a proper situation, and on -the morning of the day chosen for the sport, the master of the game and -his officers saw the greyhounds duly placed, and a person appointed to -announce, by the different intonations of his horn the species of game -turned out, so that the company might be prepared for its reception -when it broke cover. - -The enclosure being guarded by officers or retainers, placed at equal -distances, to prevent the multitude prematurely rousing the game, the -grand huntsman, as soon as the king, nobility, or gentry had taken -their respective stations, sounded three long mootes or blasts with -the horn, as a signal for the uncoupling of the hart-hounds, when the -game, driven by the manœuvres of the huntsman, passed the lodges where -the company were waiting, and were either shot from their bows, -or individuals, starting from the groupe, pursued the deer with -greyhounds.[275:A] - -We find, from the poems of Gascoigne and Turberville, as they appear in -their Book of Hunting of 1575, that every accommodation which beautiful -scenery and epicurean fare could produce, was thought essential to this -branch of the sport. Turberville, describing the scene chosen for the -company to take their stations, says— - - "The place should first be pight, on pleasant gladsome greene, - Yet under shade of stately trees, where little sunne is seene: - And neare some fountaine spring, whose chrystall running streames - May helpe to coole the parching heate, ycaught by Phœbus beames. - The place appoynted thus, it neyther shall be clad - With arras nor with tapystry, such paltrie were too bad: - Ne yet those hote perfumes, whereof proude courtes do smell, - May once presume in such a place, or paradise to dwell. - Away with fayned fresh, as broken boughes or leaves, - Away, away, with forced flowers, ygathered from their greaves: - This place must of itselfe, afforde such sweet delight, - And eke such shewe, as better may content the greedie sight; - Where sundry sortes of hewes, which growe upon the ground, - May seeme, indeede, such tapystry, as we by arte, have found. - Where fresh and fragrant flowers, may skorne the courtier's cost, - Which daubes himselfe with syvet, muske, and many an ointment lost, - Where sweetest singing byrdes, may make such melodye, - As Pan, nor yet Apollo's arte, can sounde such harmonye. - Where breath of westerne windes, may calmely yeld content, - Where casements neede not opened be, where air is never pent. - Where shade may serve for shryne, and yet the sunne at hande, - Where beautie need not quake for colde, ne yet with sunne be tande. - In fine and to conclude, where pleasure dwels at large, - Which princes seeke in pallaces, with payne and costly charge. - Then such a place once founde, the _Butler_ first appeares,— - Then comes the captaine _Cooke_"— - -These gentlemen of the household, it seems, came well provided; the -farmer, with wines and ales "in bottles and in barrels," and the latter -with _colde loynes of veale_, _colde capon_, _beefe and goose_, _pigeon -pyes_, _mutton colde_, _neates tongs poudred well_, _gambones of the -hogge_, _saulsages_ and _savery knackes_.[276:A] - -Of the stag-chace in the _open_ country, and of the ceremonies and -costume attending it, at the castellated mansions of the Baron and -opulent Squire, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a -tolerably accurate idea may be formed from the following statement, -drawn up from the ancient writers on the subject, and from the works of -the ingenious antiquary Strutt. - -The inhabitants of the castle, and the hunters, were usually awakened -very early in the morning by the lively sounding of the bugles, -after which it was not unusual for two or more minstrels to sing -an appropriate roundelay, beneath the windows of the master of the -mansion, accompanied by the deep and mellow chorus of the attending -rangers and falconers. Shakspeare alludes to a song of this kind in his -_Romeo and Juliet_[276:B], which has been preserved entire by Thomas -Ravenscroft[276:C], and commences thus:— - - "The hunt is up, the hunt is up, - Sing merrily wee, the hunt is up; - The birds they sing, - The deere they fling; - Hey nony nony-no; &c." - -The Yeoman Keepers, with their attendants, called Ragged Robins, to -the number of ten or twelve, next made their appearance, leading the -slow-hounds or brachets, by which the deer were roused. These men were -usually dressed in Kendal green, with bugles and short hangers by their -sides, and quarter-staffs in their hands, and were followed by the -foresters with a number of greyhounds led in leashes for the purpose of -plucking down the game. - -This assemblage in the Court of the castle was soon augmented by a -number of _Retainers_, or Yeomen who received a small annual pension -for attendance on these occasions; they wore a livery, with the -cognisance of the house to which they belonged, borne, as a badge of -adherence, on their arms, and each man had a buckler on his shoulder, -and a burnished broad sword hanging from his belt. Shortly afterwards -appeared the pages and squires in hunting garbs on horse-back and on -foot, and armed with spears and long and cross bows; and lastly the -Baron, his friends, and the ladies. - -The company thus completed, were conducted by the huntsmen to a -thicket, in which, they knew, by previous observation, that a stag -had been harboured all night. Into this cover the keeper entered, -leading his ban-dog (a blood-hound tied in a leam or band), and as -soon as the stag abandoned it, the greyhounds were slipped upon him; -these, however, after running two or three miles, he usually threw -out, by again entering cover, when the slow-hounds and prickers -were sent in, to drive him from his strength. The poor animal now -traverses the country for several miles, and after using every effort -and manœuvre in vain, exhausted and breathless, his mouth embossed -with foam, and the tears dropping from his eyes, he turns in despair -upon his pursuers, and in this situation the boldest hunter of the -train generally rides in, and, at some risque, dispatches him with a -short hunting-sword. The _treble-mort_ is then sounded, accompanied by -the shouts of the men and the yelping of the dogs, and the huntsman -ceremoniously presents his knife to the master of the chase, in order -that he may take, as it is termed, the _say_ of the deer.[278:A] - -The danger which the ancient hunter incurred, on dealing the death -stroke to the stag when he turned to bay, is strikingly exemplified by -an incident in the life of Wilson the historian, during the time he -formed a part of the household of the Earl of Essex, in the reign of -Elizabeth. - -"Sir Peter Lee, of Lime, in Cheshire, invited my lord one summer, to -hunt the stagg. And having a great stagg in chace, and many gentlemen -in the pursuit, the stagg took soyle. And divers, whereof I was one, -alighted, and stood with swords drawne, to have a cut at him, at his -coming out of the water. The staggs there, being wonderfully fierce and -dangerous, made us youths more eager to be at him. But he escaped us -all. And it was my misfortune to be hindered of my coming nere him, the -way being sliperie, by a fall; which gave occasion to some, who did not -know mee, to speak as if I had falne for feare. Which being told me, I -left the stagg, and followed the gentleman who first spake it. But I -found him of that cold temper, that it seems his words made an escape -from him; as by his denial and repentance it appeared. But this made -mee more violent in pursuit of the stagg, to recover my reputation. -And I happened to be the only horseman in, when the dogs sett him up -at bay; and approaching nere him on horsebacke, hee broke through -the dogs, and run at mee, and tore my horse's side with his hornes, -close by my thigh. Then I quitted my horse, and grew more cunning -(for the dogs had sette him up againe), stealing behind him with my -sword, and cut his hamstrings; and then got upon his back, and cut his -throate."[280:A] - -A still more difficult and gallant feat, however, of this kind, -was performed by John Selwyn, the under-keeper of Queen Elizabeth, -who, one day, animated by the presence of his royal mistress, at a -chase, in her park of Oatlands, pursued the stag with such activity, -that, overtaking it, he sprung from his horse on the animal; when, -after most skilfully maintaining his seat for some time, he drew his -hunting-sword, and, just as he reached the green, plunged it in the -throat of the stag, which immediately dropped down dead at the feet of -Elizabeth; an achievement which is sculptured on his monument in Walton -church, Surrey, where he is represented in the very act of killing the -infuriated beast.[280:B] - -The taking the _say_ of, and the _breaking_ up, the deer, were formerly -attended with many ceremonies and superstitions.[280:C] "Touching the -death of a deare, or other wylde beast," says a writer of the sixteenth -century, "yee knowe your selves what ceremonies they use about the -same. Every poore man may cut out an oxe, or a sheepe, whereas such -venison may not be dismembered but of a gentylman; who bareheadded, and -set on knees, with a knife prepared properly to that use, (for every -kynde of knife is not allowable) also with certain jestures, cuttes -a sunder certaine partes of the wild beast, in a certain order very -circumstantly. Which holy misterie, having seen the lyke yet more than -a hundred tymes before. Then (sir) whose happe it bee to eate parte -of the fleshe, marye hee thinkes verily to bee made thereby halfe a -gentilman."[281:A] - -After the process of dismemberment, and the selection of choice pieces, -the forester, the keeper, and the hounds had their allotted share, and -superstition granted even a portion to the ominous raven. "There is a -little gristle," relates Turberville, "which is upon the spoone of the -brisket, which we call the raven's bone; and I have seen in some places -a raven so wont and accustomed to it, that she would never fail to -croak and cry for it all the time you were in breaking up of the deer, -and would not depart till she had it." - -Of this superstitious observance Jonson has given us a pleasing sketch, -in the most poetical of his works, the Sad Shepherd:— - - "_Marian._ —————— He that undoes him, - Doth cleave the brisket bone upon the spoon, - Of which a little gristle grows——you call it— - - _Robin Hood._ The raven's bone. - - _Marian._ —————— Now o'er head sat a raven - On a sere bough, a grown, great bird and hoarse, - Who, all the time the deer was breaking up, - So croaked and cried for it, as all the huntsmen, - Especially old Scathlocke, thought it ominous!"[281:B] - -In an age, when to hawke and to hunt formed the _Gentleman's -Academy_[281:C], the _Falconer_ and the _Huntsman_ were most important -characters; of the former we have already given an outline from -contemporary authority, and of the latter the following extract -delineates a very curious picture, in which the manners, the dress, and -the accoutrements are marked with singular strength and raciness of -touch. - -"A huntsman is the lieutenant of dogs, and foe to harvest: he is -frolick in a faire morning fit for his pleasure; and alike rejoyceth -with the Virginians, to see the rising sun: he doth worship it as -they, but worships his game more than they; and is in some things -almost as barbarous. A sluggard he contemnes, and thinks the resting -time might be shortened; which makes him rise with day, observe the -same pace, and prove full as happy, if the day be happy. The names -of foxe, hare, and bucke, be all attracting sillables; sufficient -to furnish fifteene meales with long discourse in the adventures of -each. Foxe, drawes in his exploits done against cubbes, bitch-foxes, -otters and badgers: hare, brings out his encounters, platformes, -engines, fortifications, and night worke done against leveret, cony, -wilde-cat, rabbet, weasell, and pole-cat: then bucke, the captaine of -all, provokes him (not without strong passion) to remember hart, hind, -stagge, doe, pricket, fawne, and fallow deere. He uses a dogged forme -of governement, which might bee (without shame) kept in humanity; and -yet he is unwilling to be governed with the same reason: either by -being satisfied with pleasure, or content with ill fortune. Hee hath -the discipline to marshall dogs, and sutably; when a wise herald would -rather mervaile, how he could distinguish their coates, birth, and -gentry. Hee carries about him in his mouth the very soule of Ovid's -bodies, metamorphosed into trees, rockes and waters; for, when he -pleases, they shall eccho and distinctly answere; and when he pleases, -be extremely silent. There is little danger in him towards the common -wealth; for his worst intelligence comes from shepherds or woodmen; -and that onely threatens the destruction of hares; a well knowne dry -meate. The spring and he are still at variance; in mockage therefore, -and revenge together of that season, _he weares her livery_ in winter. -Little consultations please him best; but the best directions he doth -love and follow, they are his dogs. If hee cannot prevaile therefore, -his lucke must be blamed, for he takes a speedy course. He cannot -be less than a conquerour from the beginning, though he wants the -booty; for he pursues the flight. His manhood is _a crooked sword -with a sawbacke_; but the badge of his generous valour is a home to -give notice. Battery and blowing up, he loves not; to undermine is -his stratageme. His physick teaches him not to drinke sweating; in -amends whereof, he liquors himselfe to a heate, upon coole bloud, if -he delights (at least) to emulate his dog in a hot nose. If a kennel -of hounds passant take away his attention and company from church; do -not blame his devotion; for in them consists the nature of it, and his -knowledge. His frailties are, that he is apt to mistake any dog worth -the stealing, and never take notice of the collar. He dreames of a hare -sitting, a foxe earthed, or the bucke couchant: and if his fancy would -be moderate, his actions might be full of pleasure."[283:A] - -Making a natural transition from the huntsman to his hounds, we have -to remark, that one great object, at this period, in the construction -of the kennel, was the modulation and harmony of the vocal powers of -the dog. This was carried to a nicety and perfection little practised -in the present day. Gervase Markham seems to write _con amore_ on -this subject, and has penned directions which partake both of the -picturesque, and of the melody on which he is descanting: thus, -speaking of the production of _loudness of cry_, he says, "if you would -have your kennel for loudness of mouth, you shall not then choose the -hollow deep mouth, but the loud clanging mouth, which spendeth freely -and sharply, and as it were redoubleth in utterance: and if you mix -with them the mouth that roreth, and the mouth that whineth, the cry -will be both the louder and the smarter;—and the more equally you -compound these mouths, haveing as many rorers as spenders, and as many -whiners, as of either of the other, the louder and pleasanter your cry -will be, _especially, if it be in sounding tall woods, or under the -echo of rocks_;" and treating of the _composition_ of notes in the -kennel, he adds, "you shall as nigh as you can, sort their mouths into -three equal parts of musick, that is to say base, counter-tenor and -mean; the base are those mouths which are most deep and solemn, and -are spent out plain and freely, without redoubling: the counter-tenor -are those which are most loud and ringing, whose sharp sounds pass so -swift, that they seem to dole and make division; and the mean are -those which are soft sweet mouths, that though plain, and a little -hollow, yet are spent smooth and freely; yet so distinctly, that a man -may count the notes as they open. Of these three sorts of mouths, if -your kennel be (as near as you can) equally compounded, you shall find -it most perfect and delectable: for though they have not the thunder -and loudness of the great dogs, which may be compared to the high -wind-instruments, yet they will have the tunable sweetness of the best -compounded consorts; and sure a man may find as much art and delight in -a lute as in an organ."[284:A] - -Shakspeare, who frequently avails himself of the language, imagery, and -circumstances attendant on this diversion, has particularly noticed, -in a passage of much animation and beauty, the care taken to arrange -the notes of the kennel, and the pleasure derivable from the varied -intonations of the hounds. Theseus addressing Hippolyta, exclaims— - - "My love shall hear the musick of my hounds.— - Uncouple in the western valley; go:— - Despatch, I say, and find the forester.— - We will, fair queen, up to the mountain's top, - And mark the musical confusion - Of hounds and echo in conjunction. - - _Hip._ —————— Never did I hear - Such gallant chiding; for, besides the groves, - The skies, the fountains, every region near - Seem'd all one mutual cry: I never heard - So musical a discord, such sweet thunder. - - _The._ My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, - So flew'd[284:B], so sanded[284:C]; and their heads are hung - With ears that sweep away the morning dew; - Crook-knee'd, and dew-lap'd like Thessalian bulls; - Slow in pursuit, but _match'd in mouth like bells, - Each under each_. A cry more tuneable - Was never holla'd to, nor cheer'd with horn."[284:D] - -It appears from a scene in _Timon of Athens_, and from a passage in -Laneham's Account of the Queen's Entertainment at Killingworth Castle, -1575, that it was a common thing, at this period, to hunt after dinner, -or in the evening. Timon, having been employed, during the morning, in -hunting, says to Alcibiades— - - "So soon as dinner's done, we'll forth again;"[285:A] - -and Elizabeth, twice, during her residence with the Earl of Leicester, -is described as pursuing this exercise in the cool of the evening. -Honest Laneham's narrative of one of these royal chases will amuse the -reader. - -"Munday waz hot, and thearfore her Highness kept in till a five a -clok in the eevening: what time it pleazz'd her to ride foorth into -the chace too hunt the Hart of fors; which foound anon, and after -sore chased, and chafed by the hot pursuit of the hooundes, waz -fain of fine fors at last to take soil. Thear to beholl'd the swift -fleeting of the deer afore, with the stately cariage of hiz head in -his swimmyng, spred (for the quantitee) lyke the sail of a ship; the -hoounds harroing after, az had they bin a number of skiphs too the -spoyle of a karvell; the ton no lesse eager in purchaz of his pray, -than waz the other earnest in savegard of hiz life; so az the earning -of the hoounds in continuauns of their crie, the swiftness of the -deer, the running of footmen, the galloping of horsez, the blasting -of hornz, the halloing and hewing of the huntsmen, with the excellent -echoz between whilez from the woods and waters in valliez resounding; -moved pastime delectabl in so hy a degree, az, for ony parson to take -pleazure by moost sensez at onez, in mine opinion, thear can be none -ony wey comparable to this; and special in this place, that of nature -iz foormed so feet for the purpoze; in feith, _Master Martin_, if ye -coold with a wish, I woold ye had bin at it: Wel, the hart waz kild, a -goodly deer."[285:B] - -So partial was Her Majesty to this diversion that even in her -seventy-seventh year she still pursued it with avidity; for Rowland -Whyte, one of her courtiers, writing to Sir Robert Sidney on September -12th, 1600, says, "Her majesty is well and excellently disposed to -hunting, for every second day she is on horseback, and continues the -sport long;" and when not disposed to incur the fatigue of joining in -the chase, she was recreated with a sight of the pastime; thus at the -seat of Lord Montecute, in 1591, she saw, after dinner, from a turret, -"sixteen bucks all having fayre lawe, pulled downe with greyhounds in a -laund or lawn."[286:A] - -Nor was James the First less passionately addicted to the sport; his -journey from Scotland to England, on his accession to the throne of the -latter kingdom, was frequently protracted by his inability to resist -the temptation of joining in the chase; on his road to Withrington, the -seat of Sir Robert Cary, after a hard ride of thirty-seven miles in -less than four hours, "and by the way for a note," says a contemporary -writer, "the miles according to the northern phrase, are a wey bit -longer, then they be here in the south,—His Majesty having a little -while reposed himselfe after his great journey, found new occasion -to travell further: for, as he was delighting himselfe with the -pleasure of the parke, hee suddenly beheld a number of deere neare the -place: the game being so faire before him hee could not forbeare, but -_according to his wonted manner_, forth he went and slew two of them;" -again, "After his Majesties short repast to Werslop his Majestie rides -forward, but by the way in the parke he was somewhat stayed; for there -appeared a number of huntes-men all in greene; the chiefe of which with -a woodman's speech did welcome him, offering his Majestie to shew him -some game, which he gladly condiscended to see; and with a traine set -he hunted a good space, very much delighted."[286:B] This diversion -from his direct route is repeatedly noticed by the same author, and -proves the strong attachment of the monarch to this amusement, which -he preferred to either hawking or shooting; he divided his time, says -Wellwood, "betwixt his standish, his bottle, and his hunting; the last -had his fair weather, the two former his dull and cloudy[287:A];" an -assertion which with regard to hunting is corroborated by Wilson, -who, recording his visit to his native dominions in 1617, informs us, -that on his return he exhibited the same keen relish for the sport -which he had shown in 1603: "The King, in his return from Scotland," -he remarks, "made his Progress through the hunting-countries, (his -hounds and hunters meeting him,) _Sherwood-Forest_, _Need-wood_, and -all the _parks_ and _forests_ in his way, were ransacked for his -_recreation_; and every _night_ begat a new _day_ of _delight_."[287:B] -In short, James was so engrossed by his passion for hunting, that he -neglected the most important business to indulge it; and even affected -the garb of a hunter when he ought to have been in that of a king. -Osborne calls him a _Sylvan Prince_, and adds, "I shall leave him -dressed to posterity in the colours I saw him in the next Progress -after his Inauguration, which was as _green_ as the grass he trod on, -with a _feather_ in his _cap_, and a _horn_ instead of a sword by his -side."[287:C] - -To these brief notices of hawking and hunting, it may be necessary -to add a very few remarks on the kindred amusements of _fowling_ and -_fishing_, as far as they deviate, either in manner or estimation, -from the practice or opinions of the present day. In the pursuit of -_fowling_, indeed, there is little or no discrepancy between the two -periods, if we make an exception for two instances; and these now -obsolete modes of exercising the art, were termed _horse-stalking_ and -_bird-batting_. The former consisted originally of a horse trained for -the purpose, and so mantled over with trappings as to hide the fowler -completely from the game; a contrivance much improved upon for facility -of usage by substituting a stuffed canvas figure, painted to resemble -a horse grazing; this was so light that the sportsman might move it -easily with one hand, and behind it he could securely take his aim; -to this curious species of deception Shakspeare alludes in _As You -Like It_, where the Duke, speaking of Touchstone, says, "He uses his -folly like a _stalking-horse_, and under the presentation of that, he -shoots his wit[288:A];" and again, in _Much Ado about Nothing_, Claudio -exclaims, "Stalk on, stalk on; the fowl sits."[288:B] It appears from -Drayton, that the fowler shot from _underneath_ his horse, where he -was concealed by the mantle-cloth depending to the ground: thus in the -_Polyolbion_. - - "One _underneath_ his _horse_ to get a shoot doth _stalk_;"[288:C] - -and in the _Muses' Elysium_— - - "Then _underneath_ my horse, I _stalk_ my game to strike."[288:D] - -Sometimes, instead of a stuffed canvas figure, the form of a horse -painted on a cloth was carried before the sportsman: "Methinks," says a -writer of this period quoted by Mr. Reed, "I behold the cunning fowler, -such as I have knowne in the fenne countries and els-where, that doe -shoot at woodcockes, snipes, and wilde fowle, by sneaking behind a -_painted cloth_ which they carry before them, having _pictured in it -the shape of a horse_; which while the silly fowle gazeth on, it is -knockt down with hale shot, and so put in the fowler's budget."[288:E] - -We have reason to suppose that Henry the Eighth often amused himself -in this manner; for in the inventories of his wardrobes, preserved in -the Harleian MS., are to be found frequent allowances of materials -for making "stalking coats, and stalking hose for the use of his -majesty."[289:A] - -Of the peculiar mode of netting called _bird-batting_, the following -account has been given by a once popular authority on these -subjects:—"This sport we call in England most commonly bird-batting, -and some call it low-belling; and the use of it is to go with a great -light of cressets, or rags of linen dipped in tallow, which will make -a good light; and you must have a pan or plate made like a lanthorn, -to carry your light in, which must have a great socket to hold the -light, and carry it before you, on your breast, with a bell in your -other hand, and of a great bigness, made in the manner of a cow-bell, -but still larger; and you must ring it always after one order. If you -carry the bell, you must have two companions with nets, one on each -side of you; and what with the bell, and what with the light, the birds -will be so amazed, that when you come near them, they will turn up -their white bellies: your companions shall then lay their nets quietly -upon them, and take them. But you must continue to ring the bell; for, -if the sound shall cease, the other birds, if there be any more near -at hand, will rise up and fly away."[289:B] This method was used to -ensnare wood-cocks, partridges, larks, &c. and it is probable that to a -stratagem of this kind Shakspeare may allude, when he paints Buckingham -exclaiming— - - "The net has fall'n upon me; I shall perish - Under device and practice."[289:C] - -FISHING, as an _art_, has deviated little, in this country, from the -state to which it had attained three centuries ago; but it is a subject -of interest and amusement, to mark the enthusiasm with which, during -the period that we are considering, and anteriorly, this delightful -recreation has been discussed, and the minutiæ to which its literary -patrons have descended. - -Of books written on the _Art of Angling_ previous to, and during the -age of Shakspeare, five, independent of subsequent editions, may be -enumerated; and from three of these, the most curious of their kind, we -shall quote a few passages indicative of the warm attachment alluded -to in the preceding paragraph. The earliest printed production on this -subject is _The Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle_, included, for the -first time, in, what may be termed, the second edition of the _Book of -St. Albans_, namely, _The Treatyses perteynynge to Hawkynge, Huntynge -and Fisshynge with an angle_, printed at Westminster, by Wynkyn De -Worde, 1496. This little tract, which has been attributed, though -perhaps not[290:A] correctly, to Dame Juliana Berners, commences with -giving a decided preference to fishing when compared with hunting, -hawking, and fowling, in the course of which the author observes, that -the Angler, if his sport should fail him, "atte the leest, hath his -holsom walke, and mery at his ease, a swete ayre of the swete savoure -of the meede floures, that makyth him hungry; he hereth the melodyous -armony of fowles; he seeth the yonge swannes, heerons, duckes, cotes, -and many other fowles, wyth theyr brodes; wyche me semyth better than -alle the noyse of houndys, the blastes of hornys, and the scrye of -fowlis, that hunters, fawkeners, and foulers can make. And if the -Angler take fysshe; surely, thenne, is there noo man merier than he is -in his spryte[290:B];" and the book concludes in a singularly pleasing -strain of piety and simplicity. "Ye shall not use this forsayd crafty -dysporte," says this lover of fishing, "for no covetysenes, to the -encreasynge and sparynge of your money oonly; but pryncypally for your -solace, and to cause the helthe of your body, and specyally of your -soule: for whanne ye purpoos to goo on your dysportes in fysshynge, -ye woll not desyre gretly many persons wyth you, whyche myghte lette -you of your game. And thenne ye may serve God, devoutly, in sayenge -affectuously youre custumable prayer; and, thus doynge, ye shall -eschewe and voyde many vices." - -Of this impression of the _Book of St. Albans_ by De Worde, numerous -editions were published during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, -and frequently with new titles, as the "Gentleman's Academie" 1595; -the "Jewell for Gentrie" 1614, and the "Gentleman's Recreation" 1674. -Two small tracts, however, on angling, possessing some originality, -were published by Leonard Mascall, and John Taverner, the former in -1590, and the latter in[291:A]1600; but the most important work on -the subject, after the _Treatyse on Fysshynge_, is a poem written by -one John Dennys, or Davors, with the following title: _The Secrets -of Angling; teaching the choicest Tooles, Baytes, and Seasons for -the taking of any Fish, in Pond or River: practised and familiarly -opened in three Bookes_. By J. D. Esquire. 8vo. Lond. 1613. This is a -production of considerable poetic merit, as will be evident from the -author's eulogium on his art: after reprobating the pastimes of gaming, -wantonness, and drinking, he exclaims— - - "O let me rather on the pleasant brinke - Of Tyne and Trent possesse some dwelling place, - Where I may see my quill and corke downe sinke - With eager bite of Barbell, Bleike, or Dace: - And on the world and his Creatour thinke, - While they proud Thais painted sheet embrace, - And with the fume of strong tobacco's smoke, - All quaffing round are ready for to choke. - - Let them that list these pastimes then pursue, - And on their pleasing fancies feed their fill; - So I the fields and meadows green may view, - And by the rivers fresh may walke at will, - Among the dazies and the violets blew: - Red hyacinth, and yellow daffodill, - Purple narcissus like the morning rayes, - Pale ganderglas, and azor culverkayes. - - I count it better pleasure to behold - The goodly compasse of the lofty skie, - And in the midst thereof like burning gold, - The flaming chariot of the world's great eye; - The watry clouds that in the ayre uprold, - With sundry kinds of painted colours flie; - And faire Aurora lifting up her head, - All blushing rise from old Tithonus bed. - - The hils and mountains raised from the plains, - The plains extended levell with the ground, - The ground divided into sundry vains, - The vains enclos'd with running rivers round, - The rivers making way through nature's chains, - With headlong course into the sea profound: - The surging sea beneath the vallies low, - The vallies sweet, and lakes that lovely flow. - - The lofty woods, the forests wide and long - Adorn'd with leaves and branches fresh and green, - In whose cool brows the birds with chanting song - Do welcome with their quire the Summer's Queen, - The meadows fair where Flora's guifts among, - Are intermixt the verdant grasse between, - The silver skaled fish that softly swim - Within the brooks and crystall watry brim. - - All these and many more of his creation, - That made the heavens, the Angler oft doth see, - And takes therein no little delectation - To thinke how strange and wonderfull they bee, - Framing thereof an inward contemplation, - To set his thoughts on other fancies free: - And whiles he looks on these with joyfull eye, - His minde is wrapt above the starry skie."[293:A] - -The poet has entered so minutely into his task, as to give directions -for the colour of the angler's cloaths, which he wishes should be -russet or gray[293:B]; and he opens his third book with a descriptive -catalogue of the moral virtues and qualities of mind necessary to -a lover of the pastime; these, he informs us, are twelve, namely, -_faith_, _hope_, _charity_, _patience_, _humility_, _courage_, -_liberality_, _knowledge_, _placability_, _piety_, _temperance_, -and _memory_; an enumeration sufficiently extensive, it might be -supposed, to damp the enthusiasm of the most eager disciple; yet has -Gervase Markham, notwithstanding, wonderfully augmented the list. -This indefatigable author, in an early edition of his _Countrey -Contentments_[293:C], converted the poetry of Davors into prose, with -the following title: "The whole Art of Angling; as it was written in a -small Treatise in Rime, and now for the better understanding of the -Reader put into prose, and _adorned_ and _inlarged_." The additions -are numerous and entertaining, a specimen of which, under the marginal -notation of _Angler's vertues_, will convey a distinct and curious idea -of the estimation in which this art was held in the reign of James the -First, and of the moral and mental qualifications deemed essential, at -this period, towards its successful attainment. - -"Now for the inward qualities of mind, albeit some writers reduce them -to _twelve_ heads, which, indeed, whosoever enjoyeth, cannot chuse but -be very compleat in much perfection, yet I must draw them into many -other branches. The first and most especial whereof is, that a skilful -Angler ought to be a general scholler, and seen in all the liberal -sciences, as a grammarian, to know how either to write or discourse -of his art in true and fitting terms, either without affectation -or rudeness. He should have sweetness of speech, to persuade and -intice others to delight in an exercise so much laudable. He should -have strength of arguments to defend and maintain his profession, -against envy or slander. He should have knowledge in the sun, moon, -and stars, that by their aspects he may guess the seasonableness or -unseasonableness of the weather, the breeding of storms, and from -what coasts the winds are ever delivered. He should be a good knower -of countries, and well used to highwayes, that by taking the readiest -paths to every lake, brook, or river, his journies may be more certain, -and less wearisome. He should have knowledge in proportions of all -sorts, whether circular, square, or diametrical, that when he shall -be questioned of his diurnal progresses, he may give a geographical -description of the angles and channels of rivers, how they fall from -their heads, and what compasses they fetch in their several windings. -He must also have the perfect art of numbring, that in the sounding of -lakes or rivers, he may know how many foot or inches each severally -containeth; and by adding, substracting, or multiplying the same, -he may yield the reason of every river's swift or slow current. He -should not be unskilful in musick, that whensoever either melancholy, -heaviness of his thoughts, or the perturbations of his own fancies, -stirreth up sadness in him, he may remove the same with some godly hymn -or anthem, of which _David_ gives him ample examples. - -"He must be of a well settled and constant belief, to enjoy the benefit -of his expectation; for then to despair, it were better never to be put -in practice: and he must ever think where the waters are pleasant, and -any thing likely, that there the Creator of all good things hath stored -up much of plenty, and though your satisfaction be not as ready as your -wishes, yet you must hope still, that with perseverance you shall reap -the fulness of your harvest with contentment: Then he must be full of -love both to his pleasure and to his neighbour: to his pleasure, which -otherwise will be irksome and tedious, and to his neighbour, that he -neither give offence in any particular, nor be guilty of any general -destruction: then he must be exceeding patient, and neither vex nor -excruciate himself with losses or mischances, as in losing the prey -when it is almost in the hand, or by breaking his tools by ignorance -or negligence, but with pleased sufferance amend errors, and think -mischances instructions to better carefulness. - -"He must then be full of humble thoughts, not disdaining when occasion -commands to kneel, lye down, or wet his feet or fingers, as oft as -there is any advantage given thereby, unto the gaining the end of his -labour. Then must he be strong and valiant, neither to be amazed with -storms, nor affrighted with thunder, but hold them according to their -natural causes, and the pleasure of the highest: neither must he, -like the fox which preyeth upon lambs, employ all his labour against -the smaller frey; but like the lyon that seizeth elephants, think the -greatest fish which swimmeth, a reward little enough for the pains -which he endureth. Then must he be liberal, and not working only for -his own belly, as if it could never be satisfied; but he must with -much cheerfulness bestow the fruits of his skill amongst his honest -neighbours, who being partners of his gain, will doubly renown his -triumph, and that is ever a pleasing reward to vertue. - -"Then must he be prudent, that apprehending the reasons why the fish -will not bite, and all other casual impediments which hinder his sport, -and knowing the remedies for the same, he may direct his labours to be -without troublesomeness. - -"Then he must have a moderate contention of the mind to be satisfied -with indifferent things, and not out of any avaritious greediness think -every thing too little, be it never so abundant. - -"Then must he be of a thankful nature, praising the author of all -goodness, and shewing a large gratefulness for the least satisfaction. - -"Then must he be of a perfect memory, quick and prompt to call into -his mind all the needfull things which are any way in this exercise to -be imployed, lest by omission or by forgetfulness of any, he frustrate -his hopes, and make his labour effectless. Lastly, he must be of a -strong constitution of body, able to endure much fasting, and not of -a gnawing stomach, observing hours, in which if it be unsatisfied, it -troubleth both the mind and body, and loseth that delight which maketh -the pastime only pleasing."[296:A] - -It is impossible to read this elaborate catalogue of qualifications -without a smile; for who would suppose that _grammar_, _rhetoric_ and -_logic_, _astronomy_, _geography_, _arithmetic_ and _music_, were -necessary to form an angler: yet we must allow, indeed, even in the -present times, that _hope_, _patience_, and _contentment_ are still -articles of indispensable use to him who would catch fish; for though, -as Shakspeare justly observes, - - "The _pleasant'st angling_ is to see the fish - Cut with her golden oars the silver stream, - _And greedily devour the treacherous bait_,"[296:B] - -yet are we so frequently disappointed of this latter spectacle, that -the art may be truly considered as a school for the temper, and as -meriting the rational encomium of Sir Henry Wotton, a dear lover of -the angle in the days of Shakspeare, and who has declared that, after -tedious study, angling was "a rest to his mind, a cheerer of his -spirits, a diverter of sadness[297:A], a calmer of unquiet thoughts, a -moderator of passions, a procurer of contentedness;" and "that it begat -habits of peace and patience in those that professed and practised it." -"Indeed, my friend," adds the amiable Walton, "you will find angling to -be like the virtue of humility; which has a calmness of spirit, and a -world of other blessings, attending upon it."[297:B] - -A rural diversion of a kind very opposite to that of angling, namely, -HORSE-RACING, may be considered, during the reigns of Elizabeth and -James, if we compare it with the state to which the rage for gambling -has since carried it, as still in its infancy. It was classed, indeed, -with hawking and hunting, as a liberal pastime, and almost generally -pursued for the mere purposes of exercise or pleasure; hence the -moral satirists of the age, the Puritans of the sixteenth century, -have recommended it as a substitute for cards and dice. That it was, -however, even at this period, occasionally practised in the spirit of -the modern turf, will be evident from the authority of Shakspeare, who -says, - - ——————— "I have heard of _riding wagers_, - Where horses have been nimbler than the sands - That run i'the clock's behalf;"[297:C] - -and Burton, who wrote at the close of the Shakspearean era, mentions -the ruinous consequences of this innovation: "Horse-races," he -observes, "are desports of great men, and good in themselves, though -many gentlemen by such means gallop quite out of their fortunes."[298:A] - -To encourage, however, a spirit of emulation, prizes were established -for the swiftest horses, and these were usually either silver bells or -silver cups; from the prevalence of the former, the common term for -horse-races in the time of James I. was _bell-courses_, an amusement -which became very frequent in the reign of this prince, and, though the -value of the prize did not amount to more than eight or ten pounds, and -the riders were for the most part the owners of the horses, attracted a -numerous concourse of spectators. - -The estimation in which the breed of _race-horses_ was held, even in -the age of Elizabeth, may be drawn from a passage in one of the satires -of Bishop Hall, first published in 1597:— - - ————————— "Dost thou prize - Thy brute beasts worth by their dam's qualities? - Say'st thou this colt shall prove a swift pac'd steed, - Onely because a Jennet did him breed? - Or say'st thou this same horse shall win the prize, - Because his dam was swiftest Trunchifice - Or Runceval his syre; himself a galloway? - While like a tireling jade, he lags half way."[298:B] - -While on this subject, we may remark, that the _Art of Riding_ was, -during the era we are contemplating, carried to a state of great -perfection; - - "To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus, - And witch the world with noble horsemanship,"[298:C] - -was the pursuit of every eager and aspiring spirit, and various -treatises were written to facilitate the attainment of an -accomplishment at once so useful and so fashionable. Among these, the -pieces of Gervase Markham may be deemed the best; indeed, his earliest -work on the subject, which is dated 1593, claims to be the first ever -written in this country on the art of training _Running-horses_[299:A]; -and is supposed also to be the first production of Markham: it went -through many impressions under various titles, and from one of these -termed _Cavelarice_, printed in 1607, I shall select a minutely curious -picture of the "horseman's apparel." - -"First, when you begin to learne to ride, you must come to the stable, -in such decent and fit apparel, as is meet for such an exercise, that -is to say, a hat which must sit close and firme upon your heade, with -an indifferent narrow verge or brim, so that in the saults or bounds -of the horse, it may neither through widenesse or unweldinesse fall -from your head, nor with the bredth of the brim fall into your eies, -and impeach your sight, both which are verie grosse errors: About -your neck you shall weare a falling band, and no ruffe, whose depth -or thicknesse, may, either with the winde, or motions of your horse, -ruffell about your face; or, according to the fashion of the Spaniards, -daunce hobby-horse-like about your shoulders, which though in them is -taken for a grace, yet in true judgment it is found an errour. Your -doublet shal be made close and hansome to your bodie, large wasted, -so that you may ever be sure to ride with your points trussed (for to -ride otherwise is most vilde) and in all parts so easye, that it may -not take from you the use of anie part of your bodie. About your waste -you must have ever your girdle and thereon a smal dagger or punniard, -which must be so fast in the sheath that no motion of the horse may -cast it forth, and yet so readie, that upon any occasion you may draw -it. Your hose would be large, rounde, and full, so that they may fill -your saddle, which should it otherwise be emptie and your bodie looke -like a small substance in a great compasse, it were wondrous uncomely. -Your bootes must be cleane, blacke, long, and close to your legge, -comming almost up to your middle thigh, so that they may lie as a -defence betwixt your knee and the tree of your saddle. Your boote-hose -must come some two inches higher then your bootes, being hansomely -tied up with pointes. Your spurres must be strong and flat inward, -bending with a compasse under your ancle: the neck of your spurre must -be long and straight, and rowels thereof longe and sharp, the prickes -thereof not standing thicke together, nor being above five in number. -Upon your handes you must weare a hansome paire of gloves, and in your -right hande you must have a long rodde finely rush-growne, so that the -small ende thereof be hardly so great as a round packe-threed, insomuch -that when you move or shake it, the noyse thereof may be lowde and -sharpe."[300:A] - -Having thus noticed the _great rural_ diversions of this period, as -far as they deviate from modern practice, the remainder of the chapter -will be occupied by such minor amusements of the country as may now -justly be considered obsolete; for it must be recollected, that to -enumerate only what is _peculiar_ to the era under consideration, forms -the object of our research. It should, likewise, here be added, that -those amusements which are _equally common_ to both country and town, -will find their place under the latter head, such as cards, dice, the -practice of archery, baiting, &c. &c. - -Among the amusements generally prevalent in the country, Burton has -included the _Quintaine_. This was originally a mere martial sport; -and, as Vegetius informs us, familiar to the Romans, from an individual -of which nation, named _Quintus_, it is supposed to have derived its -etymology. During the early feudal ages of modern Europe it continued -to support its military character, was practised by the higher orders -of society, and preceded, and probably gave origin to, tilting, justs, -and tournaments. These, however, as more elegant and splendid in their -costume, gradually superseded it during the prevalence of chivalry; -it then became an exercise for the middle ranks, for burgesses and -citizens, and at length towards the close of the sixteenth century, -degenerated into a mere rustic sport. - -It would appear, from comparing Stowe with Shakspeare, that about the -year 1600, the Quintain was made use of under two forms; the most -simple consisting of a post fixed perpendicularly in the ground, on the -top of which was a cross-bar turning upon a pivot or spindle, with a -broad board nailed at one end and a bag of sand suspended at the other; -at the board they ran on horseback with spears or staves, and "hee," -says Stowe, "that hit not the broad end of the quinten was of all men -laughed to scorne; and hee that hit it full, if he rid not the faster, -had a sound blow in his necke with a bagge full of sand hanged on the -other end."[301:A] A more costly and elaborate machine, resembling the -human form, is alluded to by Shakspeare in _As You Like It_, where -Orlando says, - - ——————— "My better parts - Are all thrown down; and _that which here stands up, - Is but a quintain_, a mere lifeless block."[301:B] - -In Italy, Germany, and Flanders, a quintain, carved in wood in -imitation of the human form, was, during the sixteenth century, in -common use.[301:C] The figure very generally represented a Saracen, -armed with a shield in one hand, and a sword in the other, and, being -placed on a pivot, the skill of those who attacked it, depended on -shivering the lance to pieces between the eyes of the figure; for if -the weapon deviated to the right or left, and especially if it struck -the shield, the quintain turned round with such velocity as to give -the horseman a violent blow on the back with his sword, a circumstance -which covered the performer with ridicule, and excited the mirth of -the spectators. That such a machine, termed the _shield quintain_, was -used in Ireland during the reign of Richard the Second, we have the -authority of Froissart; it is therefore highly probable, that this -species of the diversion was as common in England, and still lingered -here in the reign of Elizabeth; and that to a quintain of this kind, -representing an armed man, and erected for the purpose of a _military_ -exercise, Shakspeare alludes in the passage just quoted. - -It must, however, be allowed, that at the commencement of the -seventeenth century, and for several years anterior, the quintain had -almost universally become the plaything of the peasantry, and was -seldom met with but at rural weddings, wakes, or fairs; or under any -other form than that which Stowe has described. No greater proof of -this can be given than the fact, that when Elizabeth was entertained -at Kenelworth Castle, in 1575, with an exact representation of a -_Country Bridale_, a quintain of this construction formed a part of -it. "Marvellous," says Laneham, "were the martial acts that were done -there that day; the bride-groom for pre-eminence had the first course -at the Quintaine, brake his spear treshardiment; but his mare in his -manage did a little so titubate, that much ado had his manhood to sit -in his saddle, and to scape the foil of a fall: With the help of his -hand, yet he recovered himself, and lost not his stirrups (for he had -none to his saddle); had no hurt as it hapt, but only that his girth -burst, and lost his pen and inkhorn that he was ready to weep for; but -his handkerchief, as good hap was, found he safe at his girdle; that -cheered him somewhat, and had good regard it should not be filed. For -though heat and coolness upon sundry occasions made him sometime to -sweat, and sometime rheumatic; yet durst he be bolder to blow his nose -and wipe his face with the flappet of his father's jacket, than with -his mother's muffler: 'tis a goodly matter, when youth is mannerly -brought up, in fatherly love and motherly awe. - -"Now, Sir, after the bride-groom had made his course, ran the rest of -the band a while, in some order; but soon after, tag and rag, cut and -long tail; where the specialty of the sport was to see how some for his -slackness had a good bob with the bag; and some for his haste to topple -down right, and come tumbling to the post: Some striving so much at the -first setting out, that it seemed a question between the man and the -beast, whether the course should be made a horseback or a foot: and put -forth with the spurs, then would run his race by us among the thickest -of the throng, that down came they together hand over head: Another, -while he directed his course to the quintain, his jument would carry -him to a mare among the people; so his horse as amorous as himself -adventurous: An other, too, run and miss the quintain with his staff, -and hit the board with his head! - -"Many such gay games were there among these riders: who by and by -after, upon a greater courage, left their quintaining, and ran one -at another. There to see the stern countenances, the grim looks, the -couragious attempts, the desperate adventures, the dangerous courses, -the fierce encounters, whereby the buff at the man, and the counterbuff -at the horse, that both sometime came toppling to the ground. By my -troth, _Master Martin_, 'twas a lively pastime; I believe it would have -moved some man to a right merry mood, though it had been told him his -wife lay a dying."[303:A] - -This passage presents us with a lively picture of what the _rural -quintain_ was in the days of Elizabeth, an exercise which continued -to amuse our rustic forefathers for more than a century after the -princely festival of Kenelworth. Minshieu, who published his Dictionary -in 1617, the year subsequent to Shakspeare's death, informs us that -"A _quintaine_ or quintelle," was "a game in request at marriages, -when Jac and Tom, Dic, Hob and Will, strive for the gay garland." -Randolph in 1642, alluding in one of his poems to the diversions of the -Spaniards, says - - "Foot-ball with us may be with them balloone; - As they at _tilts_, so we at _quintaine_ runne; - And those old pastimes relish best with me, - That have least art, and most simplicitie;" - -Plott in his History of Oxfordshire, first printed in 1677, mentions -the Quintain as the common bridal diversion of the peasantry at -Deddington in that county; "it is now," he remarks, "only in request -at marriages, and set up in the way for young men to ride at as they -carry home the bride, he that breaks the board being counted the best -man[304:A];" and in a satire published about the year 1690, under the -title of _The Essex Champion; or the famous History of Sir Billy of -Billerecay, and his Squire Ricardo_, intended as a ridicule, after the -manner of Cervantes, on the romances then in circulation, the hero, -Sir Billy, is represented as running at a quintain, such as Stowe has -drawn in his Survey, but with the most unfortunate issue, for "taking -his launce in his hand, he rid with all his might at the Quinten, and -hitting the board a full blow, brought the sand-bag about with such -force, as made him measure his length on the ground."[304:B] - -Most of the numerous athletic diversions of the country remaining what -they were two centuries ago, cannot, in accordance with our plan, -require any comment or detail; two, however, now, we believe, entirely -obsolete, and which serve to mark the manners of the age, it will be -necessary to introduce. Mercutio, in a contest of pleasantry and banter -with Romeo, exclaims, "Nay, if thy wits run the _wild-goose chace_, I -have done."[304:C] - -This barbarous species of horse-race, which has been named from its -resemblance to the flight of _wild-geese_, was a common diversion -among the country-gentlemen of this period; Burton, indeed, calls it -one of "the disports of great men[305:A];" a confession which does no -honour to the age, for this elegant amusement consisted in two horses -starting together, and he who proved the hindmost rider was obliged to -follow the foremost over whatever ground he chose to carry him, that -horse which could distance the other winning the race. - -Another sport still more extraordinary and rude, and much in vogue -in the south-western counties, was, one of the numerous games with -the ball, and termed HURLING. Of this there were two kinds, _hurling -to the Goales_ and _hurling to the Country_, and both have been -described with great accuracy by Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall. -The first is little more than a species of hand-ball, but the second, -when represented as the amusement of _gentlemen_, furnishes a curious -picture of the civilisation of the times. - -"In _hurling to the country_," says Carew, "two or three, or more -parishes agree to hurl against two or three other parishes. The matches -are usually made by _gentlemen_, and their goales are either those -gentlemen's houses, or some towns or villages three or four miles -asunder, of which either side maketh choice after the nearnesse of -their dwellings; when they meet, there is neyther comparing of numbers -nor matching of men, but a silver ball is cast up, and that company -which can catch and carry it by force or slight to the place assigned, -gaineth the ball and the victory.—Such as see where the ball is played -give notice, crying 'ware east,' 'ware west,' as the same is carried. -The hurlers take their next way over hilles, dales, hedges, ditches; -yea, and thorow bushes, briars, mires, plashes, and rivers whatsoever, -so _as you shall sometimes see twenty or thirty lie tugging together in -the water scrambling and scratching for the ball_."[305:B] - -The _domestic_, amusements in the country being nearly, if not -altogether, the same with those which prevailed in the city, we shall, -with one exception, refer the consideration of them to another part -of this work. The pastime for which this distinction is claimed, was -known by the name of SHOVEL-BOARD, or _Shuffle-board_, and was so -universally prevalent throughout the kingdom, during the era of which -we are treating, that there could scarcely be found a nobleman's or -gentleman's house in the country in which this piece of furniture -was not a conspicuous object. The great hall was the place usually -assigned for its station, though in some places, as, for instance, at -Ludlow Castle, a room was appropriated to this purpose, called _The -Shovell-Board Room_.[306:A] - -The table necessary for this game, now superseded by the use of -Billiards, was frequently upon a very large and expensive scale. "It -is remarkable," observes Dr. Plott, "that in the hall at Chartley the -shuffle-board table, though ten yards one foot and an inch long, is -made up of about two hundred and sixty pieces, which are generally -about eighteen inches long, some few only excepted, that are scarce -a foot; which, being laid on longer boards for support underneath, -are so accurately joined and glewed together, that no shuffle-board -whatever is freer from rubbs or casting.—There is a joynt also in the -shuffle-board at Madeley Manor exquisitely well done."[306:B] - -The mode of playing at Shovel-board is thus described by Mr. -Strutt:—"At one end of the shovel-board there is a line drawn across, -parallel with the edge, and about three or four inches from it; at -four feet distance from this line another is made, over which it is -necessary for the weight to pass when it is thrown by the player, -otherwise the go is not reckoned. The players stand at the end of the -table, opposite to the two marks above mentioned, each of them having -four flat weights of metal, which they shove from them, one at a time, -alternately: and the judgment of the play is, to give sufficient -impetus to the weight to carry it beyond the mark nearest to the edge -of the board, which requires great nicety, for if it be too strongly -impelled, so as to fall from the table, and there is nothing to prevent -it, into a trough placed underneath for its reception, the throw is -not counted; if it hangs over the edge, without falling, three are -reckoned towards the player's game; if it lie between the line and the -edge, without hanging over, it tells for two; if on the line, and not -up to it, but over the first line, it counts for one. The game, when -two play, is generally eleven; but the number is extended when four, or -more, are jointly concerned."[307:A] - -It appears from a passage in the _Merry Wives of Windsor_, that, in -Shakspeare's time, the broad shillings of Edward VI. were made use -of at shovel-board instead of the more modern weights. Falstaff is -enquiring of Pistol if he picked master Slender's purse, a query -to which Slender thus replies: "Ay, by these gloves, did he, (or I -would I might never come in mine own great chamber again else,) of -seven groats in mill-sixpences, and two _Edward shovel-boards_, that -cost me two shillings and two pence a-piece of Yead Miller, by these -gloves."[307:B] "That Slender means the broad shilling of one of our -kings," remarks Mr. Malone, "appears from comparing these words with -the corresponding passage in the old quarto: 'Ay by this handkerchief -did he;—two faire shovel-board _shillings_, besides seven groats in -mill-sixpences.'"[307:C] - -Mr. Douce is of opinion that the game of shovel-board is not much older -than the reign of Edward VI., and that it is only a variation, on a -larger scale, of what was term'd SHOVE-GROAT, a game invented in the -reign of Henry VIII., and described in the statutes, of his 33d year, -as a _new_ game.[307:D] Shove-groat was also played, as the name -implies, with the coin of the age, namely silver groats, then as large -as our modern shillings, and to this pastime and to the instrument used -in performing it, Shakspeare likewise, and Jonson, allude; the first -in the _Second Part of King Henry IV._, where Falstaff, threatening -Pistol, exclaims, "Quoit him down, Bardolph, like _a Shove-groat -shilling_:"[308:A] the second in _Every Man in his Humour_, where -Knowell, speaking of Brain-worm, says that he has "translated begging -out of the old hackney pace, to a fine easy amble, and made it run -as smooth off the tongue as a _shove-groat shilling_."[308:B] That -the game of _Shovel-board_ is subsequent, in point of time, to the -diversion of _Shove-groat_, is probable from the circumstance noticed -by Mr. Douce, that no coin termed _shovel-groat_ is any where to be -found, and consequently the era of the broad shilling may be deemed -that also of shovel-board. Mr. Strutt supposes the modern game of -_Justice Jervis_ to resemble, in all essential points, the ancient -_Shove-groat_.[308:C] - -Between the _juvenile_ sports which were common in the reigns of -Elizabeth and James, and those of the present day, little variation or -discrepancy, worth noticing, can be perceived; they were, under slight -occasional alterations of form and name, equally numerous, trifling, or -mischievous, and Shakspeare has now and then referred to them, for the -purposes of illustration or similitude; he has, in this manner, alluded -to the well-known games of _leap-frog_[308:D]; _handy-dandy_[308:E]; -_wildmare_, or _balancing_[308:F]; _flap-dragons_[308:G]; _loggats_, -or _kittle-pins_[308:H]; _country-base_, or _prisoner's bars_[308:I]; -_fast and loose_[308:J]; _nine men's morris_, or _five-penny -morris_[308:K]; _cat in a bottle_[308:L]; _figure of eight_[308:M], -&c. &c.; games which, together with those derived from balls, marbles, -hoops, &c. require no description, and which, deviating little in their -progress from age to age, can throw no material light on the costume of -early life. Very few diversions, indeed, peculiar to our youthful days -have become totally obsolete; among these, however, may be mentioned -one, which, from the obscurity resting on it, its peculiarity, and -former popularity, is entitled to some distinction. We allude to the -diversion of BARLEY-BREAKE, of the mode of playing which, Mr. Strutt -confesses himself ignorant, and merely quotes the following lines from -Sidney, as given by Johnson in his Dictionary: - - "By neighbours prais'd, she went abroad thereby, - At _barley-brake_ her sweet swift feet to try."[309:A] - -Barley-breake was, however, among young people, one of the most -popular amusements of the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First, and -continued so until the austere zeal of the Puritans occasioned its -suppression: thus Thomas Randall, in "An Eclogue" on the diversions of -Cotswold Hills, complains that - - "Some melancholy swaines, about have gone, - To teach all zeale, their owne complection— - These teach that dauncing is a Jezabell, - And _Barley-breake_, the ready way to hell."[309:B] - -Before this puritanical revolution took place, _barley-breake_ was -a common theme with the amatory bards of the day, and allusions to -it were frequent in their songs, madrigals, and ballets. With one of -these, written about 1600, we shall present the reader, as a pleasing -specimen of the light poetry of the age:— - - "Now is the month of maying, - When merry lads are playing; - Each with his bonny lasse, - Upon the greeny grasse. - - The spring clad all in gladnesse - Doth laugh at winter's sadnesse; - And to the bagpipe's sound, - The nymphs tread out their ground. - - Fye then, why sit wee musing, - Youth's sweet delight refusing; - Say daintie Nimphs and speake, - Shall wee play _barly-breake_."[310:A] - -There were two modes of playing at barley-breake, and of these one -was rather more complex than the other. Mr. Gifford, in a note on the -_Virgin-Martyr_ of Massinger, where this game, in its more elaborate -form, is referred to, remarks, that "with respect to the amusement of -barley-break, allusions to it occur repeatedly in our old writers; -and their commentators have piled one parallel passage upon another, -without advancing a single step towards explaining what this celebrated -pastime really was. It was played by six people (three of each sex), -who were coupled by lot. A piece of ground was then chosen, and divided -into three compartments, of which the middle one was called hell. It -was the object of the couple condemned to this division, to catch the -others, who advanced from the two extremities; in which case a change -of situation took place, and hell was filled by the couple who were -excluded by pre-occupation, from the other places. In this "catching," -however, there was some difficulty, as, by the regulations of the game, -the middle couple were not to separate before they had succeeded, -while the others might break hands whenever they found themselves hard -pressed. When all had been taken in turn, the last couple was said _to -be in hell_, and the game ended."[310:B] - -That this description, explanatory of the passage in Massinger, - - "He is at _barley-break_, and the last couple - Are now in hell," - -is accurate and full, will derive corroboration from a scarce pamphlet -entitled "Barley-breake, or a Warning for Wantons," published in 1607, -and which contains a curious representation of this amusement. - - ——— "On a time the lads and lasses came, - Entreating Elpin that she[311:A] might goe play; - He said she should (Euphema was her name) - And then denyes: yet needs she must away. - - To Barley-breake they roundly then 'gan fall, - Raimon, Euphema had unto his mate; - For by a lot he won her from them all; - Wherefore young Streton doth his fortune hate. - - But yet ere long he ran and caught her out, - And on the back a gentle fall he gave her; - It is a fault which jealous eyes spie out, - A maide to kisse before her jealous father. - - Old Elpin smiles, but yet he frets within, - Euphema saith, she was unjustly cast. - She strives, he holds, his hand goes out and in: - She cries, away! and yet she holds him fast. - - Till sentence given by an other maid, - That she was caught according to the law; - The voice whereof this civill quarrell staid, - And to his mate each lusty lad 'gan draw. - - Euphema now with Streton is in hell, - (For so the middle roome is alwaies cald) - He would for ever, if he might, there dwell; - He holds it blisse with her to be inthrald. - - The other run, and in their running change; - Streton 'gan catch, and then let goe his hold; - Euphema like a doe, doth swiftly range, - Yet taketh none, although full well she could, - - And winkes on Streton, he on her 'gan smile, - And fame would whisper something in her eare; - She knew his mind, and bid him use a wile, - As she ran by him, so that none did heare."[311:B] - -The simpler mode of conducting this pastime, as it was practised in -Scotland, has been detailed by Dr. Jamieson, who tells us, that it was -"a game generally played by young people in a corn-yard. One stack is -fixed on as the _dule_, or goal; and one person is appointed to catch -the rest of the company, who run out from the dule. He does not leave -it till they are all out of his sight. Then he sets off to catch them. -Any one who is taken cannot run out again with his former associates, -being accounted a prisoner; but is obliged to assist his captor in -pursuing the rest. When all are taken, the game is finished; and he who -was first taken is bound to act as catcher in the next game."[312:A] -It is evident, from our old poetry, that this style of playing at -barley-breake was also common in England, and especially among the -lower orders in the country. - -It may be proper to add, at the close of this chapter, that a species -of public diversion was, during the Elizabethan period, supported by -each parish, for the purpose of innocently employing the peasantry upon -a failure of work from weather or other causes. To this singular though -laudable custom Shakspeare alludes in the _Twelfth Night_, where Sir -Toby says, "He's a coward, and a coystril, that will not drink to my -niece, 'till his brains turn o' the toe like a [312:B]_parish-top_." -"This," says Mr. Steevens, "is one of the customs now laid aside;" and -he adds, in explanation, that "a large top was kept in every village, -to be whipped in frosty weather, that the peasants might be kept -warm by exercise, and out of mischief, while they could not work;" a -diversion to which Fletcher likewise refers in his _Night-Walker_, and -which has given rise to the proverbial expression of _sleeping like a -town-top_. - -From this rapid sketch of the diversions of the country, as they -existed in Shakspeare's time, it will be immediately perceived that -not many have become obsolete, and of those which have undergone some -change, the variations have not been such as materially to obscure -their origin or previous constitution. The object of this chapter -being, therefore, only to mark what was peculiar in rural pastime to -the age under consideration, and not to notice what had suffered little -or no modification, its articles, especially if we consider the nature -of the immediately preceding section, (and that nearly all amusements -common to both town and country were referred to a future part,) could -not be either very numerous, or require any very extended elucidation. - -What might be necessary in the minute and isolated task of the -commentator, would be tedious and superfluous in a design which -professes, while it gives a distinct and broad outline of the -complexion of the times, to preserve among its parts an unrelaxed -attention to unity and compression. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[247:A] MS. Harl. Libr., No. 2057, apud Strutt's Customs, &c. - -[247:B] Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, 8th edit. fol. 1676. p. 169, -170. - -[247:C] Ibid. p. 172. - -[247:D] Ibid. p. 174. - -[247:E] Ibid. p. 172. - -[248:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 22. note 6. - -[249:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 21, 22. 25, 26. - -[249:B] Pope's Preface to his edition of Shakspeare, vide Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 183. - -[249:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 25, note 3. - -[250:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 26, note. - -[250:B] Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 130, 131. - -[250:C] Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 131. note 7. - -[250:D] Poetaster, 1601, vide Ben Jonson's Works, fol. edit. of 1640, -vol. i. p. 267. - -[251:A] Apology for Actors, 1612. - -[251:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 307. - -[251:C] Vide Malone's note in Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 307. - -[251:D] By the statute of the 39 Eliz. any baron of the realm might -license a company of players; but by the statute of first James I. "it -is declared and enacted, that from thenceforth no authority given, -or to be given or made, by any baron of this realm, or any other -honourable personage of greater degree, unto any interlude players, -minstrels, jugglers, bearward, or any other idle person or persons -whatsoever, using any unlawful games or plays, to play or act, should -be available to free or discharge the said persons, or any of them, -from the pains and punishments of rogues, of vagabonds, and sturdy -beggars, in the said statutes (those of Eliz.) mentioned." - -[252:A] A character in _Gammar Gurtons Needle_, says Mr. Strutt, -a comedy supposed to have been written A. D. 1517, declares he -will go "and travel with young Goose, the _motion-man_, for a -puppet-player."[252:E] This reference, however, is inaccurate, for -after a diligent perusal of the comedy in question, no such passage is -to be found. - -[252:B] Ben Jonson's Works, fol. edit. 1640, vol. ii. p. 77. act v. sc. -4. - -[252:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 112. - -[252:D] Vide Malone on the Chronological Order of Shakspeare's Plays. -Reed's Shakspeare, vol. 2. p. 304. - -[252:E] Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 150, note b. - -[253:A] Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. 323, note _s_. - -[253:B] Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 20. - -[253:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 304, and Chalmers's Apology, p. -324, note. - -[254:A] Athenæ Oxon. vol. ii. p. 812. - -[254:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 124. - -[254:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 16. - -[254:D] They were given him by Endymion Porter, the King's servant. - -[254:E] Biographical History of England, vol. ii. p. 399, 8vo. edit. of -1775. - -[255:A] Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 20, and Heath's Description of -Cornwall, 1750. - -[255:B] "About the year 750, Winifrid, or Boniface, a native of -England, and archbishop of Mons, acquaints Ethelbald, a king of -Kent, that he has sent him, one hawk, two falcons and two shields. -And Hedilbert, a king of the Mercians, requests the same archbishop -Winifrid to send him two falcons which have been trained to kill -cranes. See Epistol. Winifrid. (Bonifac.) Mogunt. 1605. 1629. And in -Bibl. Patr. tom. vi., and tom. xiii. p. 70."—Warton's Hist. of English -Poetry, vol. ii. p. 221. - -[256:A] Jonson's Works, fol. vol. i. p. 6. act i. sc. 1. - -[256:B] Brathwait's English Gentleman, 2d edit. 1633. p. 220. - -[257:A] "The Booke of Faulconrie, or Hawking, for the onely delight -and pleasure of all Noblemen and Gentlemen: collected out of the best -aucthors, as wel Italians as Frenchmen, and some English practises -withall concernyng Faulconrie, the contentes whereof are to be seene -in the next page folowyng. By Geo. Turbervile, Gentleman. Nocet empta -dolore voluptas. Imprinted at London for Chr. Barker, at the signe of -the Grashoper in Paules Church-yarde, 1575." To this was added, the -"Noble Arte of Venerie or Hunting;" and a re-impression of both, "newly -revived, corrected, and augmented with many additions proper to these -present times," was published by Thomas Purfoot, in 1611. - -Gervase Markham published in 1595 the edition of Dame Julyana Barne's -Treatise on Hawking and Hunting, which we have formerly noticed, and -which was first printed by Caxton, and afterwards by Winkin De Worde; -and in 1615, the first edition of his _Country Contentments_, which -contains a treatise on Hawking; a work so popular, that it reached -thirteen or fourteen editions. - -Edmund Best, who trained and sold hawks, printed a treatise on Hawks -and Hawking in 1619. - -[259:A] Brathwait's English Gentleman, 2d edit. 1633. p. 201-203. - -[259:B] Henry Peacham, who remarks of Hawking, that it is a recreation -"very commendable and befitting a Noble or Gentleman to exercise," -adds, that "by the Canon Law, Hawking was forbidden unto Clergie." The -Compleat Gentleman, 2d. edit. p. 212, 213. - -[260:A] Vide Quaternio, or a Fourefold Way to a Happie Life, set forth -in a Dialogue betweene a Countryman and a Citizen, a Divine and a -Lawyer. Per Tho. Nash, Philopolitean, 1633. - -[260:B] English Gentleman, p. 200. - -[262:A] Quaternio, 1633. It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to add, -that the writer of this work must not be confounded with Thos. Nash the -author of _Pierce Penniless_, who died before 1606. - -[262:B] To _bind with_ is to _tire_ or _seize_.—Gentleman's Recreation. - -[263:A] _To cancelier._ "Canceller is when a high-flown hawk in her -stooping, turneth two or three times upon the wing, to recover herself -before she seizeth her prey."—Gentleman's Recreation. - -[263:B] Gifford's Massinger, vol. iv. p. 136, 137.—The _Guardian_, -from which this passage is taken, was licensed in October 1633. - -[264:A] Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 57, 58. - -[264:B] Hall's Life of Henry VIII. sub an. xvj. - -[265:A] Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk. - -[265:B] Anonymous MS., entitled "Merry Passages and Jeasts." Bibl. -Harl. 6395. Art. cccliv. - -[265:C] Merry Passages and Jeasts, art. ccxxiii. - -[266:A] The Falconer was sometimes denominated the _Ostringer_ or -Sperviter: "they be called Ostringers," says Markham, "which are the -keepers of Goshawkes or Tercelles, and those which keepe Sparrow-hawkes -or Muskets are called _Sperviters_, and those which keepe any other -kinde of hawke being long-winged are termed _Falconers_." Gentleman's -Academie or Booke of S. Alban's, fol. 8. - -[266:B] Satyrical Essayes, Characters, &c., by John Stephens, 1615, -16mo. 1st edit. - -[267:A] "All hawks," says Markham, "generally are _manned_ after one -manner, that is to say, by watching and keeping them from sleep, by -a continuall carrying them upon your fist, and by a most familiar -stroaking and playing with them, with the wing of a dead fowl, or such -like, and by often gazing and looking them in the face, with a loving -and gentle countenance, and so making them acquainted with the man. - -"After your hawks are manned, you shall bring them to the _Lure_[267:D] -by easie degrees, as first, making them jump unto the fist, after fall -upon the lure, then come to the voice, and lastly, to know the voice -and lure so perfectly, that either upon the sound of the one, sight of -the other, she will presently come in, and be most obedient; which may -easily be performed, by giving her reward when she doth your pleasure, -and making her fast when she disobeyeth: short wing'd hawks shall be -called to the fist only, and not to the lure; neither shall you use -unto them the loudnesse and variety of voice, which you do to the long -winged hawks, but only bring them to the fist by chiriping your lips -together, or else by the whistle." Countrey Contentments, 11th edit. p. -30. - -[267:B] Country Contentments, p. 29. - -[267:C] Though it sometimes appears that the jesses were made of silk. - -[267:D] An object stuffed like that kind of bird which the hawk was -designed to pursue. The use of the _lure_ was to tempt him back after -he had flown.—Steevens. - -[268:A] "These observations are taken from 'The Boke of Saint Albans;' -a subsequent edition says, 'at least a note under.'"[268:D] - -[268:B] "I am told, that silver being mixed with the metal, -when the bells are cast, adds much to the sweetness of the sound; and -hence probably the allusion of Shakspeare, when he says, - - 'How silver sweet sound lovers tongues by night.'" - -[268:C] Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 28. - -[268:D] This subsequent edition, to which Mr. Strutt alludes, is -probably that by Gervase Markham, who tells us under the head of -"Hawkes belles:" "The bells which your hawke shal weare, looke in any -wise that they be not too heavy, whereby they overloade hir, neither -that one be heavier than an other, but both of like weight: looke also, -that they be well sounding and shrill, yet not both of one sound, _but -one at least a note under the other_." He adds "of spar-hawkes belles -there is choice enough, and the charge little, by reason that the store -thereof is great. But for goshawks sometimes belles of Millaine were -supposed to bee the best, and undoubtedly they be excellent, for that -they are sounded with silver, and the price of them is thereafter, but -there be _now_," he observes, "used belles out of the lowe Countries -which are approoved to be _passing good_, for they are principally -_sorted_, they are well sounded, and sweet of ringing, with a pleasant -shrilnesse, and excellently well lasting." Gentleman's Academie, fol. -13. - -[269:A] These technical terms may admit of some explanation, from the -following passage in Markham's edition of the Booke of St. Alban's, -1595, where speaking of the fowl being found in a river or pit, he -adds, "if shee (the hawk) nyme or take the further side of the river -or pit from you, then she slaieth the foule at _fere juttie_: but if -she kill it on that side that you are on yourselfe; as many times -it chanceth, then you shall say shee killed the foule at the _jutty -ferry_: if your hawke nime the foule aloft, you shal say she tooke it -_at the mount_. If you see store of mallards separate from the river -and feeding in the fielde, if your hawke flee covertly under hedges, -or close by the ground, by which means she nymeth one of them before -they can rise, you shall say, that foule was killed _at the querre_." -Gentleman's Academie, fol. 12. - -[270:A] Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 436. - -[270:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 387. Act iii. sc. 3. - -[270:C] Ibid., vol. v. p. 339. Act iii. sc. 1. - -[270:D] Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, fol. 8th edit. p. 152. - -[271:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 135. Act iv. sc. 1. - -[271:B] Ibid. vol. xx. p. 147. Act iii. sc. 2. - -[271:C] Ibid. p. 93. Act ii. sc. 2. - -[271:D] Ibid. vol. v. p. 126. Act iii. sc. 3. - -[271:E] Fairy Queen, book i. cant. 11. stan. 34. "Eyes, or nias," says -Mr. Douce, "is a term borrowed from the French _niais_, which means -any young bird in the nest, _avis in nido_. It is the first of five -several names by which a falcon is called during its first year." -Illustrations, vol. i. p. 74. - -[272:A] Censura Literaria, vol. x. p. 231. - -[273:A] Complete Gentleman, 2nd edit., p. 212, 213. - -[273:B] Dekkar's Villanies discovered by lanthorne and candle-light, -&c. 1616. - -[274:A] Vide Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 221. note. - -[274:B] MS. Cotton Library, Vespasianus, B. 12. - -[274:C] MS. Digb. 182. Bibl. Bodl. Warton, vol. ii. p. 221. note m. - -[275:A] The substance of this account is taken from _The Maistre of the -Game_, written for the use of Prince Henry. - -[276:A] Vide Censura Literaria, vol. x. p. 237, 238. - -[276:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 173. Act iii. sc. 5. - -[276:C] In a work entitled "A Briefe Discourse of the true (but -neglected) use of Charact'ring the degrees by their perfection, -imperfection, and diminution, in measurable musicke, against the -common practice and custome of these times. Examples whereof are -exprest in the harmony of 4 voyces, concerning the pleasure of 5 usuall -Recreations. 1. Hunting. 2. Hawking. 3. Dauncing. 4. Drinking. 5. -Enamouring. By Thomas Ravenscroft, Bachelar of Musicke. London, printed -by Edw. Allde for Tho. Adams, 1614. Cum privilegio Regali, 4to." - -Puttenham refers to one Gray as the author of this ballad, who was -in good estimation, he says, with King Henry, "and afterwards with -the Duke of Sommerset Protectour, for making certaine merry ballades, -whereof one chiefly was, _The hunte it_ (is) _up_, the hunte is up." P. -12. - -Ritson refers to another ballad, as the prototype of Shakspeare's line, -which, he says, is very old, and commences thus:— - - "The hunt is up, the hunt is up, - And now it is almost day; - And he that's a bed with another man's wife, - It's time to get him away." - Remarks critical and illustrative, &c., 1783, p. 183. - -[278:A] Of the language formerly used by the huntsman to his dogs, a -very curious description is given by Markham, in his modernised edition -of the Booke of St. Albans, 1595. - -"When the Huntsman," says he, "commeth to the kennell in the morning -to couple up his hounds, and shall _jubet_ once or twice to awake the -dogs: opening the kennell doore, the Huntsman useth some gentle rating, -lest in their hasty comming forth they should hurt one another: to -which the Frenchman useth this worde, _Arere, Arere_, and we, _sost, -ho ho ho ho_, once or twice redoubling the same, coupling them as they -come out of the kennell. And being come into the field, and having -uncoupled, the Frenchman useth, _hors de couple avant avant_, onse or -twise with _soho_ three times together: wee use to _jubet_ once or -twice to the dogges, crying, _a traile a traile, there dogges there_, -and the rather to make the dogs in trailing to hold close together -striking uppon some Brake crie _soho_. And if the hounds have had rest, -and being over lustie, doe beginne to fling away, the Frenchmen use to -crie, _swef ames swef_, redoubling the same, with _Arere ames ho_: nowe -we to the same purpose use to say, _sost ho, heere againe ho_, doubling -the same, sometimes calling them backe againe with _jubet_ or hallow: -poynting with your hunting staffe upon the ground, saying _soho_. - -"And if some one of the hounds light upon a pure scent, so that by the -manner of his eager spending you perceive it is very good, yet shall -the same hounds crying, _there, now there_: and to put the rest of the -crie in to him, you shall crie, _ho avant avant, list a Talbot, list -list there_. To which the French man useth, _Oyes a Talbot le vailant -oyes oyes, trove le coward_, in the same manner with little difference. -And if you find by your hounds where a Hare hath beene at relefe, if -it be in the time of greene corne, and if your hounds spend uppon -the troile merily, and make a goodly crie, then shall the Huntsman -blow three motes with his horne, which hee may sundry times use with -discretion, when he seeth the houndes have made away: A double, and -make on towards the seate; now if it be within some field or pasture -where the Hare hath beene at relefe, let the Huntsman cast a ring with -his houndes to finde where she hath gone out, which if the houndes -light uppon, he shall crie, _There boyes there, that tat tat, hoe -hicke, hicke, hicke avant, list to him list_, and if they chance by -their brain sicknesse to overshoote it, he shall call to his hounds, -_ho againe ho_, doubling the same twice. And if undertaking it againe, -and making it good, hee shall cheare his hounds: _there, to him there, -thats he, that tat tat_, blowing a mote. And note, that this word -_soho_ is generally used at the view of any beast of Chase or Venerie: -but indeede the word is properly _saho_, and not _soho_, but for the -better pronuntiation and fulnes of the same we say _soho_ not _saho_. -Now the hounds running in full chase, the Frenchman useth to say, _ho -ho_, or _swef alieu douce alieu_, and wee imitating them say, _There -boies, there avant there, to him there_, which termes are in deede -derived from their language."—Gentleman's Academie, fol. 32, 33. These -appear to be the terms in use at the close of the sixteenth century; -for he afterwards mentions that the "olde and antient Huntsmen had -divers termes" which were not in his time "very needefull." - -[280:A] Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, vol. ii. p. 164. - -[280:B] Antiquarian Repertory, vol. i. p. 27. - -[280:C] To take the _assay_ or _say_, was to draw the knife along -the belly of the deer, in order to ascertain how fat he was, and the -operation was begun at the brisket. - -[281:A] Chaloner's Prayze of Follie, 1577. The whole process of -"undoing the Hart," may be seen in Markham's "Gentlemans Academie," -fol. 35. - -[281:B] Jonson apud Whalley, act i. sc. 6. - -[281:C] Alluding to the Book of St. Albans, republished, under this -title, in 1595, by Gervase Markham. - -[283:A] Satyrical Essayes, &c. by John Stephens, 1615. - -[284:A] Countrey Contentments, 1615.—11th edit. 1683, p. 7-9. - -[284:B] _Flews_, the large chaps of a hound. - -[284:C] _Sanded_, that is, of a sandy colour, the true denotement of a -blood-hound. - -[284:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 449-452, Midsummer-Night's -Dream, act iv. sc. 1. - -[285:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 60. Act ii. sc. 2. - -[285:B] Nichols's Progresses of Elizabeth, vol. i. Laneham's Letter, p. -12, original edition, p. 17, 18. - -[286:A] Nichols's Progresses, vol. ii. - -[286:B] "The true narration of the Entertainment of his Royall -Majestie, from the time of his departure from Edenbrough, till his -receiving at London; with all or the most special occurrences. Together -with the names of those gentlemen whom his Majestie honoured with -Knighthood." At London printed by Thomas Creede, for Thomas Millington, -1603. 4to. - -[287:A] Memoirs, p. 35. - -[287:B] Wilson's History of Great Britain, p. 106. fol. London, 1653. - -[287:C] Osborn's Works, 8vo. ninth edit. 1689, p. 444. - -[288:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 183. Act v. sc. 4. - -[288:B] Ibid. vol. vi. p. 68. - -[288:C] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 368. Poly-Olbion, song -xxv. - -[288:D] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 458. Nymphal vi. - -[288:E] New Shreds of the Old Snare, by John Gee, 4to. p. 23. Vide -Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 68. note 9. - -[289:A] Harleian MS. 2281. - -[289:B] Jewel for Gentrie, Lond. 1614. - -[289:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 24. Henry VIII. act i. sc. 1. - -[290:A] Mr. Haslewood, after much research, attributes to the pen of -this ingenious lady only the following portions of De Worde's edit. of -1496: - - 1. A small portion of the treatise on Hawking. - 2. The treatise upon Hunting. - 3. A short list of the beasts of chace. - 4. And another short one of beasts and fowls. - -The public are much indebted to this elegant antiquary for an admirable -fac-simile reprint of De Worde's rare and interesting volume. - -[290:B] Burton has introduced, in his Anatomy of Melancholy, though -without acknowledgment, the very words of this quotation.—Vide p. 169. -8th edit. - -[291:A] The titles of these works are—"A Booke of Fishing with Hooke -and Line, and of all other Instruments thereunto belonginge, made by -L. M. 4to. Lond. 1590:" the 4th edit. of Mascall's Book, was reprinted -in 1606—"Certain Experiments concerning Fish and Fruit, practised -by John Taverner, Gentleman, and by him published for the benefit of -others." 4to. London (printed for Wm. Ponsonby) 1600.—It would appear, -from a note in Walton's Complete Angler, that there was an impression -of Taverner's book of the same date with a different title, namely, -"Approved experiments touching Fish and Fruit, to be regarded by the -lovers of Angling."—Vide Bagster's edit. 1808. Life of Walton, p. 14. -note. - -A third was designated "The Pleasures of Princes, or Good Men's -Recreations: containing a Discourse of the general Art of Fishing -with the Angle, or otherwise: and of all the hidden Secrets belonging -thereunto. 4to. Lond. 1614." - -[293:A] This beautiful encomium has been quoted in Walton's Complete -Angler, with many alterations, and some of them much for the worse; for -instance, the very opening of the quotation is thus given:— - - "Let me live harmlessly; and near the brink - Of Trent or Avon _have_ a dwelling-place— - -and the conclusion of the fourth stanza:— - - "The raging sea, beneath the vallies low, - Where lakes, and rills, and rivulets _do_ flow." - Bagster's edit. p. 123. - -[293:B] Gervase Markham, in his _Art of Angling_, not only recommends -the same colours, but adds a caution which marks the rural dress of the -day: "Let your apparel," says he, "be close to your body, without any -_new fashioned flashes, or hanging sleeves, waving loose, like sails -about you_." P. 59. - -[293:C] The first edition of the Countrey Contentments, 1615, does -not possess the _Art of Angling_; it probably appeared in the second, -a year or two after; for the work was so popular that it rapidly ran -through several impressions: the fifth is dated 1633. - -[296:A] Countrey Contentments, 11th edit. p. 59-62. - -[296:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 78. Much Ado about Nothing, act -iii. sc 1. - -[297:A] To this effect, likewise, Col. Venables gives a decided -testimony; for in the preface to his "Experienc'd Angler," first -published in 1662, he declares, "if example (which is the best proof) -may sway any thing, I know no sort of men less subject to melancholy -than anglers, many have cast off other recreations and embraced it, -but I never knew any angler wholly cast off (though occasions might -interrupt) their affections to their beloved recreation;" and he adds, -"if this art may prove a noble brave rest to my mind, 'tis all the -satisfaction I covet." - -[297:B] Walton's Complete Angler apud Bagster, p. 122.—"Let me take -this opportunity," says Mr. Bowles, "of recommending the amiable and -venerable Isaac Walton's Complete Angler; a work the most singular -of its kind, breathing the very spirit of contentment, of quiet, and -unaffected philanthropy, and interspersed with some beautiful relics of -poetry, old songs, and ballads." Bowles's Pope, vol. i. p. 135. - -[297:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 512. Cymbeline, act iii. sc. -2. - -[298:A] Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 170. part ii. sat. 2. Mem. iv. - -[298:B] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. v. p. 275. book iv. satire 3. - -[298:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 381. Henry IV. part i. act iv. -sc. 1. - -[299:A] The title is as follows: "A Discource of Horsemanshippe: -wherein the breeding and ryding of Horses for service, in a breefe -manner is more methodically sette downe then hath been heretofore, &c. -Also the manner to chuse, trayne, ryde and dyet, both Hunting-horses -and _Running-horses_: with all the secretes thereto belonging -discovered. _An arte never hearetofore written by any author._ -Bramo assai, poco spero, nulla chiegio." At London. Printed by John -Charlewood for Richard Smith, 1593, 4to. Dedicated "To the Right -Worshipfull, and his singular good father, Ma. Rob. Markham, of Cotham, -in the County of Nottingham, Esq. by Jervis Markham. Licensed 29 -January, 1592-3." Vide Herbert, v. 2. 1102. - -[300:A] Cavelarice, or the arte and knowledge belonging to the -Horse-ryder, 1607. Book ii. chap. 24. - -[301:A] Survey of London, 4to. 1618, p. 145. - -[301:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 29. - -[301:C] Vide Pluvinel sur l'exercise de monter a cheval, part iii. p. -177. et Traite des Tournois, Joustes, &c. par Claude Fran. Menestrier, -p. 264. - -[303:A] Nichols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i. and of -Laneham's Letter, p. 30-32. - -[304:A] Natural Hist. of Oxfordshire, p. 200. - -[304:B] Censura Literaria, vol. viii. p. 233, 234. - -[304:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 111. Act ii. sc. 4. - -[305:A] Anatomy of Melancholy, 8th edit. p. 170. - -[305:B] Carew's Survey of Cornwall, 1602, book i. p. 74. - -[306:A] Vide Todd's Milton, 2d. edit. vol. vi. p. 192. - -[306:B] Natural History of Staffordshire, p. 383. - -[307:A] Sports and Pastimes, p. 264. - -[307:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 22. - -[307:C] Ibid. vol. v. p. 23. note 2. - -[307:D] Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 454, 455. - -[308:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 96. - -[308:B] Whalley's Works of Ben Jonson, vol. i. - -[308:C] Vide Sports and Pastimes, p. 267. edit. of 1810. - -[308:D] Henry V., act v. sc. 2. - -[308:E] Lear, act iv. sc. 6. - -[308:F] Second Part of Henry IV., act ii. sc. 4. - -[308:G] Love's Labour Lost, act v. sc. 1. and Second Part of Henry IV., -act ii. sc. 4. - -[308:H] Hamlet, act v. sc. 1. - -[308:I] Cymbeline, act v. sc, 3. - -[308:J] Anthony and Cleopatra, act iv. sc. 10. - -[308:K] Midsummer-Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 2. - -[308:L] Much Ado about Nothing, act i. sc. 1. - -[308:M] Midsummer-Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 2. - -[309:A] Sports and Pastimes, p. 338. - -[309:B] Annalia Dubrensia, 1636, c. iii. - -[310:A] Cantus of Thomas Morley, the first booke of ballets to five -voyces. - -[310:B] Massinger's Works, by Gifford, vol. i. p. 104. - -[311:A] His daughter. - -[311:B] "Barley-breake, or a Warning for Wantons. Written by W. N., -Gent. Printed at London by Simon Stafford, dwelling in the Cloth-fayre, -neere the Red Lyon, 1607. 4to. 16 leaves." Vide British Bibliographer, -vol. i. p. 65.—This poem has been attributed, notwithstanding the -initials, to Nicholas Breton. - -[312:A] Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, -1808. - -[312:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 248. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - VIEW OF COUNTRY LIFE DURING THE AGE OF SHAKSPEARE, - CONTINUED—AN ACCOUNT OF SOME OF ITS _SUPERSTITIONS_. - - -The popular creed, during the age of Shakspeare, was perhaps more -extended and systematised than in any preceding or subsequent period -of our history. For this effect we are indebted, in a great measure, -to the credulity and superstition of James the First, the publication -of whose Demonology rendered a profession in the belief of sorcery and -witchcraft a matter of fashion and even of interest; for a ready way to -the favour of this monarch was an implicit assumption of his opinions, -theological and metaphysical, as well as political. - -It must not be inferred, however, that at the commencement of the -seventeenth century, the human mind was unwilling or unprepared -to shake off the load which had oppressed it for ages. Among the -enlightened classes of society, now rapidly extending throughout the -kingdom, the reception of these doctrines was rather the effect of -court example than of settled conviction; but as the vernacular bards, -and especially the dramatic, who ever hold unbounded influence over the -multitude, thought proper, and certainly, in a poetical light, with -great effect, to adopt the dogmata and machinery of James, the reign of -superstition was, for a time, not only upheld, but extended among the -inferior orders of the people. - -"Every goblin of ignorance," observes Warton, speaking of this period, -"did not vanish at the first glimmerings of the morning of science. -Reason suffered a few demons still to linger, which she chose to -retain in her service under the guidance of poetry. Men believed, or -were willing to believe, that spirits were yet hovering around, who -brought with them _airs from heaven, or blasts from hell_, that the -ghost was duely released from his prison of torment at the sound of -the curfew, and that fairies imprinted mysterious circles on the turf -by moon-light. Much of this credulity was even consecrated by the name -of science and profound speculation. Prospero had not yet _broken and -buried his staff_, nor _drowned his book deeper than did ever plummet -sound_. It was now that the alchymist, and the judicial astrologer, -conducted his occult operations by the potent intercourse of some -preternatural being, who came obsequious to his call, and was bound to -accomplish his severest services, under certain conditions, and for a -limited duration of time. It was actually one of the pretended feats -of these fantastic philosophers, to evoke the queen of the Fairies in -the solitude of a gloomy grove, who, preceded by a sudden rustling of -the leaves, appeared in robes of transcendent lustre. The Shakspeare of -a more instructed and polished age would not have given us a magician -darkening the sun at noon, the sabbath of the witches, and the cauldron -of incantation."[315:A] - -The history of the popular mythology, therefore, of this era, at a -time when it was cherished by the throne, and adopted, in its fullest -extent, by the greatest poetical genius which ever existed, must -necessarily occupy a large share of our attention. So extensive, -indeed, is the subject, and so full of interest and curiosity, that to -exhaust it in this division of the work, would be to encroach upon that -symmetry of plan, that relative proportion which we wish to preserve. -The four great subjects, therefore, of _Fairies_, _Witchcraft_, -_Magic_, and _Apparitions_, will be deferred to the Second Part, and -annexed as Dissertations to our remarks on the _Midsummer-Night's -Dream_, _Macbeth_, the _Tempest_, and _Hamlet_. - -As a consequent of this decision, the present chapter, after noticing, -in a _general_ way, the various credulities of the country, will dwell, -at some length, on those periods of the year which have been peculiarly -devoted to superstitious rites and observances, and include the residue -of the subject under the heads of _omens_, _charms_, _sympathies_, -_cures_, and _miscellaneous superstitions_. - -It is from the _Winter-Night's Conversation_ of the lower orders of the -people that we may derive, in any age, the most authentic catalogue of -its superstitions. This fearful pleasure of children and uneducated -persons, and the eager curiosity which attends it, have been faithfully -painted by Shakspeare:— - - "_Hermione._ Pray you sit by us, - And tell's a tale. - - _Mamillius._ Merry, or sad, shall't be? - - _Her._ As merry as you will. - - _Mam._ A sad tale's best for winter: - I have one of sprites and goblins. - - _Her._ Let's have that, sir. - Come on, sit down:—Come on, and do your best - To fright me with your sprites: you're powerful at it. - - _Mam._ There was a man,—— - - _Her._ Nay, come, sit down; then on. - - _Mam._ Dwelt by a church-yard;—I will tell it softly; - Yon crickets shall not hear it. - - _Her._ Come on then, - And give't in mine ear."[316:A] - -For the particulars forming the subject-matter of these tales, and -for their effect on the hearers, we must have recourse to writers -contemporary with the bard, whose object it was to censure or detail -these legendary wonders. Thus Lavaterus, who wrote a book _De -Spectris_, in 1570, which was translated into English in 1572, remarks -that "if when men sit at the table, mention be made of spirits and -elves, many times wemen and children are so afrayde that they dare -scarce go out of dores alone, least they should meete wyth some evyl -thing: and if they chaunce to heare any kinde of noise, by and by they -thinke there are some spirits behynde them:" and again in a subsequent -page, "simple foolish men—imagine that there be certayne elves or -fairies of the earth, and tell many straunge and marvellous tales of -them, which they have heard of their grandmothers and mothers, howe -they have appeared unto those of the house, have done service, have -rocked the cradell, and (which is a signe of good luck) do continually -tary in the house."[317:A] He has the good sense, however, to reprobate -the then general custom, a practice which has more or less prevailed -even to our own times, of frightening children by stories and assumed -appearances of this kind. "It is a common custome," he observes, "in -many places, that at a certaine of time the yeare, one with a nette -or visarde on his face maketh Children afrayde, to the ende that ever -after they should laboure and be obediente to their Parentes: afterward -they tel them that those which they saw, were Bugs, Witches, and -Hagges, which thing they verily believe, and are commonly miserablie -afrayde. How be it, it is not expedient so to terrifie Children. For -sometimes through great feare they fall into dangerous diseases, and -in the nyght crye out, when they are fast asleep. Salomon teacheth us -to chasten children with the rod, and so to make them stand in awe: he -doth not say, we must beare them in hande they shall be devoured of -Bugges, Hags of the night, and such lyke monsters."[317:B] But it is to -Reginald Scot that we are indebted for the most curious and extensive -enumeration of these fables which haunted our progenitors from the -cradle to the grave. "In our childhood," says he, "our mother's maids -have so terrified us with an _ouglie divell_ having hornes on his head, -fier in his mouth, and a taile in his breech, eies like a bason, fanges -like a dog, clawes like a beare, a skin like a Niger, and a voice -roaring like a lion, whereby we start and are afraid when we heare one -crie Bough: and they have so fraid us with _bull-beggers_, _spirits_, -_witches_, _urchens_, _elves_, _hags_, _fairies_, _satyrs_, _pans_, -_faunes_, _syrens_, _kit with the can'sticke_, _tritons_, _centaurs_, -_dwarfes_, _giants_, _imps_, _calcars_, _conjurors_, _nymphes_, -_changlings_, _Incubus_, _Robin good-fellowe_, the _spoorne_, the -_mare_, the _man in the oke_, the _hell-waine,_ the _fierdrake_, the -_puckle Tom thombe_, _hob gobblin_, _Tom tumbler_, _boneless_, and such -other bugs, that we are afraid of our own shadowes: in so much as some -never feare the divell, but in a darke night; and then a polled sheepe -is a perillous beast, and manie times is taken for our father's soule, -speciallie in a churchyard, where a right hardie man heretofore scant -durst passe by night, but his haire would stand upright."[318:A] - -That this mode of passing away the time, "the long solitary winter -nights," was as much in vogue in 1617 as in 1570 and 1580, is apparent -from Burton, who reckons among the _ordinary recreations_ of _winter_, -tales of _giants_, _dwarfs_, _witches_, _fayries_, _goblins_, and -_friers_.[318:B] - -The predilection which existed, during this period of our annals -for the marvellous, the terrible, and romantic, especially among -the peasantry, has been noticed by several of our best writers. -Addison, in reference to the genius of Shakspeare for the wild and -wonderful in poetry, remarks, that "our forefathers loved to astonish -themselves with the apprehensions of witchcraft, prodigies, charms, -and inchantments. There was not a village in England that had not a -ghost in it; the churchyards were all haunted; every large common had -a circle of fairies belonging to it; and there was scarce a shepherd -to be met with who had not seen a spirit[318:C];" and Mr. Grose, after -enumerating several popular superstitions, extends the subject in a -very entertaining manner. "In former times," says he, "these notions -were so prevalent, that it was deemed little less than atheism to doubt -them; and in many instances the terrors caused by them embittered the -lives of a great number of persons of all ages; by degrees almost -shutting them out of their own houses, and deterring them from going -from one village to another after sun-set. The room in which the head -of a family had died, was for a long time untenanted; particularly if -they died without a will, or were supposed to have entertained any -particular religious opinions. But if any disconsolate old maiden, -or love-crossed bachelor, happened to dispatch themselves in their -garters, the room where the deed was perpetrated was rendered for ever -after uninhabitable, and not unfrequently was nailed up. If a drunken -farmer, returning from market, fell from Old Dobbin and broke his -neck,—or a carter, under the same predicament, tumbled from his cart -or waggon, and was killed by it,—that spot was ever after haunted and -impassable: in short, there was scarcely a bye-lane or cross-way but -had its ghost, who appeared in the shape of a headless cow or horse; or -clothed all in white, glared with its saucer eyes over a gate or stile. -Ghosts of superior rank, when they appeared abroad, rode in coaches -drawn by six headless horses, and driven by a headless coachman and -postilions. Almost every ancient manor-house was haunted by some one -at least of its former masters or mistresses, where, besides divers -other noises, that of telling money was distinctly heard: and as for -the churchyards, the number of ghosts that walked there, according to -the village computation, almost equalled the living parishioners: to -pass them at night, was an achievement not to be attempted by any one -in the parish, the sextons excepted; who perhaps being particularly -privileged, to make use of the common expression, never saw any thing -worse than themselves."[319:A] - -Of these superstitions, as forming the subject of _a country -conversation in a winter's evening_, a very interesting detail has been -given by Mr. Bourne; the picture was drawn about a hundred years ago; -but, though even then partially applicable, may be considered as a -faithful general representation of the two preceding centuries. - -"Nothing is commoner in _Country Places_," says this historian of -credulity, "than for a whole family in a _Winter's Evening_, to sit -round the fire, and tell stories of _apparitions_ and _ghosts_. Some of -them have seen spirits in the shapes of cows, and dogs and horses; and -some have seen even the devil himself, with a cloven foot. - -"Another part of this conversation generally turns upon _Fairies_. -These, they tell you, have frequently been heard and seen; nay that -there are some still living who were stolen away by them, and confined -seven years. According to the description they give of them, who -pretend to have seen them, they are in the shape of men, exceeding -little: They are always clad in green, and frequent the woods and -fields; when they make cakes (which is a work they have been often -heard at) they are very noisy; and when they have done, they are full -of mirth and pastime. But generally they dance in Moon-light when -mortals are asleep, and not capable of seeing them, as may be observed -on the following morn; their dancing places being very distinguishable. -For as they dance hand in hand, and so make a _circle_ in their dance, -so next day there will be seen _rings_ and _circles_ on the grass. - -"Another tradition they hold, and which is often talked of, is, that -there are particular places allotted to spirits to walk in. Thence it -was that formerly, such frequent reports were abroad of this and that -particular place being haunted by a spirit, and that the common people -say now and then, such a place is dangerous to be passed through at -night, because a spirit walks there. Nay, they'll further tell you, -that some spirits have lamented the hardness of their condition, in -being obliged to walk in cold and uncomfortable places, and have -therefore desired the person who was so hardy as to speak to them, to -gift them with a warmer walk, by some well grown _hedge_, or in some -_shady vale_, where they might be shelter'd from the rain and wind. - -"The last topick of this conversation I shall take notice of, shall be -the tales of _haunted_ houses. And indeed it is not to be wondered at, -that this is never omitted. For formerly almost every place had a house -of this kind. If a house was seated on some melancholy place, or built -in some old romantic manner; or if any particular accident had happened -in it, such as murder, sudden death, or the like, to be sure that house -had a mark set on it, and was afterwards esteemed the habitation of a -ghost. In talking upon this point, they generally show the occasion of -the house's being _haunted_, the merry pranks of the spirit, and how it -was laid. Stories of this kind are infinite, and there are few villages -which have not either had such an house in it, or near it."[321:A] - -The quotations which we have now given from writers contemporary with, -and subsequent to, Shakspeare, will point out, in a _general_ way, the -prevalent superstitions of the _country_ at this period, and the topics -which were usually discussed round the fire-side of the cottage or -manorial hall, when the blast blew keen on a December's night, and the -faggot's blaze was seen, by fits, illumining the rafter'd roof. - -The progress of science, of literature, and rational theology, has, -in a very great degree, dissipated these illusions; but there still -lingers, in hamlets remote from general intercourse, a somewhat similar -spirit of credulity, where the legend of unearthly agency is yet -listened to with eager curiosity and fond belief. These vestiges of -superstitions which were once universally prevalent, have been seized -upon with avidity by many modern poets, and form some of the most -striking passages in their works. More particularly the ghostly and -traditionary lore of the cotter's winter-night, has been a favourite -subject with them. Thus Thomson tells us, that - - ————— "the village rouzes up the fire, - While well attested, and as well believed, - Heard solemn, goes the goblin-story round; - Till superstitious horror creeps o'er all:"[321:B] - -and Akenside, still more poetically, that - - —————————— "by night - The village-matron round the blazing hearth - Suspends the infant-audience with her tales, - Breathing astonishment! of witching rhymes, - And evil spirits; of the death-bed call - Of him who robb'd the widow, and devour'd - The orphan's portion; of unquiet souls - Risen from the grave to ease the heavy guilt - Of deeds in life conceal'd; of shapes that walk - At dead of night, and clank their chains, and wave - The torch of hell around the murderer's bed. - At every solemn pause the crowd recoil, - Gazing each other speechless, and congeal'd - With shivering sighs: till eager for th' event, - Around the beldame all erect they hang, - Each trembling heart with grateful terrors quell'd."[322:A] - -The lamented Kirke White has also happily introduced a similar picture; -having described the day-revels of a Whitsuntide wake, he adds, - - ——————————— "then at eve - Commence the harmless rites and auguries; - And many a tale of ancient days goes round. - They tell of wizard seer, whose potent spells - Could hold in dreadful thrall the labouring moon, - Or draw the fix'd stars from their eminence, - And still the midnight tempest.—Then anon, - Tell of uncharnel'd spectres, seen to glide - Along the lone wood's unfrequented path, - Startling the nighted traveller; while the sound - Of undistinguished murmurs, heard to come - From the dark centre of the deep'ning glen, - Struck on his frozen ear:"[322:B] - -and lastly Mr. Scott, in his highly interesting poem entitled Rokeby, -speaking of the tales of superstition, adds, - - "When Christmas logs blaze high and wide, - Such wonders speed the festal tide, - While Curiosity and Fear, - Pleasure and pain, sit crouching near, - Till childhood's cheek no longer glows, - And village-maidens lose the rose. - The thrilling interest rises higher, - The circle closes nigh and nigher, - And shuddering glance is cast behind, - As louder moans the wintery wind." - Cant. ii. st. 10. - -After this brief outline of the common superstitions of the country, as -they existed in the days of Shakspeare, and as they still linger among -us, we shall proceed, in conformity with our plan, to notice those -Days which have been peculiarly devoted to superstitious rites and -observances. - -In entering upon this subject, however, it will be necessary to remark, -that as several of these days are still kept by the vulgar in the -same manner, and with the same spirit of credulity which subsisted -in the reign of Elizabeth, it would be superfluous to enter at large -into a detail of their ceremonies, and that to mark the coincidence -of usage, occurring at these periods, will be nearly all that can be -deemed requisite. Thus on _St. Paul's Day_, on _Candlemas Day_, and -on _St. Swithin's Day_, the prognosticators of weather still find as -much employment, and as much credit as ever.[323:A] _St. Mark's Day_ -is still beheld with dread, as fixing the destinies of life and death, -and _Childermas_ still keeps in countenance the doctrine of lucky and -unlucky days. - -A similarity nearly equal may be observed with regard to the rites -of lovers on ST. VALENTINE'S DAY. The tradition, that birds choosing -their mates on this day, occasioned the custom of drawing valentines, -has been the opinion of our poets from Chaucer to the present hour. -Shakspeare alludes to it in the following passage: - - "Good-morrow friends. Saint Valentine is past; - _Begin these wood-birds but to couple now_?"[324:A] - -The ceremony of this day, however, has been attributed to various -sources beside the rural tradition just mentioned. The legend itself -of St. Valentine, a presbyter of the church, who was beheaded under -the Emperor Claudius, we are assured by Mr. Brand, contains nothing -which could give rise to the custom; but it has been supposed by some -to have originated from an observance peculiar to carnival time, which -occurred about this very period. It was usual, on this occasion, for -vast numbers of knights to visit the different courts of Europe, where -they entertained the ladies with pageantry and tournaments. Each lady, -at these magnificent feasts, selected a knight, who engaged to serve -her for a whole year, and to perform whatever she chose to command. One -of the never-failing consequences of this engagement, was an injunction -to employ his muse in the celebration of his mistress. - -Menage, in his Etymological Dictionary, has accounted for the term -_Valentine_, by stating that Madame Royale, daughter of Henry the -Fourth of France, having built a palace near Turin, which, in honour -of the Saint, then in high esteem, she called _the Valentine_, at the -first entertainment which she gave in it, was pleased to order that the -ladies should receive their lovers _for the year_ by lots, reserving to -herself the privilege of being independent of chance, and of _choosing_ -her own partner. At the various balls which this gallant princess -gave, during the year, it was directed that each lady should receive -a nosegay from her lover, and that, at every tournament, the knight's -trappings for his horse should be furnished by his allotted mistress, -with this proviso, that the prize obtained should be hers. This custom, -says Menage, occasioned the parties to be called _Valentines_. - -Mr. Brand, in his observations on Bourne's Antiquities, thinks, that -the usages of this day are the remains of an antient superstition in -the Church of Rome, of choosing _patrons_ for the year ensuing, at -this season; "and that, because ghosts were thought to walk on the -night of this day, or about this time[325:A];" but Mr. Douce, with -more probability, considers them as a relic of paganism. "It was the -practice in ancient Rome," he observes, "during a great part of the -month of February, to celebrate the _Lupercalia_, which were feasts in -honour of Pan and Juno, whence the latter deity was named _februata_, -_februalis_, and _februlla_. On this occasion, amidst a variety of -ceremonies, the names of young women were put into a box, from which -they were drawn by the men as chance directed. The pastors of the early -Christian church, who by every possible means endeavoured to eradicate -the vestiges of Pagan superstitions, and chiefly by some commutation -of their forms, substituted, in the present instance, the names of -particular saints instead of those of the women: and as the festival -of the _Lupercalia_ had commenced about the middle of February, they -appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's day for celebrating the new -feast, because it occurred nearly at the same time. This is, in part, -the opinion of a learned and rational compiler of the lives of the -saints, the Reverend Alban Butler. It should seem, however, that it -was utterly impossible to extirpate altogether any ceremony to which -the common people had been much accustomed; a fact which it were easy -to prove in tracing the origin of various other popular superstitions: -and accordingly the outline of the ancient ceremonies was preserved, -but modified by some adaptation to the Christian system. It is -reasonable to suppose that the above practice of choosing mates would -gradually become reciprocal in the sexes; and that all persons so -chosen would be called _Valentines_, from the day on which the ceremony -took place."[326:A] - -The modes of ascertaining the _Valentine_ for the ensuing year, were -nearly the same in Shakspeare's age as at the present period; they -consisted either in drawing lots on Valentine-eve, or in considering -the first person whom you met early on the following morning, as the -destined object. In the former case the names of a certain number -of one sex, were, by an equal number of the other, put into a vase; -and then every one drew a name; which for the time was termed their -_Valentine_, and was considered as predictive of their future fortune -in the nuptial state; in the second there was usually some little -contrivance adopted, in order that the favoured object, when such -existed, might be the first seen. To this custom Shakspeare refers, -when he represents Ophelia, in her distraction, singing, - - "Good morrow, 'tis Saint Valentine's day, - All in the morning betime, - And I a maid at your window, - To be your Valentine."[326:B] - -The practice of addressing verses, and sending presents, to the person -chosen, has been continued from the days of James I., in which the -gifts of Valentines have been noticed by Moresin[327:A], to modern -times; and we may add a trait, not now observed, perhaps, on the -authority of an old English ballad, in which the lasses are directed to -pray _cross-legged_ to Saint _Valentine_, for good luck.[327:B] - -It was a usage of the sixteenth century, in its object laudable -and useful, for the inhabitants of towns and villages, during the -summer-season, to meet after sunset, in the streets, and for the -wealthier sort to recreate themselves and their poorer friends with -banquets and bonefires. Of this custom Stowe has left us a pleasing -account:—"In the moneths of June, and July," he relates, "on the -Vigiles of festivall dayes, and on the same festivall dayes in the -evenings, after the sun-setting, there were usually made bonefires -in the streets, every man bestowing wood or labour towards them. The -wealthier sort also before their dores, neere to the said bonefires, -would set out tables on the vigiles, furnished with sweet bread, -and good drink, and on the festivall dayes with meates and drinks -plentifully, whereunto they would invite their neighbours and -passengers also to sit, and be merry with them in great familiarity, -praysing God for his benefits bestowed on them. These were called -bonefires, as well of amity amongst neighbours, that beeing before at -controversie, were there by the labour of others reconciled, and made -of bitter enemies, loving friends; as also for the virtue that a great -fire hath, to purge the infection of the ayre."[328:A] These rites -were, however, more particularly practised on MIDSUMMER-EVE, the Vigil -of Saint John the Baptist, a period of the year to which our ancestors -paid singular attention, and combined with it several superstitious -observances. "On the Vigill of Saint John Baptist," continues Stowe, -"every man's dore beeing shadowed with greene Birch, long Fennell, -Saint John's Wort, Orpin, white Lillies, and such like, garnished upon -with Garlands of beautifull flowers, had also Lamps of glasse, with -Oyle burning in them all the night, some hung out branches of yron -curiously wrought, containing hundreds of Lamps lighted at once, which -made a goodly shew."[328:B] - -Of some of the superstitions connected with this Eve, Barnabe Googe -has left us an account in his translation of Neogeorgius, which was -published, and dedicated to Queen Elizabeth, in 1570:— - - "Then doth the joyfull feast of John the Baptist take his turne, - When bonfires great, with lofty flame, in every towne doe burne, - And young men round about with maydes doe daunce in every street, - With garlands wrought of mother-wort, or else of vervaine sweet, - And many other flowers faire, with violets in their hands; - Where as they all doe fondly thinke that whosoever stands, - And thorow the flowers behold the flame, his eyes shall feele no - paine. - When thus till night they daunced have, they throgh the fire amaine - With striving mindes doe run, and all their herbs they cast - therein; - And then, with words devout and prayers, they solemnly begin, - Desiring God that all their illes may there confounded be; - Whereby they thinke, through all that yeare, from agues to be - free."[328:C] - -This _Midsummer-Eve Fire_ and the rites attending it, appear to be -reliques of pagan worship, for Gebelin in his _Allegories Orientales_ -observes, that at the moment of the Summer Solstice the ancients, from -the most remote antiquity, were accustomed to light fires, in honour of -the New Year, which they believed to have originally commenced in fire. -These fires or Feux de joie were accompanied with vows and sacrifices -for plenty and prosperity, and with dances and leaping over the -flames, "each on his departure snatching a firebrand of greater or less -magnitude, whilst the rest was scattered to the wind, in order that it -might disperse every evil as it dispersed the ashes."[329:A] - -Many other superstitions, however, than those mentioned by Googe, -were practised on this mysterious eve. To one of the most important -Shakspeare alludes in the _First Part of King Henry the Fourth_, -where Gadshill says of himself and company, "We have the receipt of -_fern-seed_, we walk _invisible_."[329:B] Jonson and Fletcher have also -ascribed the same wonderful property to this plant, the first in his -_New Inn_. - - —————— "I had - No medicine, Sir, to go invisible, - No _fern-seed_ in my pocket;"[329:C] - -the second in the _Fair Maid of the Inn_,— - - ————— "had you Gyges' ring, - Or the _herb_ that gives invisibility?"[329:D] - -It was the belief of our credulous ancestors, that the _fern-seed_ -became visible only on St. John's Eve, and at the precise moment of -the birth of the Saint; that it was under the peculiar protection of -the Queen of Faery, and that on this awful night, the most tremendous -conflicts took place, for its possession, between sorcerers and -spirits; for - - "The wond'rous one-night seeding ferne," - -as Browne calls it[330:A], was conceived not only to confer -_invisibility at pleasure_, on those who succeeded in procuring it, but -it was also esteemed of sovereign potency in the fabrication of charms -and incantations. Those, therefore, who were addicted to the arts -of magic, and possessed sufficient courage for the enterprise, were -believed to watch in solitude during this solemn period, in order that -they might seize the seed on the instant of its appearance. - -The achievement, however, was accompanied with great danger; for if the -adventurer were not protected by spells of mighty power, he was exposed -to the assaults of demons and spirits, who envied him the possession -of the plant, and who generally took care that he should lose either -his life or his labour in the attempt. "A person who went to gather it, -reported that the spirits whisked by his ears, and sometimes struck his -hat, and other parts of his body; and at length, when he thought he had -got a good quantity of it, and secured it in papers and a box, when he -came home, he found both empty."[330:B] - -Another superstition, of a nature highly impressive and terrible, -consists in the idea that any person fasting on _Midsummer-Eve_, and -sitting in the church-porch, will at midnight see the spirits of those -who are to die in the parish during that year, approach and knock at -the church door, precisely in the order of time in which they are -doomed to depart. It is related, by the author of _Pandemonium_, that -one of the company of watchers, on this night, having fallen into a -profound sleep, his ghost or spirit, whilst he lay in this state, was -seen by the rest of his companions, knocking at the church-door.[330:C] - -Of these wild traditions of the "olden time" Collins has made a most -striking use in his Ode to Fear:— - - "Ne'er be I found, by thee o'eraw'd, - In that thrice-hallow'd eve, abroad, - When ghosts, as cottage-maids believe, - Their pebbled beds permitted leave; - And goblins haunt, from fire, or fen, - Or mine, or flood, the walks of men!" - -The observance of _Midsummer-Eve_ by rejoicings, spells, and charms, -has continued until within these fifty years, especially in Cornwall, -in the North of England, and in Scotland. Bourne, in 1725, tells us, -that "on the Eve of St. John Baptist, commonly called _Midsummer-Eve_, -it is usual in the most of country places, and also here and there in -towns and cities, for both old and young to meet together, and be merry -over a large fire, which is made in the open street. Over this they -frequently leap and play at various games, such as running, wrestling, -dancing, &c. But this is generally the exercise of the younger sort; -for the old ones, for the most part, sit by as spectators, and -enjoy themselves and their bottle. And thus they spend their time -till mid-night, and sometimes till cock-crow[331:A];" and Borlase, -in his History of Cornwall, about thirty years later, states, that -"the Cornish make bonefires in every village on the Eve of St. John -Baptist's and St. Peter's Days."[331:B] - -It was a common superstition in the days of Shakspeare, and for two -centuries preceding him, that the future husband or wife might be -discovered on this Eve or on St. Agnes' night, by due fasting and by -certain ceremonies; thus, if a maiden, fasting on _Midsummer-Eve_, laid -a clean cloth at midnight, with bread, cheese, and ale, and sate down, -with the street door open, the person whom she is fated to marry will -enter the room, fill the glass, drink to her, bow and retire.[332:A] -A similar effect, as to the visionary appearance of the destined -bridegroom, was supposed to follow the sowing of hempseed on this -night, either in the field or church-yard. Mr. Strutt, depicting the -manners of the fifteenth century, has given this latter superstition, -from the mouth of an imaginary witch, in the following rhymes:— - - "Around the church see that you go, - With kirtle white and girdle blue, - At midnight thrice, and hempseed sow; - Calling upon your lover true, - Thus shalt thou say; - These seeds I sow: swift let them grow, - Till he, who must my husband be, - Shall follow me and mow:"[332:B] - -a charm which appears to have been in vogue even in the time of Gay, -who, in his Shepherd's Week, makes Hobnelia say,— - - "At _eve_ last _midsummer_ no sleep I sought, - But to the field a bag of hempseed brought; - I scatter'd round the seed on every side, - And three times in a trembling accent cried, - "This hempseed with my virgin hand I sow, - Who shall my true-love be, the crop shall mow." - I straight look'd back, and if my eyes speak truth, - With his keen scythe behind me came the youth." - The Spell, line 27. - -Another mode, which prevailed in the 16th and 17th centuries, of -procuring similar information on this festival, through the medium of -dreams, consisted in digging for what was called the plantain coal; -the search was to commence exactly at noon, and the material, when -found, to be placed on the pillow at night. Of a wild-goose expedition -of this kind Aubrey reports himself to have been a spectator. "The last -summer," says he, "on the day of St. John Baptist, 1694, I accidentally -was walking in the pasture behind Montague-house: it was twelve -o'clock. I saw there about two or three and twenty young women, most -of them well habited, on their knees, very busy, as if they had been -weeding. I could not presently learn what the matter was; at last, a -young man told me that they were looking for a coal under the root of -a plantain, to put under their heads that night, and they should dream -who would be their husbands: it was to be found that day and hour." -He adds, "the women have several magical secrets handed down to them -by tradition for this purpose, as, on St. Agnes' night, 21st January, -take a row of pins, and pull out every one one after another, saying a -paternoster, or 'our father,' sticking a pin in your sleeve, and you -will dream of him or her you shall marry[333:A];" spells to which Ben -Jonson alludes, when he says,— - - ——— "On sweet St. Agnes' night - Please you with the promis'd sight; - Some of husbands, some of lovers, - Which an empty dream discovers."[333:B] - -That it was the custom, in Elizabeth's and James's days, to tell tales -or perform plays and masques on Christmas-Eve, on Twelfth Night, and -on _Midsummer-Eve_, may be drawn from the dramas of Shakspeare, and -the masques of Jonson. The _Midsummer-Night's Dream_ of the former, -appears to have been so called, because its exhibition was to take -place on that night, for the _time of action_ of the piece itself, is -the vigil of May-Day, as is that of the _Winter's Tale_ the period of -sheep-shearing. It is probable also, as Mr. Steevens has observed, that -Shakspeare might have been influenced in his choice of the fanciful -machinery of this play, by the recollection of the proverb attached to -the season, and which he has himself introduced in the _Twelfth-Night_, -where Olivia remarks of Malvolio's apparent distraction, that it "is -a very _Midsummer madness_[334:A];" an adage founded on the common -opinion, that the brain, being heated by the intensity of the sun's -rays, was more susceptible of those flights of imagination which border -on insanity, than at any other period of the year. - -The next season distinguished by any very remarkable tincture of the -popular creed, is Michaelmas, or the Feast of ST. MICHAEL AND ALL -ANGELS. When ever this day comes, says Bourne, "it brings into the -minds of the people, that old opinion of _Tutelar Angels_, that every -man has his _Guardian Angel_; that is one particular angel who attends -him from his coming in, till his going out of life, who guides him -through the troubles of the world, and strives as much as he can, to -bring him to heaven."[334:B] - -That the doctrine of the ministry of angels, and their occasional -interference with the affairs of man, is an _old opinion_, cannot -be denied. It pervades the whole of the Old and New Testaments, and -appears to have been an article of the patriarchal creed; for from the -Book of Job, perhaps the oldest which exists, may be drawn not only -the doctrine of the ministration of angels, but that of their division -into certain distinct orders, such as angels, intercessors, destroyers, -&c.[334:C] With this general information we ought to have been content: -but superstition has been busy in promulgating hierarchies, the -offspring of its own heated imagination; in minutely ascertaining the -numbers and offices of angels in heaven and on earth; and in naming -and appropriating certain of them as the guardians and protectors of -kingdoms, cities, families, and individuals. The mythologies of Persia, -Arabia, and Greece, abound with these arbitrary arrangements; Hesiod -declares that the angels appointed to watch over the earth, amount -exactly to thirty-thousand[335:A]; and Plato divides the world of -spirits good and bad into nine classes, in which he has been followed -by some of the philosophising Christians. The angelic hierarchy of -Dionysius, however, is the one usually adopted; he professes to -interfere only with good spirits, and divides his angels, perhaps in -imitation of Plato, into nine orders; the first he terms _seraphim_, -the second _cherubim_, the third _thrones_, the fourth _dominations_, -the fifth _virtues_, the sixth _powers_, the seventh _principalities_, -the eighth _archangels_, and the ninth _angels_.[335:B] Not content -with this he goes still farther, and has assigned to every country, and -almost to every person of eminence, a peculiar angel, thus to Adam he -gives _Razael_; to Abraham, _Zakiel_; to Isaiah, _Raphael_; to Jacob, -_Peliel_; to Moses, _Metraton_, &c., speaking, as Calvin observes, not -as if by report, but as though he had slipped down from heaven, and -told of the things which he had seen there.[335:C] - -Of this systematic hierarchy the greater portion formed, during the age -of Shakspeare, and for nearly a century afterwards, an important part -of the popular creed, as may be ascertained from an inspection of Scot -on Witchcraft in 1584, Heywood's _Hierarchie of the Blessed Angells, -their Names, Orders, and Offices_, in 1635, and from Burton's Anatomie -of Melancholy, which, though first published in 1617, continued to -re-appear in frequent editions until the close of the seventeenth -century. - -The doctrine of _Guardian Angels_, as appropriated to individuals, -more especially appears to have been entertained by Shakspeare and -his contemporaries; an idea pleasing to the human mind, though, -in the opinion of the most acute theologians, not warranted by -Scripture; where only the general ministry of angels is recorded; and, -accordingly, the collect of the day, in our admirable Liturgy, merely -refers to, and prays for, such general interference in our behalf. - -The assignment of a good angel, or of a good and bad angel to every -individual, as soon as created, is supported by the English Lavaterus -in 1572, and recorded as the general object of belief, by the rational -Scot, in his interesting discourse on spirits. - -"Saint Herome in his Commentaries," says Lavaterus, "and other fathers -do conclude, that God doth assigne unto every soule assoone as he -createth him his peculiar Angell, which taketh care of him. But whether -that every one of the elect have hys proper angell, or many angells -be appoynted unto him, it is not expresly sette foorth, yet this is -most sure and certayne, that God hath given his angells in charge to -have regard and care over us. Daniel witnesseth in his tenth chapter, -that angells have also charge of kingdomes, by whom God keepeth and -protecteth them, and hindreth the wicked counsels of the devill. It -may be proved by many places of the Scripture, that all Christian men -have not only one angell, but also many, whome God imployeth to their -service. In the 34 psalm it is sayde, the angell of the Lorde pitcheth -his tentes rounde about them whiche feare the Lorde, and helpeth them: -which ought not to be doubted but that it is also at this daye, albeit -we see them not. We reade that they appearing in sundrye shapes, have -admonished menne, have comforted them, defended them, delivered them -from daunger, and also punished the wicked. Touching this matter, there -are plentiful examples, whiche are not needefull to be repeated in -this place. Somtimes they have eyther appeared in sleep, or in manner -of visions, and sometimes they have perfourmed their office, by some -internall operations: as when a man's mynde foresheweth him, that a -thing shall so happen, and after it happeneth so in deede, which thyng -I suppose is doone by God, through the minesterie of angells. Angells -for the most part take upon them the shapes of men, wherein they -appeare."[337:A] - -"Monsieur Bodin, M. Mal. and manie other papists," observes Scot, who -gives us his opinion on the nature of angels, "gather upon the seventh -of Daniel, that there are just ten millians of angels in heaven. Manie -saie that angels are not by nature, but by office. Finallie, it were -infinite to shew the absurd and curious collections hereabout. I for -my part thinke with Calvine, that angels are creatures of God; though -Moses spake nothing of their creation, who onelie applied himselfe to -the capacitie of the common people, reciting nothing but things seene. -And I saie further with him, that they are heavenlie spirits, whose -ministration and service God useth: and in that respect are called -angels. I saie yet againe with him, that it is verie certaine, that -they have no shape at all; for they are spirits, who never have anie: -and finallie, I saie with him, that the Scriptures, for the capacitie -of our wit, dooth not in vaine paint out angels unto us with wings; -bicause we should conceive, that they are readie swiftlie to succour -us. And certeinlie all the sounder divines doo conceive and give out, -that both the names and also the number of angels are set downe in -the Scripture by the Holie-ghost, in termes to make us understand the -greatnesse and the manner of their messages; which (I saie) are either -expounded by the number of angels, or signified by their names. - -"Furthermore, the schoole doctors affirme, that foure of the superior -orders of angels never take anie forme or shape of bodies, neither are -sent of anie arrand at anie time. As for archangels, they are sent -onlie about great and secret matters; and angels are common hacknies -about everie trifle; and that these can take what shape or bodie they -list: marie they never take the forme of women or children. Item, they -saie that angels take most terrible shapes: for _Gabriel_ appeared to -_Marie_, when he saluted hir, _facie rutilante, veste coruscante, -ingressu mirabili, aspectu terribili_, &c.: that is, with a bright -countenance, shining attire, wonderfull gesture, and a dredfull visage, -&c. _It hath beene long, and continueth yet a constant opinion, not -onlie among the papists; but among others also, that everie man hath -assigned him, at the time of his nativitie, a good angell and a -bad._ For the which there is no reason in nature, nor authoritie in -Scripture. For not one angell, but all the angels are said to rejoise -more of one convert, than of ninetie and nine just. Neither did one -onlie angel conveie Lazarus into Abraham's bosome. And therefore I -conclude with Calvine, that he which referreth to one angel, the care -that God hath to everie one of us, dooth himselfe great wrong."[338:A] - -That Shakspeare embraced the doctrine common in his age, which assigns -to every individual, at his birth, a good and bad angel, an idea highly -poetical in itself, and therefore acceptable to a fervid imagination, -is evident from the following remarkable passages: - - "There is a good angel about him—but the devil out-bids him - too."[338:B] - - "You follow the young prince up and down like his ill angel."[338:C] - - "Thy daemon, that's thy spirit which keeps thee, is - Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable, - Where Cæsar's is not; but near him, thy angel - Becomes a Fear, as being o'erpowered—— - ———————— I say again, thy spirit - Is all afraid to govern thee near him; - But, he away, 'tis noble;"[338:D] - -and in Macbeth the same imagery is repeated— - - —————— "near him, - My genius is rebuk'd; as, it is said, - Mark Antony's was by Cæsar's."[338:E] - -These lines from _Antony and Cleopatra_ and _Macbeth_, which are -founded on a passage in North's Plutarch, where the soothsayer says to -Antony, "thy Demon, (that is to say, the good angell and spirit that -keepeth thee) is affraied of his," sufficiently prove that the Roman -Catholic doctrine of a good and evil angel is _immediately_ drawn from -the belief of Pagan antiquity in the agency of good and evil genii, a -dogma to which we know their greatest philosophers were addicted, as is -apparent from the Demon of Socrates. - -Of the general, and as it may be termed, the patriarchal, doctrine of -the ministry of angels, no poet has made so admirable an use as Milton, -who tells us, in his Paradise Lost, that - - "Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth - Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep, - All these, with ceaseless praise, his works behold, - Both day and night. How often, from the steep - Of echoing hill or thicket, have we heard - Celestial voices, through the midnight air, - Sole or responsive to each other's note, - Singing their great Creator! oft, in bands, - While they keep watch; or, nightly walking round, - With heavenly touch of instrumental sounds, - In full harmonic number join'd; their songs - Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to heaven."[339:A] - -We must be permitted to observe, in this place, that Dr. Horsley -has, with great propriety, drawn a marked distinction between -the full-formed hierarchy of fanciful theologians, and the -Scripture-account of angelic agency; while he reprobates the one, he -supports the other; "those," says he, "who broached this doctrine (of -an hierarchy of angels governing this world) could tell us exactly -how many orders there are, and how many angels in each order; that -the different orders have their different departments in government -assigned to them; some, constantly attending in the presence of -God, form his cabinet council; others are his provincial governors; -every kingdom in the world having its appointed guardian angel, to -whose management it is intrusted: others again are supposed to have -the charge and custody of individuals. This system is, in truth, -nothing better than Pagan polytheism." He then subsequently and most -judiciously gives us the following summary of Biblical information on -the subject: "that the holy angels," he remarks, "are often employed -by God in his government of this sublunary world, is indeed clearly to -be proved by holy writ: that they have powers over the matter of the -universe analogous to the powers over it which men possess, greater -in extent, but still limited, is a thing which might reasonably be -supposed, if it were not declared: but it seems to be confirmed by many -passages of holy writ, from which it seems also evident that they are -occasionally, for certain specific purposes, commissioned to exercise -those powers to a prescribed extent. That the evil angels possessed, -before the fall, the like powers, which they are still occasionally -permitted to exercise for the punishment of wicked nations, seems -also evident. That they have a power over the human sensory (which is -part of the material universe), which they are occasionally permitted -to exercise, by means of which they may inflict diseases, suggest -evil thoughts, and be the instruments of temptations, must also be -admitted."[340:A] - -We shall conclude these observations on St. Michael's Day by adding, -that in both the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it was the custom -of landlords to invite their tenants on this day, and to dine them in -their great halls on _Geese_; birds which were then only kept by the -gentry, and therefore esteemed a great delicacy. We must consequently -set aside the tradition which attributes the introduction of this bird -on the festival of St. Michael to Queen Elizabeth; the tale avers, -that, being on her road to Tilbury Fort, she dined on Michaelmas Day -1588, at Sir Neville Umfreville's seat, near that place, and that -the knight, recollecting her partiality for high-seasoned food, had -taken care to procure for her a savoury goose, after eating heartily -of which she called for a _half-pint bumper of Burgundy_, and had -scarcely drank it off to the destruction of the _Spanish Armada_, when -she received the news of that joyful event; delighted with the speedy -accomplishment of her toast, she is said to have annually commemorated -this day with a goose, and that, of course, the example was followed -by the Court and through the kingdom at large. The custom, however, -must be referred to a preceding age, in which it will be found that the -nobility and gentry had usually this delicious bird at their tables, -both on St. Michael's and St. Martin's Day.[341:A] - -We now approach another remarkably superstitious period of the year, -the observance of which took place on the 31st of October, being the -_Vigil of All Saints' Day_, and has been therefore commonly termed -ALL HALLOW EVE. In the North of England, and in Scotland, this was -formerly a night of rejoicing and of the most mysterious rites and -ceremonies. As beyond the Tweed the harvest was seldom completely -got in before the close of October, _Halloween_ became a kind of -Harvest-home-feast; thus, Mr. Shaw informs us, in his History of the -Province of Moray, that "a solemnity was kept, on the Eve of the first -of November, as a thanksgiving for the safe Ingathering of the produce -of the fields. This I am told, but have not seen it, is observed in -Buchan, and other countries, by having _Hallow-Eve Fires_ kindled on -some rising ground."[341:B] In England Hallow-eve has been generally -called _Nut-crack Night_, from one of the numerous spells usually -had recourse to at this season; and in Shakspeare it is alluded to -under the customary appellation of _Hallowmas_, where Speed tells -Valentine in the _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, that he knows him to be -in love, because he has learnt "to speak puling, like a beggar at -Hallowmas[341:C];" a simile which refers to a relique of the Roman -Catholic Festival of _All Souls Day_ on the 2d of November, when -prayers were offered up for the repose of the souls of the departed; -it being the custom, in Shakspeare's time, and is still, we believe, -observed in some parts of the North, for the poor on _All-Saints-Day_ -to go _a souling_, as they term it, and in a plaintive or _puling_ -voice to petition for _soul-cakes_. "In various parts of England," -remarks Brady, "the remembrance of monastic customs is still preserved -by giving oaten cakes to the poor neighbours, conformably to what -was once the general usage, particularly in Lancashire, Yorkshire, -Herefordshire, &c. when, by way of expressing gratitude, the receivers -of this liberality offered the following homely benediction: - - "God have your _saul_, - Bones and all;" - -bearing more the appearance, in these enlightened days, of rustic -scoff, than of thankfulness."[342:A] - -What has rendered All-Hallow-Eve, however, a period of mysterious -dread, is the tradition, that on this night the host of evil spirits, -witches, wizards, &c. are executing their baneful errands, and that the -fairy court holds a grand annual procession, during which, those who -have been carried off by the fairies may be recovered, provided the -attempt be made within a year and a day from the abstraction of the -person stolen. That this achievement, which was attended with great -peril, could only be performed on Hallow-Eve, and that this night was -esteemed the anniversary of the elfin tribe, may be established on the -evidence of our northern poets. Montgomery, in his _Flyting against -Polwart_, published about 1584, thus mentions the procession: - - "In the hinder end of harvest, on All-hallow een, - When our _gude neighbours_ dois ride, if I read right, - Some buckled on a bunewand, and some on a been, - Ay trottand in troups from the twilight; - Some saidled a she-ape, all grathed into green, - Some hobland on a hemp stalk, hovard to the hight, - The king of Pharie and his court, with the elf queen, - With many elfish incubus was ridand that night;"[343:A] - -and in the ballad called _Young Tamlane_, whose antiquity is -ascertained from being noticed in the _Complaynt of Scotland_, the -chief incident of the story is the recovery of Tamlane from the power -of the fairies on this holy eve:— - - "This night is Hallowe'en, Janet; - The morn is Hallowday; - And, gin ye dare your true love win, - Ye have nae time to stay. - - The night it is good Hallowein, - When fairy folk will ride; - And they, that wad their true love win, - At Miles Cross they maun bide."[343:B] - -It is still recorded by tradition, relates Mr. Scott, that "the wife of -a farmer in Lothian having been carried off by the fairies, she, during -the year of probation, repeatedly appeared on Sunday, in the midst of -her children, combing their hair. On one of these occasions she was -accosted by her husband; when she related to him the unfortunate event -which had separated them, instructed him by what means he might win -her, and exhorted him to exert all his courage, since her temporal and -eternal happiness depended on the success of his attempt. The farmer, -who ardently loved his wife, set out on Hallowe'en, and, in the midst -of a plot of furze, waited impatiently for the procession of the -fairies. At the ringing of the fairy bridles, and the wild unearthly -sound which accompanied the cavalcade, his heart failed him, and he -suffered the ghostly train to pass by without interruption. When the -last had rode past, the whole troop vanished, with loud shouts of -laughter and exultation; among which he plainly discovered the voice -of his wife, lamenting that he had lost her for ever."[344:A] - -Numerous have been the ceremonies, spells, and charms, which formerly -distinguished All-Hallow-Eve. In England, except in a few remote -places in the North, they have ceased to be observed for the last -half century; but in the West of Scotland they are still retained -with a kind of religious veneration, as is sufficiently proved by -the inimitable poem of Burns, entitled _Halloween_, which, in a vein -of exquisite poetry and genuine humour, minutely details the various -superstitions, which have been practised on this night from time -immemorial. Of these, as including all which prevailed in England, and -which were, in a great degree, common to both countries, in the time of -Shakspeare, we shall give a few sketches, nearly in the words of Burns, -as annexed in the notes to his poem, merely observing that one of the -spells, that of sowing hemp-seed, is omitted, as having been already -described among the rites of Midsummer-Eve. - -The _first_ ceremony of Hallow-Eve consisted in the lads and lasses -pulling each a _stock_, or plant of kail. They were to go out, hand -in hand, with eyes shut, and to pull the first they met with. Its -being big or little, straight or crooked, was prophetic of the size -and shape of the grand object of all their spells—the husband or -wife. If any _yird_, or earth, stuck to the root, that was considered -as the _tocher_, or fortune; and the taste of the _custoc_, that is, -the heart of the stem, was deemed indicative of the natural temper -and disposition. Lastly, the stems, or, to give them their ordinary -appellation, the runts, were placed somewhere above the head of the -door; and the Christian names of the people whom chance brought into -the house, were, according to the priority of placing the _runts_, the -names in question. - -In the _second_, the lasses were to go to the barn-yard, and pull each, -at three several times, a stalk of oats. If the third stalk wanted the -_top-pickle_, that is, the grain at the top of the stalk, the party in -question would come to the marriage-bed any thing but a maid. - -The _third_ depended on the burning of nuts, and was a favourite -charm both in England and Scotland. A lad and lass were named to each -particular nut, as they laid them in the fire, and accordingly as they -burnt quietly together, or started from beside each other, the course -and issue of the courtship were to be determined. - -In the _fourth_, success could only be obtained by strictly adhering -to the following directions. Steal out, all alone, to the _kiln_, and, -darkling, throw into the _pot_, a clue of blue yarn; wind it in a new -clue off the old one: and, towards the latter end, something will hold -the thread; demand, who holds it? and an answer will be returned from -the kiln-pot, by naming the christian and sirname of your future spouse. - -To perform the _fifth_, you were to take a candle, and go alone to a -looking-glass; you were then to eat an apple before it, combing your -hair all the time; when the face of your conjugal companion, _to be_, -will be seen in the glass, as if peeping over your shoulder. - -The _sixth_ was likewise a solitary charm, in which it was necessary -to go _alone_ and _unperceived_ to the _barn_, and open both doors, -taking them off the hinges, if possible, least the _being_, about to -appear, should shut the doors, and do you some mischief. Then you -were to take the machine used in winnowing the corn, and go through -all the attitudes of letting down the grain against the wind; and on -the third repetition of this ceremony, an apparition would be seen -passing through the barn, in at the windy door, and out at the other, -having both the figure of your future companion for life, and also the -appearance or retinue, marking the employment or station in life. - -To secure an effective result from the _seventh_, you were ordered to -take an opportunity of going, unnoticed, to a _Bear-stack_, and fathom -it three times round; when during the last fathom of the last time, you -would be sure to catch in your arms the appearance of your destined -yoke-fellow. - -In order to carry the _eighth_ into execution, one or more were -injoined to seek a south running spring or rivulet, where "three lairds -lands meet," and to dip into it the left shirt-sleeve. You were then -to go to bed in sight of a fire, and to hang the wet sleeve before it -to dry; it was necessary, however, to lie awake, when at midnight, an -apparition, having the exact figure of the future husband or wife, -would come, and turn the sleeve, as if to dry the other side of -it.[346:A] - -For the due performance of the _ninth_, you were directed to take three -dishes; to put clean water in one, foul water in another, and to leave -the third empty: you were then to blindfold a person, and lead him to -the hearth where the dishes were ranged, ordering him to dip the left -hand; when, if this happened to be in the clean water, it was a sign -that the future conjugal mate would come to the bar of matrimony a -maid; if in the foul, a widow; if in the empty dish, it foretold, with -equal certainty, no marriage at all. This ceremony was to be repeated -three times, and every time the arrangement of the dishes was to be -altered.[347:A] - -Such are the various superstitions which were formerly observed at -peculiar periods of the year, and which still maintain a certain -portion of credit among the peasantry of Scotland and the North of -England. To the catalogue of Saints thus loaded with the rites of -popular credulity, may be added one whose celebrity seems to be -entirely founded on the casual notice of Shakspeare. In his Tragedy -of _King Lear_, Edgar introduces _St. Withold_ as an opponent, and -a protector against the assaults, of that formidable Incubus, the -Night-mare:— - - "Saint Withold footed thrice the wold; - He met the Night-mare, and her nine-fold; - Bid her alight, - And her troth plight, - And, aroint thee, witch, aroint thee!"[347:B] - -Warburton informs us, that this agency of the Saint is taken from a -story of him in his legend, and that he was thence invoked as the -patron saint against the distemper, called the night-mare; but Mr. -Tyrwhitt declares, that he could not find this adventure in the -common legends of St. Vitalis, whom he supposes to be synonymous with -St. Withold. It is probable that Shakspeare took the hint, for the -ascription of this achievement to Withold, from Scot's Discoverie -of Witchcraft, where a similar power is attributed to St. George. -That writer, after mentioning that there are magical cures for the -night-mare, gives the following as an example:— - - "St. George, S. George, our ladies knight, - He walkt by daie, so did he by night: - Untill such time as he hir found, - He hir beat and he hir bound. - Untill hir troth she to him plight, - She would not come to hir (him) that night:"[348:A] - -a form which is quoted nearly verbatim, and professedly as a -night-spell, in the _Monsieur Thomas_ of Fletcher.[348:B] It should be -observed, that the influence over _incubi_ ascribed by our poet to St. -Withold, has been subsequently given to other Calendarian saints, and -especially to that dreaded personage St. Swithin, who is indebted to -Mr. Colman, in his alteration of _Lear_, for the transference of this -singular power. - -The mass of popular credulity, indeed, is so enormous, that, limited, -as we are in this chapter, to the consideration of only a portion of -the subject, it is still difficult, from the number and variety of the -materials, to present a sketch which shall be sufficiently distinct -and perspicuous. It is highly interesting, however, to observe to what -striking poetical purposes Shakspeare has converted these imbecillities -of mind, these workings of fear and ignorance; how by his management -almost every article which he has selected from the mass of vulgar -delusion, assumes a capability of impressing the strongest and most -cultivated mind with grateful terror or sublime emotion. No branch, -for instance, of the popular creed has been more extended, or more -burdened with folly, than the belief in OMENS, and yet what noble -imagery has not the poet drawn forth from this accumulation of -fear-struck fancy and childish apprehension. - -With the view of placing the detail of this vast groupe in a clearer -light, it will be necessary to ascertain, what were the principal -_omens_ most accredited in the days of Shakspeare, and after giving a -catalogue of those most worthy of notice, to exhibit a few pictures -by the poet as founded on some of the most remarkable articles in the -enumeration, and afterwards to fill up the outline with additional -circumstances from other resources. - -How prone the subjects of Elizabeth were to pry into futurity, -through the medium of _omens_, _auguries_, and _prognostications_, -may be learnt from the following passage in Scot, taken from his -chapter on the "common peoples fond and superstitious collections -and observations." "Amongst us," says he, "there be manie wemen and -effeminat men (manie papists alwaies, as by their superstition may -appeere) that make great divinations upon the shedding of salt, -wine, &c. and for the observation of daies, and houres use as great -witchcraft as in anie thing. For if one chance to take a fall from a -horse, either in a slipperie or stumbling waie, he will note the daie -and houre, and count that time unlucky for a journie. Otherwise, he -that receiveth a mischance, wil consider whether he met not a cat, or a -hare, when he went first out of his doores in the morning; or stumbled -not at the threshold at his going out; or put not on his shirt the -wrong side outwards; or his left shoo on his right foote. - -"Many will go to bed againe, if the neeze before their shooes be on -their feet; some will hold fast their left thombe in their right hand -when they hickot; or else will hold their chinne with their right hand -whiles a gospell is soong. It is thought verie ill lucke of some, that -a child, or anie other living creature, should passe betweene two -friends as they walke together; for they say it portendeth a division -of freendship.—The like follie is to be imputed unto them, that -observe (as true or probable) old verses, wherein can be no reasonable -cause of such effects: which are brought to passe onlie by God's power, -and at his pleasure. Of this sort be these that follow: - - "Remember on S. Vincent's daie, - If that the sunne his beames displaie.— - - If Paule th' apostles daie be cleare, - It dooth foreshew a luckie yeare.— - - If Maries purifieng daie, - Be cleare and bright with sunnie raie, - Then frost and cold shall be much more, - After the feast than was before, &c."[350:A] - -In the almanacks of Elizabeth's and James's reigns, it was customary, -not only to mark the days supposed to have an influence over the -weather, but to distinguish, likewise, those considered as lucky -or unlucky for making bargains, or transacting business on; and, -accordingly, Webster represents a character in one of his plays -declaring— - - "By the almanack, I think - To choose good days and shun the critical;"[351:A] - -and Shakspeare, referring to the same custom and the same doctrine, -makes Constance in _King John_ exclaim,— - - "What hath this day deserv'd? What hath it done; - That it in golden letters should be set, - Among the high tides, in the kalendar? - Nay rather ————————————— - —— if it must stand still, let wives with child - Pray, that their burdens may not fall this day, - Lest that their hopes prodigiously be cross'd: - But (except) on this day, let seamen fear no wreck; - No bargains break, that are not this day made: - This day, all things begun come to an ill end; - Yea, faith itself to hollow falsehood change!"[351:B] - -But of omens predictive of good and bad fortune, or of the common -events in life, the catalogue may be said to have no termination, and -we must refer the reader, for this degrading display of human weakness -and folly, to the Vulgar Errors of Browne, and to the Commentaries of -Brand on Bourne's Antiquities, confining the subject to that class -of the ominous which has been deemed portentive of the great, the -dreadful, and the strange, and which, being surrounded by a certain -degree of dignity and awe, is consequently best adapted to the genius -of poetry. - -That danger, death, or preternatural occurrences should be preceded -by warnings or intimations, would appear comformable to the idea of a -superintending providence, and therefore faith in such omens has been -indulged in, by almost every nation, especially in the infancy of its -civilisation. The most usual monitions of this kind are, _Lamentings -heard in the air_; _shakings and tremblings of the earth_; _sudden -gloom at noon-day_; _the appearance of meteors_; _the shooting of -stars_; _eclipses of the sun and moon_; _the moon of a bloody hue_; -_the shrieking of owls_; _the croaking of ravens_; _the shrilling -of crickets_; _the night-howling of dogs_; _the clicking of the -death-watch_; _the chattering of pies_; _the wild neighing of horses, -their running wild and eating each other_; _the cries of fairies_; _the -gibbering of ghosts_; _the withering of bay-trees_; _showers of blood_; -_blood dropping thrice from the nose_; _horrid dreams_; _demoniacal -voices_; _ghastly apparitions_; _winding sheets_; _corpse-candles_; -_night-fires_, and _strange and fearful noises_. Of the greater part of -this tremendous list Shakspeare has availed himself; introducing them -as the precursors of murder, sudden death, disasters, and superhuman -events. Thus, previous to the assassination of Julius Cæsar, he tells -us, that— - - "In the most high and palmy state of Rome, - A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, - The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead - Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets— - —Stars with trains of fire and dews of blood 'appear'd,' - Disasters in the sun; and the moist star, - Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands, - Was sick almost to dooms-day with eclipse:"[352:A] - -and again, as predictive of the same event, he adds, in another place— - - —————— "There is one within, - Besides the things that we have heard and seen, - Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. - A lioness hath whelped in the streets; - And graves have yawn'd and yielded up their dead: - Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds, - In ranks, and squadrons, and right form of war, - Which drizzled blood upon the capitol: - The noise of battle hurtled in the air, - Horses do neigh, and dying men did groan; - And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets."[352:B] - -The circumstances which are related as preceding and accompanying the -murder of Duncan are, perhaps, still more awful and impressive. "The -night," says Lennox, - - —————— "has been unruly: where we lay, - Our chimneys were blown down: and, as they say, - Lamentings heard i' the air; strange screams of death; - And prophecying, with accents terrible, - Of dire combustion, and confus'd events, - New hatch'd to the woeful time. The obscure bird - Clamour'd the livelong night: some say, the earth - Was feverous, and did shake. - - _Macb._ 'Twas a rough night." - - "_Old M._ Threescore and ten I can remember well: - Within the volume of which time, I have seen - Hours dreadful, and things strange; but this sore night - Hath trifled former knowings. - - _Rosse._ Ah, good father, - Thou see'st the heavens, as troubled with man's act, - Threaten his bloody stage: by the clock, 'tis day, - And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp: - Is it night's predominance, or the day's shame, - That darkness does the face of earth intomb, - When living light should kiss it? - - _Old M._ 'Tis unnatural, - Even like the deed that's done. On Tuesday last, - A falcon, tow'ring in her pride of place, - Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at, and kill'd. - - _Rosse._ And Duncan's horses, (a thing most strange and certain,) - Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, - Turn'd wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, - Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make - War with mankind. - - _Old M._ 'Tis said, they eat each other. - - _Posse._ Thy did so; to the amazement of mine eyes, - That look'd upon't."[353:A] - -In the play of _King Richard II._ also, the poet has with great taste -and skill selected the following prodigies, as forerunners of the death -or fall of kings:— - - "'Tis thought, the king is dead; we will not stay. - The bay-trees in our country are all wither'd, - And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven; - The pale-fac'd moon looks bloody on the earth, - And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change; - Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance and leap,— - The one, in fear to lose what they enjoy, - The other, to enjoy by rage and war: - These signs forerun the death or fall of kings."[354:A] - -Omens of the same portentous kind are said to have attended the births -of Owen Glendower and Richard III., and Shakspeare has accordingly -availed himself of the tradition in a manner equally poetical and -striking; the former says of himself,— - - ———————— "At my nativity, - The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, - Of burning cressets; and, at my birth, - The frame and huge foundation of the earth - Shak'd like a coward:—— - The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds - Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields:"[354:B] - -and Henry VI., in his interview with Richard in the Tower, reproaching -the tyrant for his cruelties, tells him, as indicative of his future -deeds, that - - "The owl shriek'd at thy birth, an evil sign; - The night-crow cried, aboding luckless time; - Dogs howl'd, and hideous tempests shook down trees; - The raven rook'd her on the chimney's top, - And chattering pies in dismal discords sung."[354:C] - -_Dreams_, considered as prognostics of good or evil, are frequently -introduced by Shakspeare. - - "My dreams will sure prove ominous to day," - -exclaims Andromache[355:A]; while Romeo declares, - - "My dreams presage some joyful news at hand."[355:B] - -But it is chiefly as precursors of misfortune that the poet has availed -himself of their supposed influence as omens of future fate. There are -few passages in his dramas more terrific than the dreams of Richard the -Third and Clarence; the latter, especially, is replete with the most -fearful imagery, and makes the blood run chill with horror. - -_Dæmoniacal voices and shrieks, or monitory intimations and -appearances_ from the tutelary genius of a family, were likewise -imagined to precede the deaths of important individuals; a superstition -to which Shakspeare alludes in the following lines from his _Troilus -and Cressida_: - - "_Troil._ Hark! you are call'd: Some say, the Genius so - Cries, _Come!_ to him that instantly must die."[355:C] - -This superstition was formerly very prevalent in England, and still -prevails in several districts of Ireland, and in the more remote -parts of the Highlands of Scotland. Howell tells us, that he saw -at a lapidary's in 1632, a monumental stone, prepared for four -persons of the name of Oxenham, before the death of each of whom, -the inscription stated a white bird to have appeared and fluttered -around the bed, while the patient was in the last agony[355:D]; and -Glanville, remarks Mr. Scott, mentions one family, the members of -which received this solemn sign by music, the sound of which floated -from the family-residence, and seemed to die in a neighbouring[355:E] -wood. It is related, that several of the great Highland families are -accustomed to receive intimations of approaching fate by domestic -spirits or tutelary genii, who sometimes assume the form of a bird or -of a bloody spectre of a tall woman dressed in white, shrieking wildly -round the house. Thus, observes Mr. Pennant, the family of Rothmurcas -had the _Bodach-an-dun_, or the Ghost of the Hill; the Kinchardines, -the _Spectre of the Bloody Hand_; Gartinley house was haunted by -_Bodach-Gartin_; and Tullock Gorms by _Maug-Moulach_, or _the Girl -with the Hairy Left Hand_. In certain places, he says, the death of -the people is supposed to be foretold by the cries of _Benshi_, or the -_Fairy's Wife_, uttered along the very path where the _funeral_ is to -pass; and it has been added by others, that when the Benshi becomes -visible, she appears in the shape of an old woman, with a blue mantle -and streaming hair. - -Of this omen, and of another of a similar kind, Mr. Scott has made -his usual poetical use in the _Lady of the Lake_, where he relates of -Brian, the lone Seer of the Desert, that - - "Late had he heard in prophet's dream, - The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream, - Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast, - Of charging steeds, careering fast - Along Benharrow's shingly side, - Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride." - -This last passage, he informs us, "is still believed to announce death -to the ancient Highland family of M'Lean of Lochbuy. The spirit of an -ancestor slain in battle, is heard to gallop along a stony bank, and -then to ride thrice around the family-residence, ringing his fairy -bridle, and thus intimating the approaching calamity."[356:A] - -That the apparition of the Benshie, and the whole train of spectral -and dæmoniacal warnings, were in full force in Ireland, during -the seventeenth century, we have numerous proofs; the former was -commonly called the _Shrieking Woman_, and of the latter a most -remarkable instance is given by Mr. Scott, from the MS. Memoirs of -the accomplished Lady Fanshaw. "Her husband, Sir Richard, and she, -chanced, during their abode in Ireland, to visit a friend, the head of -a sept, who resided in his ancient baronial castle, surrounded with -a moat. At midnight, she was awakened by a ghastly and supernatural -scream, and looking out of bed, beheld, by the moon-light, a female -face and part of the form, hovering at the window. The distance from -the ground, as well as the circumstance of the moat, excluded the -possibility that what she beheld was of this world. The face was that -of a young and rather handsome woman, but pale, and the hair, which was -reddish, loose and dishevelled. The dress, which Lady Fanshaw's terror -did not prevent her remarking accurately, was that of the ancient -Irish. This apparition continued to exhibit itself for some time, -and then vanished with two shrieks similar to that which had first -excited Lady Fanshaw's attention. In the morning, with infinite terror, -she communicated to her host what she had witnessed, and found him -prepared not only to credit, but to account for the apparition. 'A near -relation of my family,' said he, 'expired last night in this castle. -We disguised our certain expectation of the event from you, lest it -should throw a cloud over the cheerful reception which was your due. -Now, before such an event happens in this family and castle, the female -spectre whom you have seen always is visible. She is believed to be the -spirit of a woman of inferior rank, whom one of my ancestors degraded -himself by marrying, and whom afterwards, to expiate the dishonour done -to his family, he caused to be drowned in the castle moat.'"[357:A] - -Another set of omens predictive of disaster, supernatural agency, and -death, was drawn from the appearances of lights, tapers, and fires. -When a flame was seen by night resting on the tops of soldiers' lances, -or playing and leaping by fits among the masts and sails of a ship, it -was deemed the presage of misfortune; of defeat in battle in the one -instance, and of destruction by tempest in the other. As the forerunner -of a storm, Shakspeare has introduced it in his _Tempest_, where Ariel -says,— - - —————— "Sometimes I'd divide - And burn in many places; on the top-mast, - The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly, - Then meet and join."[358:A] - -It was also conceived, that the presence of unearthly beings, ghosts, -spirits, and demons, was instantly announced by an alteration in -the tint of the lights which happened to be burning; a very popular -notion, which the poet adopts in his _Richard the Third_, the tyrant -exclaiming, as he awakens, - - "_The lights burn blue_—it is now dead midnight; - Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.—— - Methought, the souls of all that I had murder'd, - Came to my tent."[358:B] - -But, the chief superstition annexed to this branch of omens, -was founded on the idea, that lights and fires, commonly called -_corpse-candles_ and _tomb-fires_, preceded deaths and funerals; an -article of belief which was equally prevalent among the Celtic and -Teutonic nations; and was cherished therefore with the same credulity -in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, as in Scandinavia, Germany, and -England. In this island, during the sixteenth century, it was generally -credited by the common people, that when a person was about to die, a -pale flame would frequently appear at the window of the room in which -he was laid, and, after pausing there for a moment, would glide towards -the church-yard, minutely tracing the path where the future funeral was -to pass, and glowing brightly, for a time, on the spot where the body -was to be interred. Sometimes, however, instead of lights, a procession -was seen by the dim light of the moon: "there have bin seene some in -the night," says the English Lavaterus, "when the moone shin'd, going -solemnlie with the corps, according to the custome of the people, or -standing before the dores, as if some bodie were to be caried to the -church to burying."[359:A] In Northumberland the fancied appearance of -the corpse-light was termed seeing the _Waff_ (the blast or spirit) of -the person whose death was to take place. - -In Wales this superstition was formerly so general, especially in -the counties of Cardigan, Caermarthen, and Pembroke, that scarcely -any individual was supposed to die without the previous signal of -a corpse-candle. Mr. Davis, a Welshman, in a letter to Mr. Baxter, -observes, that "they are called candles, from their resemblance, not of -the body of the candle, but the fire; because that fire doth as much -resemble material candle-lights, as eggs do eggs: saving that in their -journey, these candles are sometimes visible, and sometimes disappear; -especially if any one comes near to them, or in the way to meet them. -On these occasions they vanish, but presently appear again behind the -observer, and hold on their course. If a little candle is seen, of a -pale or bluish colour, then follows the corpse, either of an abortive, -or some infant; if a large one, then the corpse of some one come to -age. If there be seen two, three, or more, of different sizes,—some -big, some small,—then shall so many corpses pass together, and of such -ages or degrees. If two candles come from different places, and be seen -to meet, the corpses will do the same; and if any of these candles be -seen to turn aside, through some bye-path leading to the church, the -following corpse will be found to take exactly the same way."[359:B] - -Among the Highlanders of Scotland, likewise, the same species of omen -was so implicitly credited, that it has continued in force even to the -present day. Of this Mrs. Grant has given us, in one of her ingenious -essays, a most remarkable instance, and on the authority, too, of a -very pious and sensible clergyman, who was accustomed, she says, "to go -forth and meditate at even; and this solitary walk he always directed -to his churchyard, which was situated in a shaded spot, on the banks of -a river. There, in a dusky October evening, he took his wonted path, -and lingered, leaning on the churchyard-wall, till it became twilight, -when he saw two small lights rise from a spot within, where there was -no stone, nor memorial of any kind. He observed the course these lights -took, and saw them cross the river, and stop at an opposite hamlet. -Presently they returned, accompanied by a larger light, which moved on -between them, till they arrived at the place from which the first two -set out, when all the three seemed to sink into the earth together. - -"The good man went into the churchyard, and threw a few stones on -the spot where the lights disappeared. Next morning he walked out -early, called for the sexton, and shewed him the place, asking if he -remembered who was buried there. The man said, that many years ago, he -remembered burying in that spot, two young children, belonging to a -blacksmith on the opposite side of the river, who was now a very old -man. The pastor returned, and was scarce sat down to breakfast, when a -message came to hurry him to come over to pray with the smith, who had -been suddenly taken ill, and who died next day."[360:A] - -_Fiery and meteorous exhalations_, shooting through the lower regions -of the air, and sinking into the ground, were also deemed predictive -of death. The individual was pointed out by these fires either falling -on his lands or garden, or by gleaming with a lurid light over the -family burying-place. Appearances of this kind were called _tomb-fires_ -by the Scandinavians, and _tan-we_ by the Welsh, who believed that no -freeholder died without a meteor having been seen to sparkle and vanish -on his estate. In fact, as Shakspeare has expressed it, there could -happen - - "No natural exhalations in the sky:" - -but were considered as - - ———————— "prodigies, and signs, - Abortives, presages, and tongues of heaven."[361:A] - -The idea that _sudden and fearful noises_ are frequently heard before -death takes place, and are indications of such an event, was very -common at the period of which we are writing, both on the continent and -in this country. "It happeneth many times," says the English Lavaterus, -"that when men lye sicke of some deadly disease, there is something -heard going in the chamber, like as the sicke men were wonte, when they -were in good health: yea and the sicke parties themselves, do many -times heare the same, and by and by gesse what wil come to passe. And -divers times it commeth to passe, that when some of our acquaintaunce -or friends lye a dying, albeit they are many miles off, yet there are -some great stirrings or noises heard. Sometimes we think that the house -will fall on our heads, or that some massie and waightie thing falleth -downe throughout all the house, rendring and making a disordered noise: -and shortlie within few monthes after, we understande that those things -happened, the very same houre that our friends departed in. There be -some men of whose stocke none doth dye, but that they observe and marke -some signes and tokens going before: as that they heare the dores and -windowes open and shut, that some thing runneth up the staires, or -walketh up and downe the house, or doth some one or other such like -thing. - -"There was a certain parishe priest, a very honest and godly man, whom -I knewe well, who in the plague time, could tell before hand, when any -of his parishe should dye. For in the night time he heard a noise over -his bed, like as if one had throwne downe a sacke full of corne from -his shoulders: which when he heard he would say: Nowe an other biddeth -me farewell. After it was day, he used to inquire who died that night, -or who was taken with the plague, to the end he might comfort and -strengthen them, according to the duty of a good pastour. - -"In Abbeys, the Monks, servaunts or any other falling sicke, many have -heard in the night, preparation of chests for them, in such sorte as -the coffin makers did afterwards prepare in deede. - -"In some country villages, when one is at death's dore, many times -there are some heard in the evening, or in the night, digging a grave -in the Churcheyarde, and the same the next day is so found digged, as -these men did heare before."[362:A] - -The next class of superstitions which we shall notice in this chapter, -is that depending on CHARMS and SPELLS, a fertile source of knavery and -credulity, and which has been chiefly exercised, in our poet's time -and since, by old women. Of this occupation, and its attendant folly -and imposition, the bard has given us a sketch, in his _Merry Wives -of Windsor_, in the person of the _Old Woman of Brentford_, who is -declared by _Ford_ to be "a witch, a quean, an old cozening quean!—We -are simple men; we do not know what's brought to pass under the -profession of _fortune-telling_. She works by _charms_, by _spells_, by -the figure, and such daubery as this is; beyond our element: we know -nothing."[362:B] - -That women of this description, or as Scot has delineated them, in one -instance, indeed, deviating from the _portly_ form of Shakspeare's -cunning Dame, "_leane_, hollow-eied, old, beetle browed women[362:C]," -were, as dealers in charms, spells and amulets, a very numerous -tribe, in the days of Elizabeth and James, we have every reason to -believe, from contemporary evidence; but it appears that the trade of -_fortune-telling_ was then, as now, chiefly exercised by the wandering -horde of _gipsies_, to whose name and characteristic knavery, our great -poet alludes, in _Antony and Cleopatra_, where the Roman complains that -Cleopatra, - - "Like a right _gipsy_, hath, _at fast and loose_, - Beguil'd him to the very heart of loss."[362:D] - -Of this wily people, of the juggle referred to in these lines, and -of their profession of fortune-telling, Scot thus speaks in his -thirteenth book:—"The AEGYPTIANS juggling witchcraft or sortilegie -standeth much in _fast or loose_, whereof though I have written -somewhat generallie already (p. 197), yet having such opportunitie I -will here shew some of their particular feats; not treating of their -common tricks which is so tedious, nor of their _fortune-telling_ which -is so impious; and yet both of them meere cousenages."[363:A] He then -describes two games of _fast and loose_; one with a handkerchief, and -the other with whip cords and beads; but as these much resemble the -modern trick of _pricking at the belt or girdle_, explained by Sir J. -Hawkins, in a note on the passage just quoted from our poet, it will -not be necessary to notice them further in this place. - -To _palmistry_, indeed, or the _art of Divination by the lines of the -hand_, Shakspeare has allotted a great part of the second scene, in the -first act, of _Antony and Cleopatra_, no doubt induced to this by the -topographical situation of the opening characters, the play commencing -at Alexandria in Egypt. - -He has also occasionally adverted in other dramas to the multitude -of _charms_, _spells_, and _periapts_ which were in use in his time; -and he makes La Pucelle, in accordance with the necromantic powers -attributed to her, solemnly invoke their assistance— - - "Now help, ye charming spells, and periapts;"[363:B] - -but as, to adopt the expression of Scot, he who "should go about to -recite all charmes, would take an infinite worke in hand[363:C]," -we shall confine ourselves to an enumeration, from this scarce and -curious writer, of the evils and the powers, against, and for, -which, these charms, were sought; and shall then add a few specimens -of their nature, force, and composition. It appears that they were -eagerly enquired after in the first place against burning, drowning, -pestilence, sword, and famine, against thieves, spirits, witches, -and diseases, and of the last class, especially against the venom of -serpents, scorpions and other reptiles, the epilepsy, the king's evil, -and the bite of a mad dog; and in the second, to enable the wearer to -release a woman in travail, to conjure a thorn out of any member, or a -bone out of the throat, to open all locks and doors, to know what is -said and done behind our backs, to endure the severest tortures without -shrinking, &c. &c. - -One of the most efficacious of these charms, was a periapt or tablet, -called an _Agnus Dei_. This, which was ordered to be constantly worn -round the neck, consisted of a little cake, having the impression of -a lamb carrying a flag on one side, and Christ's head on the other; -and in the centre a concavity sufficiently large to contain the first -chapter of St. John's Gospel, written on fine paper, in a very small -character. It was a spell potent to protect the wearer against thunder -and lightning, fire and water, sin, pestilence, and the perils of -childbirth.[364:A] - -A charm against shot, or a waistcoat of proof, was thus to be -obtained:—"On Christmas daie at night, a thread must be sponne of -flax, by a little virgine girle, in the name of the divell: and it -must be by hir woven, and also wrought with the needle. In the brest -or forepart thereof must be made with needle worke two heads; on the -head at the right side must be a hat, and a long beard; the left -head must have on a crowne, and it must be so horrible, that it maie -resemble Belzebub, and on each side of the wastcote must be made a -crosse."[364:B] - -That some of these spells, however, were not carried into execution -with quite so much ease, as the two we have just transcribed, will be -evident from the directions annexed to the following, entitled a _charm -for one possessed_: "The possessed bodie must go upon his or hir knees -to the church, how farre soever it be off from their lodging; and so -must creepe without going out of the waie, being the common high waie, -in that sort, how fowle and durtie soever the same be; or whatsoever -lie in the waie, not shunning anie thing whatsoever, untill he come to -the church, where he must heare masse devoutlie, and then followeth -recoverie."[365:A] - -It appears, notwithstanding, that, even among the old women of -the sixteenth century, there could be found some who, while they -profited by, could, at the same time, despise, the credulity of their -neighbours. "An old woman," says Scot, "that healed all diseases of -cattell (for the which she never tooke any reward but a penie and a -loafe) being seriouslie examined by what words she brought these things -to passe, confessed that after she had touched the sicke creature, she -alwaies departed immediatlie; saieng: - - "My loafe in my lap, - my penie in my pursse; - Thou art never the better, - and I am never the wursse."[365:B] - -The same author, after relating the terrible curse or charm of St. -Adelbert against thieves, facetiously adds,—"But I will answer this -cruell cursse with another cursse farre more mild and civill, performed -by as honest a man (I dare saie) as he that made the other.— - -"So it was, that a certeine sir JOHN, with some of his companie, once -went abroad a jetting, and in a moone light evening robbed a millers -weire, and stole all his éeles. The poore miller made his mone to sir -John himselfe, who willed him to be quiet; for he would so cursse -the theefe, and all his confederates, with bell, booke and candell, -that they should have small joy of their fish. And therefore the -next sundaie, sir John got him to the pulpit, with his surplisse on -his backe, and his stole about his necke, and pronounced these words -following in the audience of the people. - - All you that have stolne the miller's eeles, - _Laudate Dominum de cœlis_, - And all they that have consented thereto, - _Benedicamus Domino_. - -So (saith he) there is sauce for your éeles my maisters."[366:A] - -A third portion of the popular creed may be considered as including the -various kinds of superstitious CURES, PREVENTATIVES, and SYMPATHIES; -a species of credulity which has suffered little diminution even in -the present day; for, though the materials selected for the purpose -be different, the folly and the fraud are the same. Instead of animal -magnetism and metallic tractors, the public faith, in the days of -Shakspeare, rested, with implicit confidence, on the virtues supposed -to be inherent in bones, precious stones, sympathetic signs, powders, -&c.; and the poet, accordingly, has occasionally introduced imagery -founded on these imaginary qualities. Thus, in the _Merchant of -Venice_, the high value which Shylock places on his _turquoise_ ring, -was derived from this source, the turquoise or Turkey-stone, being -considered as inestimable for its properties of indicating the health -of the wearer by the increase or decrease of its colour, and for its -protective power in shielding him from enmity and peril. That this -was the cause of Shylock's deep regret for the loss of his ring, will -appear probable from the more direct intimations of his contemporaries, -Jonson and Drayton; the former, in his Sejanus, remarking of two -parasites, that they would, - - "—— true, as turkoise in the dear lord's ring, - Look well or ill with him."[366:B] - -and the latter declaring, that - - "The turkesse,——who haps to wear, - Is often kept from peril."[366:C] - -A more distinct allusion to the sanative virtue of precious stones, is -to be found in the celebrated simile in _As You Like It_: - - "Sweet are the uses of adversity; - Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, - Wears yet a precious jewel in his head."[367:A] - -This stone or jewel was supposed to secure the possessor from the -effects of poison, and to be, likewise, a sovereign remedy for the -stone. - -These important effects are ascribed to it by numerous writers -of Shakspeare's time,—by Gesner[367:B]; by Batman[367:C]; by -Maplett[367:D]; by Fenton[367:E]; by Lupton[367:F]; by Topsell, -and, subsequently, by Fuller.[367:G] It even formed, very early -indeed, a part of medical treatment; for Lloyd, in his _Treasure of -helth_, recommends its exhibition for the stone, and orders it, after -having been _stampt_, to be "geven to the pacyent to drinke in warme -wine."[367:H] - -To the _Bezoar_ stone also was attributed great potency in expelling -the plague and other pestilential diseases; and Gesner has given it -an origin even more marvellous than the cures for which it has been -celebrated; "when the hart is sick," says he, "and hath eaten many -serpents for his recoverie, he is brought unto so great a heate, that -he hasteth to the water, and there covereth his body unto the very -eares and eyes, at which time distilleth many teares from which the -(Bezoar) stone is gendered."[367:I] - -The _Belemnites_ or hag-stones, perforated flints hung up at the bed's -head, to prevent the night-mare, or in stables to secure the horses -from being hag-ridden, and their manes elf-knotted, were, at this -period, in common use. To one of the superstitious evils against which -it was held as a protective, Shakspeare alludes, in his _Romeo and -Juliet_, where Mercutio exclaims— - - ———— "This is that very Mab - _That plats the manes of horses in the night_."[368:A] - -"It was believed," remarks Mr. Douce, commenting on this passage, "that -certain malignant spirits whose delight was to wander in groves and -pleasant places, assumed occasionally the likenesses of women clothed -in white; that in this character they sometimes haunted stables in the -night-time, carrying in their hands tapers of wax, which they dropped -on the horses' manes, thereby plaiting them in inextricable knots, to -the great annoyance of the poor animals and vexation of their masters. -These hags are mentioned in the works of William of Auvergne, bishop -of Paris in the thirteenth century. There is a very uncommon old print -by Hans Burgmair relating to this subject. A witch enters the stable -with a lighted torch; and, previously to the operation of entangling -the horse's mane, practises her enchantments on the groom, who is lying -asleep on his back, and apparently influenced by the night-mare."[368:B] - -The most copious account of the preservative and curative virtues -which credulity has ascribed to precious stones, is to be drawn from -the pages of Reginald Scot, who appears faithfully and minutely to -have recorded the superstitions of his day. "An Agat (they saie) hath -vertue against the biting of scorpions or serpents. It is written (but -I will not stand to it) that it maketh a man eloquent, and procureth -the favour of princes; yea, that the fume thereof dooth turn awaie -tempests. Alectorius is a stone about the bignesse of a beane, as -cleere as the christall, taken out of a cocks bellie which hath been -gelt or made a capon foure yeares. If it be held in ones mouth, it -assuageth thirst, it maketh the husband to love the wife, and the -bearer invincible:——Chelidonius is a stone taken out of a swallowe, -which cureth melancholie: howbeit, some authors saie, it is the hearbe -whereby the swallowes recover the sight of their yoong, even if -their eies be picked out with an instrument. Geranites is taken out -of a crane, and Draconites out of a dragon. But it is to be noted, -that such stones must be taken out of the bellies of the serpents, -beasts, or birds, (wherein they are) whiles they live: otherwise, they -vanish awaie with the life, and so they reteine the vertues of those -starres under which they are. Amethysus maketh a droonken man sober, -and refresheth the wit. The corall preserveth such as beare it from -fascination or bewitching, and in this respect they are hanged about -children's necks. But from whence that superstition is derived, and who -invented the lie, I knowe not: but I see how redie the people are to -give credit thereunto, by the multitude of coralls that waie emploied. -Heliotropius stancheth bloud, driveth awaie poisons, preserveth health: -yea, and some write that it provoketh raine, and darkeneth the sunne, -suffering not him that beareth it to be abused. Hyacinthus dooth all -that the other dooth, and also preserveth from lightening. Dinothera -hanged about the necke, collar, or yoke of any creature, tameth it -presentlie. A Topase healeth the lunatike person of his passion of -lunacie. Aitites, if it be shaken, soundeth as if there were a little -stone in the bellie thereof: it is good for the falling sicknesse, and -to prevent untimelie birth. Chalcedonius maketh the bearer luckie in -lawe, quickeneth the power of the bodie, and is of force also against -the illusions of the divell, and phantasticall cogitations arising of -melancholie. Corneolus mitigateth the heate of the mind, and qualifieth -malice, it stancheth bloudie fluxes. Iris helpeth a woman to speedie -deliverance, and maketh rainebowes to appeere. A Saphire preserveth -the members, and maketh them livelie, and helpeth agues and gowts, and -suffereth not the bearer to be afraid: it hath vertue against venome, -and staieth bleeding at the nose, being often put thereto. A Smarag is -good for the eiesight, and maketh one rich and eloquent. Mephis (as -Aaron and Hermes report out of Albertus Magnus) being broken into -powder, and droonke with water, maketh insensibilitie of torture. -Heereby you may understand, that as God hath bestowed upon these -stones, and such other like bodies, most excellent and woonderfull -vertues: so according to the abundance of humane superstitions and -follies; manie ascribe unto them either more virtues, or others than -they have."[370:A] - -This passage has been closely imitated by Drayton, in the ninth Nymphal -of his Muse's Elysium[370:B]; he has made, however, some additions to -the catalogue, one of which we have already noticed, and another will -be shortly quoted. - -Virtues of a kind equally miraculous were attributed to bones and -horns; thus Scot tells us, that a bone taken out of a carp's head -staunches blood; that the bone in a hare's foot mitigates the cramp, -and that the unicorn's horn is inestimable[370:C]; and were we to -enumerate the wonders performed by herbs, we might fill a volume. Many -of them, indeed, were considered of such potency as to render the -persons who rightly used them, either invisible or invulnerable, and, -therefore, to those who were engaged to fight a legal duel, an oath was -administered, purporting "that they had ne charme, ne herbe of vertue" -about them. - -Several diseases were held to be incurable, by ordinary means; such as -wens, warts, the king's evil, agues, rickets, and ruptures; and the -remedies which were adopted present a most deplorable instance of human -folly. Tumours were to be dispelled by stroking them nine times with a -dead man's hand, and the evil by the royal touch, a miraculous power -supposed to have been first exercised by Edward the Confessor, and to -have been since hereditary in the royal line, at least to the period of -the decease of Queen Anne. Of the discharge of this important function -by the Confessor, and of its regal descent, our poet has left us a -pretty accurate description:— - - "_Malcolm._ ——— Comes the king forth, I pray you? - - _Doctor._ Ay, Sir: there are a crew of wretched souls, - That stay his cure: their malady convinces - The great assay of art; but, at his touch, - Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand, - They presently amend. - - _Macduff._ What's the disease he means? - - _Mal._ 'Tis call'd the evil: - A most miraculous work in this good king; - Which often, since my here-remain in England, - I have seen him do. How he solicits heaven, - Himself best knows; but strangely-visited people, - All swoln and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye, - The mere despair of surgery, he cures; - Hanging a golden stamp[371:A] about their necks, - Put on with holy prayers: and 'tis spoken, - To the succeeding royalty he leaves - The healing benediction."[371:B] - -That Shakspeare had frequently witnessed Queen Elizabeth's exercise -of this extraordinary gift, is very probable; for it appears from -Laneham, that even on her visits to her nobility, she was in the habit -of exerting this sanative power. In his _Account of the Entertainment -at Kenelworth Castle_, he records "by her highness accustomed mercy and -charitee, nyne cured of the peynful and dangerous diseaz called the -King's Evil, for that kings and queens of this realm without oother -medsin (than by touching and prayer) only doo it."[371:C] - -Most of the superstitious cures for warts and agues remain as articles -of popular credulity; but the mode of removing ruptures and the -rickets which prevailed at this period, and for some centuries before, -is now nearly, if not altogether extinct. A young tree was split -longitudinally, and the diseased child, being stripped naked, was -passed, with the head foremost, thrice through the fissure. The wounded -tree was then drawn together with a cord so as to unite it perfectly, -and as the tree healed, the child was to acquire health and strength. -The same result followed if the child crept through a stone perforated -by some operation of Nature; of stones of this kind there are some -instances in Cornwall, and Mr. Borlase tells us, in his History of that -County, that there was one of this description in the parish of Marden, -which had a perforation through it fourteen inches in diameter, and was -celebrated for its cures on those who ventured, under these complaints, -to travel through its healing aperture. - -The doctrine of _sympathetic_ indications and cures was very prevalent -during the era of Elizabeth and James, and is repeatedly insisted upon -by the writers of that age. One of the most generally credited of -these was, that a murdered body bled upon the touch or approach of the -murderer; an idea which has not only been adopted by our elder bards as -poetically striking, but has been adduced, as a truth, by some of our -very grave writers in prose. Among the Dramatists it will be sufficient -to produce Shakspeare, who represents the corpse of Henry the Sixth as -bleeding on the approach of the Tyrant Richard:— - - "O, gentlemen, see, see! dead Henry's wounds - Open their congeal'd mouths, and bleed afresh! - Blush, blush, thou lump of foul deformity; - For 'tis thy presence that exhales this blood - From cold and empty veins, where no blood dwells; - Thy deed, inhuman and unnatural, - Provokes this deluge most unnatural:"[372:A] - -and Drayton seems to have been a firm believer in the same -preternatural effect; for he informs us in his forty sixth _Idea_, that, - - "In making trial of a murther wrought, - If the vile actors of the heinous deed, - Near the dead body happily be brought, - Oft't hath been prov'd the breathless corps will bleed."[373:A] - -Of the prose authorities, besides Lupton, and Sir Kenelm Digby -mentioned in the notes of the Variorum Edition of our author, -Lavaterus, Reginald Scot, and King James may be quoted, as reposing -an implicit faith in the miracle. The _first_ of these writers tells -us, in his English dress, of 1572, that "some men beeing slayne by -theeves, when the theeves come to the dead body, by and by there -gusheth out freshe blood, or else there is declaration by other tokens, -that the theefe is there present;" and he then adds, "touching these -and other such marvellous things there might be many histories and -testimonies alleaged. But whosoever readeth this booke, may call -to their remembraunce, that they have scene these and suche like -things themselves, or that they have heard them of their freends -and acquaintaunce and of such as deserve sufficient credit."[373:B] -The _second_, in 1584, justifying what he terms common experience, -says, "I have heard by credible report, and I have read many grave -authors constantlie affirme, that the wound of a man murthered -reneweth bleeding; at the presence of a deere freend, or of a mortall -enimie[373:C];" and the third, in 1603, asserts, that "in a secret -murther, if the dead carkasse bee at any time thereafter handled by -the murtherer, it will gush out of bloud, as if the bloud were crying -to the heaven for revenge of the murtherer, God having appointed that -secret supernaturall signe, for triall of that secret unnaturall -crime."[373:D] - -The influence of sympathy or _affection_ as it was termed, at the -period of which we are writing, over the passions and feelings of the -human mind, is curiously, though correctly exemplified by the poet, in -the character of Shylock, who tells the Duke— - - "Some men there are, love not a gaping pig; - Some, that are mad, if they behold a cat; - And others, when the bag-pipe sings i' the nose, - Cannot contain their urine; for _affection_, - Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood - Of what it likes and loaths."[374:A] - -Another sympathy mentioned by Shakspeare, but of a nature wholly -superstitious, relates to the Mandrake, a vegetable, the root of which -was supposed to be endued with animal life, and to shriek so horribly -when drawn out of the ground, as to occasion madness, and even death, -in those who made the attempt:— - - —————— "What with loathsome smells, - And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth, - That living mortals, hearing them, run mad; - O! if I wake, shall I not be distraught?"[374:B] - -exclaims Juliet; and Suffolk, in King Henry the Sixth, declares that -every joint of his body should curse and ban his enemies, - - "Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan."[374:C] - -To avoid these dreadful effects, it was the custom of those who -collected this root, to compel some animal to be the instrument of -extraction, and consequently the object of punishment. "They doe -affyrme," says Bulleine, "that this herbe (the Mandragora) commeth of -the seede of some convicted dead men: and also without the death of -some lyvinge thinge it cannot be drawnen out of the earth to man's use. -Therefore they did tye some dogge or other lyving beast unto the roote -thereof wyth a corde, and digged the earth in compasse round about, and -in the meane tyme stopp'd their own eares for feare of the terrible -shriek and cry of this Mandrack. In whych cry it doth not only dye -itselfe, but the feare thereof kylleth the dogge or beast which pulleth -it out of the earth."[374:D] - -One of the most fantastic sympathies which yet lingers in the -popular creed, is founded on the idea that when a person is seized -with a sudden shivering, some one is walking over his future grave. -"Probably," remarks Mr. Grose, "all persons are not subject to this -sensation; otherwise the inhabitants of those parishes, whose burial -grounds lie in the common foot-path, would live in one continual fit of -shaking."[375:A] - -Of all the modes of sympathetic credulity, however, none was more -prevalent in the reign of James the First, than that which pretended -to the cure of wounds and diseases; no stronger proof, indeed, can be -given of the credulity of that age, than that Bacon was a believer -in the sympathetic cure of warts[375:B], and, with James and his -court, in the efficacy of Sir Kenelm Digby's sympathetic powder. To -this far-famed medicine, the secret of which King James obtained from -Sir Kenelm, it is said, by the Knight himself, in his Discourse on -Sympathy, that Mr. James Howel, the well-known author of the Letters, -was indebted for a cure, when his hand was severely wounded in -endeavouring to part two of his friends engaged in a duel. The King, -out of regard to Howel, sent him his own surgeon; but a gangrene being -apprehended, from the violence of the inflammation, the sufferer was -induced to apply to Sir Kenelm, of whose mode of treatment he had heard -the most wonderful accounts. - -"I asked him," relates Digby, "for any thing that had the blood upon -it; so he presently sent for his garter, wherewith his hand was first -bound; and as I called for a bason of water, as if I would wash my -hands, I took a handfull of powder of vitriol, which I had in my study, -and presently dissolved it. As soon as the bloody garter was brought -me, I put it within the bason, observing in the interim, what Mr. Howel -did, who stood talking with a gentleman in a corner of my chamber, -not regarding at all what I was doing; but he started suddenly as if -he had found some strange alteration in himself. I asked him what he -ailed? 'I know not what ailes me; but I finde that I feel no more pain. -Methinks that a pleasing kinde of freshnesse, as it were a wet cold -napkin, did spread over my hand, which hath taken away the inflammation -that tormented me before.' I reply'd, 'Since then that you feel already -so good effect of my medicament, I advise you to cast away all your -playsters; only keep the wound clean, and in a moderate temper betwixt -heat and cold.' This was presently reported to the Duke of Buckingham, -and a little after to the king, who were both very curious to know the -circumstance of the businesse, which was, that after dinner I took the -garter out of the water, and put it to dry before a great fire. It was -scarce dry, but Mr. Howel's servant came running that his master felt -as much burning as ever he had done, if not more: for the heat was such -as if his hand were twixt coles of fire. I answered, although that had -happened at present, yet he should find ease in a short time; for I -knew the reason of this new accident, and would provide accordingly; -for his master should be free from that inflammation, it may be before -he could possibly return to him: but in case he found no ease, I wished -him to come presently back again; if not, he might forbear coming. -Thereupon he went; and at the instant I did put again the garter into -the water, thereupon he found his master without any pain at all. To -be brief, there was no sense of pain afterward; but within five or six -dayes the wounds were cicatrized, and entirely healed."[376:A] - -To this marvellous cure, which may in truth be attributed to the -dismission of the plasters, we may add that a similar sanative and -sympathetic power was conceived to subsist between the wounds and the -instrument which inflicted them. Thus anointing the weapon with a -salve, or stroking it in a peculiar manner, had an immediate effect -on the wounded person. "They can remedie," says Scot, "anie stranger, -and him that is absent, with that _verie sword_ wherewith they are -wounded. Yea, and that which is beyond all admiration, if they stroke -the sworde upwards with their fingers, the partie shall feele no paine: -whereas if they drawe their finger downewards thereupon, the partie -wounded shall feele intollerable paine."[377:A] - -Independent of the superstitions which we have thus classed under -distinct heads, there remain several to be noticed, not clearly -referrible to any part of the above arrangement; but which cannot with -propriety be omitted. These may, therefore, be collected under the term -MISCELLANEOUS, which will be found to include many curious particulars, -in no slight degree illustrative of the subject under consideration. - -In the _Tempest_, towards the close of the fourth act, the poet -represents Prospero and Ariel setting on spirits, in the shape of -hounds, to hunt Stephano and Trinculo, while, at the same time, a noise -of hunters is heard.[377:B] This species of diabolical or spectral -chase was a popular article of belief, and is mentioned or alluded to -in many of the numerous books which were written, during this period, -on devils and spectres. Lavaterus, treating of the various modes in -which spirits act, says, "heereunto belongeth those things which are -reported touching the _chasing or hunting of Divels_, and also of the -daunces of dead men, which are of sundrie sortes. I have heard of -some which have avouched, that they have seene them[377:C];" and in a -translation from the French of Peter de Loier's _Treatise of Spectres_, -published in 1605, a chase of this kind is mentioned under the -appellation of _Arthur's Chace_, "which many," observes this writer, -"believe to be in France, and think that it is a kennel of black dogs, -followed by unknown huntsmen, with an exceeding great sound of horns, -as if it was a very hunting of some wild beast."[377:D] - -Of a chase of this supernatural description, Boccacio, in the -fourteenth century, made an admirable use in his terrific tale of -Theodore and Honoria; a narrative which has received new charms and -additional horrors from the masterly imitation of Dryden; and in our -own days the same impressive superstition has been productive of a like -effect in the spirited ballad of Burger. - -The hell-hounds of Shakspeare appear to be sufficiently formidable; -for, not merely commissioned to hunt their victims, they are ordered, -likewise, as goblins, to - - ———————— "grind their joints - With dry convulsions; shorten up their sinews - With aged cramps; and more pinch-spotted make them, - Than pard, or cat o'mountain. - Hark, (_exclaims Ariel_) they roar. - - _Prospero._ Let them be hunted soundly."[378:A] - -The punishments which our poet has assigned to sinners in the infernal -regions, are most probably founded on the fictions of the monks, who, -not content with the infliction of mere fire as a source of torment, -condemn the damned to suffer the alternations of heat and cold; to -experience the cravings of extreme hunger and thirst, and to be driven -by whirlwinds through the immensity of space. In correspondence with -these legendary horrors, are the descriptions attributed to Claudio in -_Measure for Measure_, and to the Ghost in _Hamlet_:— - - "_Claudio._ Ay, but to die, and go we know not where; - To lie in cold obstruction, and to rot: - This sensible warm motion to become - A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit - To _bathe in fiery floods_, or to reside, - _In thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice_; - To be _imprison'd in the viewless winds, - And blown with restless violence round about - The pendent world_; or to be worse than worst - Of those, that lawless and uncertain thoughts - Imagine howling!—'tis too horrible!"[379:A] - - ————— "I am thy father's spirit; - Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night; - And, for the day, _confined to fast in fires_, - Till the foul crimes, done in my days of nature, - Are burnt and purg'd away."[379:B] - -Imagery somewhat similar to this may be found in the vulgar Latin -version of Job xxiv. 19.[379:C], and in the Inferno and Purgatorio of -Dante[379:D]; but Shakspeare had sufficient authorities in his own -language. An old homily, quoted by Dr. Farmer, speaking of the pains -of hell, says "the fyrste is fyre that ever brenneth, and never gyveth -lighte; the seconde is passying cold, that yf a greate hylle of fyre -were cast therein, it shold torne to yce[379:E];" and Chaucer, in his -_Assemblie of Foules_, describing the situation of souls in hell, -declares that - - —— "breakers of the lawe, sothe to saine, - And lickerous folke, after that they been dede - _Shall whirle about the world_, alway in paine - Till many a world be passed."[379:F] - -The same doctrine is taught in that once popular and curious old work -_The Shepherd's Calendar_, which so frequently issued from the presses -of Wynkyn De Worde, Pynson, and Julian Notary. Among the torments of -the damned, the first enumerated - - ——— "is fire so hote to rekenne - That no manere of thynge may slekenne, - The secunde is colde as seith some - That no hete of fire may over come;" - -and Lazarus, describing the punishment of the ENVIOUS, says,—"I have -seen in hell a flood frozen as ice, wherein the _envious_ men and women -were plunged unto the navel; and then suddenly came over them a right -cold and a great wind, that grieved and pained them right sore, and -when they would evite and eschew the wonderful blasts of the wind, -they plunged into water with great shouts and cries, lamentable to -hear[380:A];" and again in the eighteenth chapter of the same work, it -is related, as the reward of them that keep the ten commandments of the -Devil, that - - —— "a _great froste_ in a water rounes - And after a _bytter wynde_ comes - Whiche gothe through the soules with yre." - -In the _Songes and Sonnets_, also, by Lord Surrey, and others, which -were first published in 1557, the pains of hell are depicted as -partaking of the like vicissitude:— - - "The soules that lacked grace - Which lye in bitter paine, - Are not in suche a place, - As foolish folke do faine; - - Tormented all with _fyre_, - And boyle in leade againe— - - Then cast in _frozen pites_, - To _freze_ there certein howres."[380:B] - -Hunger and thirst, as forming part of the sufferings of the damned, -are alluded to by Chaucer in his Parson's Tale[381:A], and by Nash in -one of his numerous pamphlets: "Whether," says he, speaking of hell, -"it be a place of horror, stench, and darkness, where men see _meat, -but can get none, and are ever thirsty_."[381:B] - -Heywood in his _Hierarchie of Angels_[381:C], and Milton in his -_Paradise Lost_, have adopted Claudio's description of the infernal -abode with regard to the interchange of heat and cold; the picture -which the latter has drawn completely fills up the outline of -Shakspeare:— - - "Beyond —— a frozen continent - Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms - Of whirlwind and dire hail—— - Thither by harpy-footed furies hal'd, - At certain revolutions, all the damn'd - Are brought; and feel by turns the bitter change - Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce, - From beds of raging fire, to starve in ice - Their soft ethereal warmth, and there to pine - Immovable, infix'd, and frozen round, - Periods of time, thence hurried back to fire."[381:D] - -The Platonic doctrine or superstition relative to the harmony of the -spheres, and of the human soul, was a favourite embellishment, both -in prose and poetry, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. -Spenser, Shakspeare, Hooker, Milton, have all adopted it as a mode of -illustration, and it forms, in the works of our great Dramatist, one of -his most splendid and beautiful passages: - - "How sweet the moon-light sleeps upon this bank! - Here will we sit, and let the sounds of musick - Creep in our ears; soft stillness, and the night, - Become the touches of sweet harmony. - Sit, Jessica: Look, how the floor of heaven - Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold; - _There's not the smallest orb, which thou behold'st, - But in his motion like an angel sings, - Still quiring to the young-ey'd cherubins: - Such harmony is in immortal souls; - But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay - Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it_."[382:A] - -The opinion of Plato, as expressed in the tenth book of his -_Republic_[382:B] and in his _Timæus_, represents the music of the -spheres as so rapid, sweet, and variously inflected, as to exceed all -power in the human ear to measure its proportions, and consequently -it is not to be heard of man, while resident in this fleshly mould. -The same species of harmony is averred by Hooker[382:C] and Shakspeare -to reside in the human soul; but, says the latter, "whilst this muddy -vesture of decay doth grossly close this musick in, we cannot hear -it:" that is, whilst the soul is immured in the body, it is neither -conscious of its own harmony, nor of that existing in the spheres; but -no sooner shall it be freed from this incumbrance, and become a _pure -spirit_, than it shall be sensible both to its _own concord of sweet -sounds_, and to that _diapason_ or concentus which is addressed by the -nine muses or syrens to the Supreme Being, - - "That undisturbed song of _pure concent_, - Aye sung before the sapphire-colour'd throne, - To _Him_ that sits thereon."[382:D] - -Of the various superstitions relative to the _Moon_, which prevailed in -the days of Shakspeare, a few are still retained. The most common is -that founded on the idea of a human creature being imprisoned in this -beautiful planet. The culprit was generally supposed to be the sinner -recorded in Numbers, chap. xv. v. 32., who was found gathering sticks -upon the sabbath day; a crime to which Chaucer has added the iniquity -of theft; for he describes this singular inhabitant as - - "Bearing a bush of thornes on his backe, - Which for his _theft_ might clime no ner the heven."[383:A] - -The Italians, however, appropriate this luminary for the residence of -Cain, and one of their early poets even speaks of the planet under the -term of _Caino e le spine_.[383:B] Shakspeare, with his usual attention -to propriety of character, attributes a belief in this superstition to -the monster Caliban: - - "_Calib._ Hast thou not dropped from heaven? - - _Steph._ Out o'the moon, I do assure thee: I was the man in the - moon, when time was. - - _Cal._ I have seen thee in her, and I do adore thee; - My mistress shewed me thee, thy dog and bush."[383:C] - -The influence of the moon over diseases bodily and intellectual; its -virtue in all magical rites; its appearances as predictive of evil -and good, and its power over the weather and over many of the minor -concerns of life, such as the gathering of herbs, the killing of -animals for the table, &c. &c. were much more firmly and universally -accredited in the sixteenth century than at present; although we must -admit, that traces of all these credulities may still be found; and -that in medical science, the doctrine of lunar influence still, and to -a certain extent, perhaps with probability, exists. - -Shakspeare addresses the moon as the "sovereign mistress of true -melancholy[383:D];" tells us, that when "she comes more near to the -earth than she was wont," she "makes men mad[383:E];" and that, when -she is "pale in her anger—rheumatic diseases do abound."[384:A] He -tells us, also, through the medium of Hecate, that - - "Upon the corner of the moon - There hangs a vaporous drop profound" - -of power to compel the obedience of infernal spirits[384:B]; and that -its eclipses[384:C], its sanguine colour[384:D], and its apparent -multiplication[384:E], are certain prognostics of disaster. - -To kill hogs, to collect herbs, and to sow seed, when the moon was -increasing, was deemed a most essential observance; the bacon was -better, the plants more effective, and the crops more abundant in -consequence of this attention. Implicit confidence was also placed -in the new moon as a prognosticator of the weather, according to its -position, or the curvature of its horns; and it was hailed by blessings -and supplications; the women especially, both in England and Scotland, -were accustomed to curtesy to the new moon, and on the first night of -its appearance the unmarried part of the sex would frequently, sitting -astride on a gate or stile, invoke its influence in the following -curious terms:— - - "All hail to the Moon, all hail to thee, - I prithee good Moon declare to me, - This night who my husband shall be." - -The credulity of the country was particularly directed at this period, -including the close of the sixteenth century, and the beginning of the -seventeenth century, towards the numerous relations of the existence -of MONSTERS of various kinds; and Shakspeare, who more than any other -poet, availed himself of the superstitious follies of his time, hath -repeatedly both introduced, and satirized, these objects, as articles -of, and exciters of the popular belief. His Caliban, a monster of his -own creation, and, poetically considered, one of the most striking -products of his imagination, will be noticed at length in another -place, and we shall here confine ourselves to his description of the -monsters which, as objects of historical record, had lately become the -theme of credulous wonder, and general speculation. - -Othello, in his speech before the senators, familiarly alludes to - - —— "the Cannibals that each other eat, - The _Anthropophagi, and men whose heads - Do grow beneath their shoulders_:"[385:A] - -and Gonzaga, in the _Tempest_, exclaims: - - "Who would believe that there were mountaineers, - _Dewlapp'd like bulls, whose throats had hanging at them - Wallets of flesh_? or that there were such _men, - Whose heads stood in their breasts_."[385:B] - -These monsters, and many others, which had been described in the -editions of Maundeville's Travels, published by Wynkyn De Worde -and Pynson in 1499-1503, &c. were revived, with fresh claims to -belief, by the voyagers and natural historians of the poet's age. -In 1581, Professor Batman printed his "Doome, warning all men to -the judgemente," in which not only the _Anthropophagi, who eat -man's flesh_, are mentioned, but various other races, such as the -_Œthiopes_ with four eyes, the _Hippopodes_, with their nether parts -like horses, the _Arimaspi_ with one eye in the forehead, &c. &c., and -to these he adds "men called _Monopoli_, who _have no head, but a face -in their breaste_."[385:C] In 1596 these marvels were corroborated by -Sir Walter Ralegh's _Discoverie of Guiana_[385:D], an empire, which, he -affirms, was productive of a similar generation; and Hackluyt, in 1598, -tells us that, "on that branch which is called Caora, are a nation of -a people _whose heades appeare not above their shoulders_: they are -reported to have their eyes in their shoulders, and their mouthes in -the middle of their breasts." - -With the mere English scholar, classical authority was given to these -tales by Philemon Holland's Translation of Pliny's Natural History in -1601, where are the following descriptions both of the _Anthropophagi_ -and of the men _whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders_:—"The -Anthropophagi or eaters of man's flesh whom we have placed about the -North pole, tenne daies journey by land above the river Borysthenes, -use to drinke out of the sculs of men's heads, and to weare the -scalpes, haire and all, in steed of mandellions or stomachers before -their breasts."[386:A] "The Blemmyi, by report, have no heads, but -mouth and eies both in their breast[386:B];" and again, "beyond these -westward, some there bee without heads standing upon their neckes, who -carrie eies in their shoulders."[386:C] - -It is, also, very probable that the attention of Shakspeare was -still further drawn to these headless monsters by the labours of the -engraver; for in Este's edition of Maundeville's Travels, an attempt -is made to delineate one of these deformities, who is represented with -the eyes, nose, and mouth situated on the breast and stomach; and in a -translation of Ralegh's Guiana into Latin, by Hulse, in 1599, a similar -plate is given.[386:D] - -That our author viewed this partiality in the public mind for wonders -and strange spectacles, with a smile of contempt, and was willing to -seize an opportunity for ridiculing the mania, appears evident from a -passage in his _Tempest_, where Trinculo, discovering Caliban extended -on the ground, supposes him to be a species of fish, and observes, -"Were I in England now (as once I was) and had but this _fish_ -painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver: -there would this monster make a man; any strange beast there makes a -man: when they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will -lay out ten to see a dead Indian."[387:A] - -_Wild Indians_, _curious fishes_, and _crocodiles_, seem to have been -singularly numerous in London at this epoch, having been brought -thither by several of our enterprising navigators; and by those who -crowded from every part of the country to view them, many superstitious -marvels were connected with their natural history. Of _three_ or -_four savages_ which Frobisher took in his first voyage, one, we are -told, "for very choler and disdain bit his tong in twaine within -his mouth: notwithstanding he died not thereof, but lived untill he -came in Englande, and then he died of colde, which he had taken at -sea[387:B];" the survivors, there is every reason to suppose, were -exhibited; for in the year 1577, there was entered on the books of the -Stationers' Company, "A description of the portrayture and shape of -those strange kinde of people which the worthie Mr. Martin Fourbosier -brought into England in Ao 1576[387:C];" and Mr. Chalmers relates, -that "Lord Southampton, and Sir Francis Gorges, engaging in voyages of -discovery, sent out, in 1611, two vessels under the command of Harlie, -and Nicolas, who sailed along the New England coast, where they were -sometimes well, and often ill, received, by the natives; and returned -to England, in the same year, with _five savages_, on board. In 1614, -Captain Smith carried out to New England one of those savages, named -_Tantum_; Captains Harlie and Hopson transported, in the same year, two -others of those savages, called _Epenow_, and _Manawet_; one of those -savages adventured to the European continent; and the _fifth Indian_, -of whom no account is given, we may easily suppose died in London, and -was exhibited for a show."[387:D] - -We learn from a publication of Churchyard's in 1578, that Frobisher's -crew found a "_straunge fish_ dead, that had been caste from the -sea on the shore, who had a boane in his head like an Unicorne, -which they brought awaye, and presented to our Prince, when thei -came home[388:A];" and from the Stationers' Books, that, in 1604, an -account was printed "of a monstrous _fish_, that appeared in the form -of a woman from her waist upward, seene in the sea."[388:B] That the -credulity of the public in Elizabeth's days was remarkably great in -swallowing the most marvellous details in natural history, is proved -by a curious scene in the "City Match" of Jasper Mayne, which, though -first acted in 1639, refers to the age of Elizabeth, as to a period -fertile in these wondrous exhibitions. A set of knaves are described -as _hanging out the picture of a strange fish_, which they affirm is -the _fifth_ they have shown; and the following dialogue takes place -relative to the inscription on the place which included the monster:— - - "_Holland._ Pray, can you read that? Sir, I warrant - That tells where it was caught, and what fish 'tis. - - _Plotwell._ _Within this place is to be seen, - A wonderous fish. God save——the Queen._ - - _Hol._ Amen! She is my customer, and I - Have sold her bone-lace often. - - _Bright._ Why the Queen? 'Tis writ the King. - - _Plot._ That was to make the rhime. - - _Bright._ 'Slid, thou did'st read it as twere some picture of - An _Elizabeth-fish_."[388:C] - -A boy is then introduced, who sings a song upon the fish, commencing -with these lines: - - "We show no monstrous _crocodile_, - Nor any prodigy of Nile;"[389:A] - -which again alludes to the monster-loving propensities of good Queen -Bess's subjects; for Batman in his work upon Bartholome, published in -1582, says,—"Of late years there hath been brought into England, the -cases or skinnes of such _crocodiles_, to be seene, and much money -given for the sight thereof; the policy of strangers," he adds, in -the spirit of Shakspeare, "laugh at our folly, either that we are too -wealthy, or else that we know not how to bestow our money[389:B];" and -Bullokar, in his _English Expositor_ of 1616, confirms the charge by -telling us, that a dead _crocodile_, "but in perfect forme," and nine -feet long, had lately been exhibited in London, a fact to which he -annexes the following tradition:—"It is written," he remarks, "that -he will weep over a man's head when he hath devoured the body, and -then he will eat up the head too. Wherefore—crocodiles tears signifie -such tears as are fained, and spent only with intent to deceive or doe -harme."[389:C] Of this superstition Shakspeare has made a poetical use -in two of his dramas: Margaret in _Henry VI._ Part 2. complains that -Gloucester beguiles the king, - - —————— "as the mournful crocodile - With sorrow snares relenting passengers:"[389:D] - -and Othello, execrating the supposed duplicity of Desdemona, exclaims, - - "If that the earth could teem with woman's tears, - Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile."[389:E] - -Many superstitions relative to the DYING, existed at this time, among -all ranks of people, and a few of these have been preserved by our -poet. One of the most general was built on the belief, that Satan, or -some of his infernal host, watched the death-bed of every individual, -and, if impenitence or irreligion appeared, immediately took possession -of the soul. The death-scene of Cardinal Beaufort is an admirable -exemplification of this appalling idea; Henry is appealing to the -Almighty in behalf of the agonised sinner, and utters the following -pious petition:— - - "O thou eternal Mover of the heavens, - Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch! - O, beat away the busy meddling fiend - That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul, - And from his bosom purge this black despair!"[390:A] - -The powerful delineation of this scene from the pencil of Sir Joshua -Reynolds, in which the "meddling fiend" is personified in all his -terrors, must be considered in strict accordance with the credulity of -the age; for "in an ancient manuscript book of devotions," relates Mr. -Douce, "written in the reign of Henry VI., there is a prayer addressed -to Saint George, with the following very singular passage: 'Judge -for me whan the moste hedyous and damnable dragons of helle shall be -redy to take my poore soule and engloute it in to theyr infernall -belyes'[390:B];" and the books on demonology and spirits, written in -the reigns of Elizabeth and James, clearly prove that this relic of -popish superstition was still a portion of the popular creed. - -Another singular conception was, that it was necessary in the agonies -of death, to - - "Pluck—men's pillows from below their heads,"[390:C] - -in order that they might die the easier; a practice founded on the -ridiculous supposition that, if pigeons' feathers formed a part of the -materials of the pillow, it was impossible the sufferer should expire -but in great misery, and that he would probably continue to struggle -for a prodigious length of time in exquisite torture. - -It was common at this period, and the practice, indeed, continued -until the middle of the last century, to consider WELLS and FOUNTAINS -as peculiarly sacred and holy, and to visit them as a species of -pilgrimage, or for the healing virtues which superstition had fondly -attributed to them. Many of these wells, which had been much frequented -in London, during the days of Fitzstephen, were closed, or neglected, -when Stowe wrote[391:A]; but in the _country_ the habit of resorting -to such springs, and for purposes similar to those which existed in -papal times, was generally preserved. Bourne, who published in 1725, -speaks in language peculiarly descriptive of this superstitious regard -for wells and fountains, not only as it was observed in ancient times, -but at the period in which he lived. "In the dark ages of popery," -he says, "it was a custom, if any _well_ had an awful situation, and -was seated in some lonely melancholy vale; if its water was clear and -limpid, and beautifully margin'd with the tender grass; or if it was -look'd upon, as having a medicinal quality; to gift it to some _Saint_, -and honour it with his name. Hence it is that we have at this day wells -and fountains called, some _St. John's, St. Mary Magdalen's, St. Mary's -Well, &c._ - -"To these kind of wells, the common people are accustomed to go, on a -summer's evening, to refresh themselves with a walk after the toil of -the day, to drink the water of the fountain, and enjoy the pleasing -prospect of shade and stream. - -"Now this custom (though, _at this time of day_, very commendable, and -harmless, and innocent) seems to be the remains of that superstitious -practice of the Papists, of paying adoration to wells and fountains; -for they imagined there was some holiness and sanctity in them, and so -worshipped them."[392:A] - -It was in the north especially, where Mr. Bourne resided, that wells -of this description were most frequently to be found, possessing the -advantages of a romantic situation, and preserved with care through -the influence of the traditionary legends of the neighbouring village; -for these retreats were supposed to be the haunts of fairies and good -spirits who were accustomed to meet - - —————— "in dale, forest, or mead, - By paved fountain, or by rushy brook."[392:B] - -At these wells offerings were frequently made, either owing to the -conceived sanctity of the place, or from gratitude for imagined -benefit received through the waters of the spring; and as those who -had recourse to these fountains were usually of the lower class, -small pieces of money were given, or even _rags_ suspended on the -trees or bushes which overhung the stream; whence these fountains -in many places obtained the name of _Rag-wells_. One thus termed is -mentioned, by Mr. Brand, as still exhibiting these tributary shreds at -the village of Benton near Newcastle; Mr. Pennant records two at Spey -and Drachaldy in Scotland; and Mr. Shaw tells us, that in the province -of Moray _pilgrimages to wells_ are not yet obsolete.[393:A] In many -places in the North, indeed, there are wells still remaining which were -manifestly intended for the refreshment of the way-worn traveller, and -are yet held in veneration. We have seen some of these with ladles of -brass affixed to the stone-work by a chain, a convenience probably as -ancient as the Anglo-Saxon era. - -Several traditions of a peculiarly superstitious hue, have been -cherished in this country with regard to the _bird-tribe_, and most of -them have been introduced by our great poet as accessory either to the -terrible, or the pathetic. The ominous croaking of the raven and the -crow have been already mentioned, and we shall therefore, under the -present head, merely advert to a few additional notices relative to the -_owl_ and the _ruddock_, the former the supposed herald of horror and -disaster, the latter the romantic minister of charity and pity. - -To the fearful bodings of the clamorous owl, which we have already -introduced when treating of omens, may now be added a superstition -which formerly rendered this unlucky bird the peculiar dread of mothers -and nurses. It was firmly believed, that the screech-owl was in the -habit of destroying infants by sucking out their blood and breath as -they laid in the cradle. "Lamiæ," observes Lavaterus, "are things that -make children afrayde. Lamiæ are also called _Striges_. _Striges_ (as -they saye) are unluckie-birds, whiche sucke out the blood of infants -lying in their cradles. And hereof some men will have witches take -their name, who also are called [393:B]_Volaticæ_." This credulity -relative to the Strix or screech-owl may be traced to Ovid[394:A], and -is alluded to by Shakspeare in the following lines:— - - "We talk of goblins, _owls_, and elvish sprites; - If we obey them not, this will ensue, - They'll _suck out breath_, and pinch us black and blue."[394:B] - -Another strange legend in the history of the owl is put into the mouth -of the hapless Ophelia:— - - "Well, God 'ield you! They say the owl was a baker's daughter;"[394:C] - -a metamorphosis of which Mr. Douce has given us the origin; he tells -us that it is yet a common story among the vulgar in Gloucestershire, -and is thus related:—"Our Saviour went into a baker's shop where they -were baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop -immediately put a piece of dough into the oven to bake for him; but -was reprimanded by her daughter, who insisting that the piece of dough -was too large, reduced it to a very small size. The dough, however, -immediately afterwards began to swell, and presently became of a -most enormous size. Whereupon the baker's daughter cried out 'Heugh, -heugh, heugh,' which owl-like noise, probably induced our Saviour for -her wickedness to transform her into that bird." He adds that this -story was often related to children, in order to deter them from such -illiberal behaviour to poor people.[394:D] - -The partiality shown to the _ruddock_ or _red-breast_ seems to have -been founded on the popular ballad of _The Children in the Wood_, and -the play of _Cymbeline_. The charitable office, however, which these -productions have ascribed to _Robin_, has an earlier origin than their -date; for in Thomas Johnson's _Cornucopia_, 4to. 1596, it is related -that "the robin redbrest if he find a man or woman dead, will cover all -his face with mosse, and some thinke that if the body should remaine -unburied that he would cover the whole body also."[395:A] It is highly -probable that this anecdote might give birth to the burial of the -babes, whom no one heeded, - - "Till _Robin-red-breast_ painfully - Did _cover them with leaves_;" - -for, according to Dr. Percy[395:B], this pathetic narrative was built -upon a play published by Rob. Yarrington in 1601. It is likewise -possible that the same passage occasioned the beautiful lines in the -play of _Cymbeline_, performed about 1606, where Arviragus, mourning -over Imogen, exclaims— - - —————— "With fairest flowers, - Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele, - I'll sweeten thy sad grave: Thou shalt not lack - The flower, that's like thy face, pale primrose; nor - The azur'd hare-bell, like thy veins; no, nor - The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander, - Out-sweeten'd not thy breath: the _ruddock_ would, - With charitable bill—bring thee _all this_; - Yea, and furr'd _moss_ besides, when flowers are none, - To winter-ground thy corse."[395:C] - -These interesting pictures of the red-breast would alone be sufficient -to create an affectionate feeling for him; the attachment however has -been ever since kept alive by delineations of a similar kind. In our -author's time Drayton, Webster, and Dekker, have all alluded to this -pleasing tradition: the first in his _Owl_ 1604— - - "Cov'ring with moss the deads unclosed eye, - The little _red-breast_ teacheth charitie;"[395:D] - -the second in his Tragedy, called _The White Devil, or Vittoria -Corombona_, 1612— - - "Call for the _robin red-breast_ and the wren, - Since o'er shady groves they hover, - And with leaves and flowers do cover - The friendless bodies of unburied men;"[396:A] - -and the third in one of his pamphlets printed in 1616—"They that -cheere up a prisoner but with their sight, are _Robin red-breasts_ that -bring strawes in their bils to cover a dead man in extremitie."[396:B] - -Some wonderful properties relative to an imaginary gem, called a -_carbuncle_, formed likewise a part of the popular creed. It was -supposed to be the most transparent of all the precious stones, and -to possess a native intrinsic lustre so powerful as to illuminate the -atmosphere to a considerable distance around it. It was, therefore, -very appositely adopted by the writers of romance, as an ornament -and source of light for their subterranean palaces, and almost all -our elder poets have gifted it with a similar brilliancy; thus -Chaucer, in his _Romaunt of the Rose_[396:C]; Gower, in his _Confessio -Amantis_[396:D]; Lydgate, in his _Description of King Priam's -Palace_[396:E]; and Stephen Hawes, in his _Pastime of Pleasure_[396:F], -have all celebrated it as a kind of second sun, and the most valuable -of earthly products. Chaucer, more particularly, mentions it as so -clear and bright,— - - "That al so sone as it was night, - Men mightin sene to go for nede - A mile, or two in length and brede, - Such light ysprange out of that stone." - -That this fiction was credited in the days of Elizabeth and James, may -be conceded, not only from the familiar allusions of the poets, but -from the philosophic writers on the superstitions of the age. To the -_unborrowed_ light of the carbuncle, Shakspeare has referred in _King -Henry the Eighth_, where the Princess Elizabeth is prophetically termed, - - —————— "a gem - To lighten all this isle;"[397:A] - -and in Titus Andronicus, (if that play can be deemed his,) upon the -discovery of Bassianus slaughtered in a pit; - - "_Martius._ Upon his bloody finger he doth wear - A precious ring, that lightens all the hole, - ——like a taper in some monument;"[397:B] - -He also mentions this "rich jewel" by way of comparison in -Coriolanus[397:C]; appropriates it as an ornament to the wheels of -Phœbus's chariot in Cymbeline[397:D]; and in the Player's speech in -Hamlet, the eyes of Pyrrhus are said to be "like carbuncles."[397:E] - -Drayton describes this fabled stone with nearly as much precision as -Chaucer; he calls it - - "——— that admired, mighty stone, - The _carbuncle_ that's named; - Which from it such a flaming light - And radiancy ejecteth, - That in the very darkest night - The eye to it directeth."[397:F] - -A modern poet, remarkable for his powers of imagination, has -beautifully, and very happily availed himself of these marvellous -attributes, in describing the magnificent palace of Shedad, a passage -which we shall transcribe, as it leads to an illustrative extract from -a writer of Shakspeare's age: - - "Here self-suspended hangs in air, - As its pure substance loathed material touch, - The living carbuncle; - Sun of the lofty dome, - Darkness has no dominion o'er its beams; - Intense it glows, an ever-flowing tide - Of glory, like the day-flood in its source." - -"I have no where seen," says Mr. Southey in a note on these lines, "so -circumstantial an account of its (the carbuncle's) wonderful properties -as in a passage of Thuanus, quoted by Stephanius in his notes to -Saxo-Grammaticus. - -"Whilst the King was at Bologna, a stone, wonderful in its species and -nature, was brought to him from the East Indies, by a man unknown, who -appeared by his manners to be a Barbarian. It sparkled as though all -burning, with an incredible splendour; flashing radiance, and shooting -on every side its beams, it filled the surrounding air to a great -distance with a light scarcely by any eyes endurable. In this also -it was wonderful, that being most impatient of the earth, if it was -confined, it would force its way, and immediately fly aloft; neither -could it be contained by any art of man in a narrow place, but appeared -only to love those of ample extent. It was of the utmost purity, -stained by no soil nor spot. Certain shape it had none, for its figure -was inconstant, and momentarily changing, and though at a distance it -was beautiful to the eye, it would not suffer itself to be handled -with impunity, but hurt those who obstinately struggled with it, as -many persons before many spectators experienced. If by chance any part -of it was broken off, for it was not very hard, it became nothing -less."[398:A] - -An account equally minute, and in terms nearly similar, occurs in -Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584, and both were probably taken -from the same source, the writings of Fernel or Fernelius. This -physician died in 1558; and his description, as copied by Scot, -contributed, no doubt, to prolong the public credulity in this kingdom; -though the English philosopher attempts to explain the phenomenon by -supposing that actual flame was concentrated and burning in the centre -of the gem. - -"Johannes Fernelius writeth of a strange stone latelie brought out -of India, which hath in it such a marvellous brightnes, puritie and -shining, that therewith the aire round about is so lightned and -cleared, that one may see to read thereby in the darknes of night. It -will not be conteined in a close roome, but requireth an open and free -place. It would not willingly rest or staie here belowe on the earth, -but alwaies laboureth to ascend up into the aire. If one presse it -downe with his hand, it resisteth, and striveth verie sharplie. It is -beautifull to behold, without either spot or blemish, and yet verie -unpleasant to taste or feele. If any part thereof be taken awaie, it -is never a whit diminished, the forme thereof being inconstant, and at -everie moment mutable."[399:A] - -The carbuncle was believed to be an animal substance generated in -the body of a serpent, to possess a sexual distinction, the males -having a star-formed burning nucleus, while the females dispersed -their brilliancy on all sides in a formless blaze; and, like other -transparent gems, to have the power of expelling evil spirits. - -While on the subject of superstitious notions relative to luminous -bodies, we may remark, that in the age of Shakspeare, the wandering -lights, termed _Will-o-wisp_ and _Jack-o-Lantern_, were supposed by the -common people to be occasioned by demons and malignant fairies, with -the view of leading the benighted traveller to his destruction. "Many -tymes," says Lavaterus, "candles and small fiers appeare in the night, -and seeme to run up and downe;—those fiers some time seeme to come -togither, and by and by to be severed and run abroade, and at the last -to vanish clean away. Somtime these fiers go alone in the night season, -and put such as see them, as they travel by night, in great fear. But -these things, and many suche lyke, have their natural causes: _and -yet I will not denye, but that many tymes Dyvels delude men in this -manner_."[400:A] - -Stephano, in the _Tempest_, attributes this phenomenon to the agency -of a mischievous fairy: "Monster, your fairy, which, you say, is a -harmless fairy, has done little better than _played the Jack with -us_."[400:B] - -Various causes have been assigned for the appearance of the _ignis -fatuus_; modern chemistry asserts it to be occasioned by hydrogen gas, -evolving from decaying vegetables, and the decomposition of pyritic -coal; and when seen hovering on the surface of burial grounds, to -originate from the same gas in a higher state of volatility, through -the agency of phosphoric impregnation. - -The _partial_ view which we have now taken of the superstitions of -the country, as they existed in the age of Shakspeare, will, in part, -demonstrate how great was the credulity subsisting at this period; how -well calculated were many of these popular delusions for the purposes -of the dramatic writer, and how copiously and skilfully have these been -moulded and employed by the great poet of our stage. A considerable -portion also of the manners, customs, and diversions of the country, -which had been necessarily omitted in the preceding chapters, will be -found included in this sketch of a part of the popular creed, and will -contribute to heighten the effect of a picture, which can only receive -its completion through the mutual aid of various subsequent departments -of the present work. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[315:A] Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 496. - -[316:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 255, 256. Winter's Tale, act ii. -sc. 1. - -[317:A] "Of Ghostes and spirites walking by nyght, and of strange -noyses, crackes, and sundry forewarnynges, whiche commonly happen -before the death of menne, great slaughters, and alterations of -kyngdomes. One Booke, Written by Lewes Lavaterus of Tigurine. And -translated into Englyshe by R. H." Printed at London by Henry -Benneyman, for Richard Watkyns, 1572. Vide p. 14. and 49. - -[317:B] Lavaterus, p. 21. - -[318:A] Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1580, p. 152, 153. - -[318:B] Vide Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 172. - -[318:C] Spectator, No. 419., vol. vi. p. 118. of Sharpe's edition. See -also Nos. 12. 110. and 117. - -[319:A] Grose's Provincial Glossary, p. 242, 243. - -[321:A] Bourne's Antiquities of the Common People apud Brand, p. 113, -118, 119, 120, 122, 123. - -[321:B] Seasons, Winter, line 617. - -[322:A] Pleasures of Imagination, book i. - -[322:B] The Remains of Henry Kirke White, vol. i. p. 311. - -[323:A] Gay, in his Trivia, notices, at some length, the prognostications -attendant on these days, and which equally apply to ancient and to -modern times:— - - "All superstition from thy breast repel; - Let cred'lous boys and prattling nurses tell - How if the _Festival of Paul_ be _clear_, - _Plenty_ from lib'ral horn shall strow the _year_: - When the dark skies dissolve in _snow_ and _rain_, - The lab'ring _kind_ shall _yoke_ the _steer_ in _vain_; - But if the threat'ning _winds_ in tempest roar, - Then _war_ shall bathe her wasteful sword in gore. - How if, on _Swithen_'s feast the welkin lours, - And ev'ry penthouse streams with hasty show'rs, - _Twice twenty days_ shall clouds their fleeces drain, - And wash the pavements with _incessant rain_: - Let no such vulgar tales debase thy mind, - Nor _Paul_, nor _Swithin_, rule the _clouds_ and _wind_." - -[324:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 453. Midsummer-Night's Dream, -act iv. sc. 1. Buchanan also beautifully records the same traditionary -imagery: - - "Festa Valentino rediit lux—— - Quisque sibi sociam jam legit ales avem. - Inde sibi dominam per sortes quærere in annum - Mansit ab antiquis mos repetitus avis; - Quisque legit dominam, quam casto observet amore, - Quam nitidis sertis obsequioque colat: - Mittere cui possit blandi munuscula Veris." - -[325:A] Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 253. - -[326:A] Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 252, 253. - -[326:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 281. Mr. Gay has more -distinctly recorded this ceremony in the following lines:— - - "Last Valentine, the day when birds of kind - Their paramours with mutual chirpings find; - I early rose, just at the break of day, - Before the sun had chas'd the stars away; - Afield I went, amid the morning dew, - To milk my kine (for so should housewives do), - _Thee First_ I spied, and _the first swain we see_ - In spite of fortune _shall our true Love be_." - -[327:A] "Et vere ad Valentini festum à viris habent fœminæ; munera, et -alio temporis viris dantur." Moresini Deprav. Relig. 160. - -[327:B] Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 258.—"I have -found unquestionable authority," remarks Mr. Brand, "to evince that the -custom of chusing Valentines was a sport practised in the houses of the -gentry in England as early as the year 1476." Brand apud Ellis, vol. i. -p. 48. - -The authority alluded to by Mr. Brand, is a letter, in Fenn's Paston -Letters, vol. ii. p. 211., dated February 1476. - -[328:A] Survey of London, 1618, p. 159. - -[328:B] Ibid. - -[328:C] Vide Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 317. - -[329:A] "L'origine de ce feu que tant de nations conservent encore, et -qui se perd dans l'antiquité, est très simple. C'etoit un feu de joie -allumé au moment où l'année commençoit; car la première de toutes les -Annes, la plus ancienne donc on ait quelque connoissance, s'ouvroit au -mois de Juin.— - -"Ces feux-de-joie étoient accompagnés en même tems de Vœux et de -sacrifices pour la prospérité de peuples et des biens de la terre: on -dansoit aussi autour de ce feu; car ya-t-il quelque fête sans danse? et -les plus agiles santoient par dessus. En se retirant, chacun empartoit -un tison plus ou moins grand, et le reste étoit jetté au vent, afin -qu'il emportât tout malheur comme il emportoit ces cendres." Hist. -d'Hercule, p. 203. - -[329:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 249. act ii. sc. 3. - -[329:C] Jonson's Works, act i. sc. 6. - -[329:D] Beaumont and Fletcher's Works apud Colman. - -[330:A] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 281. Britannia's -Pastorals, book ii. song 2. - -[330:B] Grose's Provincial Glossary, p. 299. - -[330:C] Ibid. p. 285. - -[331:A] Bourne's Antiquities, p. 301. - -[331:B] Stowe also mentions, that bonefires and rejoicings were -observed on the Eve of St. Peter and Paul the Apostles; he gives -likewise a curious account of the _Marching Watches_ which had been -regularly kept on Midsummer-Eve, time out of mind, by the citizens of -London and other large towns; but these had ceased before the age of -Shakspeare, the last having been appointed by Sir John Gresham, in -1548, though an attempt was made to procure their revival, by John -Montgomery in 1585, who published a book on the subject, dedicated to -Sir Thos. Pullison, then Lord Mayor; this offer however did not succeed. - -[332:A] Grose's Provincial Glossary, p. 285. - -[332:B] Queenhoo-Hall, vol. i. p. 136. - -[333:A] Aubrey's Miscellanies, p. 103. - -[333:B] Jonson's Works, fol. edit. vol. i. - -[334:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 359. act iii. sc. 4. - -[334:B] Bourne's Antiquities, p. 320, 321. - -[334:C] Vide Job, chap. xxxiii. v. 22, 23. - -[335:A] Opera et Dies, vol. i. 246. - -[335:B] Dionys. in Cælest. Hierarch. cap. ix. x. - -[335:C] Calv. Lib. Instit. I. c. xiv. It is worthy of remark, that -Reginald Scot, from whose _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, p. 500., this -account of the hierarchy of Dionysius is taken, has brought forward -a passage from his kinsman Edward Deering, which broaches the same -doctrine as that held by Bishop Horsley in the last sermon which -he ever wrote. "If you read Deering," says Scot, "upon the first -chapter to the Hebrues, you shall see this matter (the angelic theory -of Dionysius) notablie handled; where he saith, _that whensoever -archangell is mentioned in the Scriptures it signifieth our saviour -Christ, and no creature_." p. 501.—Now in the sermon alluded to by -Horsley, the text of which is Dan. iv. 17., he affirms, that the term -"Michael," or "Michael the Archangel," wherever it occurs, is nothing -more than a name for our Saviour. Vide Sermons, vol. ii. p. 376. - -[337:A] Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght; p. 160, 161. - -[338:A] Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 505, 506. - -[338:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 109. Henry IV. Part ii. act ii. -sc. 4. - -[338:C] Ibid. vol. xii. p. 36. Henry IV. Part ii. act i. sc. 2. - -[338:D] Ibid. vol. xvii. p. 94, 95. Antony and Cleopatra, act ii. sc. 3. - -[338:E] Ibid. vol. x. p. 149. - -[339:A] Book iv. line 677. - -[340:A] Sermons, vol. ii. p. 412. 415, 416. - -[341:A] Vide Brady's Clavis Calendaria, vol. ii. p. 180. - -[341:B] Brand's Appendix to Bourne's Antiquities, p. 382. - -[341:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 205. act ii. sc. 1. - -[342:A] Clavis Calendaria, vol. ii. p. 229. - -[343:A] Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. ii. p. 221. - -[343:B] Ibid. vol. ii. p. 238. - -[344:A] Scott's Minstrelsy, vol. ii. p. 221, 222. - -[346:A] The powers of description which Burns has evinced in one of the -stanzas, while relating the effects of this spell, are truly great:— - - "A wanton widow Leezie was - As canty as a kittlen; - But och! that night, among the shaws, - She got a fearfu' settlin! - She thro' the whins, an' by the cairn, - An' owre the hill gaed scrievin, - Where three lairds lands met at a burn, - To dip her left sark-sleeve in, - Was bent that night. - - _Whyles owre a linn the burnie plays - As thro' the glen it wimpl't; - Whyles round a rocky scar it strays; - Whyles in a wiel it dimpl't; - Whyles glitter'd to the nightly rays, - Wi' bickering, dancing dazzle; - Whyles cookit underneath the braes, - Below the spreading hazle, - Unseen that night._ - - Among the brachens, on the brae, - Between her an' the moon, - The deil, or else an outler quey, - Gat up an' gae a croon: - Poor Leezie's heart maist lap the hool; - Near lav'rock-height she jumpit, - But mist a fit, an' in the pool, - Out-owre the lugs she plumpit, - Wi' a plunge that night." - -[347:A] Burns's Works, Currie's edit. vol. iii. p. 126. et seq. - -[347:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 472-474. - -[348:A] Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 87. - -[348:B] See Beaumont and Fletcher apud Colman. - -It would appear from the passage just quoted from Shakspeare, that he -considered St. Withold as commanding this _female_ incubus to alight -from those _she_ was riding and tormenting; but Fuseli and Darwin, in -their delineations, appear to have mounted a _male_ fiend, or incubus, -on _her_ back, who descending from his steed, sate on the breasts of -those whom _he_ had selected for his victims. The personifications -of the painter and the modern poet are forcibly drawn and highly -terrific:— - - "So on his NIGHTMARE through the evening fog - Flits the squab Fiend o'er fen, and lake, and bog; - Seeks some love-wilder'd Maid with sleep oppress'd, - Alights, and grinning sits upon her breast. - —— Such as of late amid the murky sky - Was mark'd by FUSELI'S poetic eye; - Whose daring tints, with SHAKSPEARE'S happiest grace, - Gave to the airy phantom form and place— - Back o'er her pillow sinks her blushing head, - Her snow-white limbs hang helpless from the bed; - While with quick sighs, and suffocative breath, - Her interrupted heart-pulse swims in death. - —— Then shrieks of captur'd towns, and widow's tears, - Pale lovers stretch'd upon their blood-stain'd biers, - The headlong precipice that thwarts her flight, - The trackless desert, the cold starless night, - And stern-eye'd Murderer with his knife behind, - In dread succession agonize her mind. - O'er her fair limbs convulsive tremors fleet, - Start in her hands, and struggle in her feet; - In vain to scream with quivering lips she tries, - And strains in palsy'd lids her tremulous eyes: - In vain she _wills_ to run, fly, swim, walk, creep; - The WILL presides not in the bower of SLEEP. - —— On her fair bosom sits the Demon-Ape - Erect, and balances his bloated shape; - Rolls in their marble orbs his Gorgon-eyes, - And drinks with leathern ears her tender cries." - Botanic Garden, 4to. edit. p. 101-103. - -[350:A] Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 203-205. - -[351:A] The Dutchesse of Malfy, act iii. sc. 3. Vide Ancient British -Drama, vol. iii. p. 526. - -[351:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 418, 419. - -[352:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 16. Hamlet, act i. sc. 1. - -[352:B] Ibid. vol. xvi. p. 315. Julius Cæsar, act ii. sc. 2. - -[353:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 127. Macbeth, act ii. sc. 3. - -[354:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 82, 83. Act ii. sc. 4. - -[354:B] Ibid. vol. xi. p. 317. First Part of King Henry IV. act iii. -sc. 1. - -[354:C] Ibid. vol. xiv. p. 202, 203. Third Part of King Henry VI. act -v. sc. 6. - -[355:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 448. Troilus and Cressida, act -v. sc. 3. - -[355:B] Ibid. vol. xx. p. 225. Act v. sc. 1. - -[355:C] Ibid. vol. xv. p. 395. Act iv. sc. 4. - -[355:D] Familiar Letters, edit. 1726. p. 247. - -[355:E] Lady of the Lake, p. 348. - -[356:A] Lady of the Lake, p. 106. 347. - -[357:A] Lady of the Lake, p. 348. - -[358:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 28. Act i. sc. 2. - -[358:B] Ibid. vol. xiv. p. 506. Act v. sc. 3. - -[359:A] Of Ghostes and Spirites, 1572. p. 79. - -[359:B] Vide Grose's Provincial Glossary, article Popular -Superstitions, p. 282, 283. - -[360:A] Grant's Essays on the Superstitions of the Highlanders of -Scotland, vol. i. p. 259-261. - -[361:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 459. - -[362:A] Of Ghostes and Spirites, p. 77-79. - -[362:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 169. Act iv. sc. 2. - -[362:C] Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 279. - -[362:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 230. Act iv. sc. 10. - -[363:A] Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 336. - -[363:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xiii. p. 152. First Part of King Henry -VI. act v. sc. 3. - -[363:C] Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 279. - -[364:A] Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 230. 270. - -[364:B] Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 231. - -[365:A] Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 247. - -[365:B] Ibid. p. 245. - -[366:A] Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 265, 266. - -[366:B] See Whalley's Works of Ben Jonson. - -[366:C] Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 465. - -[367:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 41. Act ii. sc. 1. - -[367:B] De Quadrup. Ovip., p. 65. - -[367:C] Batman uppon Bartholome his booke De proprietatibus rerum, -1582, fol. article Botrax. - -[367:D] A Green Forest, or a Natural History, 1567. - -[367:E] Secrete Wonders of Nature, 4to. 1569. - -[367:F] First Book of Notable Things, 4to. - -[367:G] Topsell's History of Serpents, 1608. fol., p. 188. and Fuller's -Church History, p. 151. - -[367:H] Printed by Copland, but without date, 12mo. - -[367:I] Quoted by Batman on Bartholome, L. xviii. c. 30. - -[368:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 59. Act i. sc. 4. - -[368:B] Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 180, 181. - -[370:A] Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 293-295. - -[370:B] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 465. - -[370:C] Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 305. - -[371:A] This _golden stamp_ was the coin called an angel, from the -figure which it bore, and was worth ten shillings. - -[371:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 242, 243. Macbeth, act iv. sc. 3. - -[371:C] Nichols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i.: and Scot, -speaking of the pretensions of the French monarchs to cure the evil, -observes of Elizabeth's practice, that "if the French king use it no -woorsse than our Princesse doth, God will not be offended thereat: for -hir majestie onelie useth godlie and divine praier, with some almes, -and referreth the cure to God and to the physician," p. 304., a report -which reflects great credit on her majesty's judgment and good sense. - -[372:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xiv. p. 285. Richard the Third, act i. -sc. 2. - -[373:A] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 405. - -[373:B] Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght, p. 80. - -[373:C] Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 303. - -[373:D] The Workes of the Most High and Mighty Prince James, fol. edit. -1616. p. 136. The Dæmonologie was first printed at Edinburgh in 1597, -and next in London, 1603, 4to. - -[374:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 344. Merchant of Venice, act -iv. sc. 1. - -[374:B] Ibid. vol. xx. p. 208. Romeo and Juliet, act iv. sc. 3. - -[374:C] Ibid. vol. xiii. p. 297. Act iii. sc. 2. - -[374:D] Bulwarke of Defence against Sickness, fol. 1579, p. 41. - -[375:A] Grose's Provincial Glossary, p. 291. - -[375:B] Vide Bacon's Natural History, Century x. No. 997, 998. - -[376:A] Digby's Discourse upon the Sympathetic Powder, p. 6. - -[377:A] Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 280. - -[377:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 146. - -[377:C] Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght, p. 96. - -[377:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 146. note 3. - -[378:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 147. - -[379:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 303-305. - -[379:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 78. - -[379:C] "Ad nimium calorem transeat ab aquis nivium." In the paraphrase -on Genesis, by Cedmon the Saxon poet, the same imagery may be found. - -Of this venerable poet and monk, who flourished in the seventh century, -Mr. Turner has given us a very interesting account, together with a -version of some parts of his paraphrase. One of these is a picture of -the infernal regions, in which he says,— - - "There comes at last - the eastern wind, - the _cold frost_ - mingling with the fires." - Hist. of the Anglo-Saxons, 2d edit. - 4to. 1807, vol. ii. p. 309. et seq. - -[379:D] Infer. c. iii. 86. Purgat. c. iii. 31. - -[379:E] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 305, note 9. - -[379:F] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. i. p. 330. - -[380:A] Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 534. 598. - -[380:B] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. ii. p. 424. - -[381:A] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. i. p. 149.—"The mesere of helle -shalbe in defaute of mete and drink. For God sayth thus by Moyses: They -shal be wasted with honger, &c." - -[381:B] Pierce Penniless, his Supplication to the Devil, 1595. - -[381:C] Folio, 1635. p. 345. - -[381:D] Paradise Lost, book ii. l. 587, et seq. - -[382:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 374. - -[382:B] Εκ πασῶν δε, &c. De Republ. lib. x. p. 520, Lugd. 1590. Vide -Todd's Milton, vol. vii. p. 53. - -[382:C] "Such, notwithstanding, is the force there of (musical -harmony), and so pleasing effects it hath in that very part of man -which is most divine, that some have been thereby induced to think, -that the soul itself by nature is or hath in it harmony."—Fifth Book -of Ecclesiastical Polity, published singly in 1597. - -[382:D] Todd's Milton, vol. vii. p. 53. - -[383:A] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. i. p. 296. col. 1. - -[383:B] Dante's Inferno, cant. xx. - -[383:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 89, 90. - -[383:D] Ibid. vol. xvii. p. 222. Antony and Cleopatra, act iv. sc. 9. - -[383:E] Ibid. vol. xix. p. 409. Othello, act v. sc. 2. - -[384:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 361. Midsummer-Night's Dream, -act ii. sc. 2. - -[384:B] Ibid. vol. x. p. 194. Macbeth, act iii. sc. 5. - -[384:C] Ibid. vol. xvii. p. 195. 342. Lear, act i. sc. 2.; vol. xix. p. -499. Othello, act v. sc. 2. - -[384:D] Ibid. vol. xi. p. 83. Richard the Second, act ii. sc. 4. - -[384:E] Ibid. vol. x. p. 480. K. John, act iv. sc. 2. - -[385:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 271. - -[385:B] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 114. - -[385:C] Doome, p. 389. - -[385:D] The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire of -Guiana, with a relation of the Great and Golden Citie of Manoa, which -the Spaniards call El Dorado. Performed in 1595, by Sir W. Ralegh. -Imprinted at London by Rob. Robinson, 1596. - -[386:A] The Historie of the World. Commonly called, The Natural -Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. Translated into English by Philemon -Holland, Doctor in Physicke. London, printed by Adam Islip. 1601. vol. -i. p. 154. book vii. chap. 2. - -[386:B] Holland's Pliny, vol. i. p. 96. book v. chap. 8. - -[386:C] Ibid. p. 156. - -[386:D] The title of this work is, _Brevis et admiranda Descriptio -Regni Gvianæ, auri abundantissimi, in America_. It is accompanied by a -map, engraved by _Hondius_, on which are drawn men hunting, with their -heads beneath their shoulders. - -[387:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 83. Act i. sc. 2. - -[387:B] Frobisher's _First Voyage for the Discoverie of Cataya_. 4to. -1578. - -[387:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 83, note 9. - -[387:D] Chalmers's Apology, p. 586. - -[388:A] Prayse and Reporte of Maister Martyne Forboisher's Voyage to -Meta Incognita, &c. bl. l. 12mo. 1578. Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. -p. 83. note 7. - -[388:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 83. note 7.—The existence of -_mermaids_ has, within these few years, been asserted by numerous -testimonies; some of which are so clear, minute, and respectable, -as to stagger the most sceptical. It is not only possible, but from -the evidence alluded to it appears indeed somewhat probable, that a -creature partially resembling the human form exists in the ocean, and -occasionally, though rarely, approaches so near the shore as to become -an object of wonder and superstitious horror. The sea round the Isle -of Man was formerly reputed to abound in these monsters, which were -conceived to be of two kinds, the one malignant, the other benevolent -and kind. - -[388:C] Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 377, 378. - -[389:A] Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 379. - -[389:B] Batman upon Bartholome, p. 359. - -[389:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 449. note 5. - -[389:D] Ibid. vol. xiii. p. 268. Act iii. sc. 1. - -[389:E] Ibid. vol. xix. p. 449. - -[390:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xiii. p. 306. Act iii. sc. 3. - -[390:B] Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 20. - -[390:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 135. Timon of Athens, act iv. -sc. 3. - -[391:A] Stowe's Survey of London, p. 18. edit. of 1618. - -[392:A] Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 90. - -[392:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 356.—A fountain of this -hallowed and mysterious nature, has been described by Mr. Southey in -language most graphically and beautifully descriptive:— - - "There is a fountain in the forest call'd - The fountain of the Fairies; when a child, - With most delightful wonder I have heard - Tales of the Elfin tribe that on its banks - Hold midnight revelry. An ancient oak, - The goodliest of the forest, grows beside, - Alone it stands, upon a green grass plat, - By the woods bounded like some little isle. - It ever hath been deem'd their favourite tree, - They love to lie and rock upon its leaves, - And bask them in the moon-shine. Many a time - Hath the woodman shown his boy where the dark round - On the green-sward beneath its boughs, bewrays - Their nightly dance, and bade him spare the tree. - Fancy had cast a spell upon the place - And made it holy; and the villagers - Would say that never evil thing approached - Unpunished there. The strange and fearful pleasure - That fill'd me by that solitary spring, - Ceas'd not in riper years; and now it woke - Deeper delight, and more mysterious awe." - Joan of Arc, vol. i. b. i. p. 126. - -[393:A] Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 94, 95. - -[393:B] Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght, p. 6. - -[394:A] Fast. lib. vi. - -[394:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 383, 384. Comedy of Errors, act -ii. sc. 2. - -[394:C] Hamlet, act 4. sc. 5. - -[394:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 280. note 3. - -[395:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 577. note 5. - -[395:B] Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 171. 4to. edit. - -[395:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 576. - -[395:D] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 408. - -[396:A] Ancient British Drama, vol. iii. p. 41. - -[396:B] Villanies discovered by lanthorn and candle light, chap. -xv.—For some modern tributes to the supposed charity of this domestic -little bird, I refer my readers to the first volume of Literary Hours, -3d. edit. p. 65. et seq. - -[396:C] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. i. p. 179. - -[396:D] Ibid. vol. ii. p. 177. - -[396:E] Description of King Priam's Palace, lib. ii. - -[396:F] Vide Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 229. - -[397:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 84. Act ii. sc. 3. - -[397:B] Ibid. vol. xxi. p. 56. - -[397:C] Ibid. vol. xvi. p. 39. Act i. sc. 4. - -[397:D] Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 632. Act v. sc. 5. - -[397:E] Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 151. Act ii. sc. 2. - -[397:F] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 465. - -[398:A] Thalaba the Destroyer, vol. i. p. 39-41. edit. 1801. - -[399:A] Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 306. - -[400:A] Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght, p. 51. - -[400:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 142, 143. Act iv. sc. 1. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - BIOGRAPHY OF SHAKSPEARE RESUMED—HIS - IRREGULARITIES—DEER-STEALING IN SIR THOMAS LUCY'S - PARK—ACCOUNT OF THE LUCY FAMILY—DAISY-HILL, THE KEEPER'S - LODGE, WHERE SHAKSPEARE WAS CONFINED ON THE CHARGE OF STEALING - DEER—SHAKSPEARE'S REVENGE—BALLAD ON LUCY—SEVERE PROSECUTION - OF SIR THOMAS—NEVER FORGOTTEN BY SHAKSPEARE—THIS CAUSE, - AND PROBABLY ALSO DEBT, AS HIS FATHER WAS NOW IN REDUCED - CIRCUMSTANCES, INDUCED HIM TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY FOR LONDON - ABOUT 1586—REMARKS ON THIS REMOVAL. - - -After the slight sketch of rural life which we have just given; of its -manners, customs, diversions, and superstitions, as they existed during -the latter part of the sixteenth century, we shall now proceed with the -biographical narrative of our author, resuming it from the close of the -fourth chapter. - -To regulate the workings of an ardent imagination, and to control the -effervescence of the passions in early life, experience has uniformly -taught us to consider as a task of great difficulty; and seldom, -indeed, capable of being achieved without the advice and direction of -those, who, under the guidance of similar admonition, have successfully -borne up against the numerous temptations to which human frailty is -subjected. That Shakspeare possessed powers of fancy greatly beyond -the common lot of humanity, and that with these is almost constantly -connected a correspondent fervency of temperament and passion, will not -probably be denied; and if it be recollected that the poet became the -arbitrator of his own conduct at the early age of eighteen, not much -wonder will be excited, although he was a married man, and a father, if -we have to record some juvenile irregularities. Tradition affirms, and -the report has been repeated by Mr. Rowe, that he had the misfortune, -shortly after his settlement in Stratford, to form an intimacy with -some young men of thoughtless and dissipated character, who, among -other illegalities, had been in the habit of deer-stealing, and by -whom, more than once, he was induced, under the idea of a frolic, to -join in their reprehensible practice. - -The scene of depredation when Shakspeare and his companions were -detected, was Fulbroke Park, at that time belonging to Sir Thomas -Lucy, Knight. This gentleman, who has obtained celebrity principally, -if not solely, as the prosecutor of Shakspeare, was descended from a -family, whose pedigree has been deduced, by Dugdale, from the reign of -Richard the First; the name of Lucy, however, was not assumed by his -ancestors until the thirty-fourth of Henry the Third. Sir Thomas, in -the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, built a noble mansion -at Charlcott, near Stratford, but on the opposite side of the Avon; -this edifice, which still exists, is constructed of brick with stone -coins, and though somewhat modernized, still preserves, as a whole, its -ancient Gothic character, especially the grand front, which exhibits -pretty accurately its pristine state. Fuller has recorded Sir Thomas as -sheriff for the county of Warwickshire in the tenth year of Elizabeth, -and informs us, that his armorial bearings were Gul. Crusulee Or, 3 -Picks (or Lucies) Hauriant Ar.[402:A] - -That the rich woods, sequestered lawns, and romantic recesses of -Fulbroke Park, would very frequently attract the footsteps of our -youthful bard, independent of any lure which the capture of its game -might afford, we may justly surmise; and still more confidently may -we affirm, that his meditations or diversions in this forest laid the -foundation of a part of the beautiful scenery which occurs in _As You -Like It_. The woodland pictures in this delightful play are faithful -transcripts of what he had felt and seen in those secluded haunts, -particularly the description of the wounded deer, the pathos and -accuracy of which are no doubt referrible to the actual contemplation -of such an incident, in the shades of Fulbroke; they strikingly prove, -indeed, that the habits of the chase, though fostered in the morn of -youth, had not, even in respect to the objects of their sport, in -the smallest degree impaired the native tenderness and humanity of -the poet. The expressions of pity, in fact, for the sufferings of a -persecuted animal were never uttered in words more impressive than what -the ensuing dialogue exhibits: - - "_Duke._ Come, shall we go and kill us venison? - And yet it irks me, the poor dappled fools,— - Being native burghers of this desert city,— - Should, in their own confines, with forked head - Have their round haunches gor'd. - - _Lord._ Indeed, my lord, - The melancholy Jaques grieves at that; - And, in that kind, swears you do more usurp - Than doth your brother that hath banish'd you. - To-day, my lord of Amiens, and myself, - Did steal behind him, as he lay along - Under an oak, whose antique root peeps out - Upon the brook that brawls along this wood: - To the which place a poor sequester'd stag, - That from the hunter's aim had ta'en a hurt, - Did come to languish; and, indeed, my lord, - The wretched animal heav'd forth such groans, - That their discharge did stretch his leathern coat - Almost to bursting; and the big round tears - Cours'd one another down his innocent nose - In piteous chase: and thus the hairy fool, - Much marked of the melancholy Jaques, - Stood on the extremest verge of the swift brook, - Augmenting it with tears."[403:A] - -The detection of Shakspeare in his adventurous amusement, was followed, -it is said, by confinement for a short time in the keeper's lodge, -until the charge had been substantiated against him. A farm-house in -the park, situated on a spot called Daisy Hill, is still pointed out as -the very building which sheltered the delinquent on this unfortunate -occasion.[403:B] - -That Sir Thomas had reason to complain of this violation of his -property, and was warranted in taking proper steps to prevent its -recurrence, who will deny? and yet it appears from tradition, that -a reprimand and public exposure of his conduct constituted all the -punishment that was at _first_ inflicted on the offender. Here the -matter would have rested, had not the irritable feelings of our young -bard, inflamed by the disgrace which he had suffered, induced him to -attempt a retaliation on the magistrate. He had recourse to his talents -for satire, and the ballad which he produced for this purpose was -probably his earliest effort as a writer. - -Of this pasquinade, which the poet took care should be affixed to -Sir Thomas's park-gates, and extensively circulated through his -neighbourhood, three stanzas have been brought forward as genuine -fragments. The preservation of the whole would certainly have been -a most entertaining curiosity; but even the authenticity of what is -said to have been preserved, becomes a subject of interest, when we -recollect, that the fate and fortunes of our author hinged upon the -consequences of this juvenile production. - -The first of these fragments, which is the opening stanza, rests upon -testimony of considerable weight and respectability; upon the authority -of a Mr. Thomas Jones, who was born about 1613 and resided at Tarbick, -a village in Worcestershire, eighteen miles from Stratford, where -he died, aged upwards of ninety, in 1703. He is considered by Mr. -Malone, as the grandson of a Mr. Thomas Jones, who dwelt in Stratford -during the period that Shakspeare was an inhabitant of it, and who had -four sons between the years 1581 and 1590, one of whom, settling at -Tarbick, became the father of the preserver of the fragment.[404:A] -This venerable old man could remember having heard from several very -aged people at Stratford the whole history of the poet's transgression, -and could repeat the first stanza of the ballad which he had written -in ridicule of Sir Thomas. A friend of his to whom he was one day -repeating this stanza, which was the whole that he could recollect, -had the precaution to take a copy of it from his recitation, and -the grandson of the person thus favoured, a Mr. Wilkes, presented a -transcript of it to Mr. Oldys and Mr. Capell. Among the collections -for a _Life of Shakspeare_ left by the former of these gentlemen, this -stanza was found, "faithfully transcribed," says its possessor, "from -the copy which his (Mr. Jones's) relation very courteously communicated -to me[405:A];" and of Mr. Oldys's veracity it is important to add, that -Mr. Steevens considered it as unimpeachable, remarking, at the same -time, that "it is not very probable that a ballad should be forged, -from which an undiscovered wag could derive no triumph over antiquarian -credulity."[405:B] It must be confessed that neither the wit nor the -poetry of these lines, which we are about to communicate, deserve much -praise, and that the greater part of the point, if it can be termed -such, depends upon provincial pronunciation; for in a note on the copy -which Mr. Capell possessed, it is said, that "the people of those -parts pronounce _lowsie_ like Lucy[405:C]:" but let us listen to the -commencement of this once important libel:— - - "A parliamente member, a justice of peace, - At home a poor scare-crowe, at London an asse, - If lowsie is Lucy, as some volke miscalle it, - Then Lucy is lowsie whatever befall it: - He thinks himself greate, - Yet an asse in his state - We allowe by his ears but with asses to mate. - If Lucy is lowsie, as some volke miscalle it, - Sing lowsie Lucy, whatever befall it." - -Upon the next fragment of this composition, including two stanzas, -an equal degree of confidence cannot be reposed; for it occurs in a -manuscript _History of the Stage_, written between the years 1727 -and 1730, in which many falsehoods have been detected; but still the -internal evidence is such as to render its genuineness far from -improbable. The narrative of its acquisition informs us, that "the -learned Mr. Joshua Barnes, late Greek Professor of the University of -Cambridge, baiting about forty years ago at an inn in Stratford, and -hearing an old woman singing part of the above said song, such was his -respect for Mr. Shakspeare's genius, that he gave her a new gown for -the two following stanzas in it; and could she have said it all, he -would (as he often said in company, when any discourse has casually -arose about him) have given her ten guineas: - - "Sir Thomas was too covetous - To covet so much _deer_, - When horns enough upon his head, - Most plainly did appear. - - Had not his Worship one _deer_ left? - What then? He had a wife - Took pains enough to find him horns - Should last him during life."[406:A] - -The quibble upon the word _deer_ in these lines strongly tends to -authenticate them as a genuine production of our bard; for he has -in more places than one of his dramas amused himself with a similar -jingle: thus in the _First Part of Henry the Sixth_, allowing this play -to have issued from his pen, Talbot, encouraging his forces, exclaims - - "Sell every man his life as _dear_ as mine, - And they shall find _dear deer_ of us my friends;"[406:B] - -and again in the _First Part of King Henry the Fourth_, the Prince, -lamenting over Falstaff, says - - "Death hath not struck so fat a _deer_ to-day, - Though many _dearer_, in this bloody fray."[406:C] - -Mr. Whiter, who first applied these corroborating passages to the -subject before us, adds, "With respect to the verses in question, I -cannot but observe that, however suspicious their external evidence -may appear, they contain within themselves some very striking features -of authenticity; and may, I think, be readily conceived to have -proceeded from the pen of our young Bard, before he was removed from -the little circle of his native place, when his powers, unformed and -unpractised, were roused only by resentment to a Country Justice, and -destined merely to delight the rustic companions of his deer-stealing -adventure.—As an additional evidence to the quibble on the word -_deer_, which appears to be intended in these verses, we may observe -that there is no topic, to which our author so delights to allude, as -the Horns of the Cuckold.—Let me be permitted to remark in general, -that the anecdotes, which have been delivered down to us respecting -our poet, appear to me neither improbable, nor, when duly examined, -inconsistent with each other: even those, which seem least allied to -probability, contain in my opinion the _adumbrata_, if not _expressa -signa veritatis_."[407:A] - -Whatever might be the merits of this ballad as a poetical composition, -its effect as a satire was severely felt; nor can we greatly blame the -conduct of Sir Thomas Lucy, if we consider, on the one hand, the lenity -which was at first shown to the young offender, and, on the other, the -publicity which was industriously given to this provoking libel; for -it is recorded by Mr. Jones of Tarbick, that it was the placarding -of this piece of sarcasm "which exasperated the knight to apply to a -lawyer at Warwick to proceed against[407:B] him." More magnanimity, it -must be confessed, would have been displayed by altogether neglecting -this splenetic retaliation; but still the provocation was sufficiently -bitter to excite the resentment of a man who might not be entitled -to the appellations so liberally bestowed on Sir Thomas by one of -the poet's commentators of "vain, weak, and vindictive[407:C]." The -protection of property and character, provided the means resorted to -for security be proportioned to the offence, can neither be deemed -foolish nor oppressive, and that the bounds of moderation were exceeded -in this instance, we have no sufficient grounds for asserting. Of -the character of the magistrate nothing certain has transpired; but -if we may be allowed to form an opinion of his temper and abilities, -from the only trait which can be considered as indicatory, we must -pronounce them to have been neither despicable nor unamiable. In the -church at Charlcott there are still remaining several monuments of the -Lucy family, among which is one to the memory of Sir Thomas and his -lady; the effigies of the knight affords a very pleasing idea of his -countenance, but is unaccompanied by date or inscription; over his -wife, however, who reposes by his side, at the age of sixty-three, is a -very striking encomium _written by himself_, the conclusion of which is -attested in the following emphatic terms; after much apparently sincere -eulogy, he adds, that she was, "when all is spoken that can be said, a -woman so furnished and garnished with vertue as not to be bettered, and -hardly to be equalled by any. As she lived most vertuously, so she dyed -most godly. _Set down by him_ that best did know what hath been written -to be true. THOMAS LUCY." - -This may very justly be considered, we think, as a proof, not only -of the conjugal happiness of our knight, but of his possession of -an intellect far from contemptible; yet is it very possible that -resentment, even in a mind of still superior order, should for a time -excite undue warmth and animosity, especially under the lash of satire; -and we are the more willing to believe this to have been the case in -the present instance, both from the known benevolence of the poet's -character, and from the pertinacity with which he continued to remember -the injury; for it is generally agreed that the opening scene of the -_Merry Wives of Windsor_ is intended to ridicule Sir Thomas, under the -character of Justice Shallow. Now the representation of this comedy -in its new-modelled and enlarged state, certainly did not take place -until after the accession of King James, and as the prosecutor of our -bard died on the 18th of August, 1600, it is not probable that the -resentment of the poet would have survived the death of Sir Thomas, -had not the severity of the magistrate been originally pushed too far. - -This dialogue also between Shallow, Slender, and Sir Hugh Evans, serves -strongly to confirm the authenticity of the commencing stanza of the -ballad; for the Welsh parson plays upon the word _luce_ in the same -manner as that fragment has done upon the sir-name _Lucy_. Justice -Shallow, it should likewise be remembered, is complaining of Falstaff -for beating his men, _killing his deer_, and breaking open his lodge, -and he threatens that "if he were twenty Sir John Falstaffs, he shall -not abuse Robert Shallow, esquire," to which Slender adds,—"In the -county of Gloster, justice of peace, and _coram_. - - "_Shal._ Ay, cousin Slender, and _Cust-alorum_. - - _Slen._ Ay, and _ratolorum_ too, and a gentleman born, master - parson; who writes himself _armigero_; in any bill, warrant, - quittance, or obligation, _armigero_. - - _Shal._ Ay, that we do; and have done any time these three - hundred years. - - _Slen._ All his successors, gone before him, have done't; and - all his ancestors, that come after him, may: they may give the - dozen white luces in their coat. - - _Shal._ It is an old coat. - - _Evans._ The dozen white _louses_ do become an old coat well; - it agrees well, passant: it is a familiar beast to man, and - signifies—love. - - _Shal._ The luce is the fresh fish; the salt fish is an old - coat. - - _Slen._ I may quarter, coz? - - _Shal._ You may, by marrying. - - _Evans._ It is marring, indeed, if he quarter it. - - _Shal._ Not a whit. - - _Evans._ Yes, py'r-lady; if he has a quarter of your coat, - there is but three skirts for yourself, in my simple - conjectures; but this all one: if Sir John Falstaff have - committed disparagements unto you, I am of the church, and - will be glad to do my benevolence, to make atonements and - compromises between you. - - _Shal._ The Council shall hear it; it is a riot."[409:A] - -Though the portrait thus given of Sir Thomas Lucy (in the person of -Shallow) represent him as _weak_ and _vain_, yet we must recollect that -it is still drawn in the spirit of retaliation and satire, and was most -undoubtedly meant for a caricature. - -It appears then more than probable, indeed from the testimony of Mr. -Jones it appears to be the fact, that the prosecution, which, there is -little doubt, had been threatened on the detection of the trespass, was -only carried into execution in consequence of the _poetical_ assault on -the part of our author, who, possibly, thought nothing serious could -occur from such a mode of revenge. - -The circumstances, therefore, of the prosecution being threatened in -the first instance, and taking place in the second, might occasion the -report which Mr. Rowe has inserted in his Life of Shakspeare, where, -speaking of the ballad as his first essay in poetry, he adds, "it is -said to have been so very bitter, that it _redoubled_ the prosecution -against him to that degree, that he was obliged to leave his business -and family in Warwickshire, for some time, and shelter himself in -London."[410:A] - -That Shakspeare left Stratford for London, about the year 1586 or 1587, -and that the prosecution commenced by Sir Thomas Lucy contributed to -this change of situation, are events which we may with safety admit; -but that the libel was the _sole_ cause of the removal appears not very -probable; and we are inclined to believe with Mr. Chalmers, that debt -added wings to his flight. "While other boys," remarks this ingenious -controversialist, "are only snivelling at school, and thinking nothing -of life, Shakspeare entered the world, with little but his love to -make him happy, and little but his genius to prevent the intrusion of -misery. An increasing family, and pressing wants, obliged him to look -beyond the limits of Stratford, for subsistence, and for fame. He felt, -doubtless, emotions of genius, and he saw, certainly, persons, who had -not better pretensions, than his own, rising to eminence in a higher -scene. By these motives was he probably induced to remove to London, in -the period, between the years 1585, and 1588; chased from his home, by -the terriers of the law, for debt, rather than for deer-stealing, or -for libelling."[410:B] - -The probability of this having been the case, will be much heightened, -when we recollect, that between the years 1579 and 1586 the father -of Shakspeare had fallen into distressed circumstances; that during -the first of these periods, he had been excused paying a weekly -contribution of 4_d._, and that during the latter he was under the -necessity of resigning his office as alderman, not being able to defray -the expense of attendance at the common halls; facts, which while they -ascertain his impoverished state, at the same time prove his utter -inability to assist his son, now burdened with a family, and anxiously -looking round for the means of its support. - -For the adoption of the year 1586 or 1587, as the era of our author's -emigration to town, several powerful, and almost convincing, arguments -may be given, and these it will be necessary here to state. - -It is well ascertained that Shakspeare married in the year 1582, and -Mr. Rowe has affirmed that "in this kind of settlement he continued -_for some time_, till an extravagance (the deer-stealing frolic) that -he was guilty of, forced him both out of his country, and that way of -living which he had taken up."[411:A] Now that this _settlement for -some time_ was the period which elapsed between the years 1582 and -1586, will almost certainly appear, when we recollect the domestic -events which occurred during its progress; that, according to -tradition, he had embraced his father's business, on entering into -the marriage-state; and that the family of the poet in short was -increased in this interval, by the birth of three children, baptized -at Stratford; Susanna, May 26th, 1583, and Hamnet and Judith, Feb. 2d, -1584-5. - -That the removal was not likely to have taken place later than 1587, -will be generally admitted, when we advert to the commencement of his -literary labours. The issue of research has rendered it highly probable -that our bard was a corrector and improver of old plays for the stage -in 1589; it has discovered from evidence amounting almost to certainty, -that he was a writer for the theatre on a plan of greater originality -in 1591, and that, even so early as 1592, he was noticed as a dramatic -poet of some celebrity. Now, if we compare these facts, which will be -noticed more fully hereafter, with the poet's own assertion, that the -_Venus and Adonis_ was "_the first heir of his invention_[412:A]," it -will go far to prove, that this poem, which is not a short one, and -is elaborated with great care, must have been composed between his -departure from Stratford, and his commencement as a writer for the -stage, (that is between the years 1586 and 1589;) for while there is -no ground to surmise that it was written on the banks of the Avon, -there is sufficient evidence to assert that it was finished, though not -published before he was known to fame. - -It is impossible to contemplate the flight of Shakspeare from -his family and native town, without pausing to reflect upon the -consequences which followed that event; consequences most singularly -propitious, not only to the intellectual character of his country in -particular, but to the excitation and progress of genius throughout the -world. Had not poverty and prosecution united in driving Shakspeare -from his humble occupation in Warwickshire, how many matchless lessons -of wisdom and morality, how many unparalleled displays of wit and -imagination, of pathos and sublimity, had been buried in oblivion; -pictures of emotion, of character, of passion, more profound than mere -philosophy had ever conceived, more impressive than poetry had ever -yet embodied; strains which shall now sound through distant posterity -with increasing energy and interest, and which shall powerfully and -beneficially continue to influence and to mould both national and -individual feeling. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[402:A] Fuller's Worthies, part iii. p. 132. The Luce or Pike is very -abundant in this part of the Avon, and there may still be seen in the -kitchen of Charlecot-house, the representation of a pike, weighing -forty pounds, a native of this stream, and caught in the year 1640. - -[403:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 42, 43. Act ii. sc. 1. - -[403:B] Ireland's Views on the Avon, p. 154. - -[404:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 128. note 1. - -[405:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 62. note. - -[405:B] Ibid. p. 62. - -[405:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 63. - -[406:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 63. - -[406:B] Ibid. vol. xiii. p. 127. Act iv. sc. 2. - -[406:C] Ibid. vol. xi. p. 426. Act v. sc. 4. - -[407:A] Whiter's Specimen of a Commentary on Shakspeare, p. 94, 95. - -[407:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 62. - -[407:C] Ibid. - -[409:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 7. et seq. - -[410:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 63. - -[410:B] Chalmers's Apology, p. 47, 48. - -[411:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 61. - -[412:A] Vide Dedication of the Poem to the Earl of Southampton. - - - - -PART II. - -_SHAKSPEARE IN LONDON._ - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - SHAKSPEARE'S ARRIVAL IN LONDON ABOUT THE YEAR 1586, WHEN - TWENTY-TWO YEARS OF AGE—LEAVES HIS FAMILY AT STRATFORD, - VISITING THEM OCCASIONALLY—HIS INTRODUCTION TO THE STAGE—HIS - MERITS AS AN ACTOR. - - -No era in the annals of Literary History ever perhaps occurred -of greater importance, than that which witnessed the entrance of -Shakspeare into the metropolis of his native country; a position -which will readily be granted, if we consider the total revolution -which this event produced in the Literature of the Stage, and the -vast influence which, through the medium of the most popular branch -of our poetry, it has subsequently exerted on the minds, manners, -and taste of our countrymen. Friendless, persecuted, poor, about the -early age of twenty-two, was the greatest poet which the world has -ever seen, compelled to desert his home, his wife, his children, to -seek employment from the hands of strangers. Rich, however, in talent, -beyond all the sons of men, blessed with a cheerful disposition, an -active mind, and a heart conscious of integrity, soon did the clouds -which overspread his youth break away, and unveil a character which has -ever since been the delight, the pride, the boast of England. - -We have assigned some strong reasons, at the close of the last chapter, -for placing the epoch of Shakspeare's arrival in London, about 1586 or -1587; and we shall now bring forward some presumptive proofs that he -not only left his wife and family at Stratford on his first visit to -the capital, but that his native town continued to be their settled -residence during his life. - -Mr. Rowe has affirmed upon a tradition which we have no claim to -dispute, that he "was obliged to _leave_ his _family_ for some -time;" a fact in the highest degree probable from the causes which -led to his removal; for it is not to be supposed, situated as he -then was, that he would be willing to render his wife and children -the companions and partakers of the disasters and disappointments -which it was probable he had to encounter. Tradition further says, -as preserved in the manuscripts of Aubrey, that "he was wont to go -to his native country once a yeare[414:A];" and Mr. Oldys, in his -collections for a life of our author, repeats this report with an -additional circumstance, remarking, "if tradition may be trusted, -Shakspeare often baited at the Crown Inn or Tavern in Oxford, in his -journey to and from London."[414:B] It is true that these traditions, -if insulated from other circumstances, might merely prove that he -visited the place of his birth annually, without necessarily inferring -that his family was also resident there; but if we consult the -parish-register of Stratford, their testimony will indeed be strong, -and powerfully confirm the deduction; for it appears on that record -that, merely including his children, there is a succession of baptisms, -marriages, and deaths in his family at Stratford, from the year 1583 -to 1616.[414:C] This evidence, so satisfactory in itself, will be -strengthened when we recollect that the poet in his mortgage, dated -the 10th of March, 1612-13, is described as William Shakspeare of -_Stratford-upon-Avon_, gentleman; and that by his contemporaries he -was frequently stiled the _Sweet Swan of Avon_, designations which, -when combined with the testimony already adduced, must be considered as -implying the family-residence of the poet.[415:A] - -It was this concatenation of circumstances which induced Mr. Chalmers, -than whom a more indefatigable enquirer with regard to our author has -not existed, to conclude that Shakspeare had no "fixed residence in -the metropolis," nor "ever considered London, as his home[415:B];" but -had "resolved that his wife and family should remain through life" -at Stratford, "though he himself made frequent excursions to London, -the scene of his profit, and the theatre of his fame[415:C];" adding, -in a note, that the evidence from the parish-register of Stratford -had compelled even _scepticism_ to admit his position to be _very -probable_.[415:D] - -While discussing this subject in his first Apology, he has introduced -a novel and most curious fact, for the purpose of guarding the -reader against an apparently opposing, but too hasty inference. "If -documents," he observes, "be produced to prove, that _one_ Shakspeare, -a player, resided in St. Saviour's parish, Southwark, at the end of the -sixteenth, or the beginning of the seventeenth, century, this evidence -will not be conclusive proof of the settled residence of Shakspeare: -For, it is a fact, as new, as it is curious, that his brother Edmond, -who was baptized on the 3d of May, 1580, became a _player_ at _the -Globe_; lived in St. Saviour's; and was buried in _the church_ of -that parish: the entry in the register being without a blur; '1607 -December 31, (was buried) _Edmond Shakespeare_, a _player_, in the -church;' there can be no dispute about the date, or the name, or the -_profession_. It is remarkable, that the parish-clerk, who scarcely -ever mentions any other distinction of the deceased, than a _man_, or a -_woman_, should, by I know not what inspiration, have recorded Edmond -Shakespeare, as a _player_. There were, consequently, two Shakspeares -on the stage, during the same period; as there were two Burbadges, who -were also brothers, and who acted on the same theatre."[416:A] - -Upon the whole, we may with considerable confidence and safety -conclude, that the _family-residence_ of Shakspeare was _always_ at -Stratford; that he himself originally went _alone_ to London, and -that he spent the greater part of every year there _alone_, annually, -however, and probably for some months, returning to the bosom of his -family, and that this alternation continued until he finally left the -capital. - -Having disposed of this question, another, even still more doubtful, -immediately follows, with regard to the employment and mode of life -which the poet was compelled to adopt on reaching the metropolis. Mr. -Rowe, recording the consequences of the prosecution in Warwickshire, -observes,—"It is at _this time_, and upon _this accident_, that he -is said to have made his _first acquaintance in the play-house_. He -was received into the company then in being, at first in a _very mean -rank_."[416:B] - -From this passage we may in the first place infer, that Shakspeare -_immediately_ on his arrival in town, applied to the theatre for -support; an expedient to which there is reason to suppose he was -induced, by a previous connection or acquaintance with one or more of -the performers. It appears, indeed, from the researches of Mr. Malone, -that the probability of his being known, even while at Stratford, -to Heminge, Burbadge, and Thomas Greene, all of them celebrated -comedians of their day, is very considerable. "I suspect," remarks -this acute commentator, "that both he (namely, John Heminge,) and -Burbadge were Shakspeare's countrymen, and that Heminge was born at -Shottery, a village in Warwickshire, at a very small distance from -Stratford-upon-Avon; where Shakspeare found his wife. I find two -families of this name settled in that town early in the reign of Queen -Elizabeth. Elizabeth, the daughter of _John Heming_ of Shottery, was -baptized at Stratford-upon-Avon, March 12. 1567. This John might have -been the father of the actor, though I have found no entry relative -to his baptism: for he was probably born before the year 1558, when -the Register commenced. In the village of Shottery also lived _Richard -Hemyng_, who had a son christened by the name of John, March 7. 1570. -Of the Burbadge family the only notice I have found, is, an entry in -the Register of the parish of Stratford, October 12. 1565, on which -day Philip Green was married in that town to Ursula _Burbadge_, who -might have been sister to James Burbadge, the father of the actor, -whose marriage I suppose to have taken place about that time. If this -conjecture be well founded, our poet, we see, had an easy introduction -to the theatre."[417:A] - -The same remark which concludes this paragraph is repeated by the -commentator when speaking of _Thomas Greene_, whom he terms, a -_celebrated comedian_, the _townsman_ of Shakspeare, and perhaps -his _relation_.[417:B] The celebrity of Greene as an actor is fully -ascertained by an address to the reader, prefixed by Thomas Heywood -to his edition of John Cook's _Greens Tu Quoque; or, The City -Gallant_; "as for Maister Greene," says Heywood, "all that I will -speak of him (and that without flattery) is this (if I were worthy -to censure) there was not an actor of his nature, in his time, of -better ability in performance of what he undertook, more applauded -by the audience, of greater grace at the court, or of more general -love in the city[418:A];" but the townsmanship and affinity rest only -on the inference to be drawn from an entry in the parish-register of -Stratford, and from some lines quoted by Chetwood from the comedy of -the _Two Maids of Moreclack_, which represent Greene speaking in the -character of a clown, and declaring - - "I pratled poesie in my nurse's arms, - And, born, where late our swan of Avon sung, - In Avon's streams we both of us have lav'd, - And both came out together."[418:B] - -As these lines are not, however, in the play from which they are -pretended to have been taken; as they appear to be a parody on a -passage in Milton's Lycidas, and as Chetwood has been detected in -falsifying and forging many of his dates, little credit can be attached -to their evidence, and we must solely depend upon the import of the -register, which records that _Thomas Greene, ALIAS SHAKSPERE, was -buried there, March 6th, 1589_.[418:C] If this Thomas were the father -of the actor, and the probability of this being the case cannot be -denied, and may even have led to the attempted imposition of Chetwood, -the affinity, as well as the townsmanship, will be established.[418:D] - -It seems, therefore, neither rash nor inconsequent to believe, -in failure of more direct evidence, that the channel through -which Shakspeare, immediately on his arrival in town, procured an -introduction to the stage, was first opened by his relationship to -Greene, who possessing, as we have seen, great merit and influence -as an actor, could easily insure him a connection at the theatre, -and would naturally recommend him to his countryman Heminge, who was -then about thirty years of age, and had already acquired considerable -reputation as a performer.[418:E] - -Mr. Rowe's _second_ assertion that he was received into the company, -then in being, at first in a _very mean rank_, has given rise to some -reports relative to the nature of his early employment at the theatre, -which are equally inconsistent and degrading. It has been related -that his first office was that of _Call-boy_, or attendant on the -prompter, and that his business was to give notice to the performers -when their different entries on the stage were required.[419:A] -Another tradition, which places him in a still meaner occupation, -is said to have been transmitted through the medium of Sir William -Davenant to Mr. Betterton, who communicated it to Mr. Rowe, and this -gentleman to Mr. Pope, by whom, according to Dr. Johnson, it was -related in the following terms:—"In the time of Elizabeth, coaches -being yet uncommon, and hired coaches not at all in use, those who -were too proud, too tender, or too idle to walk, went on horseback -to any distant business or diversion. Many came on horseback to the -play, and when Shakspeare fled to London from the terror of a criminal -prosecution, his first expedient was to wait at the door of the -play-house, and hold the horses of those that had no servants, that -they might be ready again after the performance. In this office he -became so conspicuous for his care and readiness, that in a short time -every man as he alighted called for Will. Shakspeare, and scarcely any -other waiter was trusted with a horse while Will. Shakspeare could be -had. This was the first dawn of better fortune. Shakspeare, finding -more horses put into his hand than he could hold, hired boys to wait -under his inspection, who, when Will. Shakspeare was summoned, were -immediately to present themselves, _I am Shakspeare's boy, Sir_. In -time, Shakspeare found higher employment: but as long as the practice -of riding to the playhouse continued, the waiters that held the horses -retained the appellation of _Shakspeare's boys_."[419:B] - -Of this curious anecdote it should not be forgotten, that it made -its _first_ appearance in Cibber's Lives of the Poets[419:C]; and -that if it were known to Mr. Rowe, it is evident he thought it so -little entitled to credit that he chose not to risque its insertion -in his life of the poet. In short, if we reflect for a moment that -Shakspeare, though he fled from Stratford to avoid the severity of a -prosecution, could not be destitute either of money or friends, as the -necessity for that flight was occasioned by an imprudent ebullition -of wit, and not by any serious delinquency; that the father of his -wife was a yeoman both of respectability and property; that his own -parent, though impoverished, was still in business; and that he had, in -all likelihood, a ready admission to the stage through the influence -of persons of leading weight in its concerns; we cannot, without -doing the utmost violence to probability, conceive that, under these -circumstances, and in the twenty-third year of his age, he would submit -to the degrading employment of either a _horse-holder_ at the door of a -theatre, or of a _call-boy_ within its walls. - -Setting aside, therefore, these idle tales, we may reasonably conclude -that by the phrase _a very mean rank_, Mr. Rowe meant to imply, that -his first engagement as an _actor_ was in the performance of characters -of the lowest class. That his fellow-comedians were ushered into the -dramatic world in a similar way, and rose to higher occupancy by -gradation, the history of the stage will sufficiently prove: Richard -Burbadge, for instance, who began his career nearly at the same time -with our author, and who subsequently became the greatest tragedian -of his age, had, in the year 1589, appeared in no character more -important than that of _a Messenger_.[420:A] If this were the case with -a performer of such acknowledged merit, we may readily acquiesce in the -supposition that the parts first given to Shakspeare were equally as -insignificant; and as readily allow that an actor thus circumstanced -might very properly be said to have been admitted into the company _at -first in a very mean rank_. - -As Shakspeare's _immediate_ employment, therefore, on his arrival in -town, appears to have been that of an _actor_, it cannot be deemed -irrelevant if we should here enquire into his merits and success in -this department. - -Two traditions, of a contradictory complexion, have reached us relative -to Shakspeare's powers as an actor; one on the authority of Mr. Aubrey, -and the other on that of Mr. Rowe. In the manuscript papers of the -first of these gentlemen, we are told that our author, "being inclined -naturally to poetry and acting, came to London,—and was an actor at -one of the play-houses, and _did act exceedingly well_[421:A];" but, in -the life of the poet by the second, it is added, after mentioning his -admission to the theatre in an inferior rank, that "his admirable wit, -and the natural turn of it to the stage, soon distinguished him, _if -not as an extraordinary actor_, yet as an excellent writer. His name is -printed, as the custom was in those times, amongst those of the other -players, before some old plays, but without any particular account of -what sort of parts he used to play; and though I have enquired, I could -never meet with any further account of him this way, than _that the top -of his performance was the Ghost in his own Hamlet_."[421:B] - -Of descriptions thus opposed, a preference only can be given as founded -on other evidence; and it happens that subsequent enquiry has enabled -us to consider Mr. Aubrey's account as approximating nearest to the -truth. - -Contemporary authority, it is evident, would decide the question, and -happily the researches of Mr. Malone have furnished us with a testimony -of this kind. In the year 1592, Henry Chettle, a dramatic writer, -published a posthumous work of Robert Greene's, under the title of -"Greene's Groatsworth of Wit, bought with a Million of Repentance," -in which the author speaks harshly of Marlowe, and still more so of -Shakspeare, who was then rising into fame. Both these poets were -justly offended, and Chettle, who was of course implicated in their -displeasure, printed, in the December of the same year, a pamphlet, -entitled _Kind Harts Dreame_, to which is prefixed an address _to -the Gentlemen Readers_, apologizing, in the following terms, for the -offence which he had given: - -"About three months since died M. Robert Greene, leaving many papers -in sundry booksellers' hands, among others his _Groatsworth of Wit_, -in which a letter written to divers play-makers is offensively by -one or two of them taken; and because on the dead they cannot be -re-avenged, they wilfully forge in their conceites a living author: and -after tossing it to and fro, no remedy but it must light on me. How I -have, all the time of my conversing in printing, hindered the bitter -inveighing against schollers, it hath been very well known; and how in -that I dealt, I can sufficiently prove. With _neither_ of them that -take offence was I acquainted, and with one of them ('Marlowe') I care -not if I never be. The other ('Shakspeare'), whom at that time I did -not so much spare, as since I wish I had, for that as I have moderated -the hate of living writers, and might have used my own discretion, -(especially in such a case, the author being dead,) that I did not, -I am as sorry as if the original fault had been my fault; because -_myselfe have seene his demeanour no less civil than he EXCELLENT IN -THE QUALITIE HE PROFESSES. Besides, divers of worship have reported his -uprightness of dealing, which argues his honestie, and his facetious -grace in writing, that approves his art._ For the first, whose learning -I reverence, and at the perusing of Greene's booke, strooke out what -then in conscience I thought he in some displeasure writ; or had it -been true, yet to publish it was intollerable; him I would wish to use -me no worse than I deserve."[422:A] - -This curious passage clearly evinces that our author was deemed -EXCELLENT as an actor, (for the phrase _the qualitie he professes_ -peculiarly denoted at that time the profession of a player,) in the -year 1592, only five or six years, at most, after he had entered on -the stage; and consequently that the information which Aubrey had -received was correct, while that obtained by Rowe must be considered as -unfounded. - -So well instructed, indeed, was Shakspeare in the duties and qualities -of an _actor_, that it appears from Downes' book, entitled _Roscius -Anglicanus_, that he undertook to teach and perfect John Lowin in the -character of King Henry the Eighth, and Joseph Taylor in that of Hamlet. - -Of his competency for this task, several parts of his dramatic works -might be brought forward as sufficient proof. Independent of his -celebrated instructions to the player in Hamlet, which would alone -ascertain his intimate knowledge of the histrionic art, his conception -of the powers necessary to form the accomplished tragedian, may be -drawn from part of a dialogue which occurs between _Richard the Third_ -and _Buckingham_:— - - "_Glo._ Come, cousin, _can'st thou quake and change thy colour? - Murther thy breath in middle of a word? - And then again begin, and stop again, - As if thou wert distraught, and mad with terror?_ - - _Buck._ Tut, I can counterfeit the _deep tragedian_; - Speak, and look big, and _pry on every side, - Tremble and start at wagging of a straw, - Intending deep suspicion: ghastly looks - Are at my service, like enforced smiles_."[423:A] - -It would be highly interesting to be able to point out what were the -characters which Shakspeare performed, either in his own plays, or -in those of other writers; but the information which we have on this -subject is, unfortunately, very scanty. Mr. Rowe has mentioned, as the -sole result of his enquiries, that the _Ghost_ in _Hamlet_ was his -_chef d'oeuvre_. That this part, however, in the opinion of the poet, -required some skill and management in the execution, is evident from -the expressions attributed to Hamlet, who exclaims, on the appearance -of the Royal spectre, during the interview between himself and his -mother,— - - —————— "Look you how pale he glares! - His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones, - Would make them capable. Do not _look upon me_, - Lest with _this piteous action_, you convert - My stern effects;"[424:A] - -a description, which, there is reason to suppose, the author would -not have ventured to introduce, unless he had been conscious of the -possession of powers capable of doing justice to his own delineation. - -Another tradition, preserved by Mr. Oldys, and communicated to him, -as Mr. Malone thinks[424:B], by Mr. Thomas Jones of Tarbick, in -Worcestershire, whom we have formerly mentioned, imports, as corrected -by the commentator just mentioned, that a _relation_ of the poet's, -then in advanced age, but who in his youth had been in the habit of -visiting London for the purpose of seeing him act in some of his own -plays, told Mr. Jones[424:C], that he had a faint recollection "of -having once seen him act a part in one of his own comedies, wherein -being to personate a decrepit old man, he wore a long beard, and -appeared so weak and drooping and unable to walk, that he was forced -to be supported and carried by another person to a table, at which he -was seated among some company, who were eating, and one of them sung -a song."[424:D] That this part was the character of _Adam_, in _As -You Like It_, there can be no doubt, and if we add, that, from the -arrangement of the names of the actors and of the persons of the drama, -prefixed to Ben Jonson's play of _Every Man in his Humour_, first acted -in 1598, there is reason to imagine that he performed the part of Old -Knowell in that comedy, we may be warranted probably in drawing the -conclusion, that the representation of aged characters was peculiarly -his forte. - -It appears also, from the first four lines of a small poem, written -by John Davies, about the year 1611, and inscribed, _To our English -Terence, Mr. William Shakespeare_, that our bard had been accustomed to -perform _kingly parts_; - - "Some say, good Will, which I in sport do sing, - Hadst thou not play'd some _kingly parts_ in sport, - Thou hadst been a companion for a king, - And been a king among the meaner sort;"[425:A] - -a passage which leads us to infer, that several of the regal characters -in his own plays, perhaps the parts of King Henry the Eighth, King -Henry the Sixth, and King Henry the Fourth, may have been appropriated -to him, as adapted to the general estimate of his powers in acting. - -From the notices thus collected, it will be perceived, that Shakspeare -attempted not the performance of characters of the first rank; but -that in the representation of those of a second-rate order, to which -he modestly confined his exertions, he was deemed _excellent_. We -have just grounds also for concluding that of the _theory_ of acting -in its very highest departments, he was a complete master; and though -not competent to carry his own precepts into perfect execution, he -was a consummate judge of the attainments and deficiencies of his -fellow-comedians, and was accordingly employed to instruct them in his -own conception of the parts which they were destined to perform. - -It may be considered, indeed, as a most fortunate circumstance for the -lovers of dramatic poetry, that our author, in point of execution, -did not attain to the loftiest summit of his profession. He would, in -that case, it is very probable, have either sate down content with the -high reputation accruing to him from this source, or would have found -little time for the labours of composition, and consequently we should -have been in a great degree, if not altogether, deprived of what now -constitute the noblest efforts of human genius. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[414:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 214. - -[414:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 124.—Antony Wood, it appears, -was the original author of this anecdote, for he tells us in his -Athenæ, that John Davenant, who kept the Crown, was "an admirer and -lover of plays and play-makers, especially Shakspeare, _who frequented -his house in his journies between Warwickshire and London_." Ath. Oxon. -vol. ii. p. 292. - -[414:C] The Register informs us,— - -1st. That his daughter Susanna was baptized there on the 26th May 1583. - -2d. That Hamnet and Judith, his twin-son and daughter, were baptized -there the 2d of February 1584. - -3d. That his son Hamnet was buried there, on the 11th of August 1596. - -4th. That his daughter Susanna was there married to John Hall, on the -5th of June 1607. - -5th. That his daughter Judith was there married to Thomas Queeny, on -the 10th of February 1615/16.—Vide Chalmers's Apology, p. 247. - -[415:A] Ben Jonson, in his Poem to the Memory of Shakspeare, calls him -"Sweet Swan of Avon;" and Joseph Taylor, who represented the part of -Hamlet in 1596, in the Dedication which he and his fellow-players wrote -for Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, in 1647, speaks of "the flowing -compositions of the then expired _sweet swan of Avon_, Shakspeare." - -[415:B] Chalmers's Apology, p. 247. - -[415:C] Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. 227. - -[415:D] Ibid. p. 227. note _d_. - -[416:A] Chalmers's Apology, p. 423. note _a_. - -[416:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 63. - -[417:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 233. - -[417:B] Ibid. vol. ii. p. 230. - -[418:A] Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 539. - -[418:B] British Theatre, p. 9. - -[418:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 230. note 1. - -[418:D] Vide Malone's Inquiry, p. 94. - -[418:E] Mr. Chalmers, speaking of Heminges, says—"There is reason to -believe, that he was, originally, a _Warwickshire lad_; a shire, which -has produced so many players and poets; the Burbadges; the Shakspeares; -the Greens; and the Harts." Apology, p. 435, 436. - -[419:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 63. note 2. - -[419:B] Ibid. p. 120. - -[419:C] Lives of the Poets, vol. i. p. 130. - -[420:A] Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. 158. note _n_. - -[421:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 213. - -[421:B] Ibid. vol. i. p. 64. - -[422:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 237, 238. - -[423:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xiv. p. 403, 404. Act iii. sc. 5. - -[424:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 249, 250. Act iii. sc. 4. - -[424:B] Ibid. vol. i. p. 128. note 1. - -[424:C] "Mr. Jones's informer," observes Mr. Malone, "might have been -Mr. Richard Quincy, who lived in London, and died at Stratford in 1656, -at the age of 69; or Mr. Thomas Quincy, our poet's son-in-law, who -lived, I believe, till 1663, and was twenty-seven years old when his -father-in-law died; or some one of the family of Hathaway. Mr. Thomas -Hathaway, I believe Shakspeare's brother-in-law, died at Stratford in -1654-5, at the age of 85."—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 128. note 1. - -[424:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 129, 130. - -[425:A] The Scourge of Folly, by John Davies of Hereford, no date. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - SHAKSPEARE COMMENCES A WRITER OF POETRY, PROBABLY ABOUT - THE YEAR 1587, BY THE COMPOSITION OF HIS VENUS AND - ADONIS—HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF POLITE LITERATURE DURING THE AGE - OF SHAKSPEARE. - - -As the first object of Shakspeare must necessarily have been, from the -confined nature of his circumstances, to procure employment, it is -highly reasonable to conclude that he at first contented himself with -the diligent discharge of those duties which fell to his share as an -actor of inferior rank. That these, however, were calculated to absorb, -for any length of time, a mind so active, ample, and creative, cannot -for a moment be credited; and, indeed, we are warranted, by every fair -inference, to assert, that, no sooner did he consider his situation at -the theatre of Blackfriars as tolerably secured, than he immediately -directed his powers to the cultivation of his favourite art—that of -poetry. - -Of his inclination to this elegant branch of literature, we have -an early proof, in the mode of retaliation which he adopted, in -consequence of his prosecution by Sir Thomas Lucy; and that the Venus -and Adonis, "the first heir of his invention," as he terms it, was -commenced, not long subsequent to this period, and shortly after his -arrival in town, a little enquiry will induce us to consider as an -almost established fact. - -It has, indeed, been surmised, by a very intelligent critic, that -this poem may have been written while its author "felt the powerful -incentive of love," and consequently "before he had sallied from -Stratford;" "certainly," he adds, "before he was known to [426:A]fame." -The first suggestion we may dismiss as a _mere_ supposition; the second -must be acknowledged as founded on truth. - -All the commentators agree in fixing on the year 1591, as the -LATEST period for our author's commencement as a _dramatic poet_: for -this obvious reason, that both Greene and Chettle have mentioned him as -a writer of plays in 1592, and in such a manner, likewise, as proves -that he was _even then_ possessed of some degree of _notoriety_, the -latter mentioning his "_facetious grace in writing_," and the former, -after calling him, "_an upstart crow beautified with our feathers_," -and parodying a line from the Third Part of King Henry VI., concludes -by telling us, that he "_is in his own conceit the only SHAKE-SCENE -in the country_;" circumstances which have naturally induced the most -sagacious critics on our bard to infer, that, thus early to have -excited so much envy as this railing accusation evinces, he must -without doubt have been a corrector and improver of plays anterior to -1590, and very probably in 1589. - -Now, though the first edition of the Venus and Adonis was not -_published_ until 1593, yet the author's positive declaration, that it -was "_the first heir of his invention_," necessarily implies that its -_composition_ had taken place prior to any poetical attempts for the -stage; and as we have seen, that his arrival in town could not have -occurred before 1586; that he was then immediately employed as an actor -in a very inferior rank; and that his earliest efforts as a dramatic -poet may be attributed to the year 1589 or 1590, it will follow, as a -legitimate deduction, if we allow the space of a twelvemonth for his -settlement at the theatre, that the composition of this poem, "the -first heir of his invention," must be given to the interval elapsing -between the years 1587 and 1590, a period not too extended, the nature -of his other engagements being considered, for the completion of a poem -very nearly amounting to twelve hundred lines. - -Having thus conducted Shakspeare to his entrance on the career of -authorship and fame, it will now be necessary, in conformity with our -plan, to take a general and cursory survey of LITERATURE, as it -existed in the reigns of Elizabeth and James. The remainder of this -chapter will therefore be devoted to a broad outline on this subject, -reserving, however, the topics of Romance and Miscellaneous Poetry, -for distinct and immediately subsequent consideration, as these will -form an apposite prelude to an estimate of the patronage which our -author enjoyed, to a critique on his poems, and to critical notices -of contemporary _miscellaneous_ poets, enquiries which, while they -embrace, in one view, the merits of Shakspeare as a _miscellaneous_ -poet, are, at the same time, in their preliminary and collateral -branches, in some degree preparatory to his introduction as a -_dramatic_ writer; preparatory also to a sketch of the manners, -customs, and diversions of the metropolis, during his age, and to a -discussion of his transcendent powers as the bard of fancy and of -nature. - -The literary period of which we are proceeding to give a slight -sketch, may be justly considered as the most splendid in our annals; -for in what equal portion of our history can we bring forward three -such mighty names as _Spenser_, _Bacon_, and _Shakspeare_, each, in -their respective departments, remaining without a rival. As the field, -however, is so ample that even to do justice to an outline will require -much attention to arrangement, it will be necessary to distribute -what we have to offer, in this stage of our work, under the heads of -_Bibliography_, _Philology_, _Criticism_, _History_, General, Local, -and Personal, and _Miscellaneous Literature_; premising that as we -confine ourselves, in the strictest sense, to _elegant_ literature, -or what has been termed the _Belles Lettres_, science, theology, and -politics, will, of course, be excluded. - -Literature, which had for some centuries been confined to ecclesiastics -and scholars by profession, was, at the commencement of Elizabeth's -reign, thrown open to the higher classes of general society. The -example was given by the Queen herself; and the nobility, the superior -orders of the gentry, and even their wives and daughters, became -enthusiasts in the cause of letters. The novelty which attended these -studies, the eager desire to possess what had been so long studiously -and jealously concealed, and the curiosity to explore and rifle the -treasures of the Greek and Roman world, which mystery and imagination -had swelled into the marvellous, contributed to excite an absolute -passion for study, and for books. The court, the ducal castle, and -the baronial hall, were suddenly converted into academies, and could -boast of splendid libraries, as well as of splendid tapestries. In the -first of these, according to Ascham, might be seen the Queen reading -"more _Greeke_ every day, than some prebendarie of this church doth -read _Latin_ in a whole week[429:A]," and while she was translating -Isocrates or Seneca, it may be easily conceived that her maids of -honour found it convenient to praise and to adopt the disposition of -her time. In the second, observes Warton, the daughter of a duchess was -taught not only to distil strong waters, but to construe Greek[429:B]; -and in the third, every young lady who aspired to be fashionable was -compelled, in imitation of the greater world, to exhibit similar marks -of erudition. - -If such were the studious manners of the ladies, it will readily be -credited, that an equal, if not a greater attachment to literature -existed in the other sex; in short, an intimacy with Greek, Latin, -and Italian, was deemed essential to the character of the nobleman -and the courtier; and learning was thus rendered a passport to -promotion and rank. That this is not an exaggerated statement, but -founded on contemporary authority, will be evident from a passage -in Harrison's Description of England, where, after delineating the -court, he adds,—"This further is not to be omitted, to the singular -commendation of both sorts and sexes of our courtiers here in England, -that there are verie few of them, which have not the use and skill -of sundrie speaches, beside an excellent veine of writing before -time not regarded.—Trulie it is a rare thing with us now, to heare -of a courtier which hath but his owne language. And to saie how many -gentlewomen and ladies there are, that beside sound knowledge of the -Greeke and Latine toongs, are thereto no lesse skilfull in the Spanish, -Italian, and French, or in some one of them, it resteth not in me: -sith I am persuaded, that as the noblemen and gentlemen do surmount -in this behalfe, so these come verie little or nothing at all behind -them for their parts, which industrie God continue, and accomplish -that which otherwise is wanting!" Again, a few lines below, he remarks -of the ladies of the court, that some of them employ themselves "in -continuall reading either of the holie scriptures, or histories of our -owne or forren nations about us, and diverse in writing volumes of -their owne, or translating of other mens into our English and Latine -toongs[430:A];" employments which now appear to us very extraordinary -as the daily occupations of a court, but were, then, the natural result -of that ardent love of letters, which had somewhat suddenly been -diffused through the higher classes. - -Were we, however, to conclude, that the same erudite taste pervaded the -bulk of the people, or even the middle orders of society, we should -be grossly mistaken. Literature, though cultivated with enthusiasm in -the metropolis, was confined even there to persons of high rank, or to -those who were subservient to their education and amusement. In the -country, to read and write were still esteemed rare accomplishments, -and among the rural gentry of not the first degree, little difference, -in point of literary information, was perceptible between the master -and his menial attendant. Of this several of the plays of Shakspeare -and Jonson will afford evidence, especially the comedies of the _Merry -Wives of Windsor_, and _Every Man in his Humour_, to which a striking -proof may be added from Burton, who wrote just at the close of the -Shaksperian [430:B]period; and, in treating of study, as a cause of -melancholy, says, "I may not deny, but that we have a sprinkling of -our Gentry, here, and there one, excellently well learned;—but they -are but few in respect of the multitude, the major part (and some -again excepted, that are indifferent) are wholly bent for Hawks and -Hounds, and carried away many times with intemperate lust, gaming, and -drinking. If they read a book at any time, 'tis an English Chronicle, -Sir Huon of Bordeaux, Amadis de Gaul, &c. a play-book, or some pamphlet -of News, and that at such seasons only, when they cannot stir abroad, -to drive away time, their sole discourse is dogs, hawks, horses, and -what News? If some one have been a traveller in Italy, or as far as the -Emperour's Court, wintered in Orleance, and can court his mistris in -broken French, wear his clothes neatly in the newest fashion, sing some -choice out-landish tunes, discourse of lords, ladies, towns, palaces, -and cities, he is compleat and to be admired: otherwise he and they -are much at one; _no difference betwixt the master and the man_, but -worshipful titles: wink and choose betwixt him that sits down (clothes -excepted) and him that holds the trencher behind him."[431:A] - -It is to the court, therefore, and its attendants, to the nobility, -higher gentry, and their preceptors, that we are to look for that -ardent love of books and learning which so remarkably distinguished -the reigns of Elizabeth and James, and which was destined, in another -century, to descend into, and illuminate the larger masses of our -population. Nothing, indeed, can more forcibly paint Elizabeth's -passion for books and learning, than a passage in Harrison's unadorned -but faithful description of her court:—"Finallie," says that -interesting pourtrayer of ancient manners, "to avoid idlenesse, and -prevent sundrie transgressions, otherwise likelie to be committed and -doone, such order is taken, that everie office hath either a bible, or -the booke of the acts and monuments of the church of England, or both, -beside some histories and chronicles lieing therein, for the exercise -of such as come into the same: _whereby the stranger that entereth into -the court of England upon the sudden, shall rather imagine himselfe to -come into some publike schoole of the universities, where manie give -eare to one that readeth, than into a princes palace, if you conferre -the same with those of other nations_. Would to God all honorable -personages would take example of hir graces godlie dealing in this -behalfe, and shew their conformitie unto these hir so good beginnings! -which if they would, then should manie grievous offenses (wherewith -God is highlie displeased) be cut off and restrained, which now doo -reigne exceedinglie, in most noble and gentlemen's houses, whereof -they see no paterne within hir graces gates."[432:A] Well might Mr. -Dibdin apostrophize this learned Queen in the following picturesque -and characteristic terms:—"All hail to the sovereign, who, bred up -in severe habits of reading and meditation, loved books and scholars -to the very bottom of her heart! I consider ELIZABETH as a royal -bibliomaniac of transcendant fame!—I see her, in imagination, wearing -her favorite little _Volume of Prayers_[432:B], the composition of -Queen Catharine Parr, and Lady Tirwit, 'bound in solid gold, and -hanging by a gold chain at her side,' at her morning and evening -devotions—afterwards, as she became firmly seated upon her throne, -taking an interest in the embellishments of the _Prayer Book_[432:C], -which goes under her own name; and then indulging her strong -bibliomaniacal appetites in fostering the institution for the erecting -of _a Library, and an Academy for the study of Antiquities and -History_."[432:D] - -The example of Elizabeth, whose taste for books had been fostered -under the tuition of Ascham, was speedily followed by some of the first -characters in the kingdom; but by none with more ardent zeal then by -Archbishop Parker, who was such an indefatigable admirer and collector -of curious and precious books, and of every thing that appertained -to them, that, according to Strype, he kept constantly in his house -"drawers of pictures, wood-cutters, painters, limners, writers, and -book-binders,—one of these was _Lylye_, an excellent writer, that -could counterfeit any antique writing. Him the archbishop customarily -used to make old books compleat."[433:A] No expense, in short, was -spared, by this amiable and accomplished divine, in procuring the most -rare and valuable articles; his library was daily increased through -the medium of numerous agents, whom he employed, both at home and -abroad, and among these was Batman the author of the _Doome_ and the -commentator _uppon Bartholome_, who, we are told, purchased for him not -less than 6700 books "in the space of no more than four years."[433:B] - -To Parker succeeded the still more celebrated names of _Sir Robert -Cotton_ and _Sir Thomas Bodley_, men to whom the nation is indebted -for two of the most extensive and valuable of its public libraries. -The enthusiasm which animated these illustrious characters in their -bibliographical researches is almost incredible, and what gives an -imperishable interest to their biography is, that their morals were as -pure as their literary zeal was glowing. - -Sir Thomas Bodley was singularly fortunate in the selection of _Dr. -Thomas James_ for the keeper of his library, whom Camden terms _vir -eruditus, et vere_ φιλόβιβλος[433:C], and of whom Fuller says, that -"on serious consideration one will conclude the Library made for _him_, -and _him_ for it, like _tallies_ they so fitted one another. Some men -live like mothes in libraries, not being better for the books, but the -books the worse for them, which they only soile with their fingers. Not -so Dr. James, who made use of books for his own and the publique good. -He knew the age of a manuscript, by looking upon the face thereof, and -by the form of the character could conclude the time wherein it was -written."[434:A] - -Among the lovers and collectors of curious books, during the reign of -Elizabeth, may be mentioned Dr. JOHN DEE, notorious for his magical and -astrological lore, and who, according to his own account, possessed a -library of "four thousand volumes, printed and unprinted, bound and -unbound, valued at 2000_l._," beside numerous boxes and cases of very -rare evidences Irish and Welsh[434:B]; and _Captain Cox of Coventry_, -whose boudoir of romances and ballads we shall have occasion to notice, -at some length, in the succeeding chapter. - -It is remarkable that the two sovereigns included in the era of -Shakspeare, should have felt an equally unbounded inclination to study -and to books. So attached was James to bibliothecal delights, that -when he visited the Bodleian Library in 1605, he is said by Burton -to have exclaimed on his departure, "_if it were so that I must be a -prisoner, if I might have my wish, I would desire to have no other -prison than this library, and to be chained together with so many -good authors_."[434:C] Burton himself was one of the most inveterate -bibliomaniacs of his day; Hearne tells us that he was a collector of -"ancient popular little pieces," which, together with a multitude of -books of the best kind, he gave to the Bodleian Library.[434:D] In the -preface to his curious folio, he speaks of his eyes aking with reading, -and his fingers with turning the leaves[434:E]; and in the body of -his work, under the article of study, he expatiates, in the highest -strain of enthusiasm, on the luxury of possessing numerous books: "we -have thousands of authors of all sorts," he observes; "many great -libraries full well furnished, like so many dishes of meat, served out -for several palates: and he is a very block that is affected with -none of them.—I could even live and dye with—and take more delight, -true content of mind in them, than thou hast in all thy wealth and -sport, how rich soever thou art.——Nicholas Gerbelius, that good old -man, was so much ravished with a few Greek authors restored to light, -with hope and desire of enjoying the rest, that he exclaims forthwith, -Arabibus atque Indis omnibus erimus ditiores, We shall be richer than -all the Arabick or Indian Princes; of such esteem they were with him, -in comparable worth and value."—He then adopts the emphatic language -of _Heinsius_: "_I no sooner come into the Library, but I bolt the door -to me, excluding lust, ambition, avarice, and all such vices, whose -nurse is idleness, their mother Ignorance, and Melancholy herself, -and in the very lap of eternity, amongst so many divine souls, I take -my seat, with so lofty a spirit and sweet content, that I pity all -our great ones, and rich men that know not this happiness._ I am not -ignorant in the mean time," he adds, "notwithstanding this which I have -said, how barbarously and basely for the most part our _ruder Gentry_ -esteem of libraries and books, how they neglect and contemn so great a -treasure, so inestimable a benefit.—For my part I pity these men,—how -much, on the other side, are all we bound that are scholars, to those -munificent _Ptolomies_, bountiful _Mæcenates_, heroical patrons, divine -spirits,—_qui nobis hæc otia fecerunt, Namque erit ille mihi semper -Deus_—that have provided for us so many well furnished libraries -as well in our publick Academies in most cities, as in our private -Colledges? How shall I remember _Sir Thomas Bodley_, amongst the -rest, _Otho Nicholson_, and the right reverend _John Williams_ Lord -Bishop of _Lincolne_, (with many other pious acts) who besides that -at _St. John's_ College in _Cambridge_, that in _Westminster_, is now -likewise in _Fieri_ with a Library at _Lincolne_ (a noble president -for all corporate towns and cities to imitate) _O quam te memorem (vir -illustrissime) quibus elogiis?_"[435:A] - -The passion for letters and for books, which was thus diffused among -the higher classes, necessarily occasioned much attention to be paid -to the preservation and decoration of libraries, the volumes of which, -however, were not arranged on the shelves in the manner that we are now -accustomed to see them. The _leaves_, and not the back, were placed -in front, in order to exhibit the _silk strings_ or _golden clasps_ -which united the sides of the cover. Thus Bishop Earl, describing the -character of a young gentleman of the University, says,—"His study -has commonly handsome shelves, his books neat silk strings, _which he -shews to his father's man, and is loth to unty or take down for fear of -misplacing_."[436:A] - -To the most costly of these embellishments, the _golden clasps_, -Shakspeare has referred, both in a metaphorical and literal sense. -In the _Twelfth Night_ the Duke, addressing the supposed Cesario, -exclaims— - - ————————— "I have _unclasp'd_ - To thee the _book_ even of my secret soul;"[436:B] - -and in _Romeo and Juliet_, Lady Capulet observes, - - "That book in many's eyes doth share the glory, - That in _gold clasps_ locks in the golden story."[436:C] - -It appears, indeed, that the art of ornamenting the exterior of books -was carried, at this period, to a lavish extent, jewels, as well as -gold, being employed to enhance their splendour. Let us listen to the -directions of the judicious Peacham, on this head, a contemporary -authority, who has thought it not unnecessary to subjoin the best mode -of keeping books, and the best scite for a library. "Have a care," says -he, "of keeping your bookes handsome, and well bound, not casting away -over much in their gilding or stringing for ostentation sake, like the -prayer-bookes of girles and gallants, which are carried to Church but -for their out-sides. Yet for your owne use spare them not for noting -or interlining (if they be printed) for it is not likely you meane to -be a gainer by them, when you have done with them: neither suffer them -through negligence to mold and be moath-eaten, or want their strings or -covers.—Suffer them not to lye neglected, who must make you regarded; -and goe in torn coates, who must apparell your mind with the ornaments -of knowledge, above the roabes and riches of the most magnificent -Princes. - -"To avoyde the inconvenience of moathes and moldinesse, let your study -be placed, and your windowes open if it may be, towards the East, -for where it looketh South or West, the aire being ever subject to -moisture, moathes are bred and darkishnesse encreased, whereby your -maps and pictures will quickly become pale, loosing their life and -colours, or rotting upon their cloath, or paper, decay past all helpe -and recovery."[437:A] - -The interior, also, as well as the exterior, of books, had acquired a -high degree of richness and finishing during the era of which we are -treating. The black-letter, Roman, and Italic, types were, in general, -clear, sharp, and strong, and though the splendid art of illumination -had ceased to be practised, in the sixteenth century, in consequence -of the establishment of printing, the loss was compensated for, by -more correct ornamental capital initials, cut with great taste and -spirit on wood and copper, and by engraved _borders_ and _title-pages_. -Portraits were also frequently introduced in the initials, especially -by the celebrated printers Jugge, and Day, the latter of whom, -patronised by Archbishop Parker, became in his turn the patron of Fox -the martyrologist, in the first edition of whose book, 1563, and in -Day's edition of Dee's _General and Rare Memorials pertayning to the -perfecte Arte of Navigation_, folio, 1577, may be found an admirable -specimen of this style of decoration, the capital initial C including -a portrait of Elizabeth sitting in state, and attended by three of her -ministers.[437:B] A similar mode of costly ornamenture issued from the -presses of Grafton, Whitchurch, Bill, and Barker, and perhaps in no -period of _our_ annals has this species of decorative typography been -carried to a higher state of perfection. Some very grotesque ornaments, -it is true, and some degree of affectation were occasionally exhibited -in title-pages, and to one of the latter class, very common in this -age, Shakspeare alludes in the _Second Part of King Henry IV._, where -Northumberland, describing the approach of a messenger, says, - - —— "This man's brow, like to a title-leaf, - Foretells the nature of a tragick volume;"[438:A] - -imagery drawn from the custom of printing elegiac poems with the -title-page, and every intermediate leaf, entirely black; but, upon the -whole, valuable books, and especially the Bible, had more splendid and -minutely ornamental finishing bestowed upon their pages, than has since -occurred, in this country, until towards the close of the eighteenth -century. - -It had been fortunate, if _accuracy_ in typography had kept pace with -the taste for decoration; but this, with few exceptions, may be said -never to have been the case, and about the termination of Elizabeth's -reign, the era of total incorrectness, as Mr. Steevens remarks, -commenced, when "works of all kinds appeared with the disadvantage -of more than their natural and inherent imperfections[438:B];" an -assertion sufficiently borne out by the state in which the dramatic -poetry of this period was published. It may be added that the -Black-letter continued to be the prevailing type during the days of -Elizabeth, but seems to have nearly deserted the English press before -the demise of her successor. - -Of what extent was the Library of Shakspeare, and of what its chief -treasures consisted, can now only be the subject of conjecture. That -he was a lover and collector of books more particularly within the -pale of his own language, and in the range of elegant literature, is -sufficiently evidenced by his own works. A _Bibliotheca Shakspeariana_ -may, in fact, be drawn, from the industry of his commentators, who -have sought for, and quoted, almost every book to which he has been -directly or remotely indebted. The disquisitions indeed into which -we are about to enter will pretty accurately point out the species -of books which principally ornamented his shelves, and may preclude -any other remark here, than that the chief wealth of his collection -consisted of Historic, Romantic, and Poetic Literature, in all their -various branches. - -_Philological_ or grammatical literature, as applied to the English -language, appears to have made little progress until after the middle -of the sixteenth century. We are told by Roger Ascham in 1544, the -period of the publication of his Toxophilus, that "as for the Latine or -Greeke tongue, everye thinge is so excellentlye done in them, that none -can do better; in the _Englishe_ tongue, contrary, everye thinge in a -maner so meanlye both for the matter and handelinge, that no man can -do worse. For therein the least learned, for the most part, have bene -alwayes most readye to write."[439:A] The Toxophilus of this useful -and engaging writer, was written in his native tongue, with the view -of presenting the public with a specimen of a purer and more correct -_English_ style than that to which they had hitherto been accustomed; -and with the hope of calling the attention of the learned, from the -exclusive study of the Greek and Latin, to the cultivation of their -vernacular language. The result which he contemplated was attained, -and, from the period of this publication, the shackles of Latinity were -broken, and composition in _English_ prose became an object of eager -and successful attention. - -Previous to the exertions of Ascham, very few writers can be mentioned -as affording any model for English style. If we except the Translation -of Froissart by Bourchier, Lord Berners, in 1523, and the History -of Richard III. by Sir Thomas More, certainly compositions of great -merit, we shall find it difficult to produce an author of much value -for his vernacular prose. On the contrary, very soon after the -appearance of the Toxophilus, we find harmony and beauty in English -style emphatically praised and enjoined. Thus, in _THE ARTE OF -RHETORIKE for the use of all suche as are studious of Eloquence, sette -forthe in Englishe by THOMAS WILSON_, 1553, we are informed that -many now aspired to write English elegantly. "When we have learned," -remarks this critic, "usuall and accustomable wordes to set forthe -our meanynge, we ought to joyne them together in apte order, that the -eare maie delite in hearynge the harmonie. I knowe some Englishemen, -that in this poinct have suche a gift in the Englishe as fewe in Latin -have the like; and therefore delite the Wise and Learned so muche -with their pleasaunte composition, that many rejoyce when thei maie -heare suche, and thinke muche learnyng is gotte when thei maie talke -with them."[440:A] The _Treatise_ of Wilson powerfully assisted the -cause which Ascham had been advocating; it displays much sagacity -and good sense, and greatly contributed to clear the language from -the affectation consequent on the introduction of foreign words and -idiom. The licentiousness, in this respect, was carried, indeed, -at this time, to such a height, that those who affected more than -ordinary refinement, either in conversation or writing, so Italianated -or Latinized their English, as to be scarcely intelligible to the -common people. Wilson severely satirizes this absurd practice. "Some," -says he, "seke so farre for outlandishe Englishe, that they forget -altogether their mother's language. And I dare sweare this, if some of -their mothers were alive, thei were not able to tel what thei saie: and -yet these fine Englishe clerkes wil saie thei speake in their mother -tongue, if a man should charge them for counterfeityng the kinges -Englishe.—He that cometh lately out of Fraunce, will talke Frenche -Englishe, and never blushe at the matter. Another choppes in with -Englishe Italianated, and applieth the Italian phraise to our Englishe -speakyng.—The unlearned or folishe phantasticall, that smelles but -of learnyng (suche fellowes as have seene learned men in their daies) -will so Latine their tongues, that the simple cannot but wonder at -their talke, and thinke surely thei speake by some revelacion. I know -them, that thinke Rhetorike to stande wholie upon darke wordes; and he -that can catche an ynkehorne terme by the taile, hym thei compt to be -a fine Englishman and a good rhetorician." He then adds a specimen of -this style from a letter "devised by a Lincolneshire man for a voide -benefice," addressed to the Lord Chancellor:—"Ponderyng, expendyng, -and revolutyng with myself, your ingent affabilitie, and ingenious -capacitie, for mundane affaires, I cannot but celebrate and extoll -your magnificall dexteritie above all other. For how could you have -adapted suche illustrate prerogative, and dominiall superioritie, if -the fecunditie of your ingenie had not been so fertile and wonderfull -pregnaunt, &c."[441:A] That the same species of pedantry continued -to prevail in 1589, we have the testimony of Puttenham, who, in his -chapter _Of Language_, observes that "we finde in our English writers -many wordes and speaches amendable, and ye shall see in some many -_inkhorne_ termes so ill affected brought in by men of learning as -preachers and schoole-masters: and many straunge termes of other -languages by Secretaries and Marchaunts and travailours, and many darke -wordes and not usual nor well sounding, though they be dayly spok in -Court."[441:B] - -Before Puttenham, however, had published, another and a still more -dangerous mode of corruption had infected English composition. In -1581, John Lilly, a dramatic poet, published a Romance in two parts, -of which the first is entitled, _Euphues_, The Anatomy of Wit, and -the second, _Euphues and his England_. This production is a tissue -of antithesis and alliteration, and therefore justly entitled to the -appellation of _affected_; but we cannot with Berkenhout consider -it as a most _contemptible piece of nonsense_.[441:C] The moral is -uniformly good; the vices and follies of the day are attacked with -much force and keenness; there is in it much display of the manners -of the times, and though, as a composition, it is very meretricious, -and sometimes absurd in point of ornament, yet the construction of -its sentences is frequently turned with peculiar neatness and spirit, -though with much monotony of cadence. William Webbe, no mean judge, -speaking of those who had attained a good grace and sweet vein in -eloquence, adds,—"among whom I think there is none that will gainsay -but Master John Lilly hath deserved most high commendations, as he who -hath stepped one step farther therein than any since he first began the -witty discourse of his EUPHUES, whose works surely in respect of his -singular eloquence and brave composition of apt words and sentences, -let the learned examine, and make a tryal thereof through all parts -of rhetoric in fit phrases, in pithy sentences, in gallant tropes, in -flowing speech, in plain sense; and surely in my judgment I think he -will yield him that verdict, which Quintilian giveth of both the best -orators, Demosthenes and Tully; that from the one nothing may be taken -away, and to the other nothing may be added[442:A];" an encomium that -was repeated by Nash[442:B], Lodge[442:C], and Meres[442:D], but which -should be contrasted with the sounder opinion of Drayton, who, in his -Epistle of Poets and Poesy, mentioning the noble Sidney, - - "That heroe for numbers and for prose," - -observes that he - - ——— "thoroughly pac'd our language as to show - The plenteous English hand in hand might go - With Greek and Latin, and did first reduce - Our tongue from _Lilly_'s writing then in use; - Talking of stones, stars, plants, of fishes, flies, - Playing with words, and idle similies, - As th' English apes, and very zanies be - Of every thing, that they do hear and see, - So imitating his ridiculous tricks, - They speak and write, all like mere lunatics."[443:A] - -Yet the most correct description of the merits and defects of this -once celebrated author has been given by Oldys, in his Librarian, who -remarks that "Lilly was a man of great reading, good memory, ready -faculty of application, and uncommon eloquence; but he ran into a vast -excess of allusion; in sentence and conformity of style he seldom -speaks directly to the purpose, but is continually carried away by -one odd allusion or simile or other (out of natural history, that -is yet fabulous and not true in nature), and that still overborne -by more, thick upon the back of one another; and through an eternal -affectation of sententiousness keeps to such a formal measure of his -periods as soon grows tiresome; and so, by confining himself to shape -his sense so frequently into one artificial cadence, however ingenious -or harmonious, abridges that variety which the style should be admired -for."[443:B] - -So greatly was the style of _Euphues_ admired in the court of -Elizabeth, and, indeed, throughout the kingdom, that it became a -proof of refined manners to adopt its phraseology. Edward Blount, who -republished six of Lilly's plays, in 1632, under the title of _Sixe -Court Comedies_, declares that "Our nation are in his debt for a new -English which hee taught them. _Euphues_ and his _England_," he adds, -"began first that language. All our ladies were then his scollers; and -that beautie in court who could not parley Euphuesme, was as little -regarded as shee which now there speakes not French;" a representation -certainly not exaggerated; for Ben Jonson, describing, a fashionable -lady, makes her address her gallant in the following terms:—"O -master Brisk, (as it is in _Euphues_) _hard is the choice when one is -compell'd, either by silence to die with grief, or by speaking, to live -with shame_:" upon which Mr. Whalley observes, that the court ladies in -Elizabeth's time had all the phrases of _Euphues by heart_.[443:C] - -Scarcely had corruption from this source ceased to violate the purity -and propriety of our language, when the fashion of interlarding -composition with a perpetual series of Latin quotations commenced; a -custom which continued until the close of the reign of James, and gave -to the style of this period a complexion the most heterogeneous and -absurd, being, in fact, composed of two languages, half Latin and half -English. Of this barbarous and pedantic habit, the works of Bishop -Andrews afford the most flagrant instance; an example which, we have -reason to regret, was followed too closely by Robert Burton, who, when -he trusts to his native tongue, has written in a style at once simple -and impressive. - -These affectations, arising from the use of _inkhorn terms_, of -_antithesis_, _alliteration_, arbitrary orthography, and the _perpetual -intermixture of Latin phraseology_, have been deservedly and powerfully -ridiculed by Sir Philip Sidney and Shakspeare; by the former under the -character of _Rombus_, a village schoolmaster, in a masque presented -to Her Majesty in Wansted Garden, and by the latter in the person of -HOLOFERNES in _Love's Labour's Lost_. The satire of Sir Philip is -supported with humour; Her Majesty is supposed to have parted, by her -presence, a violent contest between two shepherds for the affection -of the Lady of the May, on which event _Rombus_ comes forward with a -learned oration. - -"Now the thunder-thumping _Jove_ transfused his dotes into your -excellent formositie, which have with your resplendent beames thus -segregated the enmity of these rurall animals; I am _Potentissima -Domina_, a Schoole-master, that is to say, a Pedagogue, one not a -little versed in the disciplinating of the juvenall frie, wherin (to my -laud I say it) I use such geometrical proportions, as neither wanted -mansuetude nor correction, for so it is described. - - "_Parcare subjectos, et debellire superbos._" - -"Yet hath not the pulchritude of my vertues protected me from the -contaminating hands of these Plebeians; for coming _solummodo_, to have -parted their sanguinolent fray, they yeelded me no more reverence, -than if I had been some _Pecorius Asinus_. I, even I, that am, who am -I? _Dixi verbus sapiento satum est._ But what said that Troian _Æneas_, -when he sojourned in the surging sulkes of the sandiferous seas, _Hæc -olim memonasse juvebit_. Well, well, _ad propositos revertebo_, the -puritie of the verity is that a certaine _Pulchra puella profecto_, -elected and constituted by the integrated determination of all this -topographicall region as the soveraigne Ladie of this Dame Maies month, -hath beene _quodammodo_ hunted, as you would say, pursued by two, a -brace, a couple, a cast of young men, to whom the crafty coward _Cupid_ -had _inquam_ delivered his dire-dolorous dart;" here the May-Lady -interfering calls him a tedious fool, and dismisses him; upon which in -anger he exclaims,— - -"_O Tempori, O Moribus!_ in profession a childe, in dignitie a woman, -in yeares a Ladie, in _cæteris_ a maide, should thus turpifie the -reputation of my doctrine, with the superscription of a foole, _O -Tempori, O Moribus!_"[445:A] - -The Schoolmaster of Shakspeare appears, from the researches of -Warburton and Dr. Farmer, to have been intended as a satire upon John -Florio, whose _First Fruits_, or Dialogues in Italian and English, were -published in 1578, his _Second_ in 1591, and his "_Worlde of Wordes_" -in 1598. He was ludicrously pedantic, dogmatic, and assuming, and gave -the first affront to the dramatic poets of his day, by affirming that -"the plaies that they plaie in England, are neither _right comedies_, -nor _right tragedies_; but representations of _histories_ without -any decorum."[445:B] The character of _Holofernes_, however, while -it caricatures the peculiar folly and ostentation of Florio, holds -up to ridicule, at the same time, the general pedantry and literary -affectations of the age; and amongst these very particularly the absurd -innovations which Lilly had introduced. Sir Nathaniel, praising the -specimen of alliteration which Holofernes exhibits in his "extemporal -epitaph," calls it "a rare talent;" upon which the schoolmaster -comments on the compliment in a manner which pretty accurately -describes the fantastic genius of the author of Euphues:—"This is a -gift that I have, simple, simple; _a foolish extravagant spirit, full -of forms, figures, shapes, objects, ideas, apprehensions, motions, -revolutions_: these are begot in the ventricle of memory, nourished in -the womb of _pia mater_; and deliver'd upon the mellowing of occasion;" -and subsequently in a strain of good sense not very common from the -mouth of this imperious pedant, he still more definitely points out -the foppery of Lilly both in style and pronunciation,—"He is too -picked," he remarks, "too spruce, too affected, too odd, as it were, -too peregrinate, as I may call it.—He draweth out the thread of his -verbosity finer than the staple of his argument. I abhor such fanatical -phantasms, such insociable and point devise companions; such rackers -of orthography, as to speak, dout, fine, when he should say, doubt; -det, when he should pronounce, debt; d, e, b, t; not d, e, t: he -clepeth a calf, cauf; half, hauf; neighbour, _vocatur_ nebour; neigh, -abbreviated, ne: This is abhominable, (which he would call abominable,) -it insinuateth me of insanie; _Ne intelligis domine?_ to make frantick, -lunatick."[446:A] - -Yet, notwithstanding these various attempts, all tending to corrupt the -purity of our language, and originating from the pedantic taste of the -age, and from a love of novelty and over-refinement, English style more -rapidly improved during the reigns of Elizabeth and James, than has -been the case in any previous, or subsequent period of our annals. To -establish this assertion, we have only to appeal to the great writers -of this era, and among these, it will be sufficient to mention the -names of _Ralegh_, _Hooker_, _Bacon_ and _Daniel_, masters of a style, -at once vigorous, perspicuous, and often richly modulated. If to this -brief catalogue, though adequate to our purpose, we add the prose of -_Ascham_, _Sidney_, _Southwell_, _Knolles_, _Hakewell_, and _Peacham_, -still omitting many authors of much merit, it may justly be affirmed, -that no specimens of excellence in dignified and serious composition -could be wanting as exemplars. That the good sense of the age was aware -of the value of these writers, in point of style, though surrounded -by innovations supported by rank and fashion, may be concluded from -the admonitions of Peacham, who in his chapter "Of stile, in speaking -and writing," not only describes the style which ought to be adopted, -but enumerates the authors who have afforded the best examples of -it for the student. "Let your style," he admirably observes, "bee -furnished with solid matter, and compact of the best, choice, and most -familiar words; taking heed of speaking, or writing such words, as men -shall rather admire than understand.—Flowing at one and the selfe -same height, neither taken in and knit up too short, that, like rich -hangings of Arras or Tapistry, thereby lose their grace and beautie, -as Themistocles was wont to say: nor suffered to spread so farre, like -soft Musicke in an open field, whose delicious sweetnesse vanisheth, -and is lost in the ayre. - -"To helpe yourselfe herein, make choice of those authors in prose, who -speake the best and purest English. I would commend unto you (though -from more antiquity) the Life of _Richard_ the third, written by _Sir -Thomas Moore_; the _Arcadia_ of the noble _Sir Philip Sidney_, whom Du -Bartas makes one of the foure columnes of our language; the _Essayes_, -and other peeces of the excellent master of eloquence, my Lord of _S. -Albanes_, who possesseth not onely eloquence, but all good learning, -as hereditary both by father and mother. You have then _M. Hooker_, -his _Policy_: _Henry_ the fourth, well written by _S. John Heyward_; -that first part of our English Kings, by _M. Samuel Daniel_. There are -many others I know, but these will tast you best, as proceeding from no -vulgar judgment."[447:A] - -With regard to the state of colloquial language during this epoch, it -may safely be asserted, that a reference to the works of Shakspeare -will best acquaint us with the "diction of common life," with the tone -of conversation which prevailed both in the higher and lower ranks -of society; for the dialogue of his most perfect comedies is, by many -degrees, more easy, lively, and perspicuous, than that of any other -contemporary dramatic writer. - -It is by no means, however, our wish to infer, from what has been -said in praise of the prose writers of this period, that they are to -be considered as perfect models in the nineteenth century; on the -contrary, it must be confessed, that the best of them exhibit abundant -proofs of quaintness and prolixity, of verbal pedantry and inverted -phraseology; and though the language, through their influence, made -unparalleled strides, and fully unfolded its copiousness, energy, and -strength, it remained greatly deficient in correctness and polish, in -selection of words, and harmony of arrangement.[448:A] - -These defects, especially the two latter, are to be attributed, in -a great measure, to philological studies being almost exclusively -confined to the learned languages, a subject of complaint with a few -individuals, who lamented the neglect which this classical enthusiasm -entailed on their native tongue. Thus Arthur Golding, in some verses -prefixed to Baret's Alviarie, after observing that - - ———————— "all good inditers find - Our Inglishe tung driven almost out of kind, - Dismembred, hacked, maymed, rent and torne, - Defaced, patched, mard, and made a skorne," - -adds with great truth and good sense, - - "No doubt but men should shortly find there is - As perfect order, as firm certeintie, - As grounded rules to trie out things amisse, - As much sweete grace, as great varietie - Of wordes and phrazes, as good quantitie - For verse or proze in Inglish every waie, - As any comen language hath this daie. - - _And were wée given as well to like our owne, - And for to clense it from the noisome wéede - Of affectation which hath overgrowne - Ungraciously the good and native séede, - As for to borrowe where wée have no néede: - It would pricke néere the learned tungs in strength, - Perchance, and match mée some of them at length._"[449:A] - -The ardour for classical acquisition was, at this time, indeed, so -prevalent among the learned and the great, that the mythology as well -as the diction of the ancients became fashionable. The amusements, -and even the furniture of the opulent, their shows, and masques, the -hangings and the tapestries of their houses, and their very cookery, -assumed an erudite, and what would now be termed, a pedantic cast. -"Every thing," says Warton, speaking of this era, "was tinctured -with ancient history and mythology.—When the Queen paraded through -a country town, almost every pageant was a pantheon. When she paid -a visit at the house of any of her nobility, at entering the hall -she was saluted by the Penates, and conducted to her privy-chamber -by Mercury. Even the pastry-cooks were expert mythologists. At -dinner, select transformations of Ovid's metamorphoses were exhibited -in confectionary: and the splendid iceing of an immense historic -plumb-cake, was embossed with a delicious basso-relievo of the -destruction of Troy. In the afternoon, when she condescended to walk -in the garden, the lake was covered with Tritons and Nereids: the -pages of the family were converted into Wood-nymphs, who peeped from -every bower: and the footmen gamboled over the lawns in the figure of -Satyrs."[449:B] - -In the course of a few years the same taste descended to the inferior -orders of society, owing to the numerous versions which rapidly -appeared of the best writers of Greece and Rome. The rich catalogue of -translations to which Shakspeare had access, may be estimated from the -very accurate list which is inserted in the Variorum editions of the -poet, and before the death of James the First, not a single classic, we -believe, of any value, remained unfamiliarized to the English reader. - -The height which classical learning had attained about the year 1570, -may be estimated from the testimony of Ascham, a most consummate judge, -who, quoting Cicero's assertion with regard to Britain, that "there is -not one scruple of silver in that whole isle; or any one that knoweth -either learnyng or letter[450:A]," thus apostrophizes the Roman Orator: - -"But now, master _Cicero_, blessed be God, and his sonne Jesus Christ, -whom you never knew, except it were as it pleased him to lighten -you by some shadow; as covertlie in one place ye confesse, saying, -_Veritatis tantum umbram consectamur_[450:B], as your master Plato did -before you: blessed be God, I say, that sixten hundred yeare after you -were dead and gone, it may trewly be sayd, that for silver, there is -more comlie plate in one citie of _Englande_, than is in four of the -proudest cities in all _Italie_, and take _Rome_ for one of them: and -for learning, beside the knowledge of all learned tonges and liberal -sciences, even your owne bookes, Cicero, be as well read, and your -excellent eloquence is as well liked and loved, and as trewly folowed -in _Englande_ at this day, as it is now, or ever was since your own -tyme, in any place of Italie, either at Arpinum, where you was borne, -or els at Rome, where you was brought up. And a little to brag with -you, Cicero, where you yourselfe, by your leave, halted in some point -of learning in your own tongue, many in Englande at this day go -streight up, both in trewe skill, and right doing therein."[450:C] - -Nor can this progress in the learned languages be considered as -surprising, when we recollect the vast encouragement given to these -studies, not only by the nobility but by the Queen herself; who was, -in fact, a most laborious and erudite author, who wrote a Commentary on -Plato, translated from the Greek two of the Orations of Isocrates, a -play of Euripides, the Hiero of Xenophon, and Plutarch de Curiositate; -from the Latin, Sallust de Bello Jugurthino, Horace de Arte Poetica, -Boethius de Consolatione Philosophiæ, a long chorus from the Hercules -Œtæus of Seneca, one of Cicero's epistles, and another of Seneca's; -who wrote many Latin letters, many English original works, both in -prose and poetry, and who spoke five languages with facility.[451:A] -The British Solomon, it is well known, was equally zealous and -industrious in the cause of learning, and both not only patronized -individuals, but founded and endowed public seminaries; Elizabeth was -the founder of Westminster-School, and of Jesus-College, Oxford, and -to James the University of Edinburgh owes its existence. This laudable -spirit was not confined to regal munificence; in 1584, Emanuel-College, -Cambridge, rose on the site of the Dominican convent of Black Friars, -through the exertions of Sir Walter Mildmay; and in 1594, Sidney-Sussex -College, in the same University, sprung from the patronage of the -Dowager of Thomas Radcliffe, Earl of Sussex. - -Of the _modern_ languages cultivated at this period, the _Italian_ took -the lead, and became so fashionable at the court of Elizabeth, and -among all who had pretensions to refinement, that it almost rivalled -the _classical mania_ of the day. The Queen spoke it with great purity, -and among those who professed to teach it, Florio, whom we have -formerly mentioned as the object of Shakspeare's satire, was the most -eminent. He was pensioned by Lord Southampton, and on the accession of -James, was appointed reader of the Italian language to Queen Anne, with -a stipend of 100_l._ a-year.[451:B] So popular were the writers of this -fascinating country, that the English language was absolutely inundated -with versions of the Italian poets and novellists, a consequence of -which Roger Ascham bitterly complains; for, lamenting the diffusion of -Italian licentiousness, he exclaims,—"These be the inchantmentes of -Circe, brought out of _Italie_, to marre men's maners in _Englande_; -much by example of ill life, but more by precepts of fond books, of -late translated out of _Italian_ into _Englishe_ sold in every shop -in London:—there be moe of these ungratious bookes set out in printe -within these few monethes, than have been sene in _Englande_ many score -yeares before.—Then they have in more reverence the triumphes of -_Petrarche_, than the Genesis of _Moses_; they make more account of a -tale in _Boccace_, than a storie of the Bible."[452:A] - -It must be allowed, we think, that the censure of Ascham partakes too -much of puritanic sourness; for these "ungratious bookes" we find to -have been the great classics of Italy, Petrarca, Boccacio, &c. writers -who, though occasionally romantic in their incidents, and gross in -their imagery, yet presented many just views of life and manners, -and many rich examples of harmonious style and fervid imagination. -They contributed also very powerfully by the variety and fertility of -their fictions, to stimulate the poets of our country, and especially -the dramatic, who have been indebted to this source more than to any -other for the ground-work of their plots. It is, indeed, sufficiently -honourable to Italian literature, that we shall find our unrivalled -Shakspeare occasionally indebted to it for the hints which awakened his -muse. - -We are not to conclude, however, that the labours of our translators -were confined to the poetry and romance of Italy, and that its moral, -historical, and didactic compositions were utterly neglected. This was -so far from being the case, that most of the esteemed productions in -these departments were as speedily naturalized as those of the lighter -class; and among them we may mention two works which must have had no -inconsiderable influence in polishing and refining the manners of our -countrymen. In 1576, Robert Peterson, of Lincolne's-Inn, translated -the _Galateo_ of John de la Casa, a system of politeness to which -Chesterfield has been much indebted[453:A]; and in 1588, Thomas Hobby -published a version of the _Cortigiano_ of Baldassar Castiglione, a -work in equal estimation as a manuel of elegance, and termed by the -Italians "the Golden Book."[453:B] - -The philological attainments of this age, with respect to Greek, Latin, -and English, will be placed in a still more compendiously clear light, -by a mere enumeration of those who greatly excelled in rendering -their acquisition more systematic and correct. Both Greek and English -literature were early indebted to the labours of Sir _Thomas Smith_, -who was appointed public lecturer at Cambridge on the first of these -languages, the study of which he much facilitated by a new method of -accentuation and pronunciation; publishing at the same time an improved -system of orthography for his native tongue. These useful works were -printed together in 4to. in 1568, under the titles of _De recta et -emendata linguæ Græcæ pronunciatione_, and _De recta et emendata linguæ -Anglicæ scriptione_. - -Another equally eminent Grecian philologer appeared at the same -time, in the person of Sir _Henry Savile_, who was Greek preceptor -to Elizabeth, warden of Merton-College, and provost of Eton. He was -editor of the works of Chrysostom, with notes, in 8 vols. folio, 1613, -the most elaborate Greek production which had hitherto issued from -an English press: of Xenophon's Cyropædia, and of the _Steliteutici_ -of Nazianzen. He translated also into English, as early as 1581, the -first four books of the History of Tacitus, and his Life of Agricola, -accompanied by very valuable annotations, which were afterwards -published in a Latin version, by Gruter, at Amsterdam. - -To his able assistant, also, in editing the works of Chrysostom, the -_Rev. John Boys_, much gratitude is due for his enthusiasm in the -cause of Grecian lore. So attached was he to this study, that during -his fellowship of St. John's College, Cambridge, he voluntarily gave a -Greek lecture every morning in his own room at four o'clock; and, what -affords a still more striking picture of the learned enthusiasm of the -times, it is recorded that this very early prelection was regularly -attended by nearly all the fellows of his college! - -Latin Literature appears to have been cultivated with greater purity -and success in the prior than in the latter portion of Elizabeth's -reign. It is scarcely necessary to mention the great names of _George -Buchanan_ and _Walter Haddon_, who divided the attention of the -classical world, and drew from Elizabeth the following terse expression -on their comparative merits:—_Buchananum omnibus antepono; Haddonum -nemini postpono._[454:A] - -Nor can we fail to recollect the truly admirable production of -_Ascham_, the "Schole Master; or plaine and perfite Way of teaching -Children, to understand, write, and speake, the _Latin_ Tonge:" than -which a more interesting and judicious treatise has not appeared upon -the subject in any language. - -Among the most eminent Latin philologers who witnessed the close of the -sixteenth century, may be mentioned the name of _Edward Grant_, Master -of Westminster-School, who was celebrated for his Latin poetry, and -who published, in 1577, _Oratio de vita et obitu Rogeri Aschami, ac -dictionis elegantia, cum adhortatione ad adolescentulos_. He died in -1601. - -With Grant should be classed the master of the free-school of Taunton -in Somersetshire, _John Bond_, who subsequently practised as a -physician, and died in 1612. He published, in 1606, some valuable -commentaries, in the Latin language, on the poems of Horace, and, in -1614, on the Six Satires of Persius. - -Roman literature, however, in this country was under yet higher -obligations to _John Rider_, than to either of the preceding -philologers; this learned prelate being the compiler of the first -dictionary in our language, in which the English is placed before the -Latin. It is entitled _A Dictionary Engl. and Latin, and Latin and -English_. Oxon. 1589. 4to. Rider was promoted to the See of Killaloe in -1612, and died in 1632. - -In our observations on the state of the _English_ language we have -noticed the labours of _Ascham_ and _Wilson_ as pre-eminently conducive -to its improvement; the first of these writers having published two -excellent models for English composition, and the second having -presented us with a valuable treatise on rhetoric. To these should -be added the efforts of _Richard Mulcaster_, first master of the -Merchant-Taylors School, who, in 1581, published his "Positions, -wherein those primitive circumstances be examined which are necessarie -for the training up of Children, either for skill in theire Booke or -Health in their Bodie;" a work which was followed, in the subsequent -year, by "The first Part of the _Elementarie_, which entreateth chefely -of the right Writing of the English Tung." - -The _Positions_ and the _Elementarie_ of Mulcaster, though inferior in -literary merit to the Scholemaster of Ascham, contributed materially to -the progress of English philology, as they contain many valuable and -acute observations on our language. - -It appears, from the assertion of _William Bullokar_, an able -co-operator in the work of education, that he was the author of -the _first_ English Grammar. In 1586 he printed his "Bref grammar -for English," which is likewise entitled in fol. 1. "W. Bullokar's -abbreviation of his Grammar for English extracted out of his Grammar at -larg for the spedi parcing of English spech, and the eazier coming to -the knowledge of grammar for other langages;" and Warton adds, in his -account of Bullokar's writings, that among Tanner's books was found "a -copy of his _bref grammar_ above mentioned, interpolated and corrected -with the author's own hand, as it appears, for a new impression. In -one of these manuscript insertions, he calls this, 'the first grammar -for Englishe that ever waz, except my _grammar at large_.'"[456:A] - -It is not exactly ascertained in what year the Grammar of _Ben Jonson_ -was written, as it did not appear until after his death; but it may be -safely affirmed that to this production of the once celebrated rival -and contemporary of Shakspeare, the English language has been more -indebted than to the labours certainly of any previous, and we may -almost add, of any subsequent, grammarian, Lowth's and Murray's even -not excepted. - -The next branch of our present subject embraces the department of -CRITICISM, which was cultivated in this period to a great extent, and -we are sorry to add not seldom with uncommon bitterness and malignity. -Numerous are the writers who complain of the very severe and sarcastic -tone in which the critics of the age indulged; but one instance or -two will be sufficient to prove both the frequency and asperity of -the art. Robert Armin, in his Address _Ad Lectorem hic et ubique_, -prefixed to _The Italian Taylor and his Boy_, says, speaking of his -pen, "I wander with it now in a strange time of taxation, wherein every -pen and inck-horne Boy will throw up his cap at the hornes of the -Moone in censure, although his wit hang there, not returning unlesse -monthly in the wane: such is our ticklish age, and the itching braine -of abon̄dance[456:B];" and in the _Troia Britannica_ of Thomas Heywood, -the author, saluting his various readers under the titles of the -Courteous, the Criticke, and the Scornefull, tells the latter, "I am -not so unexperienced in the envy of this Age, but that I knowe I shall -encounter most sharpe, and severe Censurers, such as continually carpe -at other mens labours, and superficially perusing them, with a kind of -negligence and skorne, quote them by the way, Thus: This is an error, -that was too much streacht, this too slightly neglected, heere many -things might have been added, there it might have been better followed: -this superfluous, that ridiculous. These indeed knowing no other -meanes to have themselves opinioned in the ranke of understanders, but -by calumniating other mens industries."[457:A] - -If such proved the strain of general, we need not be surprised if -controversial, criticism assumed a still more tremendous aspect. -Between the Puritans, in the reign of Elizabeth, who carried on their -warfare under the fictitious appellative of _Martin Mar-prelate_, and -the members of the episcopal church, a torrent of libels broke forth, -which inundated the country with a deluge of distorted ridicule and -rancorous abuse. Nor were the quarrels of literary men conducted with -less ferocity, though perhaps with more wit. The republic of letters -was, indeed, infested for near twenty years, from the year 1580 to -1600, with a set of Town-wits, who, void of all moral principle or -decent restraint, employed their pens in lashing to death, with -indiscriminate rage, the objects of their envy or their spleen. Of -this description were those noted characters, Christopher Marlow, -Robert Greene, Thomas Decker, and Thomas Nash; men possessed of -genius, learning, and unquestioned ability, as poets, satirists, and -critics; but excessively debauched in their manners, intemperate in -their passions, and heedless of what they inflicted. The treatment -which Gabriel Harvey, the bosom-friend of Spenser and Sidney, received -from the scurrilous criticism of Greene and Nash, was, though not -altogether unprovoked, beyond all measure gross, cruel, and vindictive. -The literature and the moral character of Harvey were highly -respectable; but he was vain, credulous, affected, and pedantic; he -published a collection of panegyrics on himself; he turned astrologer -and almanack-maker, he was perfectly _Italianated_ in his dress and -manner, in his style he was pompously elaborate, and he boasted himself -the inventor and introducer of English Hexameters.[458:A] These -foibles, together with the obscurity of his parentage, his father -being a rope-maker at Saffron-Walden, in Essex, a circumstance of -which he had the folly to be ashamed, furnished to his adversaries -an inexhaustible fund of ridicule and wit; and had these legitimate -ingredients been unmingled with personal invective and brutal sarcasm, -Gabriel, who was no mean railer himself, had not been sinned against; -but the malignity of Greene and Nash was unbounded; and Harvey, who -was morbidly irritable and bled at every pore, catching a portion of -their spirit, the controversy became so outrageously virulent, that the -prelates of Canterbury and London, Whitgift and Bancroft, interfering, -issued an order, "that all Nashe's books and Dr. Harveys bookes be -taken wheresoever they may be found, and that none of the said bookes -be ever printed hereafter;" an injunction which has rendered most of -the pamphlets on this literary quarrel extremely scarce, particularly -Harvey's "Four Letters And Certaine Sonnets. Especially touching Robert -Greene and other Poets by him abused. Imprinted by John Wolfe 1592;" -a very curious work, which we shall have occasion to quote hereafter; -and Nash's "Have with you to Saffron-Walden, or Gabriel Harvey's hunt -is up," 1596, which includes a humorous but unmerciful representation -of Gabriel's life and character, the bitter satirist exulting in the -idea that he had brought on his adversary, by the poignancy of his -invectives, the effects of premature old age. "I have brought him -low," he exclaims, "and shrewly broken him; look on his head, and you -shall find a gray haire for everie line I have writ against him; and -you shall have all his beard white too by the time he hath read over -this booke."[459:A] - -How great a nuisance this bevy of lampooning critics was considered, -and to what a height their shameless effrontery was carried, may be -learnt from a passage in a pamphlet by Dr. Lodge, a contemporary -physician of great learning and good sense, who, though he terms -Nash, and perhaps very justly, "the true English Aretine," has drawn -a picture which applies to him as accurately as to any individual of -the class; "a fellow," to adopt the words of an old play with respect -to this very man, "that carried the deadly stocke in his pen, whose -muze was armed with a jag tooth, and his pen possest with Hercules -furyes."[459:B] "You shall know him" (the envious critic), says Lodge, -"by this; he is a foule lubber, his tongue tipt with lying, his heart -steeled against charity; he walks, for the most part, in black, under -colour of gravity, and _looks as pale as y{e} wizard of the ghost -which cried so miserably at y{e} theater, like an oister wife, Hamlet -revenge_: he is full of infamy and slander, insomuch as if he ease not -his stomach in detracting somewhat or some man before noontide, he fals -into a fever that holds him while supper time; he is alwaies devising -of epigrams or scoffes and grumbles, necromances continually, although -nothing crosse him, he never laughs but at other men's harms, briefly -in being a tyrant over men's fames; he is a very Titius (as Virgil -saith) to his owne thoughtes. - - "Titiique vultus inter - Qui semper lacerat comestque mentem. - -"The mischiefe is, that by grave demeanour and newes bearing, he -hath got some credite with the greater sort, and manie fowles there -bee, that because he can pen prettilee, hold it gospell whatever he -writes or speakes, his custome is to preferre a foole to credite, -to despight a wise man, and no poet lives by him that hath not a -flout of him. Let him spie a man of wit in a taverne, he is a hare -brained quareller. Let a scholler write, Tush (saith he) I like not -these common fellowes; let him write well, he hath stolen it out of -some note booke; let him translate, tut it is not of his owne; let -him be named for preferment, he is insufficient because poore; no -man shall rise in his world, except to feed his envy; no man can -continue in his friendship who hateth all men." He then adds the -following judicious advice, predicting what would be the consequence of -neglecting to pursue it:—"Divine wits for many things as sufficient -as all antiquity (I speake it not on slight surmise, but considerate -judgment) to you belongs the death that doth nourish this poison; to -you the paine that endure the reproofe. LILLY, the famous for facility -in discourse; SPENCER, best read in ancient poetry; DANIEL, choice -in word and invention; DRAITON, diligent and formall; TH. NASH, true -English Aretine. All you unnamed professors, or friends of poetry (but -by me inwardly honoured) knit your industries in private to unite your -fames in publicke; let the strong stay up the weake, and the weake -march under conduct of the strong; and all so imbattle yourselfes, that -hate of vertue may not imbase you. But if besotted with foolish vain -glory, emulation and contempt, you fall to neglect one another, _Quod -Deus omen avertat_, doubtless it will be as infamous a thing shortly to -present any book whatsoever learned to any Mæcenas in England, as it is -to be headsman in any free city in Germanie."[460:A] - -Turning, however, from this abuse of critical and satiric talent, let -us direct our attention exclusively to those productions of the art -which are distinguished as well by moderation and urbanity, as by -learning and acumen. - -It is worthy of remark that in _English_ literature, during this -era, nearly all the professed critical treatises, if we except those -of Wilson and Ascham, were employed on the subject of poetry. We -shall confine ourselves, therefore, to a chronological enumeration, -accompanied by a few observations, of these interesting pieces. The -first, in the order of time, is a production of _George Gascoigne_ the -poet, and was published at the close of the second edition of "The -Posies of George Gascoigne Esquire, Corrected, perfected, and augmented -by the Authour, 1575. _Tam Marti, quam Mercurio._ Imprinted at London -by H. Bynneman for Richard Smith." It is entitled, "Certayne notes of -Instruction concerning the making of verse or ryme in English, written -at the request of Master Edovardo Donati;" and was again printed in -"The whole workes of George Gascoign Esquyre: newlye compyled into one -volume," small 4to. b. l. 1587. This little tract is more didactic than -critical; but contains several judicious directions, and some sensible -remarks. - -Ten years after, appeared a treatise on "Scottis Poesie," from the -pen of King James the First, when only eighteen years of age. This -learned monarch commenced his career of authorship with "The Essayes -of a Premise, in the Divine art of Poesie. Imprinted at Edinburgh, -by Thomas Vautroullier, 1585, 4to. Cum privilegio Regali." The fifth -article in this miscellany includes the criticism in question, under -the title of "Ane schort Treatise, containing some reulis and cautelis -to be observit and eschewit in Scottis poesie." This is a production -highly curious, as well for its manner as matter; for, not content with -mere precept, the royal critic has given us copious specimens of the -several kinds of verse then in use. The eighth chapter of this short -treatise is devoted to this purpose, detailing rules and examples, 1st, -For _lang histories_. 2dly, For _heroic acts_. 3dly, For _heich and -grave subjects_. 4thly, For _tragic matters_. 5thly, For _flyting or -invectives_. 6thly, For _Sonnet verse_. 7thly, For _Matters of love_; -and 8thly, For _Tenfoot verse_. - -Under the fifth head is given as an _exemplar_ of the _Rouncefalles_, -or _Tumbling_ verse, the lines formerly quoted from the _Flyting_ -of _Montgomery_ as illustrative of a superstition peculiar to -Allhallow-Eve; and under the seventh, on "love materis," is introduced -as an example of "cuttit and broken verse, quhairof new formes are -daylie inventit according to the Poetis pleasour," the following -stanza, which has been rendered familiar to an English ear by the -genius of Burns:— - - "Quha wald have tyrde to heir that tone, - Quhilk birds corroborat ay abone, - Through schouting of the larkis! - They sprang sa heich into the skyes, - Quhill Cupide walknis with the cryis - Of Nature's chapell clerkis. - Then leaving all the heavins above, - He lichted on the card; - Lo! how that lytill god of love - Before me then appeard. - So mylde-like - And child-like, - With bow thre quarters skant, - So moilie - And coylie - He lukit lyke a Sant." - -It is observable that James, in assigning his "twa caussis" for -composing this work, tells us that "albeit _sindrie hes written of it_ -(poesie) _in English_, quhilk is lykest to our language, zit we differ -from thame in sindrie reulis of poesie, as ze will find be experience;" -but who these _sundry writers_ were, has not, with the exception of -Gascoigne's "Notes of Instruction," been hitherto discovered.[462:A] - -It is barely possible that the royal critic may have included in his -"sindrie," the next work which we have to record on the subject, the -production of our immortal Spenser, and entitled "The English Poet," a -work which we lament should have been suffered to perish in manuscript. -Its existence was first intimated to the public in 1579, by E. K., in -his argument to the tenth Aeglogue of the _Shepheard's Calender_, with -a promise, which unfortunately proved faithless, of committing it to -the press. Poetry, observes this commentator, is "no art, but a divine -gift and heavenly instinct not to be gotten by labour and learning, but -adorned with both; and poured into the witte by a certaine Enthusiasmos -and celestial inspiration, as the Author hereof elsewhere at large -discourseth in his booke called _The English Poet_, which booke being -lately come to my handes, I minde also by God's grace, upon further -advisement, to publish."[463:A] That the taste and erudition of Spenser -had rendered this critical essay highly interesting, there is every -reason to conclude, and though the only positive testimony to its -composition rests on the single authority which we have quoted, it is -extremely probable, from the manner in which its acquisition by the -commentator is mentioned, that the MS. had circulated, and continued to -circulate, among the friends and admirers of the poet, for some years. - -Scarcely had the British Solomon published his juvenile criticisms, -when a kindred work issued from the London press, under the title of -"A Discourse of English Poetrie, together with the Author's Judgment -touching the reformation of our English verse. By William Webbe, -Graduate. Imprinted at London by John Charlewood. 4to, 1586." Black -letter. - -The chief purport of this pamphlet, now so rare that only three copies -are known to exist[463:B], is to propose, what the author terms, a -"perfect platform, or prosodia of versifying, in imitation of the -Greeks and Latins," a scheme which, though supported by Sidney, Dyer, -Spenser, and Harvey, happily miscarried. "The hexameter verse," says -Nash, with great good sense, in his controversy with Harvey, "I graunt -to be a gentleman of an auncient house, (so is many an English -beggar,) yet this clyme of ours hee cannot thrive in; our speech is too -craggy for him to set his plough in; hee goes twitching and hopping -in our language, like a man running upon quagmires, up the hill in -one syllable and downe the dale in another, retaining no part of that -stately smooth gate which he vaunts himself with amongst the Greeks and -Latins."[464:A] - -Webbe's "Discourse," however, is valuable on account of the characters -which he has drawn of the English poets, from Chaucer to his own time. -He notices, also, "Gaskoynes Instructions for versifying;" and, after -declaring the Shepherd's Calender inferior neither to Theocritus nor -Virgil, he expresses an ardent wish that the other works of Spenser -might get abroad, and especially his "English Poet, which his friend -E. K. did once promise to publish." The tract concludes with the -author's assertion, that his "onely ende" in compiling it was "not as -an exquisite censure concerning the matter," but "that it might be -an occasion to have the same thoroughly, and with greater discretion -taken in hande, and laboured by some other of greater abilitie, of whom -I know there be manie among the famous poets in London, who both for -learning and leysure may handle the argument far more pythelie."[464:B] - -In 1588, _Abraham Fraunce_, another encourager and writer of English -Hexameter and Pentameter verses, published in octavo, a critical -treatise, a mixture of prose and verse, under the quaint title of -"The Arcadian Rhetoricke, or the Precepts of Rhetoricke made plain by -example, Greeke, Latyne, Englishe, Italyan, and Spanishe." This rare -volume is in the library of Mr. Malone, and is valuable, observes -Warton, for its English examples.[464:C] - -In the same year which produced Fraunce's work, appeared the -_Touch-Stone of Wittes_, written by _Edward Hake_, and printed at -London by Edmund Botifaunt. This little tract is employed in sketching -the features of the chief poets of the day; but differs not materially -from _Webbe's Discourse of English Poetrie_, from which, indeed, it -is principally compiled. Hake describes himself (in another of his -productions called "_A Touchstone_ for this time present,") as an -"attorney of the Common Pleas;" mentions his having been educated under -John Hopkins, whom he terms a learned and exquisite teacher, and when -criticising the _Mirrour of Magistrates_ in his _Touchstone of Wittes_, -speaks of its augmentor, John Higgins, as his particular friend.[465:A] - -But by far the most valuable work which was published in the province -of criticism, during the life-time of Shakspeare, was written by -_George Puttenham_, and entitled "The Arte of English Poesie, Contrived -into three Bookes: The first of Poets and Poesie, the second of -Proportion, the third of Ornament. At London Printed by Richard Field, -dwelling in the black-Friers neere Ludgate. 1589." - -This book, which seems to have been composed considerably anterior to -its publication, was printed anonymously, and has been ascribed to -Spenser and Sidney.[465:B] Bolton, whose _Hypocritica_ was written -in the reign of James I., though not printed until 1722, mentions -Puttenham, however, as the reputed author; and a reference to Bolton's -manuscript, preserved in the archives at Oxford, enabled Anthony Wood -to announce this fact to the public. "There is," says he, "a book in -being called _The Art of English Poesie_, not written by Sydney, as -some have thought, but rather by one _Puttenham_, sometime a Gentleman -Pensioner to Qu. Elizab."[465:C] - -An elegant reprint of this old critic has been lately (1811) edited by -Mr. Haslewood, in which, with indefatigable industry and research, he -has collected all that could throw light on the personal and literary -history of his author. His opinion of the critical acumen of Puttenham, -though favourable, is not too highly coloured. "Puttenham," he remarks, -"was a candid but sententious critic. What his observations want in -argument, is made up for by the soundness of his judgment; and his -conclusions, notwithstanding their brevity, are just and pertinent. He -did not hastily scan his author, to indulge in an untimely sneer, and -his opinions were adopted by contemporary writers, and have not been -dissented from by the moderns."[466:A] - -Of the same tenour are the sentiments of Mr. Gilchrist, who opens -his analysis of the _Arte of English Poesie_, with asserting that it -"is on many accounts one of the most curious and entertaining, and, -intrinsically, one of the most valuable books of the age of Elizabeth;" -infinitely superior, he adds, as an elementary treatise on the arts, -to the volumes of Wilson and Webbe, "as being formed on a more -comprehensive scale, and illustrated by examples; while the copious -intermixture of contemporary anecdote, tradition, manners, opinions, -and the numerous specimens of coeval poetry, no where else preserved, -contribute to form a volume of infinite amusement, curiosity, and -value."[466:B] - -To various parts of this interesting treatise, we shall have occasion -frequently to refer, when discussing the subjects of miscellaneous -poetry and metropolitan manners. It is indeed a store-house of poetical -erudition. - -The next work which, in the order of publication, falls under our -notice, is SIR JOHN HARRINGTON'S _Apologie of Poetry_, prefixed in 1591 -to his Version of the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto. It is a production -of some merit, displaying both judgment and ingenuity; but is most -remarkable for the earliest notice of Puttenham's Arte of Poesie, -and for affording a striking proof of the obscurity in which that -critic had enveloped himself with regard to its parentage; for though -two years had elapsed since its publication, it appears that neither -the Queen, her courtiers, nor the literary world, had the slightest -idea of its origin, and Sir John speaks of the author under the -appellation of "_Ignoto_." "Neither," says he, "do I suppose it to be -greatly behoovefull for this purpose, to trouble you with the curious -definitions of a poet and poesie, and with the subtill distinctions of -their sundrie kinds; nor to dispute how high and supernatural the name -of a Maker is, so christened in English by that _unknowne Godfather_, -that this last yeare save one, viz. 1589, set forth a booke called -the Art of English Poetrie: and least of all do I purpose to bestow -any long time to argue, whether Plato, Zenophon, and Erasmus, writing -fictions and dialogues in prose, may justly be called poets, or whether -Lucan writing a story in verse be an historiographer, or whether -Master Faire translating Virgil, Master Golding translating Ovid's -Metamorphosis, and my selfe in this worke that you see, be any more -than versifiers, as the same _Ignoto_ termeth all translators."[467:A] - -Poetry, soon after the birth of this Apology, had to boast of a -champion of still greater prowess, in the person of SIR PHILIP -SIDNEY, whose _Defence of Poesie_ was first made public in 1595. -It had, however, been previously circulated in manuscript for some -years; thus Sir John Harrington refers to it in his Apology 1591, -and there is reason to believe, that it was written so early as 1581 -or 1582. This delightful piece of criticism exhibits the taste and -erudition of Sir Philip in a striking light; the style is remarkable -for amenity and simplicity; the laws of the Drama and Epopœa are laid -down with singular judgment and precision, and the cause of poetry -is strenuously and successfully supported against the calumny and -abuse of the puritanical scowlers, one of whom had the effrontery to -dedicate to him his collection of scurrility, in the very title-page -of which he classes poets with pipers and jesters, and terms them the -"caterpillars of the commonwealth."[468:A] - -A very ingenious "_Comparative Discourse of our English Poets, with -the Greeke, Latine, and Italian Poets_," was published by FRANCIS -MERES, in 1598, under the title of _Palladis Tamia, Wit's -Treasury_.[468:B] Meres is certainly much indebted to the thirty-first -chapter of the first book of Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie; but -he has considerably extended the catalogue of poets, and it should be -added, that his comparisons are drawn with no small portion of skill -and felicity, and that his criticisms are, for the most part, just and -tersely expressed. - -Another attempt was made, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, -to introduce the Roman measures into English verse, in a duodecimo -entitled, "Observations in the Art of English Poesie, by THOMAS -CAMPION, wherein it is demonstratively proved, and by example -confirmed, that the English toong will receive eight severall kinds of -numbers, proper to itselfe, which are all in this book set forth, and -were never before this time by any man attempted." London; printed by -Richard Field, for Andrew Wise. 1602. - -The object of this tract, which is dedicated to Lord Buckhurst, whom -he terms, "the noblest judge of poesie," was not only to recommend the -adoption of classical metres, but to abolish, if possible, the use -of rhime. "For this end," says he in his preface, "have I studyed to -induce a true forme of versefying into our language, for the vulgar -and unartificial custome of riming hath, I know, detered many excellent -wits from the exercise of English Poesy." - -In consequence of this determination, he has enforced his -"Observations" by examples on the classic model, without rhime; and -among them, at p. 12. is a specimen of what he calls _Lincentiate -Iambicks_, which is, in fact, our present blank verse. - -This systematic attack upon rhime speedily called forth a consummate -master of the art in its defence; for in 1603 appeared, "A Defence of -Ryme, against a pamphlet intituled, Observations in the Art of Poesie, -wherein is demonstratively proved that ryme is the fittest harmonie of -wordes that comports with our language." By Samuel Daniel. - -It need scarcely be said that the elegant and correct poet has obtained -a complete victory over his opponent, whom he censures, not so much for -attempting the introduction of new measures, as for his abuse of rhime; -he might have shown his skill, he justly and eloquently observes, -"without doing wrong to the honour of the dead, wrong to the fame of -the living, and wrong to England, in seeking to lay reproach upon her -native ornaments, and to turn the fair stream and full course of her -accents, into the shallow current of a loose uncertainty, clean out of -the way of her known delight.—Therefore here stand I forth," he adds -in a subsequent paragraph, "only to make good the place we have thus -taken up, and to defend the sacred monuments erected therein, which -contain the honour of the dead, the fame of the living, the glory of -peace, and the best power of our speech, and wherein so many honourable -spirits have sacrificed to memory their dearest passions, showing by -what divine influence they have been moved, and under what stars they -lived."[469:A] - -Great modesty and good sense distinguish this pamphlet, in which the -author candidly allows that rhime has been sometimes too lavishly -used and where blank verse might have been substituted with better -effect, and he concludes his "Defence" with some excellent remarks on -affectation in the choice and collocation of words, a vice from which -he was more free than any of his contemporaries, simplicity and purity, -in fact, being the leading features of his style. - -The last critic of the era to which we are limited, is EDWARD BOLTON, -whose "_Hypercritica_; Or a Rule of Judgment for writing or reading -our Historys," a small collection of tracts or essays, "occasioned," -says Warton, "by a passage in Sir Henry Seville's Epistle prefixed to -his edition of our old Latin historians, 1596,"[470:A] was supposed by -Wood, in a note on the MS. preserved in the Ashmolean Museum, to have -been written about 1610. But that this date is too early is evident -from the work itself; for in the fourth essay, which is entitled "Prime -Gardens for gathering English: according to the true gage or standard -of the tongue about fifteen or sixteen years ago," King James's poetry -is spoken of in the following manner:—"I dare not presume to speak of -his Majesty's exercises in this heroick kind, because I see them all -left out in that which Montague lord bishop of Winchester hath given us -of his royal writings."[470:B] Now Bishop Montague's edition of James's -Works was not published until 1616. - -The principal writers in prose and poetry, anterior to 1600, are -noticed in this fourth division of the _Hypercritica_, and the judgment -passed upon them is, in general, correct and satisfactory, and does -credit to the "sensible old English critic," as Warton emphatically -terms him.[470:C] - -It is remarkable that the _Hypercritica_ should have been suffered to -continue in its manuscript state until 1722, at which period it was -printed by Anthony Hall at the end of Trivet's "Annalium Continuatio." -Oxford, 8vo. - -Bolton, whom Ritson calls "a profound scholar and eminent -critic[470:D]," was certainly a man of considerable learning, and -occupied no small space in the public eye as an historian, philologer, -and antiquary. - -To this enumeration it may be necessary to add some notice of that -industrious race of critics, termed _Commentators_; a species which, -for the last half century, has been employed as laboriously on old -English, as formerly were the German Literati on ancient classical, -literature. Of this mode of illustration, which has lately thrown so -much light on the manners and learning of our poet's age, two early and -very ingenious specimens may be mentioned under the reign of Elizabeth -and James. The first is the Commentary of E. K. on the Shepheards -Calender of Spenser, in 1579; and the second, the learned Notes of -Selden on the first eighteen Songs of the Polyolbion of Drayton, -1612; both productions of great merit, but especially the last, which -exhibits a large portion of acumen and research, united to an equal -share of discrimination and judgment. - -Such are the chief critics on English literature who flourished during -the life-time of Shakspeare. That some of them contributed very -materially towards the improvement of polite literature, and especially -of poetry, by stimulating the genius and guiding the taste of their -contemporaries, must be readily granted, and more particularly may -these benefits be attributed to the labours of _Webbe_, _Puttenham_, -_Sidney_, and _Meres_. How far the manuscripts of _Spenser_ and -_Bolton_, at the commencement and termination of our critical era, -assisted to enlighten the public mind, cannot now be ascertained; but -as the circulation of works in this state is generally very confined, -we cannot suppose, even admitting the industry and admiration of their -favoured readers to have been strongly excited, that their effect could -have been either widely or permanently felt. - -It would be a subject of still greater curiosity, could we determine, -with any approach towards precision, in what degree Shakspeare was -indebted, for his progress in English literature, to the authors whom -we have just enumerated, under the kindred branches of _philology_ and -_criticism_. - -Of his assiduity as a reader of English books, whether original or -translated, his works afford the most positive and abundant proofs; -and that he was peculiarly attentive to the philology of his native -language is to be learnt from the same source. We have already -noticed his satirical allusion to Florio and Lilly in the character -of Holofernes, and a similar stroke on the innovating pedantry of -the times, will be found in his _Much Ado about Nothing_, which was -probably directed against another equally bold attempt to alter the -whole system of orthography. The experiment was made by Bullokar, of -whose Brief Grammar a slight mention has been given, in a book entitled -an _Amendment of Orthographie_ for _English Speech_, 1580; in which -the author proposes not only an entire change in the established mode -of spelling, but a total revolution also in the practice of printing. -To level a sarcasm at the head of this daring innovator may have been -the aim of the poet, where he represents Benedict complaining of -Claudio, that "_he was wont to speak plain, and to the purpose, like an -honest man, and a soldier; and now he is turned ORTHOGRAPHER; his words -are a very fantastical banquet, just so many strange dishes_."[472:A] - -In a former part of this work we have mentioned some of the books to -which our great poet must have had recourse in the progress even of -his limited education in the country; and on his settlement in London, -we cannot, with any probability, conceive, that a mind so active, -comprehensive, and acute, would sit down content with its juvenile -acquisitions, and hesitate to inspect those treatises on philology and -criticism which had acquired the popular approbation, and were adapted -to the years of manhood. Not only, indeed, did he peruse with avidity -the _Arte of Rhetoricke_ of Wilson, and the _Scolemaster_ of Ascham, -but we are convinced, from a thorough study of his writings, that so -extensive was his range of reading, that not a translation from the -_Greek_, the _Latin_, the _Italian_, _Spanish_, or _French_ appeared, -but what was soon afterwards to be found in the hands of Shakspeare. -His dramas, in fact, even without the aid of his indefatigable -commentators, assure us, in almost every page, that, if not erudite -from the possession of many languages, he was truly and substantially -learned in every other sense; in the vast accumulation of materials -drawn through the medium of translation, from the most distant and -varied sources. - -That he had not only read, but availed himself professionally of -Wilson's Rhetoric, will be evident, we think, from a passage quoted -by Mr. Chalmers, from this critic, in support of a similar opinion. -Wilson has mentioned Timon of Athens in such a manner as _might_ lead -Shakspeare to select this misanthrope for dramatic exhibition; but the -very character and language of _Dogberry_ seem to be anticipated in -the following sketch:—"Another good fellow of the countrey, being an -officer and mayor of a toune, and desirous to speak like a fine learned -man, having just occasion to rebuke a runnegate fellowe, said after -this wise, in a greate heate:—Thou _yngraine_ and _vacation_ knave, -if I take thee any more within the _circumcision_ of my _dampnation_; -I will so _corrupt_ thee, that all other _vacation_ knaves shall take -_ilsample_ by thee."[473:A] - -We cannot, however, coalesce with Mr. Chalmers, in considering the -character of Holofernes as founded on the Scholemaster of Ascham, and -that in drawing the colloquial excellence ascribed to the pedagogue -by Sir Nathaniel, the poet had in his _minds-eye_ the conversation at -Lord Burleigh's table, so strikingly recorded by Ascham in his preface. -We have not the smallest doubt but that our author had read, and with -much pleasure and profit, the invaluable treatise of that accomplished -scholar; but the general folly and pedantry of Holofernes are such, -notwithstanding the eulogium of his clerical companion, as to preclude -all idea that the character could have been sketched from such a -model;—it is, in fact, a broad caricature of some well known pedant -of the day, and we must agree with the commentators in fixing upon -_Florio_ as the most probable prototype. - -It will readily be granted, that, if Shakspeare were the assiduous -reader which we have supposed him to be, and no judge, indeed, of his -works can doubt it, he must have perused with peculiar interest the -critical treatises on poets and poetry which were published during -his march to fame. It will be considered, therefore, scarcely as -an assumption to conclude, that the works of _Webbe_, _Puttenham_, -_Sidney_, and _Meres_ were familiar to his mind; and though he must -have written with too much haste, and with too much attention to -the gratifications of the _million_, to carry their precepts, and -especially the strictures of Sidney, into perfect execution, yet it is -very reasonable to conceive that even his early works may have been -rendered less imperfect by the perusal of Webbe and Puttenham; and -that, as he advanced in his professional career, the improved mechanism -of his dramas, and his greater attention to the unities, may have been -in some degree derived from the keen invectives of Sir Philip. - -That Shakspeare, in return, contributed, more than any other poet, to -enrich and modulate his native language, is now freely admitted; but -that he was held in similar estimation by his contemporaries, and even -at an early period of his poetical progress, may be inferred from what -_Markham_ has said of the "poets of his age" in 1595, when Shakspeare -had published some of his poems, and had produced his "Romeo," and from -what _Meres_, in 1598, more specifically applies to our author; the -former observing, in the Dedication of his _Gentleman's Academie_, with -reference to the Booke of St. Albans, originally published in 1486, -that "our tong being not of such puritie then, _as at this day the -Poets of our age have raised it to: of whom, and in whose behalf I wil -say thus much, that our Nation may only thinke herselfe beholding for -the glory and exact compendiousnes of our longuage_;" and the latter -expressly terming our poet, from the superiority of his diction and -versification, "_mellifluous and hony-tongued Shakspeare_."[475:A] - -Reverting to the subject of National Literature, we proceed to notice -the progress which HISTORY, GENERAL, LOCAL AND PERSONAL, may be deemed -to have made, during the era to which we are limited. - -History appears in every country to have been late in acquiring its -best and most legitimate form, and to have been usually preceded by -annals or chronicles, which, aspiring to no unity in arrangement, -and void of all political or philosophical deduction, were confined -to a bare chronological detail of facts. Such was the state of this -important branch of literature on the accession of Elizabeth; numerous -chroniclers had flourished from Robert of Gloucester to Fabian and -Hall, but with little to recommend them, except the minuteness of their -register, and the occasional illustration of manners and customs; and -more distinguishable for credulity and prolixity than for any other -characteristics. - -The chronicle of _Holinshed_, however, which appeared in 1577, and a -second edition in 1587, merits a higher title. It is more full and -complete than any of its predecessors, and less loaded with trifling -matter. We are much indebted to Reginald Wolfe, the Queen's printer, -for stimulating the historian to the undertaking, who was assisted, in -his laborious task, by several able coadjutors, and particularly by the -Rev. _William Harrison_, whose _Description of England_, prefixed to -the first volume, is the most interesting and valuable document, as a -picture of the country, and of the costume, and mode of living of its -inhabitants, which the sixteenth century has produced. - -The example of Holinshed was followed, towards the close of our period, -by _Stowe_ and _Speed_, writers more succinct in their narrative, more -correct in their style, and more philosophical in their matter. The -"History of Great Britain" by Speed, the second edition of which was -printed under the author's care in 1620, is, in every respect, a work -of very great merit, whether we consider its authorities, or the mode -in which it is written. It is in fact a production which may be read -with great pleasure and profit at the present day, and makes a nearer -approach, than any former chronicle, to the tone of legitimate history. - -In the mean time, the more classical form of this branch of literature -was making a rapid progress. Numerous attempts were published, -partaking of a mixed character, neither assuming the dignity of -history, nor descending to the minuteness of the chronicle; Newton's -History of the Saracens[476:A] and Fulbeck's Account of the Roman -Factions, previous to the reign of Augustus[476:B], may be mentioned as -specimens; but the great historians of this period, who condescended -to use their native tongue, were Raleigh, Hayward, Knolles, Bacon, -and Daniel, writers who in this province still hold no inferior rank -among the classics of their country. The "History of the World," by -Sir Walter, exhibits great strength of style, and much solidity of -judgment; Hayward's Lives of the three Norman Kings, and of Henry the -IV. and Edward the VI., contain many curious facts to which sufficient -attention has not yet been paid; his diction is neat and smooth, but -he adopts too profusely the classical costume of framing speeches for -his principal characters. Knolles's "General History of the Turks" is -an elaborate and useful work, and its language is clear, nervous, and -often powerfully descriptive. Bacon's Henry the VIIth betrays too much -of the apologist for arbitrary power, but it is otherwise of great -value; it is written from original, and now lost, materials, with -vigour and philosophical acuteness. But these historians are excelled, -in purity of style and perspicuity of narration, by Daniel, whose -"History of England," closing with the reign of Edward the Third, is -a production which reflects great credit on the age in which it was -written. - -We must not omit to mention, however, two historians, who, by rejecting -their vernacular language, and adopting that of ancient Rome, acquired -for a time a more extended celebrity in this department. Buchanan -and Camden are, or should be, familiar to all lovers of history and -topography. The "Rerum Scoticarum Historia" of the first of these -historians, and the "Annales Rerum Anglicanarum et Hibernicarum" of -the second, are productions in deserved estimation; the former for the -classical purity and taste exhibited in its composition, the latter for -its accuracy and impartiality. - -Of that highly interesting and useful branch of History which is -included under the title of Voyages and Travels, the era of which we -are treating affords a most abundant harvest. The two great collectors, -_Hakluyt_ and _Purchas_, appear within its range, compilers, whose -industry and research need fear no rivalry. Hakluyt's first collection -was published in a small volume in 1582; was increased to a folio -in 1589, and to three volumes of the same size in 1598, containing -upwards of two hundred voyages. The still more ample work of Purchas -was commenced in 1613, by the publication of the first volume folio, -with the title of "Purchas, his Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World, -and the Religions observed in all Ages and Places discovered, from the -Creation unto this present; in four parts." This elaborate undertaking -was greatly augmented in subsequent editions, of which the fourth and -best was published in 1626, in five volumes folio, the last four being -entitled "_Hakluytus Posthumous_, or Purchas, his Pilgrims; containing -a history of the world, in sea-voyages, and land-travels, by Englishmen -and others." Purchas professes to include, in this immense compilation, -the substance of _above twelve hundred authors_; it contains also the -maps of Mercator and Hondius, and numerous engravings. - -These vast and valuable collections are an honour to the reigns of -Elizabeth and James; and, notwithstanding the industry and research of -the moderns, have not yet been superseded. - -To the gigantic labours of these writers, which include almost every -previous book on the subject of voyage or travel, may be added the -publications of two or three contemporaries of singular or useful -notoriety. In 1611, _Thomas Coryate_ printed the most remarkable of his -eccentric productions, under the quaint title of "Crudities hastily -gobbled up in five Months Travels, in France, Savoy, Italy, Rhetia, -Helvetia, some Parts of High Germany, and the Netherlands." Lond. large -4to. Coryate was a man of consummate vanity, of some learning, but of -no judgment. Inflamed with an inextinguishable desire of travelling, -he walked over a great part of Europe and Asia, terminating his life, -"in the midst of his Indian travail," about the year 1617. Nothing -can be more ridiculous than the style, and often the matter of his -book, which is preceded by nearly sixty copies of what Fuller calls -_mock-commending verses_. "Prince _Henry_," says the same writer, -"allowed him a pension, and kept him for his servant. _Sweet-meats_ -and _Coriat_ made up the _last course_ at all _Court-entertainments_. -Indeed he was the courtier's _anvil_ to trie their witts upon, and -sometimes this _anvil_ returned the _hammers_ as hard knocks as it -received, his bluntnesse repaying their abusivenesse."[478:A] - -A still greater pedestrian than even Coryate lived, at this time, in -the person of _William Lithgow_, who published his "Travels" in 1614. -His peregrinations were extended through Europe, Asia, and Africa, and -he declares, at the close of his book, that in his three voyages "his -painful feet have traced over (besides passages of seas and rivers) -thirty-six thousand and odd miles, which draweth near to twice the -circumference of the whole earth." His sufferings through the tyranny -of the Spanish governor of Malaga, who had tortured, robbed, and -imprisoned him, excited so much pity and indignation, that, on his -arrival in England, he was conveyed to Theobalds on a feather-bed, -being unable to stand, that King James might be an eye-witness of his -"martyred anatomy," as he terms the miserable condition to which his -body had been reduced. Lithgow's "Travels" are entertaining, and not -ill written, but they abound in the marvellous, and too often excite -the smile of incredulity. - -The "Itinerary, or Ten Yeares Travell through Germany, Italy, England," -&c. a folio volume by _Fines Moryson_, is a production of a far -different cast. Moryson is a sober-minded and veracious traveller, -and that part of his book which relates to the manners and customs of -England and Scotland is peculiarly useful and interesting. He was a -native of Lincolnshire, and fellow of Peter-house, Cambridge. "He began -his Travels," relates Fuller, "May the first, 1591, over a great part -of Christendome, and no small share of Turky, even to Jerusalem, and -afterwards printed his observations in a _large book_, which, for the -truth thereof, is in good reputation, for of so great a traveller, he -had nothing of a traveller in him, as to stretch in his reports. At -last he was _Secretary_ to _Charles Blunt_, Deputy of Ireland, saw and -wrote the conflicts with, and conquest of _Tyrone_, a discourse which -deserveth credit, because the writer's _eye_ guides his _pen_, and -the privacy of his place acquainted him with many secret passages of -importance. He dyed about the year of our Lord 1614."[479:A] - -In that department of history which may be termed _local_, including -topography and antiquities, the latter half of the sixteenth century -had many cultivators. "Persons of greatest eminence in this sort of -learning under queen Elizabeth," remarks Nicolson, "were Humphrey -Lhuyd, John Twyne, William Harrison, and William Camden."[479:B] -Lluyd possessed unrivalled celebrity in his day, for Camden calls him -"a learned Briton, who, for knowledge in antiquities, was reputed -to carry, after a sort, with him, all the credit and honour." He -wrote a variety of tracts, among which is a fragment of a Commentary -on Britain; a Description of the Island of Mona; a Description of -the Coasts of Scotland; a Chorography of England and Wales; and a -Translation of Caradoc's History of Wales, subsequently published by -Powel, and again by Wynn. Lluyd practised physic at Denbigh in Wales, -and died there about the year 1570. His friend _John Twyne_, the -translator of his Commentarioli Britannicæ, under the title of The -Breviary of Britain, Lond. 1573, has been extolled also both by Lee -and Nicolson for his knowledge of the history and antiquities of his -country. He died in 1581, leaving behind him two books of Commentaries -on British History[480:A], which reached the press in 1590, and various -Collectanea relative to the antiquities of Britain. - -We must here add to Bishop Nicolson's enumeration the name of _William -Lambarde_, the learned author of _Archaionomia, sive de priscis -Anglorum Legibus_, and of the _Perambulation of Kent_. This last -production, which was printed in 1570, is the prolific parent of our -county histories, works which have in our days very rapidly increased, -and which exhibit the estimation in which they are held, by the high -price annexed to their publication. - -Of _Harrison_'s "Historical Description of the Island of Britain" we -have already taken due notice, and it would be superfluous, in this -place, to do more than mention the _Britannia_ of _Camden_. Proceeding -therefore to the reign of James, we have to increase the catalogue with -the names of _Stowe_, _Norden_, _Carew_, and _Burton_. The _Survey of -London_ by _Stowe_, is one of the most early, valuable, and interesting -of our topographical pieces; and on it has been founded the subsequent -descriptions of Hatton, Seymour, Maitland, Noorthouck, Pennant, and -Malcolm. _John Norden_ is well known to the lovers of topography by -his _Speculum Britanniæ_, which was meant to include the chorography -of England, but unfortunately extends no farther than the counties of -Middlesex and Hertfordshire. Norden was the projector of those useful -works familiarly termed _Guides_, having written a "Guide for English -Travellers," and a "Surveyor's Guide," both works of singular merit. He -died about the year 1625. _Richard Carew_, the author of the "Survey of -Cornwall," first printed in 1602, and termed, by Fuller, "the pleasant -and faithfull description of Cornwall," was educated at Christ-Church, -Oxford, where, at the early age of fourteen, though of three years' -standing in the University, "he was called out to dispute _extempore_, -before the Earls of _Leicester_ and _Warwick_, with the matchless Sir -_Philip Sidney_."[481:A] The Cornwall of Carew, though now superseded -by the more elaborate history of Dr. Borlase, is a compilation of great -merit, and makes a nearer approach than Lambarde's Kent to a perfect -model for county topography. Carew died in 1620. - -_William Burton_, the last writer whom we shall mention under this -head, though contemporary with Shakspeare for more than forty years, -was not an author until six years after the poet's death, when he -published his "Description of Leicestershire," folio; a book which, -independent of its own utility, had the merit of stimulating Sir -William Dugdale to the composition of his admirable "History of -Warwickshire." Burton's work was justly considered as carrying forward, -on an improved scale, the plan of Lambarde and Carew; it is now, -however, thrown into the shade by the most copious, and, in every -respect, the most complete county history which this kingdom has -hitherto produced, the "Leicestershire" of Mr. Nichols. Burton was -the friend of Drayton, and brother to the author of the Anatomy of -Melancholy. - -The third branch of History, the _personal_ or biographical, cannot -boast of any very celebrated cultivator during the period to which we -are confined. Many ephemeral sketches, it is true, were given of the -naval and military commanders of the day, at a time when enterprise -and adventure enjoyed the marked protection of government; but no -classical production in biography, properly so called, no enduring -specimen of personal history seems to have issued from the press; at -least we recollect no example, worth notice, in a separate form, and of -the general compilers in this province, we are reduced to mention the -names of _Fox_ and _Pits_. The "Acts and Monuments of the Church," by -the first of these writers, commonly called "Fox's Book of Martyrs," is -a mixed composition; but as consisting principally of personal detail -and anecdote, more peculiarly belonging to the department of biography. -The first edition of the "Martyrology" was published in London in 1563, -in one thick volume folio, and the fourth in 1583, four years before -the death of the author, in two volumes folio. This popular work, which -was augmented to three volumes folio in 1632, has undergone numerous -editions, and perhaps no book in our language has been more universally -read. "It may regarded," remarks Granger, "as a vast Gothic building: -in which some things are superfluous, some irregular, and others -manifestly wrong: but which, altogether, infuse a kind of religious -reverence; and we stand amazed at the labour, if not at the skill, of -the architect. This book was, by order of Queen Elizabeth, placed in -the common halls of archbishops, bishops, deans, archdeacons, and heads -of colleges; and was long looked upon with a veneration next to the -Scriptures themselves."[482:A] - -John Pits, who died in 1616, was a writer, in not inelegant Latin, of -the lives of the Roman Catholic authors of England. His work, which was -published after his death, at Paris, in 1619, 4to. is usually known and -quoted by the title of _De illustribus Angliæ scriptoribus_. He is a -bold plagiarist from Bale, partial from religious bigotry, and often -inaccurate with regard to facts and dates. - -To this summary of historical literature it will be necessary to add -a few remarks on the translations which were made, during the era -in question, from the Greek and Roman historians, as these would -necessarily have much influence on the public taste, and would throw -open to Shakspeare, and to those of his contemporaries who could not -readily appeal to the originals, many sources of imagery and fable. It -appears then, that from the year 1550 to the year 1616, all the great -historians of Greece and Rome, had been either wholly or in part, -familiarized in our language. That the Grecian classics were translated -with any large portion of fidelity and spirit, will not easily be -admitted, when we find their sense frequently taken from Latin or -French versions; but they still served to stimulate curiosity, and to -excite emulation. The two first books of _Herodotus_, 4to. appeared -in 1584; _Thucydides_ from the French of Claude de Seyssel, by Thomas -Nicolls, folio, in 1550; a great part of _Polybius_, by Christopher -Watson, 8vo. in 1568; _Diodorus Siculus_, by Thomas Stocker, 4to. in -1569; _Appian_, 4to. in 1578; _Josephus_, by Thomas Lodge, folio, in -1602; _Ælian_, by Abraham Fleming, 4to. in 1576; _Herodian_, from the -Latin version of Politianus, by Nycholas Smyth, 4to. in 1591; and -_Plutarch's Lives_, from the French of Amyot, by Sir Thomas North, -folio, in 1579. - -The Roman writers were more generally naturalized, without the aid of -an intermediate version. _Livy_ and _Florus_ were given to the world -by Philemon Holland, folio, in 1600; _Tacitus_, by Sir Henry Saville -and Richard Grenaway, 4to. and folio, in 1591 and 1598; _Sallust_, by -Thomas Paynell, 4to., and by Thomas Heywood, folio, in 1557 and 1608; -_Suetonius_, by Philemon Holland, folio, 1606; _Cæsar_, by Arthur -Golding, 4to., 1565, and by Clement Edmundes, folio, 1600; _Justin_, by -Arthur Golding, 4to., 1564, and by Holland, 1606; _Quintus Curtius_, by -John Brande, 8vo., 1561; _Eutropius_, by Nic. Haward, 8vo., 1564, and -_Marcellinus_, by P. Holland, folio, 1609. - -Such are the chief authors, original and translated, which, in the -province of History, general, local, and personal, added liberally to -the mass of information and utility which was rapidly accumulating -throughout the Shakspearean era. - -That our great poet amply availed himself of these stores, more -particularly in those dramas which are founded on domestic and foreign -history, every attentive reader of his works must have adequate proof. -Several, indeed, of the writers that we have enumerated, though -exclusively belonging to our period, and throwing much light on the -manners, customs, and literature of their age, came rather too late -for the poet's purpose; but of those who published sufficiently early, -he has made the best use. Traces of his footsteps may be discerned in -many of the authors that we have mentioned, but his greatest inroads -seem to have been made through the compilations of _Holinshed_ and -_Hakluyt_, and through the version of _Plutarch_ by _North_. All that -was necessary in the _minutiæ_ of fact, was derivable from the labours -of the faithful _Holinshed_; much illustration was to be acquired from -the manners-painting pen of _Harrison_; a knowledge of the globe and -its marvels, was attainable in the narratives of _Hakluyt_; and the -character and costume of Greece and Rome were vividly delineated in the -delightful, though translated, pages of _Plutarch_. From these sources, -and from a few which existed previous to the commencement of the poet's -age, such as the _Froissart_ of _Lord Berners_, and the _Chronicle_ of -_Hall_, were drawn and coloured those exquisite pictures of manners, -history, and individual character, which fix and enrapture attention -throughout the dramatic annals of Shakspeare. Indeed, from whatever -mine the poet procured his ore, he uniformly purified it into metal -of the finest lustre, and it may truly be added, that on the study of -the "Histories" of Shakspeare, a more intimate acquaintance with human -nature may be founded, than on any other basis. - -Whilst on the subject of _History_, we must deviate in a slight degree -from our plan, which excludes the detail of science, to notice two -works in _Natural History_, from which our bard has derived various -touches of imagery and description; I mean the Roman and the Gothic -Pliny, rendered familiar to our author by the labours of Holland, -and Batman; the former having published his Translation of Pliny's -immense collection in 1601, folio, and the latter his Commentary upon -Bartholome, under the title of "Batman uppon Bartholome his booke De -proprietatibus rerum," in 1582, folio. "Shakspeare," says Mr. Douce, -speaking of Batman's Bartholome, "was extremely well acquainted with -this work;" an assertion which he has sufficiently established in the -course of his "Illustrations."[485:A] Few, indeed, were the popular -books of his day, to which our author had not access, and from which he -has not derived some slight fact or hint conducive to his purpose. - -We now approach the last branch of our present subject, _Miscellaneous -Literature_; a topic which, were we not restricted by various other -demands, might occupy a volume; for in no era of our annals have -miscellaneous writers been more abundant than during the reign of -Elizabeth. - -A set of men at this time infested the town, in a high degree -dissipated in their manners, licentious in their morals, and vindictive -in their resentments, yet possessing a large share of native and -acquired talent. These adventurers, who hung loose upon society, -appear to have seized upon the press for the purpose of indulging an -unbounded love of ridicule and raillery, sometimes excited by the mere -spirit of badinage and frolic, more frequently stimulated by malignity -and revenge, and often goaded to the task by the pressure of deserved -poverty. The fertility of these writers is astonishing; the public was -absolutely deluged with their productions, which proved incidentally -useful, however, in their day, by the exposure of folly, and are -valuable, at this time, for the illustrations which they have thrown -upon the most evanescent portion of our manners and customs. - -Another description of miscellaneous authors, consisted of those who, -attached to the discipline of the puritans, employed their pens in -inveighing with great bitterness against the dress and amusements of -the less rigid part of the community; and a third, equally distant from -the levity of the first, and the severity of the second, class, was -occupied in calmly discussing the various topics which morals, taste, -and literature supplied. - -As examples of the first species, no age can produce more extraordinary -characters than _Nash_, _Decker_, and _Greene_; men intimately -acquainted with all the crimes, follies, and debaucheries of a -town-life, indefatigable as writers, and possessing the advantages -of learning and genius. _Thomas Nash_, whose character as a satirist -and critic, we have already given in a quotation from Dr. Lodge, died -about the year 1600, after a life spent in controversy and dissipation. -He had humour, wit, and learning, but debased by a plentiful portion -of scurrility and buffoonery; he was born at Leostoffe in Suffolk, -educated at Cambridge, where he resided as a Member of St. John's -College, nearly seven years, and obtained great celebrity, as the -confuter and silencer of the puritanical _Mar-prelates_, a service that -merited the reputation which it procured him. He was the boon companion -of _Robert Greene_, whose vices he shared, and with whom he acted as -the unrelenting scourge of the Harveys. - -This terror of his opponents, this Aretine of England, though most -remarkable for his numerous prose pamphlets, was also a dramatic -poet. His productions, as enumerated by Mr. Beloe, amount to five and -twenty.[486:A] - -_Thomas Decker_, an author still more prolific, began his career as a -dramatic poet about the year 1597, and as a prose writer in 1603. His -plays, now lost, preserved, or written in conjunction with others, -amount to twenty-eight; but it is in his capacity as a miscellanist -that we have here to notice him. - -His tracts, of which thirty have been attributed to him, and near -five and twenty may be considered as genuine, clearly prove him to -have been an acute observer of the fleeting fashions of his age, -and a participator in all its follies and vices. His "Gul's Horne -Booke, or Fashions to please all sorts of Guls," first printed in -1609, exhibits a very curious, minute, and interesting picture of the -manners and habits of the middle class of society, and on this account -will be hereafter frequently referred to in these pages.[487:A] That -experience had tutored him in the knaveries of the metropolis, the -titles of the following pamphlets will sufficiently evince. "THE BELMAN -OF LONDON, bringing to Light the most notorious Villanies that are now -practised in the Kingdome," 1608; one of the earliest books professing -to disclose the slang of thieves and vagabonds; and remarks Warton, -from a contemporary writer, the most witty, elegant, and eloquent -display of the vices of London then extant.[487:B] "LANTHERN AND CANDLE -LIGHT: Or, The Bell-Man's Second Night's Walke. In which he brings -to light a Brood of more strange Villanies than ever were till this -Yeare discovered" 4to. 1612. "Villanies discovered by Lanthorn and -Candle Light, and the Helpe of a new Crier called O-per-se-O. Being an -Addition to the Belman's second Night's Walke, with canting Songs never -before printed." 4to. 1616. It will occasion no surprise, therefore, -if we find this describer of the arts and language of thieving himself -in a jail; he was, in fact, confined in the King's Bench prison from -1613 to 1616, if not longer. The most remarkable transaction of his -life appears to have been his quarrel with Ben Jonson, who, no doubt -sufficiently provoked, satirizes him in his _Poetaster_, 1601, under -the character of _Crispinus_; a compliment which Decker amply repaid -in his "Satiromastix, or the Untrussing of the humorous Poet," 1602, -where he lashes Ben without mercy, under the designation of Horace -Junior. Jonson replied in an address to the Reader, introduced in the -4to. edition of his play, in place of the epilogue, and points to -Decker, under the appellation of the _Untrusser_. Decker was an old -man in 1631, for in his _Match me in London_, published in that year, -he says: "I have been a priest in Apollo's Temple many years, my voice -is decaying with my age;" he probably died in 1639, the previous year -being the date of his latest production. - -Of _Robert Greene_, the author of near fifty productions[488:A], the -history is so highly monitory and interesting as to demand more than -a cursory notice. It affords, indeed, one of the most melancholy -proofs of learning, taste, and genius being totally inadequate, -without a due control over the passions, to produce either happiness -or respectability. This misguided man was born at Norwich, about the -middle of the sixteenth century, of parents in genteel life and much -esteemed. He was sent to St. John's College, Cambridge, from whence, at -an early period of his education, he was, unfortunately for his future -peace of mind, induced to absent himself, on a tour through Italy and -Spain. His companions were wild and dissolute, and, according to his -own confession[488:B], he ran headlong with them into every species of -dissipation and vice. - -On his return to England, he took his degree of Batchelor of Arts -at St. John's, in 1578, and afterwards, removing to Clare-hall, his -Master of Arts degree in that college, 1583. We learn, from one of his -numerous tracts, that, immediately after this event, he visited the -metropolis, where he led a life of unrestrained debauchery. Greene -was one of those men who are perpetually sinning and perpetually -repenting; he had a large share of wit, humour, fancy, generosity, -and good-nature, but was totally deficient in that strength of mind -which is necessary to resist temptation; he was conscious, too, of his -great abilities, but at the same time deeply conscious of the waste of -talent which had been committed to his care. When we find, therefore, -that he was intended for the church, and that he was actually -presented to the vicarage of Tollesbury, in Essex, on the 19th of -June, 1584[489:A], we may easily conceive how a man of his temperament -and habits would feel and act; he resigned it, in fact, the following -year, no doubt shocked at the disparity between his profession and -his conduct; for we find, from his own relation, that a few years -previous to this incident, he had felt extreme compunction on hearing -a sermon "preached by a godly learned man," in St. Andrew's Church, -Norwich.[489:B] - -It was shortly after this period that he married; and, if any thing -could have saved Greene from himself, this was the expedient; for the -lady he had chosen was beautiful in her person, amiable and moral in -her character, and we know, from the works of this unhappy man, that -_his_ heart _had_ been the seat of the milder virtues, and that he -possessed a strong relish for domestic life. - -The result of the experiment must lacerate the feelings of all who hear -it; for it exhibits, in a manner never surpassed, the best emotions -of our nature withering before the touch of Dissipation. The picture -is taken from a pamphlet of our author's, entitled "Never Too Late," -printed in 1590, where his career is admirably and confessedly shadowed -forth under the character of the _Palmer Francesco_. It would appear -from this striking narrative, if the minutiæ, as well as the outline -of it, are applicable to Greene, that he married his wife contrary -to the wishes of her father; their pecuniary distress was great, but -prudence and affection enabled them to realize the following scene of -domestic felicity:—"Hee and Isabel joyntly together taking themselves -to a little cottage, began to be as Ciceronicall as they were amorous; -with their hands thrift coveting to satisfy their hearts thirst, and -to be as diligent in labours, as they were affectionate in loves; so -that the parish wherein they lived, so affected them for the course of -their life, that they were counted the very mirrors of methode; for -he being a scholer, and nurst up in the universities, resolved rather -to live by his wit, than any way to be pinched with want, thinking -this old sentence to be true, _the wishers and woulders were never -good householders_; therefore he applied himselfe in teaching of a -schoole, where by his industry, hee had not onely great favour, but -gate wealthe to withstand fortune. Isabel, that shee might seeme no -lesse profitable, then her husband carefull, fell to her needle, and -with her worke sought to prevent the injurie of necessitie. Thus they -laboured to maintain their loves, being as busie as bees, and as true -as turtles, as desirous to satisfie the world with their desert, as -to feede the humours of their own desires. Living thus in a league of -united virtues, out of this mutuall concord of conformed perfection, -they had a sonne answerable to their owne proportion, which did -increase their amitie, so as the sight of their young infant was a -double ratifying of their affection. Fortune and love thus joyning in -league, to make these parties to forget the stormes, that had nipped -the blossom of their former yeres."[490:A] - -The poetry of Greene abounds still more than his prose with the most -exquisite delineations of rural peace and content, and the following -lines feelingly paint this short and only happy period of his life:— - - "Sweet are the thoughts that savour of content, - The quiet minde is richer than a crowne: - Sweete are the nights in carelesse slumber spent, - The poor estate scornes Fortune's angry frowne: - Such sweete content, such mindes, such sleepe, such blis, - Beggers injoy, when princes oft doe mis. - - The homely house that harbours quiet rest, - The cottage that affoords no pride nor care, - The meane that grees with country musicke best, - The sweete consort of mirth and musick's fare, - Obscured life sets downe a type of blis, - A minde content both crowne and kingdome is."[491:A] - -Deeply is it to be lamented, and with a sense, too, of humiliation for -the frailty of human nature, that, with such inducements to a moral -and rational life, with sufficient to support existence comfortably, -for he had some property of his own, and his wife's dowry had been -paid[491:B], and with a child whom he loved, and with a wife whom -he confesses was endowed with all that could endear and dignify her -sex, he could suffer his passions so far to subdue his reason, as to -throw these essentials towards happiness away! In the year 1586 he -abandoned this amiable woman and her son, to revel in all the vicious -indulgences of the metropolis. The causes of this iniquitous desertion -may be traced in his works; from these we learn that, in the first -place, she had endeavoured, and perhaps too importunately for such -an irritable character, to reform his evil propensities[491:C], and -secondly that on a visit to London on business, he had been fascinated -by the allurements of a courtesan[491:D], and on this woman, whose name -was Ball, and on her infamous relations, for her brother was afterwards -hanged[491:E], he squandered both his own property and that of his wife. - -It is almost without a parallel that during the remainder of Greene's -life, including only six years, he was continually groaning with -anguish and repentance, and continually plunging into fresh guilt; that -in his various tracts he was confessing his sins with the deepest -contrition, passionately apostrophizing his injured wife, imploring her -forgiveness in the most pathetic terms, and describing, in language the -most touching and impressive, the virtue of her whom he had so basely -abandoned. - -He tells us, under the beautifully drawn character of Isabel, by -whom he represents his wife, that upon her being told, by one of his -friends, of his intended residence in London, and by another, of the -attachment which had fixed him there, she would not at first credit the -tale; but, when convinced, she hid her face, and inwardly smothered -her sorrows, yet grieving at his follies, though unwilling to hear him -censured by others, and at length endeavouring to solace her affliction -by repeating to her cittern some applicable verses from the Italian of -Ariosto. He then adds, that she subsequently hinted her knowledge of -the amour to him in a letter, saying "the onely comfort that I have in -thine absence is the child, who lies on his mother's knee, and smiles -as wantonly as his father when he was a wooer. But, when the boy sayes, -'Mam where is my dad, when wil he come home;' then the calm of my -content turneth to a present storm of piercing sorrow, that I am forced -sometime to say, 'unkinde Francesco that forgets his Isabell. I hope -Francesco it is thine affaires, not my faults, that procure this long -delay."[492:A] - -The following pathetic song seems to have been suggested to Greene -by the scene just described, and is a further proof of the singular -disparity subsisting between his conduct and his feelings:— - - -"BY A MOTHER TO HER INFANT. - - WEEPE not, my Wanton, smile upon my knee, - When thou art old theres griefe enough for thee. - Mothers wagge, prettie boy, - Fathers sorrow, fathers joy; - When thy father first did see - Such a boy by him and me, - He was glad, I was woe, - Fortune changd made him so, - When he had left his prettie boy, - Last his sorrow, first his joy. - - Weepe not, my Wanton, smile upon my knee, - When thou art old theres griefe enough for thee. - Streaming teares that never stint, - Like pearle drops from a flint, - Fell by course from his eies, - That one anothers place supplies. - Thus he grieved in every part, - Teares of bloud fell from his heart, - When he left his prettie boy, - Fathers sorrow, fathers joy. - - Weep not, my Wanton, smile upon my knee, - When thou art old theres griefe enough for thee. - The wanton smilde, father wept, - Mother cried, babie lept; - Now he crow'd more he cride, - Nature could not sorrow hide; - He must goe, he must kisse - Childe and mother, babie blisse, - For he left his prettie boy, - Fathers sorrow, fathers joy. - Weep not, my Wanton, smile upon my knee, - When thou art old theres griefe enough for thee."[493:A] - -In the mean time he pursued his career of debauchery in Town, whilst -his forsaken wife retired into Lincolnshire. In July 1588, he was -incorporated at Oxford, at which time, says Wood, he was "a pastoral -sonnet maker, and author of several things which were pleasing to men -and women of his time: they made much sport, and were valued among -scholars."[493:B] In short, such had been the extravagance of Greene, -that he was now compelled to write for his daily support, and his -biographers, probably without any sufficient foundation, have chosen to -consider him as the first of our poets who wrote for bread. It should -be recorded, however, that his pen was employed not only for himself -but for his wife; for Wood tells us, and it is a mitigating fact which -has been strangely overlooked by every other writer, that he "_wrote -to maintain his wife_, and that high and loose course of living which -poets generally follow."[494:A] We have reason, indeed, to conclude, -that the income which he derived from his literary labours was -considerable, for his popularity as a writer of prose pamphlets, which, -as Warton observes, may "claim the appellation of satires[494:B]," was -unrivalled. Ben Jonson alludes to them in his _Every Man out of his -Humour_[494:C], and Sir Thomas Overbury, describing a chamber-maid, -says "_she reads Greenes works over and over_; but is so carried away -with the Mirror of Knighthood, she is many times resolv'd to run out of -herself, and become a lady-errant."[494:D] - -It must be confessed that many of the prose tracts of Greene are -licentious and indecent; but there are many also whose object is useful -and whose moral is pure. They are written with great vivacity, several -are remarkable for the most poignant raillery, all exhibit a glowing -warmth of imagination, and many are interspersed with beautiful and -highly polished specimens of his poetical powers. On those which are -employed in exposing the machinations of his infamous associates, he -seems to place a high value, justly considering their detection as an -essential service done to his country; and he fervently thanks his -God for enabling him so successfully to lay open the "most horrible -Coosenages of the common Conny-Catchers, Cooseners and Crosse Biters," -names which in those days designated the perpetrators of every species -of deception and knavery.[494:E] - -But the most curious and interesting of his numerous pieces, are those -which relate to his own character, conduct, and repentance. The titles -of these, as they best unfold the laudable views with which they were -written, we shall give at length. - -1. _Greene's Mourning Garment_, given him by Repentance at the Funerals -of Love, which he presents for a Favour to all young Gentlemen that -wishe to weane themselves from wanton Desires. Both pleasant and -profitable. By R. Greene, Utriusque Academiæ in Artibus Magister. Sero -sed serio. Lond. 1590. - -2. _Greene's Never Too Late._ Sent to all youthful Gentlemen, -decyphering in a true English Historie those particular vanities, -that with their frosty vapours nip the Blossomes of every Braine from -attaining to his intended perfection. As pleasant as profitable, being -a right Pumice Stone, apt to race out Idlenesse with delight and Folly -with admonition. By Robert Greene, In Artibus Magister. Lond. 1590. - -3. _Greene's Groatsworth of Wit._ Bought with a million of Repentance, -describing the Folly of Youth, the Falshood of make-shift Flatteries, -the Miserie of the Negligent, and Mishaps of deceyving Courtezans. -Published at his dying Request, and newly corrected and of many errors -purged. Felicem fuisse infaustum. Lond. 1592. - -4. _Greene's Farewell to Follie._ Sent to Courtiers and Scholers, as a -President to warne them from the vaine Delights that drawe Youth on to -Repentance. Sero sed serio. By Robert Greene. - -5. _The Repentance of Robert Greene_, Maister of Artes. Wherein, by -himselfe, is laid open his loose Life, with the Manner of his Death. -Lond. 1592. - -6. _Greene's Vision._ Written at the instant of his death, conteyning -a penitent Passion for the folly of his Pen. Sero sed serio. By Robert -Greene. - -In these publications the author has endeavoured to make all the -reparation in his power, by exposing his own weakness and folly, by -detailing the melancholy effects of his dissipation, and by painting in -the most impressive terms the contrition which he so bitterly felt. -In what exquisite poetry he could deplore his vicious habits, and by -what admirable precepts he could direct the conduct of others, will be -learnt from two extracts taken from his "Never Too Late," in the first -of which the Penitent Palmer, the intended symbol of himself, repeats -the following ode: - - "Whilome in the Winter's rage, - A Palmer old and full of age, - Sate and thought upon his youth, - With eyes, teares, and hart's ruth, - Beeing all with cares yblent, - When he thought on yeeres mispent, - When his follies came to minde, - How fond love had made him blinde, - And wrapt him in a fielde of woes, - Shadowed with pleasures shoes, - Then he sighed, and sayd, alas! - Man is sinne, and flesh is grasse. - I thought my mistres hairs were gold, - And in her locks my harte I folde; - Her amber tresses were the sight - That wrapped me in vaine delight: - Her ivorie front, her pretie chin, - Were stales that drew me on to sin: - Her starry lookes, her christall eyes, - Brighter than the sunnes arise: - Sparkling pleasing flames of fire, - Yoakt my thoughts and my desire, - That I gan cry ere I blin, - Oh her eyes are paths to sin. - Her face was faire, her breath was sweet, - All her lookes for love was meete: - But love is folly this I know, - And beauty fadeth like to snow. - Oh why should man delight in pride, - Whose blossome like a dew doth glide: - When these supposes taught my thought, - That world was vaine, and beautie nought, - I gan to sigh, and say, alas! - Man is sinne, and flesh is grasse."[496:A] - -The second extract, entitled _The Farewell of a friend_, is supposed to -be addressed to Francesco the Palmer, "by one of his companions;" such -an one, indeed, as might have saved him from ruin, had he sought for -the original in real life. - -"Let God's worship be thy morning's worke, and his wisdome the -direction of thy dayes labour. - -"Rise not without thankes, nor sleepe not without repentance. - -"Choose but a few friends, and try those; for the flatterer speakes -fairest. - -"If thy wife be wise, make her thy secretary; else locke thy thoughts -in thy heart, for women are seldome silent. - -"If she be faire, be not jealous; for suspition cures not womens -follies. - -"If she be wise, wrong her not; for if thou lovest others she will -loath thee. - -"Let thy children's nurture be their richest portion: for wisdome is -more precious than wealth. - -"Be not proude amongst thy poore neighbours; for a poore mans hate is -perillous. - -"Nor too familiar with great men; for presumption winnes -disdaine."[497:A] - -The virtues of Greene were, it is to be apprehended, confined to his -books, they were theoretical rather than practical; for, however -sincere might be his repentance at the moment, or determined his -resolution to reform, the impression seems to have been altogether -transient; he continued to indulge, with few interruptions, his vicious -course, until a death, too accordant with the dissipated tissue of his -life, closed the melancholy scene. He died, says Wood, about 1592, -of a surfeit taken by eating pickled herrings and drinking Rhenish -wine.[497:B] It appears that his friend Nash was of the party. - -Of the debauchery, poverty, and misery of Greene, Gabriel Harvey, -with whom he had carried on a bitter personal controversy, has left us -a highly-coloured description. If the last scene of his life be not -exaggerated by this inveterate opponent, it presents us with a picture -of distress the most poignant and pathetic upon record. - -"I once bemoned," relates Harvey, "the decayed and blasted estate of -_M. Gascoigne_, who wanted not some commendable parts of conceit, and -endevour: but unhappy _M. Gascoigne_, how lordly happy, in comparison -of most unhappy _M. Greene_? He never envyed me so much as I pitied him -from my hart; especially when his hostesse _Isam_, with teares in her -eies, and sighes from a deeper fountaine (for she loved him deerely) -tould me of his lamentable begging of a penny pott of Malmesie;—and -how he was faine poore soule, to borrow her husbandes shirte, whiles -his owne was a washing: and how his dublet, and hose, and sworde were -sold for three shillings: and beside the charges of his winding sheete, -which was four shillinges, and the charges of his buriall yesterday in -the New-church yard neere Bedlam, which was six shillinges and foure -pence; how deeply hee was indebted to her poore husbande: as appeered -by hys owne bonde of tenne poundes: which the good woman kindly shewed -me: and beseeched me to read the writing beneath; which was a letter to -his abandoned wife, in the behalfe of his gentle host: not so short as -persuasible in the beginning, and pittifull in the ending. - - _Doll_, - - _I charge thee by the love of our youth, and by my soules rest, - that thou wilte see this man paide: for if hee and his wife had - not succoured me, I had died in the streetes._ - - ROBERT GREENE."[498:A] - -The pity which Harvey assumes upon this occasion may justly be -considered as hypocritical; for the pamphlet whence the above extract -has been taken, abounds in the most rancorous abuse and exaggerated -description of the vices of Greene, and contains, among other -invectives, a sonnet unparalleled, perhaps, for the keen severity -of its irony, and for the dreadful solemnity of tone in which it is -delivered. It is put into the mouth of _John Harvey_, the physician, -who had been dead some years, but who had largely participated of the -torrent of satire which Greene had poured upon his brothers, Gabriel -and Richard. If it be the composition of Gabriel, and there is reason -to suppose this to be the case, from the tract in which it appears, it -must be deemed infinitely superior, in point of poetical merit, to any -thing else which he has written. - - -JOHN HARVEY THE PHYSICIAN'S WELCOME TO ROBERT GREENE! - - "COME, fellow _Greene_, come to thy gaping grave, - Bid Vanity and Foolery farewell, - That overlong hast plaid the mad-brained knave, - And overloud hast rung the bawdy bell. - Vermine to vermine must repair at last; - No fitter house for busie folke to dwell; - Thy conny-catching pageants are past, - Some other must those arrant stories tell: - These hungry wormes thinke long for their repast; - Come on; I pardon thy offence to me; - It was thy living; be not so aghast! - A Fool and a Physitian may agree! - And for my brothers never vex thyself; - They are not to disease a buried elfe."[499:A] - -We have entered thus fully into the character and writings of Greene, -from the circumstance of his having been the most popular miscellaneous -author of his day, from the striking talent and genius which his -productions display, and from the moral lesson to be drawn from his -conduct and his sufferings. It may be useful to remark here, that a -well chosen selection from his pamphlets, now all extremely rare, -would furnish one of the most elegant and interesting volumes in the -language.[500:A] - -Of the next class of miscellaneous writers, those derived from that -part of the community which adhered to the tenets and discipline -of the Puritans, and who employed their pens chiefly in satirizing -their less enthusiastic neighbours, it will be sufficient to notice -two, who have attracted a more than common share of attention, as -well for the rancour of their animadversion, as for their rooted -antipathy to the stage. The first of these, _Stephen Gosson_, was -educated at Christ Church, Oxford; on leaving the University, he went -to London, where he commenced poet and dramatist, and, according to -Wood, "for his admirable penning of pastorals, was ranked with Sir -P. Sidney, Tho. Chaloner, Edm. Spencer, Abrah. Fraunce, and Rich. -Bernfield."[500:B] His dramatic writings, which consist of a tragedy, -founded on Cataline's conspiracy, a comedy, and a morality, were -never printed. Of his devotion to the Muses, however, he soon after -heartily repented, as of a most heinous sin; for, imbibing the sour -severity of the Puritans, he left the metropolis, became tutor in a -gentleman's family, in the country, and subsequently took orders, -declaiming in a style so vehement against the amusements of his early -days, as to acquire a great share of popular notoriety. The work by -which he is best known is entitled "_The Schoole of Abuse_. Conteining -a pleasaunt Invective against Poets, Plaiers, Jesters, and such like -Caterpillers, of a Comonwelth; setting up the Flagge of Defiance -to their mischievous exercise, and overthrowing their Bulwarkes by -prophane Writers, naturall Reason and common experience. A Discourse -as pleasaunt for Gentlemen that favour learning, as profitable for all -that wyll follow vertue. By Stephen Gosson, Stud. Oxon." London, 1597. -This was speedily followed by another attack in a pamphlet termed, -"_Playes confuted in five Actions_, &c. Proving that they are not to -be suffred in a christian common weale, &c.[501:A];" a philippic which -he dedicated to Sir Francis Walsingham, as he had done his _Schoole_ -to Sir Philip Sidney; both of whom considered the liberty which he had -taken, rather in the light of an insult than a compliment. - -The warfare of Gosson, however, was mildness itself, compared with that -which _Philip Stubbes_ carried on against the same host of poetical -sinners. This puritanical zealot, whose work we have repeatedly quoted, -commenced his attack upon the public in the year 1583, by publishing -in small 8vo. the first edition of his "_Anatomie of Abuses_: -contayning a discoverie, or briefe summarie of such notable vices and -imperfections as now rayne in many Christian Countreyes of the Worlde: -but (especiallie) in a verie famous Ilande called Ailgna: &c." A second -impression, which now lies before me, was printed in 1595, 4to. and -both it and the octavo are among the scarcest of Elizabethan books. -"Stubbes," remarks Mr. Dibdin, "did what he could, in his _Anatomy of -Abuses_, to disturb every social and harmless amusement of the age. He -was the forerunner of that snarling satirist, Prynne; but I ought not -thus to cuff him, for fear of bringing upon me the united indignation -of a host of black-letter critics and philologists. A _large and clean_ -copy of his sorrily printed work, is among the choicest treasures of a -Shakspearean virtuoso." He subjoins, in a note, commencing in the true -spirit of bibliomaniacism, that "Sir John Hawkins calls this 'a curious -and very scarce book;' and so does my friend, Mr. Utterson; who revels -in his morrocco-coated copy of it—'_Exemplar olim Farmerianum!_'" Then -proceeding more soberly, he adds, "Let us be candid, and not sacrifice -our better judgments to our book-passions. After all, Stubbes's work -is a caricatured drawing. It has strong passages, and a few original -thoughts; and is, moreover, one of the very few works printed in days -of yore, which have running titles to the subjects discussed in them. -These may be recommendations with the bibliomaniac: but he should be -informed that this volume contains a great deal of puritanical cant, -and licentious language: that vices are magnified in it in order to be -lashed, and virtues diminished that they might not be noticed. Stubbes -equals Prynne in his anathemas against Plays and Interludes; and in his -chapters upon 'Dress' and 'Dancing,' he rakes together every coarse -and pungent phrase in order to describe 'these horrible sins' with due -severity. He is sometimes so indecent, that, for the credit of the age, -and of a virgin reign, we must hope that every virtuous dame threw the -copy of his book, which came into her possession, behind the fire. This -may reasonably account for its present rarity."[502:A] - -Of the tone in which Stubbes book is written no inaccurate judgment -may be formed from the various passages which we have already quoted; -but the following short extract will more fully develope perhaps, -the acrimony of his pen than any paragraph that has yet been brought -forward. He is speaking of the neglect of Fox's Book of Martyrs, -"whilst other toyes, fantasies and bableries," he adds, "wherof the -world is ful, are suffered to be printed. Then prophane schedules, -sacraligious libels, and hethnical pamphlets of toyes and bableries -(the authors whereof may vendicate to themselves no smal commendations, -at the hands of the devil for inventing the same) corrupt men's mindes, -pervert good wits, allure to baudrie, induce to whordome, suppresse -virtue and erect vice: which thing how should it be otherwise? for -are they not invented and excogitat by Belzebub, written by Lucifer, -licensed by Pluto, printed by Cerberus, and set a broche to sale by the -infernal furies themselves to the poysning of the whole world."[502:B] - -The works of Gosson and Stubbes are now chiefly valuable for the -numerous illustrations which they incidentally give of the manners, -customs, dress, and diversions, of their age, and especially for the -light which they throw on the character and costume of the stage. - -The progress of discussion has at length brought us to the _third_ -class of Miscellaneous Writers, who may be considered as possessing a -more decorous and philosophic cast in composition than the authors who -have just fallen beneath our notice. The individuals of this genus, -too, are numerous, but we shall content ourselves with the mention -of three, who were more than usually popular in their day, _Thomas -Lodge_, _Abraham Fleming_, and _Gervase Markham_. Lodge was educated at -Oxford, which he entered about 1573; he took his degree of Doctor of -Medicine at Avignon, and practised as a physician in London, where he -died in 1625. He was a dramatic poet as well a miscellaneous writer, -and was considered by his contemporaries as a man of uncommon genius. -He appears to have been, not only a scholar, but a man of the world, to -have possessed no small share of wit and humour, and to have uniformly -wielded his pen in support of morality and good order. Of his pieces -no doubt many have perished; in his professional capacity, only one -remains, a _Treatise on the Plague_; but the productions which acquired -him most celebrity were written to expose the follies and vices of the -times, and of these, about half a dozen are preserved. He is now best -known by his "_Wits Miserie and the Worlds Madnesse_. Discovering the -Devils incarnate of this Age. Lond. 1596:" a tract which, although -so extremely rare as to be in the possession of only one or two -collectors, has been frequently quoted, owing to its containing some -interesting notices of contemporary writers. The principal faults in -the literary character of Lodge seem to have been a love of quaintness -and affectation; the very titles of his pamphlets indicate the former; -the alliteration in the one just transcribed is notorious, and -another is termed "Catharos. Diogenes in his Singularitie. Wherein -is comprehended his merrie baighting fit for all men's benefits: -Christened by him, A Nettle for Nice Noses, 1591." From a passage in -_The Returne from Pernassus_ it is evident that he was thought to be -deeply tainted with Euphuism, the literary folly of his time. The poet -is speaking of Lodge and Watson, both, he says, - - —— "subject to a crittick's marginall. - _Lodge_ for his oare in every paper boate, - He that turnes over Galen every day, - To sit and simper Euphue's legacy."[504:A] - -_Abraham Fleming_, the corrector and enlarger of the second edition -of Holinshed's Chronicle in 1585, was prodigiously fertile, both as -an original writer and a translator. In the latter capacity he gave -versions of the Bucolics and Georgics of Virgil, both in rhyme of -fourteen feet, 1575, and in the regular Alexandrine without rhyme, -1589; of Ælian's Various History in 1576; of Select Epistles of Cicero, -1576, and in the same year, a _Panoplie of Epistles from Tully, -Isocrates, Pliny, and others_; of the Greek Panegyric of Synesius, -and of various Latin works of the fifteenth century. As an original -miscellaneous writer, his pieces are still more numerous, and, for the -most part, occupied by moral and religious subjects; for example, one -is called _The Cundyt of Comfort_, 1579; a second, _The Battel between -the Virtues and Vices_, 1582, and a third _The Diamond of Devotion_, -1586. This last is so singularly quaint both in its title-page and -divisions, so superior, indeed, in these departments, to the titles -of his contemporary Lodge, and so indicative of the curious taste of -the times in the methodical arrangement of literary matter, as to call -for a further description. The complete title runs thus: "The Diamond -of Devotion: Cut and squared into sixe severall pointes: namelie, 1. -The Footepath of Felicitie. 2. A Guide to Godlines. 3. The Schoole -of Skill. 4. A swarme of Bees. 5. A Plant of Pleasure. 6. A Grove of -Graces. Full of manie fruitfull lessons availeable unto the leading -of a godlie and reformed life." The _Footepath of Felicitie_ has -ten divisions, concluding with a "looking glasse for the Christian -reader;" the _Guide to Godlines_, is divided into three branches, -and these branches into so many blossoms; the first branch containing -four blossoms, the second thirteen, and the third ten; the _Schoole -of Skill_ is digested into three sententious sequences of the A. B. -C.; the _Swarme of Bees_ is distributed into ten honeycombs, including -two hundred lessons; the _Plant of Pleasure_ bears fourteen several -flowers, in prose and verse; the _Grove of Graces_ exhibits forty-two -plants, or Graces, for dinner and supper, and the volume concludes with -"a briefe praier." - -From the specimens which we have seen of Fleming's composition, it -would appear, that his affectation was principally confined to his -title pages and divisions: for his prose is more easy, natural, and -perspicuous, than most of his contemporaries. He was rector of Saint -Pancras, Soper-lane, and died in 1607.[505:A] - -_Gervase Markham_, whom we have incidentally mentioned in various parts -of this work, was the most indefatigable writer of his era. He was -descended of an ancient family in Nottinghamshire, and commenced author -about the year 1592. The period of his death is not ascertained; but he -must have attained a good old age, for he fought for Charles the First, -and obtained a Captain's commission in his army. His education had been -very liberal, for he was esteemed a good classical scholar, and he was -well versed in the French, Italian, and Spanish languages. As he was -a younger son it is probable that his finances were very limited, and -that he had recourse to his pen as an additional means of support. "He -seems," remarks Sir Egerton Brydges, "to have become a general compiler -for the booksellers, and his various works had as numerous impressions -as those of Burn and Buchan in our days."[505:B] No subject, indeed, -appears to have been rejected by Markham; _husbandry_, _huswifry_, -_farriery_, _horsemanship_, and _military tactics_, _hunting_, -_hawking_, _fowling_, _fishing_, and _archery_, _heraldry_, _poetry_, -_romances_, and the _drama_:—all shared his attention and exercised -his genius and industry.[506:A] His popularity, in short, in all -these various branches was unrivalled; and such was his reputation as -a cattle doctor, that the booksellers, aware of the value of his works -of this kind in circulation, got him to sign a paper in 1617, in which -he bound himself not to publish any thing further on the diseases of -"horse, oxe, cowe, sheepe, swine, goates, &c." His books on agriculture -were not superseded until the middle of the eighteenth century, and -the fifteenth impression of his _Cheap and Good Husbandry_, which -was originally published in 1616, is now before us, dated 1695. Nor -were his works on rural amusements less relished; for his _Country -Contentments_, the first edition of which appeared in 1615, had reached -the eleventh in 1675. The same good fortune attended him even as a -poet, for in _England's Parnassus_, 1600, he is quoted thirty-four -times, forming the largest number of extracts taken from any minor -bard in the book. He appears to have been an enthusiast in all that -relates to field-sports, and his works, now becoming scarce, are, in -many respects, curious and interesting, and display great versatility -of talent. By far the greater part of them, as is evident from their -dates, was written before the year 1620, though many were subsequently -corrected and enlarged. - -Having thus given a sketch of three great classes of miscellaneous -writers, it will be necessary to add some notice of a few circumstances -which more peculiarly distinguished this branch of literature during -the life-time of our poet. - -It is to the reign of Elizabeth, that we have to ascribe the origin -of genuine printed _Newspapers_, a mode of publication which has now -become absolutely essential to the wants of civilised life. The epoch -of the Spanish invasion forms that of this interesting innovation, -for, previous to the daring attempt of Spain, all public news had -been circulated in manuscript, and it was left to the sagacity of -Elizabeth and the legislative prudence of Burleigh to discover, -how highly useful, in this agitated crisis, would be a more rapid -circulation of events, through the medium of the press. Accordingly, -in April 1588, when the formidable Armada approached the shores of -old England, appeared the first number of _The English Mercury_. That -it was published very frequently, is evident from the circumstance -that No. 50, the earliest number now preserved, and which is in the -British Museum, Sloane MSS., No. 4106, is dated the 23d of July 1588. -It resembles the London Gazette of the present day, with respect to -the nature of its articles, one of which presents us with this curious -information:—"Yesterday the Scotch Ambassador had a private audience -of Her Majesty, and delivered a letter from the King his master, -containing the most cordial assurances of adhering to Her Majesty's -interests, and to those of the protestant religion; and the young King -said to Her Majesty's minister at his court, that all the favour he -expected from the Spaniards was, the courtesy of Polyphemus to Ulysses, -that he should be devoured the last."[508:A] - -So rapid was the progress of newspapers after this memorable -introduction, that towards the close of the reign of James, Ben -Jonson, in his _Staple of News_, alludes to them, as fashionable among -all ranks of people, and as sought after with the utmost avidity, -one consequence of which was, that the greater part of what was -communicated was fabricated on the spot. To this grievance the poet -refers in an address to his readers, where, speaking of spurious -news, he calls it "news made like the Times news, (a weekly cheat -to draw money,) and could not be fitter reprehended, than in raising -this ridiculous office of the Staple, wherein the age may see her own -folly, or _hunger and thirst after published pamphlets of news, set -out every Saturday_, but made all at home, and no syllable of truth in -them."[509:A] - -Another branch of miscellaneous literature which may be said to -have originated at this period, was that employed in the writing -of _Characters_; a species of composition which, if well executed, -necessarily throws much light on the manners and customs of its age. - -A claim to the first legitimate collection of this kind, may be -allotted, on the authority of Fuller, to Sir Thomas Overbury; "he was," -says that entertaining compiler, "the first writer of _Characters_ -of our nation, so far as I have observed."[509:B] With the exception -of two small tracts, descriptive of the characters of rogues and -knaves[509:C], this assertion appears to be correct. Few works have -been more popular than Overbury's volume; it was printed several times, -according to Wood, before the author's death in 1613; but the earliest -edition now usually met with, is dated 1614, and is, with great -probability, supposed to be the fifth impression, for the sixth, which -is not uncommon, was published the subsequent year. Various alterations -took place in the title-page of this miscellany, but that of 1614 is -as follows:—"A Wife now the Widdow of Sir Thomas Overbury. Being a -most exquisite and singular Poem of the Choice of a Wife. Whereunto are -added many witty Characters, and conceited Newes, written by himselfe -and other learned Gentlemen his friends. - - Dignum laude virum musa vetat mori, - Cælo musa beat. - Hor. Car. lib. iii. - -London, Printed for Lawrence Lisle, and are to bee sold at his shop -in Paule's Church-yard, at the signe of the Tiger's head. 1614. -4to."[510:A] The characters in this edition amount to twenty-two, -but were augmented in the eleventh, printed in 1622, to eighty. -So extensive was the sale of this collection, that the sixteenth -impression appeared in 1638. - -Both the poem and the characters exhibit no small share of talent -and discrimination. In Overbury's Wife, observes Mr. Neve, "the -sentiments, maxims, and observations with which it abounds, are such -as a considerable experience and a correct judgment on mankind alone -could furnish. The topics of jealousy, and of the credit and behaviour -of women, are treated with great truth, delicacy and perspicuity. -The nice distinctions of moral character, and the pattern of female -excellence here drawn, contrasted as they were with the heinous and -flagrant enormities of the Countess of Essex, rendered this poem -extremely popular, when its ingenious author was no more."[510:B] The -prose characters, though rather too antithetical in their style, are -drawn with a masterly hand, and are evidently the result of personal -observation. - -Numerous imitations of both were soon brought forward; in 1614 appeared -"The Husband. A poeme expressed in a compleat man;" small 8vo.: and in -1616, "A Select Second Husband for Sir Thomas Overburie's Wife; now -a matchlesse Widow:" small 8vo.; which were followed by many others. -The prose characters established a still more durable precedent, for -they continued to form a favourite mode of composition for better than -a century. Of these the most immediate offspring were, "Satyrical -Characters" by John Stephens, 8vo. 1615, and "The Good and the Badde, -or Description of the Worthies and Unworthies of this Age. Where the -Best may see their Graces, and the Worst discerne their Basenesse," -by Nicholas Breton, 4to. 1616. Perhaps the most valuable collection -of characters, previous to the year 1700, is that published by Bishop -Earle, in 1628, under the title of _Microcosmography_, and which may -be considered as a pretty faithful delineation of many classes of -characters as they existed during the close of the sixteenth, and -commencement of the seventeenth, century.[511:A] - -One of the earliest attempts at miscellaneous _Essay-writing_, since -become a most fashionable and popular species of literary composition, -may likewise very justly be ascribed to a similar epoch. In 1601, -Thomas Wright published in small octavo a collection of Essays, on -various subjects, which he entitled _The Passions of the Minde_. -This volume, consisting of 336 pages independent of the preface, was -re-issued from the press in 1604, enlarged by nearly as much more -matter, and in a quarto form; and a third edition in the same size -appeared in 1621. - -The work is divided into six books, and, from the specimens which -we have seen, is undoubtedly the production of a practised pen and -a discerning mind. It is termed by Mr. Haslewood, "an amusing and -instructive collection of philosophical essays, upon the customary -pursuits of the mind;" and he adds, "though a relaxation of manners -succeeded the gloomy history of the cowl, and the abolition of the dark -cells of superstition; it was long before the moralist ventured to draw -either example, or precept, from any other source than Scripture, and -the writings of the fathers. Genius run riot in some instances from -excess of liberty, but the calm, rational, and universal essayist was a -character unknown. In the present work there are passages that possess -no inconsiderable portion of ease, spirit, and freedom, diversified -with character and anecdote that prove the author mingled with the -world to advantage; and could occasionally lighten the hereditary -shackles that burthened the moral and philosophical writer."[512:A] - -It is, however, to the profound genius of _Lord Bacon_ that we must -attribute the _earliest legitimate_ specimen of essay-writing in this -country; for though his "Essays on Councils, Civil and Moral," were -not completed until 1612, the first part of them was printed in 1597; -and in the intended dedication to Prince Henry of this second edition, -he assigns his reason for adopting the term _essay_. "To write just -treatises," he observes, "requires leisure in the writer, and leisure -in the reader, and therefore are not so fit, neither in your Highness's -princely affairs, nor in regard of my continual service, which is -the cause that hath made me chuse to write certain brief notes, set -down rather significantly than curiously, which I have called Essays. -The word is late, but the thing is ancient; for Seneca's Epistles to -Lucilius, if you mark them well, are but essays, that is, dispersed -meditations, though conveyed in the form of epistles."[512:B] This -invaluable work, in a moral and prudential light, perhaps the most -useful which any English author has left to posterity, has been the -fruitful parent of a more extensive series of similar productions, -collectively or periodically published, than any other country can -exhibit. - -The age of Shakspeare was fertile, also, in what may be termed -_Parlour-window Miscellanies_; books whose aim was to attract the -attention of the idle, the dissipated, and the gossipping, by -intermingling with the admonitions of the sage, a more than usual -share of wit, narrative, and anecdote. Two of these, as exemplars -of the whole class, it may be necessary to notice. In 1589, Leonard -Wright published "_A Display of dutie, dect with sage sayings, pythie -sentences, and proper similies: Pleasant to reade, delightfull -to heare, and profitable to practise_;" a collection which Mr. -Haslewood calls "an early and pleasing specimen" of this species of -miscellaneous writing. It contains observations and friendly hints -on all the principal circumstances and events of life; "certaine -necessarie rules both pleasant and profitable for preventing of -sicknesse, and preserving of health: prescribed by Dr. Dyet, Dr. -Quiet, and Dr. Merryman;" and concludes with "certaine pretty notes -and pleasant conceits, delightfull to many, and hurtfull to none." -The author closes "A friendly advertisement touching marriage," by -enumerating the infelicities of the man who marries a shrew, where "hee -shall finde compact in a little flesh, a great number of bones too -hard to digest.—And therefore," adds he, "some do thinke wedlocke to -be that same purgatorie, which learned divines have so long contended -about, or a sharpe penance to bring sinnefull men to heaven. A merry -fellow hearing a preacher say in his sermon, that whosoever would be -saved, must take up and beare his cross, ran straight to his wife, and -cast her upon his back. . . . . - -"Finally, he that will live quiet in wedlocke, must be courteous in -speech, cheareful in countinance, provident for his house, carefull -to traine up his children in vertue, and patient in bearing the -infirmities of his wife. Let all the keyes hang at her girdle, only the -purse at his own. He must also be voide of jelosie, which is a vanity -to thinke, and more folly to suspect. For eyther it needeth not, or -booteth not, and to be jelious without a cause is the next way to have -a cause. - - "This is the only way, to make a woman dum: - To sit and smyle and laugh her out, and not a word, but - mum."[513:A] - -In 1600, appeared the first edition of "_The Golden-grove, moralized -in three books: A worke very necessary for all such, as would know how -to governe themselves, their houses, or their countrey. Made by W. -Vaughan, Master of Artes, and Graduate in the Civill Law_." A second -edition, "reviewed and enlarged by the Authour," was printed in 1608. - -Each book of this work, which displays considerable knowledge both -of literature and of mankind, is divided, after a ridiculous fashion -of the time, into plants, and these again into chapters. The first -book, on the Supreme Being, and on man, contains eleven plants, and -eighty-four chapters; the second, on domestic and private duties, five -plants, and thirty chapters; and the third, upon the commonwealth, nine -plants and seventy-two chapters. - -Great extent of reading, and much ingenuity in application, are -discoverable in the _Golden Grove_, accompanied by many curious tales, -and local anecdotes. It is one of the books, also, which has thrown -light upon the manners and diversions of its age, and will hereafter be -quoted on this account. Vaughan, though he professes himself attached -to poetry from his earliest days, and has devoted a chapter to its -praise, was too much of the puritan to tolerate the stage, against -which he inveighs with more acrimony than discrimination. The passages -which allude to our old English poets, we shall throw together, as a -specimen of his style and composition. - -"Jeffery Chaucer, the English poet, was in great account with King -Richard the Second, who gave him in reward of his poems, the mannour -of Newelme in Oxfordshire.—King Henry the eighth, her late Maiesties -father, for a few psalms of David turned into English meeter by -Sternhold, made him groome of his privie chamber, and rewarded him with -many great giftes besides. Moreover, hee made Sir Thomas More Lord -Chauncelour of this realme, whose poeticall workes are as yet in great -regard.—Queene Elizabeth made Doctour Haddon, beyng a poet, Master of -the Requests.—Neither is our owne age altogether to bee dispraysed. -Sir Philip Sydney excelled all our English poets, in rareness of stile -and matter. King James, our dread Soveraigne, that now raigneth, is -a notable poet, and hath lately set out most learned poems, to the -admiration of all his subjects. - -"Gladly I could go forward in this subject, which in my stripling -yeeres pleased me beyond all others, were it not I delight to bee -briefe: and that Sir Philip Sydney hath so sufficiently defended it -in his Apology of Poetry; and if I should proceede further in the -commendation thereof, whatsoever I write would be eclipsed with the -glory of his golden eloquence. Wherefore, I stay myselfe in this place, -earnestly beseeching all gentlemen, of what qualitie soever they -bee, to advaunce poetrie, or at least to admire it, and not bee so -hastie shamefully to abuse that, which they may honestly and lawfully -obtayne."[515:A] - -We shall conclude these observations on the miscellaneous literature of -Shakspeare's time, by noticing one of the earliest of our _Facetiæ_, -the production of an author who may be termed, in allusion to this _jeu -d'esprit_, the _Rabelais_ of England. Had the subject of this satire -been less exceptionable in its nature, the popularity which it acquired -for a season might have been permanent; but its grossness is such as -not to admit of adequate atonement by any portion of wit, however -poignant. It is entitled "_A New Discourse of a Stale Subject, called -the Metamorphosis of Ajax. Written by Misacmos to his friend and cosin -Philostilpnos_." London, 1596; and is said to have originated from the -author's invention of a water-closet for his house at Kelston.[515:B] -The conceit, or pun upon the word Ajax, or a _jakes_, appears to have -been a familiar joke of the time, and had been previously introduced -by Shakspeare in his _Love's Labour's Lost_, when Costard tells Sir -Nathaniel, the Curate, on his failure in the character of Alexander, -"you will be scraped out of the painted cloth for this: your lion, that -holds his poll-ax sitting on a close-stool, will be given to A-jax: he -will be the ninth worthy."[515:C] A similar allusion is to be found in -Camden and Ben Jonson. - -The _Metamorphosis_, for which Sir John published a witty apology, -under the appellation of _An Anatomie of the Metamorphosed Ajax_, -abounds with humour and sarcastic satire, and is valuable as an -illustration of the domestic manners of the age. Either from its -indecency, however, or its severity upon her courtiers, the facetious -author incurred the displeasure of Elizabeth, and was banished for -some time from her presence. It is probably to the latter cause that -his exile is to be attributed; for in a letter addressed to the knight -by his friend, Mr. Robert Markham, and dated 1598, he says:—"Since -your departure from hence, you have been spoke of, and with no ill -will, both by the nobles and the Queene herself. Your book is almoste -forgiven, and I may say forgotten; but not for its lacke of wit or -satyr. Those whome you feared moste are now bosoming themselves in -the Queene's grace; and tho' her Highnesse signified displeasure in -outwarde sorte, yet did she like the marrowe of your booke. Your great -enemye, Sir James, did once mention the Star-Chamber, but your good -esteeme in better mindes outdid his endeavours, and all is silente -again. The Queen is minded to take you to her favour, but she sweareth -that she believes you will make epigrams and write _misacmos_ again on -her and all the courte; she hath been heard to say, 'that merry poet, -her godson, must not come to Greenwich, till he hath grown sober, -and leaveth the ladies sportes and frolicks.' She did conceive much -disquiet on being tolde you had aimed a shafte at Leicester."[516:A] - -The genius of Harrington was destined to revive, with additional -vigour, in the person of Swift, who, to an equal share of physical -impurity, united a richer, and more fertile vein of coarse humour and -caustic satire. - -That Shakspeare was well acquainted with the various works which we -have noticed in this class of literature, and probably with most -of their authors, there is much reason to infer. We have already -found[517:A] that he was justly offended with Robert Greene, for the -notice which he was pleased to take of him in his _Groat's Worth of -Witte bought with a Million of Repentance_, and there can be no doubt -that the philippics of Gosson and Stubbes, being pointedly directed -against the stage, would excite his curiosity, and occasionally -rouse his indignation. The very popular satires also of Nash and -Decker must necessarily have attracted his notice, nor could a mind -so excursive as his, have neglected to cull from the varied store -which the numerous miscellanies, characters, and essays of the age -presented to his view. It can be no difficult task to conceive the -delight, and the mental profit, which a genius such as Shakspeare's, of -which one characteristic is its fertility in aphoristic precept, must -have derived from the study of Lord Bacon's Essays! The apothegmatic -treasures of Shakspeare have been lately condensed into a single -volume by the judgment and industry of Mr. Lofft, and it may be safely -affirmed, that no uninspired works, either in our own or any other -language, can be produced, however bulky or voluminous, which contain -a richer mine of preceptive wisdom than may be found in these two -books of the philosopher and the poet, the _Essays_ of Bacon, and the -_Aphorisms_ of Shakspeare. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[426:A] Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. 269. - -[429:A] Ascham's Works, Bennet's edit. p. 242. speaking of Windsor. - -[429:B] Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 491. - -[430:A] Holinshed's Chronicles, edit. 1807, vol. i. p. 330. - -[430:B] The 1st edit. of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy was published -in 1617. - -[431:A] Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, fol. edit. p. 84. - -[432:A] Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. i. p. 331. - -[432:B] "The reader is referred to an account of a preciously bound -diminutive godly book (once belonging to Q. Elizabeth), in the first -volume of my edition of the British _Typographical Antiquities_, -p. 83.; for which, I understand, the present owner asks the sum of -150_l._ We find that in the 16th year of Elizabeth's reign, she was in -possession of 'One Gospell booke, covered with tissue and garnished on -th' inside with the crucifix and the Queene's badges of silver guilt, -poiz with wodde, leaves and all, cxij oz." Archæologia, vol. xiii. 221. - -"I am in possession of the covers of a book, bound (A. D. 1569) in -thick parchment or vellum, which has the whole length portrait of -Luther on one side, and of Calvin on the other. These portraits, which -are executed with uncommon spirit and accuracy, are encircled with -a profusion of ornamental borders of the most exquisite taste and -richness." Bibliomania, p. 158. - -[432:C] "In the PRAYER BOOK which goes by the name of QUEEN -ELIZABETH'S, there is a portrait of Her Majesty kneeling upon a superb -cushion, with elevated hands, in prayer. This book was first printed -in 1575; and is decorated with wood-cut borders of considerable spirit -and beauty; representing, among other things, some of the subjects of -Holbein's Dance of Death." - -[432:D] Dibdin's Bibliomania, 2d edit. 1811, p. 329-331. This book, -the most fascinating which has ever been written on Bibliography, is -already scarce. It is composed in the highest tone of enthusiasm for -the art, and its dialogue and descriptions are given with a mellowness, -a warmth and raciness, which absolutely fix and enchant the reader. - -[433:A] Strype's Life of Parker, p. 415. 529. - -[433:B] Ibid. p. 528. - -[433:C] Britannia in Monmouthshire. - -[434:A] Fuller's Worthies, part ii. p. 13. - -[434:B] Vide Dibdin's Bibliomania, p. 347, 348. - -[434:C] Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 177. 8th edit. folio. - -[434:D] Vide Hearne's Benedictus, Abbas, p. iv. - -[434:E] Anatomy of Melancholy, Democritus to the Reader, p. 5. - -[435:A] Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 176, 177. - -[436:A] Earl's Microcosmography, p. 74. - -[436:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 257, 258. Act i. sc. 4. - -[436:C] Ibid. vol. xx. p. 43. Act i. sc. 3. - -[437:A] The Compleat Gentleman, 2d edit. p. 54, 55. - -[437:B] Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities, Preliminary Disquisition, -p. 35. - -[438:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 13. - -[438:B] Ibid. vol. i. p. 44, 45. - -[439:A] Ascham's Works, Bennet's edit. p. 57. - -[440:A] Wilson's Arte of Rhetorike, fol. 85, 86. - -[441:A] Wilson, book iii. fol. 82. - -[441:B] Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie, 1589, reprint, p. 121. - -[441:C] Berkenhout's Biographia Literaria, p. 377. note _a_. - -[442:A] Webbe's Discourse of English Poetrie, 4to. 1586. Vide Oldys's -British Librarian, p. 90. from which this quotation is given. - -[442:B] Apology of Pierce Pennilesse, 4to. 1593. - -[442:C] Wit's Miserie and Word's Madness, 4to. 1596, p. 57. - -[442:D] Palladis Tamia, Wits Treasurie, being the second part of Wit's -Commonwealth, 1598. Meres terms him "eloquent and wittie John Lillie." - -[443:A] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 399. - -[443:B] British Librarian, p. 90. et seq. - -[443:C] Whalley's Works of Ben Jonson: Every Man Out of His Humour, act -v. sc. 10. - -[445:A] Sir Philip Sidney's Works, 7th edit., 1629, fol., p. 619, 620. - -[445:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 86. note. - -[446:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 93. 134. - -[447:A] Peacham's Compleat Gentleman, 4to. 2d edit. p. 43. 53. - -[448:A] For specimens of the prose writers of this period, the -introduction of which would be too digressive for the plan of this -work, I venture to refer the reader to my Essays on the Tatler, -Spectator, and Guardian, 1805, vol. ii. part 3. Essay II. on the -Progress and Merits of English Style; or to Burnett's Specimens of -English Prose-Writers, vol. ii. 1807. - -[449:A] Vide Preface to Baret's Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionary, -English, Latin, Greek, and French, bl. l. folio, London, 1580. - -[449:B] Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 492. - -[450:A] Britannici belli exitus exspectatur: constat enim aditus insulæ -esse munitos mirificis molibus. Etiam illud jam cognitum est, neque -argenti scrupulum esse ullum in illa insula, neque ullam spem prædæ, -nisi ex mancipiis: ex quibus nullos puto te literis, aut musicis -eruditos exspectare. Cic. lib. iv. Epist. ad Attic. ep. 16. - -[450:B] Vide Cic. Offic. lib. iii. cap. 17. - -[450:C] Ascham's Works, Bennet's edit. 4to. p. 338. - -[451:A] Park's edition of Lord Orford's Royal and Noble Authors, vol. -i. article Elizabeth. - -[451:B] Chalmers's Apology, p. 218. note. - -[452:A] Ascham's Works, Bennet's edit. 4to. p. 253. 255, 256. - -[453:A] "Galateo of Maister John Della Casa, Archbishop of Beneuenta, -or rather a treatise of the mañers and behauiours it behoveth a man to -uze and eschewe, in his familiar conversation. A worke very necessary -and profitable for all gentlemen or other. First written in the Italian -tongue, and now done into English by Robert Paterson of Lincolnes Inne -Gentleman. Satis si sapienter. Imprinted at London for Raufe Newbery, -dwelling in Fleete streate, a little above the Conduit. An. Do. 1576. -4to. 68 leaves, b. l." - -[453:B] "The Courtier of Count Baldessar Castilio, devided into foure -bookes. Verie necessarie and profitable for young Gentlemen and -Gentlewomen abiding in Court, Pallace, or Place. Done into English by -Thomas Hobby. London: Printed by John Wolfe, 1588. 4to. pp. 616." - -[454:A] Lord Orford's Royal and Noble Authors apud Park, vol. i. p. 93. - -[456:A] Walton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 346, 347. - -[456:B] The Italian Taylor and his Boy. By Robert Armin, Servant to the -King's most excellent Majestie, 1609. - -[457:A] Troia Britannica; or Great Britaine's Troy. A Poem divided into -xvij sevrall Cantons, intermixed with many pleasant Poeticall Tales. -Concluding with an Universall Chronicle from the Creation, untill these -present Times. Written by Tho. Heywood. 1609. - -[458:A] One of his specimens of "our Englishe reformed Versifying," as -he terms it, is entitled _Encomium Lauri_, and commences thus:— - - "What might I call this Tree? A Laurell? O bonny Laurell: - Needes to thy bowes will I bow this knee, and vayle my bonetto;" - -lines which Nash, in his _Foure Letters confuted_, 1593, has most -happily ridiculed, representing Harvey walking under the "ewe-tree at -Trinitie Hall," and addressing it in similar terms, and making "verses -of weather cocks on the top of steeples, as he did once of the weather -cocke of Allhallows in Cambridge:— - - "O thou weathercocke, that stands on the top of All-hallows, - Come thy waies down, if thou dar'st for thy crowne, and take the - wall of us!" - Vide Todd's Spenser, vol. i. p. xliii. - -[459:A] See a copious and interesting account of the controversy -between Nash and Harvey, in D'Israeli's Calamities of Authors, vol. ii. -p. 1. ad 49. - -[459:B] The Returne from Parnassus; or the Scourge of Simony, -publiquely acted by the Students in St. John's College in Cambridge, -1606.—Vide Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 49. - -[460:A] Wits Miserie And The Worlds Madnesse. Discovering the Devils -incarnate of this Age. 1596.—Vide Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature and -Scarce Books, vol. ii. p. 164, 165. - -[462:A] For a further and more minute account of James's "Essayes," -I refer the reader to Pinkerton's Ancient Scotish Poems, vol. i. p. -cxix.; to Park's Royal and Noble Authors, vol. i. p. 120; to Censura -Literaria, vol. ii. p. 364; and to Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature and -Scarce Books, vol. i. p. 230. - -[463:A] Spenser's Works apud Todd, vol. i. p. 161. See also, vol. i. p. -vii. and p. clviii. - -[463:B] One in the King's Library, one in the late Mr. Malone's -collection, and one purchased by the Marquis of Blandford, at the -Roxburgh Sale, for 64_l._! - -[464:A] Vide Nash's "Four Letters Confuted," and his "Have with ye to -Saffron-Walden," and D'Israeli's Calamities of Authors, vol. i. - -[464:B] Vide Oldys's British Librarian, p. 86, and Beloe's Anecdotes of -Literature and Scarce Books, vol. i. p. 234. - -[464:C] Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 406. - -[465:A] Warton's History, vol. iii. p. 275. - -[465:B] "Mr. Wanley, in his Catalogue of the Harley Library, says he -had been told, that Edm. Spencer was the author of that book, which -came out anonymous." Vide Todd's Spenser, vol. i. p. clviii. - -[465:C] Wood's Athenæ Oxon. edit. 1691. vol. i. col. 184. - -[466:A] Haslewood's Reprint, 1811. p. xi. - -[466:B] Censura Literaria, vol. i. p. 339. - -[467:A] Haslewood's Puttenham, p. x. - -[468:A] "The Schole of Abuse; containing a pleasant invective against -poets, pipers, players, jesters, &c. and such like caterpillars of -the commonwealth, by Ste. Gossen, Stud. Oxon. dedicated to M. Philip -Sidney, Esquier, 1579." - -[468:B] "Palladis Tamia. Wits Treasury. Being the second part of Wits -Common Wealth. By Francis Meres, Maister of Artes of both Universities. -Vivitur ingenio, cætera mortis erunt. At London printed by P. Short, -for Cuthbert Burbie, and are to be solde at his shop at the Royall -Exchange. 1598." Small 8vo. leaves 174. We are under many obligations -to Mr. Haslewood for reprinting the whole of the "Comparative -Discourse" in the ninth volume of the Censura Literaria, as it must -necessarily be to us a subject of frequent reference. - -[469:A] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iii. p. 558, 559. - -[470:A] Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 278. - -[470:B] Hypercritica. Addresse iv. sect. 3. p. 237. - -[470:C] Warton's History, vol. iii. p. 275. - -[470:D] Bibliographia Poetica, p. 135. - -[472:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 62, 63. Act ii. sc. 3. - -[473:A] Wilson's Art of Rhetoric, p. 167, and Chalmers's Apology, p. -160. - -[475:A] Meres's Palladis Tamia, in Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 46. - -[476:A] A notable history of the Saracens. Lond. 4to. 1575. - -[476:B] An historical collection of the continued factions, tumults, -and massacres of the Romans before the peaceable empire of Augustus -Cæsar. Lond. 1600. 8vo. 1601. 4to. - -[478:A] Fuller's Worthies of England, part iii. p. 31. - -[479:A] Fuller's Worthies, part iii. p. 167, 168. - -[479:B] Bishop Nicolson's Historical Library, vol. i. p. 8. - -[480:A] De Rebus Albionicis, Britannicis atque Anglicis Commentariorum, -lib. duo. Lond. 1590. 8vo. - -[481:A] Fuller's Worthies, part i. p. 205. - -[482:A] Granger's Biographical History of England, 2d edit. 1775. vol. -i. p. 222. - -[485:A] As Batman's Bartholome, continues Mr. Douce, "is likely -hereafter to form an article in a Shakspearean Library, it may be worth -adding that in a private diary written at the time the original price -of the volume appears to have been eight shillings."—Illustrations, -vol. i. p. 9. - -I have lately seen a copy of Batman, marked, in a Sale Catalogue, at -three guineas and a half! - -[486:A] Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books, vol. i. p. -260-274. - -[487:A] We are much obliged to Dr. Nott, for a most elegant reprint of -this interesting tract; the accompanying notes are highly valuable and -illustrative. - -[487:B] Vide Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, Fragment of vol. iv. p. -28-64. - -[488:A] For a catalogue of these, as far as they have hitherto been -discovered, we refer the reader to Mr. Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, -vol. ii., and to Censura Literaria, vol. viii. - -[488:B] In his pamphlet, entitled _The Repentance of Robert Greene_, -he informs us, that "wags as lewd" as himself "drew him to march into -Italy and Spaine," where he "saw and practised such villanie as is -abhominable to declare." - -[489:A] See Gilchrist's Examination of the Charges of Ben Jonson's -enmity to Shakspeare, p. 22. - -[489:B] Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, vol. ii. p. 180. - -[490:A] Censura Literaria, vol. viii. p. 11, 12. - -[491:A] From Greene's Farewell to Follie. Vide Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. -vi. p. 7. - -[491:B] We learn these circumstances—his having squandered his -paternal inheritance and his marriage portion—from his two tracts, -_Never Too Late_, and _Repentance_, where all the prominent events of -his life are detailed. - -[491:C] Oldys says, that "he left his wife, for her good advice, in the -year 1586." Berkenhout's Biographia Literaria, p. 390. note _d_. - -[491:D] See Censura Literaria, vol. viii. p. 13. - -[491:E] Berkenhout, p. 390. note _d_. - -[492:A] "Never Too Late." See Censura Literaria, vol. viii. p. 15. - -[493:A] Greene's Arcadia, 1587. Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 191. - -[493:B] Berkenhout's Biographia Literaria, p. 389. note _b_. - -[494:A] Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses, vol. i. col. 136. - -[494:B] History of English Poetry, Fragment of vol. iv. p. 81. - -[494:C] Act ii. sc. 3. - -[494:D] Vide New and choice Characters of severall Authors, together -with that exquisite and unmatcht poeme, The Wife; written by Syr Thomas -Overburie. Lond. 1615. p. - -[494:E] His "trifling pamphlets of Love," as he himself terms them, -(see Repentance of Robert Greene,) we shall not notice; but there are -two, under the titles of "Penelope's Webb," and "Ciceronis Amor," which -deserve mention, as exhibiting many excellent precepts and examples for -the youth of both sexes. - -[496:A] Vide Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, vol. vi. p. 9. - -[497:A] Never Too Late, part ii. See Censura Literaria, vol. viii. p. -135, 136. - -[497:B] Wood's Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. p. 137. - -[498:A] Four Letters and Certaine Sonnets. Especially touching Robert -Greene, and other Poets by him abused. Lond. 1592. Vide Beloe's -Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 201, 202. - -[499:A] Vide D'Israeli's Calamities of Authors, vol. ii. p. 17, 18. - -[500:A] This article has been chiefly drawn up from documents -afforded by _Wood_, _Berkenhout_, _Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature_, -_D'Israeli_, and the _Censura Literaria_. The extracts selected from -his pamphlets by Mr. Beloe, in the opening of his sixth volume, will -enable the reader to form a pretty good estimate of the poetical genius -of Greene. - -[500:B] Wood's Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. - -[501:A] Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 288. note _t_. - -[502:A] Dibdin's Bibliomania, p. 366, 367, and note. - -[502:B] Anatomie of Abuses, sig. P, p. 7. - -[504:A] Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 49. - -[505:A] For catalogues of Fleming's Works, see Herbert's Typographical -Antiquities; Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 402 ad 405. -Tanner's Bibliotheca, p. 287, 288, and Censura Literaria, No. viii. p. -313, et seq. - -[505:B] Censura Literaria, vol. ii. p. 218. - -[506:A] As no complete catalogue of this ingenious author's productions -is to be found in any one writer, I have thought it desirable to -endeavour to form one, noticing only the first editions, when -ascertained, and referring, for the full titles, to the works cited at -the close of this note. - -1. A Discource of Horsemanshippe, 4to. 1593. - -2. Thyrsys and Daphne, 1593. - -3. The Gentleman's Academie, or Booke of St. Albans, 4to. 1595. - -4. The poem of poems, or Sions muse, contayning the divine song of king -Salomon, devided into eight eclogues, 8vo. 1595. - -5. The most honourable tragedie of Sir Richard Grenvill knight, a -heroick poem, in eight-line stanzas, 8vo. 1595. - -6. Devoreux. Vertues tears for the losse of the most christian king -Henry, third of that name, king of Fraunce: and the untimely death of -the most noble and heroicall gentleman, Walter Devoreux, &c., 4to. 1597. - -7. Ariosto's Rogero and Rodomantho, &c. paraphrastically translated. -1598. - -8. The Teares of the beloved, or the Lamentation of Saint John, &c. -4to. 1600. - -9. Cavelarice, or the English Horseman, 4to. 1607. - -10. England's Arcadia, alluding his beginning from Sir Philip Sydney's -ending, 4to. 1607. - -11. Ariosto's Satyres, 4to. 1608. - -12. The Famous Whore, or Noble Courtezan, 4to. 1609. - -13. Cure of all diseases, incident to Horses, 4to. 1610. - -14. The English Husbandman in two parts, 1613. - -15. The Art of Husbandry, first translated from the Latin of Conr. -Heresbachius, by Barnaby Googe, 4to. 1614. - -16. Country Contentments; or the Husbandman's Recreations, 4to. 1615. - -17. The English Huswife, 4to. 1615. - -18. Cheap and Good Husbandry, 4to. 1616. - -19. Liebault's Le Maison Rustique, or the Country Farm, folio. 1616. - -20. The English Horseman, 4to. 1617. - -(8. How To Chuse, Ride, Traine, And Diet Both Hunting Horses And -Running Horses, 1599.) - -22. The Inrichment of the Weald of Kent, 4to. - -23. Markham's Farewel to Husbandry, 4to. 1620. - -24. The Art of Fowling, 8vo. 1621. - -25. Herod and Antipater, a Tragedy, 4to. 1622. - -26. The Whole art of Husbandry, contained in Four Bookes, 4to. 1631. - -27. The Art of Archerie, 8vo. 1634. - -28. The Faithful Farrier, 8vo. 1635. - -29. The Soldiers Exercise, 3d edit. 1643. - -30. The Way to Get Wealth, 4to. 1638. - -31. The English Farrier, 4to. 1649. - -32. Epitome concerning the Diseases of Beasts and Poultry, 8vo. - -34. His Masterpiece, concerning the curing of Cattle, 4to. an edition -1662. - -(10. Marie Magdalen's Lamentations, 4to. 1601.) - -Numerous editions of many of these works, with alterations in the -title-pages, were published to the year 1700. See _Censura Literaria_, -vol. ii. p. 217-225. _Ritson's Bibliographia Poetica_, p. 273, 274. -Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, vol. ii. p. 244, et seq. and vol. -ii. p. 339. _Bridges's Theatrum Poetarum_, p. 278-285. _Biographia -Dramatica._ _British Bibliographer_, No. iv. p. 380, 381. Warton's -Hist. of Engl. Poetry, vol. iii. p. 485. - -[508:A] See Chalmers's Life of Ruddiman, 8vo. p. 106. Nichols's -Literary Anecdotes, vol. iv. p. 34, and Andrew's History of Great -Britain, vol. i. p. 145, 156. - -[509:A] Act ii., at the close. - -[509:B] Fuller's Worthies, p. 359. - -[509:C] "_The Fraternitye of Uacabondes_," 1565, and "_A Caveat for -common Cursetors vulgarely called Uagabones, set forth by Thomas -Herman, Esq._" 1567. - -[510:A] Three editions were probably published in 1614; for Mr. Capel, -in his _Prolusions_, 8vo., notices one in 8vo., and one in 4to. stated -in the title-page to be the fourth. Vide Bliss's edition, of the -Microcosmography, p. 258, and Censura Literaria, vol. v. p. 363. - -[510:B] Cursory Remarks on Ancient English Poets, 1789. p. 27, et seq. - -[511:A] For an accurate Catalogue of the various Writers of Characters -to the year 1700, consult Bliss's edition of Earle's Microcosmography, -1811. - -[512:A] Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 168. - -[512:B] Bacon's Works, folio edit. 1740, vol. iv. p. 586. - -[513:A] British Bibliographer, No. VI. p. 49. 51. - -[515:A] British Bibliographer, No. VIII. p. 272, 273. - -[515:B] Nugæ Antiquæ, vol. i. p. xi. edit. 1804. - -[515:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 187. Act v. sc. 2. - -[516:A] Nugæ Antiquæ, vol. i. p. 239, 240. - -[517:A] Part II. chap. i. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - VIEW OF ROMANTIC LITERATURE DURING THE AGE OF - SHAKSPEARE—SHAKSPEARE'S ATTACHMENT TO AND USE OF ROMANCES, - TALES, AND BALLADS. - - -That a considerable, and perhaps the greater, portion of Shakspeare's -Library consisted of Romances and Tales, we have already mentioned as -a conclusion fully warranted, from the extensive use which he has made -of them in his dramatic works. What the precious tomes specifically -were which covered his shelves, we have now no means of _positively_ -ascertaining; but it is evident that we shall make a near approximation -to the truth, if we can bring forward the _library of a contemporary -collector_ of romantic literature, and at the same time _contemporary -authority_ for the romances then most in vogue. - -Now it fortunately happens, that we have not only a few curious -descriptions, by the most unexceptionable authors of the reigns -of Elizabeth and James, of the popular reading of their day, but -we possess also a catalogue of the collection of one of the most -enthusiastic hoarders of the sixteenth century, in the various branches -of romantic lore; a document which may be considered, in fact, as -placing within our view, a kind of _fac simile_ of this, the most -copious, department of Shakspeare's book boudoir. - -The interesting detail has been given us by Laneham, in his _Account -of the Queen's Entertainment at Killingworth Castle_, 1575. The author -is describing the Storial Show by a procession of the Coventry men, in -celebration of Hock Tuesday, when he suddenly exclaims,—"But aware, -keep bak, make room noow, heer they cum. - -"And fyrst _Captain Cox_, an od man I promiz yoo; by profession a -Mason, and that right skilfull; very cunning in fens, and hardy az -_Gavin_; for hiz ton-sword hangs at hiz tablz eend; great oversight -hath he in matters of storie: For az for _King Arthurz_ book, _Huon_ -of _Burdeaus_, the foour sons of _Aymon_, _Bevys_ of _Hampton_, The -_Squyre_ of lo degree, The _Knight_ of _Courtesy_, and the _Lady -Faguell_, _Frederick_ of _Gene_, _Syr Eglamoour_, _Syr Tryamoour_, -_Syr Lamwell_, _Syr Isenbras_, _Syr Gawyn_, _Olyver_ of the _Castl_, -_Lucres_ and _Curialus_, _Virgil's Life_, the _Castl_ of _Ladiez_, the -_Wido Edyth_, the _King_ and the _Tanner_, _Frier Rous_, _Howleglas_, -_Gargantua_, _Robinhood_, _Adam Bel_, _Clim_ of the _Clough_ and -_William_ of _Clondsley_, the _Churl_ and the _Burd_, the _Seven Wise -Masters_, the _Wife_ lapt in a _Morels Skin_, the _Sak full of Nuez_, -the _Seargeaunt_ that became a _Fryar_, _Skogan_, _Collyn Clout_, the -_Fryar_ and the _Boy_, _Elynor Rumming_, and the _Nutbrooun Maid_, -with many moe then I rehearz heere; I believe hee have them all at hiz -fingers endz. - -"Then in Philosophy, both morall and naturall, I think hee be az -naturally overseen; beside _Poetrie_ and _Astronomie_, and oother -hid _Sciencez_, az I may gesse by the omberty of his books; whearof -part, az I remember, The _Shepherd'z Kalender_, The _Ship_ of _Foolz_, -_Danielz Dreamz_, the _Booke_ of _Fortune_, _Stans puer ad Mensam_, -The by way to the _Spitl-house_, _Julian_ of _Brainford's Testament_, -the _Castle_ of _Love_, the _Booget_ of _Demaunds_, the _Hundred Mery -Talez_, the _Book_ of _Riddels_, the _Seaven Sororz_ of _Wemen_, the -_Prooud Wives Pater Noster_, the _Chapman_ of a _Peneworth_ of _Wit_: -Beside hiz Auncient Playz, _Yooth_ and _Charitee_, _Hikskorner_, -_Nugizee_, _Impacient Poverty_, and herewith _Doctor Boords Breviary_ -of _Health_. What should I rehearz heer, what a bunch of Ballets and -Songs, all auncient; as _Broom broom on Hill_, _So Wo iz me begon, -troly lo_, _Over a Whinny Meg_, _Hey ding a ding_, _Bony lass upon -a green_, _My hony on gave me a bek_, _By a bank as I lay_: and a -hundred more he hath fair wrapt up in parchment, and bound with a whip -cord. And az for Almanacks of Antiquitee (a point for Ephemeridees), I -ween he can sheaw from _Jazper Laet_ of _Antwarp_ unto _Nostradam_ of -_Frauns_, and thens untoo oour _John Securiz_ of _Salsbury_. To stay -ye no longer heerin, I dare say hee hath az fair a Library for theez -Sciencez, and az many goodly monuments both in prose and poetry, and -at after noonz can talk az much with out book, az ony inholder betwixt -_Brainford_ and _Bagshot_, what degree soever he be."[520:A] - -Of the library of this military bibliomaniac, who is represented as -"marching on valiantly before, clean trust and gartered above the -knee, all fresh in a velvet cap, flourishing with his _ton_ sword," -Mr. Dibdin has appreciated the value when he declares, that he should -have preferred it to the extensive collection of the once celebrated -magician, Dr. Dee. "How many," he observes, "of Dee's magical books he -had exchanged for the pleasanter magic of _Old Ballads_ and _Romances_, -I will not take upon me to say: but that this said bibliomaniacal -Captain had a library, which, even from Master Laneham's imperfect -description of it, I should have preferred to the four thousand volumes -of Dr. John Dee, is most unquestionable." - -He then adds in a note, in reference to the "_Bunch of Ballads and -Songs, all ancient!—fair wrapt up in parchment, and bound with a whip -cord!_" "it is no wonder that Ritson, in the historical essay prefixed -to his collection of _Scotish Songs_, should speak of some of these -ballads with a zest, as if he would have sacrificed half his library -to untie the said 'whip cord' packet. And equally joyous, I ween, -would my friend Mr. R. H. Evans, of Pall-Mall, have been—during his -editorial labors in publishing a new edition of his father's collection -of Ballads—(an edition, by the bye, which gives us more of the -genuine spirit of the COXEAN COLLECTION than any with which I am -acquainted)—equally joyous would Mr. Evans have been, to have had the -inspection of some of these 'bonny' songs. The late Duke of Roxburgh, -of never-dying bibliomaniacal celebrity, would have parted with half -the insignia of his order of the Garter, to have obtained _clean -original copies_ of these fascinating effusions!"[520:B] - -Though the Romances and Ballads in Captain Cox's Library are truly -termed "ancient," yet it appears, from unquestionable contemporary -authority, that these romances, either in their original dress or -somewhat modernised, were still sung to the harp, in Shakspeare's days, -as well in the halls of the nobility and gentry, as in the streets and -ale-houses, for the recreation of the multitude: thus Puttenham, in his -"Arte of English Poesie," published in 1589, speaking of historical -poetry adapted to the voice, says, "we our selves who compiled this -treatise have written for pleasure a little brief _Romance_ or -historicall ditty in the English tong of the Isle of great _Britaine_ -in short and long meetres, and by breaches or divisions to be more -commodiously song to the harpe in places of assembly, where the company -shal be desirous to heare of old adventures and reliaunces of noble -knights in times past, as are those of king _Arthur_ and his knights -of the round table, Sir _Bevys_ of _Southampton_, _Guy_ of _Warwicke_ -and others like;" and he afterwards notices the "blind harpers or such -like taverne minstrels that give a fit of mirth for a groat, their -matter being for the most part stories of old time, as the tale of Sir -_Topas_, the reportes of _Bevis_ of _Southampton_, _Guy_ of _Warwicke_, -_Adam Bell_, and _Clymme_ of the _Clough_ and such other old Romances -or historicall rimes, made purposely for recreation of the com̄on -people at Christmasse diners and bride ales, and in tavernes and -ale-houses and such other places of base resort."[521:A] - -Bishop Hall, likewise, in his Satires printed in 1598, alluding to the -tales that lay - - "In chimney-corners smok'd with winter fires, - To read and rock asleep our drowsy sires," - -exclaims,— - - "No man his threshold better knowes, than I - Brute's first arrival, and first victory; - St. George's sorrel, or his crosse of blood, - Arthur's round board, or Caledonian wood, - Or holy battles of bold Charlemaine, - What were his knights did Salem's siege maintaine: - How the mad rival of faire Angelice - Was physick'd from the new-found paradise!"[522:A] - -and even so late as Burton, who finished his interesting work just -previous to our great poet's decease, we have sufficient testimony -that the major part of our gentry was employed in the perusal of these -seductive narratives: "If they read a book at any time," remarks this -eccentric writer, "'tis an English Chronicle, _Sr. Huon of Bordeaux_, -Amadis de Gaul &c.;" and subsequently, in depicting the inamoratoes -of the day, he accuses them of "reading nothing but play books, idle -poems, jests, _Amadis de Gaul_, the _Knight of the Sun_, the _Seven -Champions_, _Palmerin de Oliva_, _Huon of Bordeaux_, &c."[522:B] - -These contemporary authorities prove, to a certain extent, what were -considered the most popular romances in the reigns of Elizabeth and -James; but it will be satisfactory to enquire a little more minutely -into this branch of literature. - -The origin of the metrical Romance may be traced to the fostering -influence of our early Norman monarchs, who cultivated with great -ardour the French language; and it was from the courts of these -sovereigns that the French themselves derived the first romances in -their own tongue.[522:C] The gratification resulting from the recital -or chaunting of these metrical tales was then confined, and continued -to be for some centuries, to the mansions of the great, owing to the -vast expense of maintaining or rewarding the minstrels with whom, -at that time, a knowledge of these splendid fictions exclusively -rested. No sooner, however, was the art of printing discovered, than -the wonders of romance were thrown open to the eager curiosity of -the public, and the presses of Caxton and Winkin de Worde groaned -under the production of prose versions from the romantic poesy of the -Anglo-Norman bards. - -So fascinating were the wild incidents and machinery of these volumes, -and so rapid was their consequent circulation, that neither the varied -learning nor the theological polemics of the succeeding age, availed to -interrupt their progress; and it was not until towards the close of the -seventeenth century, that the feats of the knight and the spells of the -enchanter ceased to astonish and exhilarate the halls of our fathers. - -In the whole course of this extensive career, from the era of the -conquest to the age of Milton, a poet whose youth, as he himself -tells us, was nourished "among those lofty fables and romances, which -recount, in sublime cantos, the deeds of knighthood[523:A]," perhaps -no period can be mentioned in which a greater love of romantic fiction -existed, than that which marks the reign of Elizabeth; and this, too, -notwithstanding the improvement of taste, and the progress of classical -learning; for though the national credulity had been chastened by the -gradual efforts of reason and science, yet was the daring imagery of -romance still the favourite resource of the bard and the novelist, who, -skilfully blending its potent magic with the colder but now fashionable -fictions of pagan antiquity, flung increasing splendour over the union, -and gave that permanency of attraction which only the peculiar and -unfettered genius of the Elizabethan era could bestow. - -Confining ourselves at present, however, chiefly to the consideration -of the _prose_ romance, we may observe, that five distinct classes of -it were prevalent in the age of Shakspeare, which we may designate by -the appellations of _Anglo-Norman_, _Oriental_, _Italian_, _Spanish_, -and _Pastoral_, Romance. - -Under the first of these titles, the _Anglo-Norman_, we include all -those productions which have been formed on the metrical romances of -the feudal or Anglo-Norman period, and to which the terms _Gothic_ or -_Chivalric_ have been commonly, though not exclusively, applied. These -are blended not only with much classical fiction, but with a large -portion of oriental fable, derived from our commerce with the East -during the period of the Crusades, and are principally occupied either -in relating the achievements of Arthur, Charlemagne, and the knights -engaged in the holy wars, or in chivalarising, if we may use the word, -the heroes of antiquity, or in expanding the wonders of oriental -machinery. - -The most popular prose romance of this class was undoubtedly _La Morte -D'Arthur_, translated from various French romances by Sir Thomas -Malory, and printed by Caxton in 1485, a work which includes in a -condensed form the most celebrated achievements of the knights of the -Round Table.[524:A] This "noble and joyous book," as it is termed by -its venerable printer, was the delight of our ancestors until the -age of Charles the First; and in no period more decidedly so than in -the reign of Elizabeth, when probably there were few lordly mansions -without a copy of this seducing tome, either in the great hall or in -the ladies bower. Such were its fascinations, indeed, as to excite the -apprehensions, and call forth the indignant, and somewhat puritanical, -strictures of Ascham and Meres; the former in his _Schoole master_ -1571, when, reprobating the inordinate attachment to books of chivalry, -instancing "as one for example, _Morte Arthur_, the whole pleasure -of which booke," he says, "standeth in two specyall poyntes, in open -mans slaghter and bolde bawdrie: in which booke, those be counted -the noblest knights that doe kill most men without any quarrell, and -commit fowlest adoultries by sutlest shifts: as, Syr Lancelote with -the wife of King Arthure, his maister: Syr Tristram with the wife of -King Marke, his uncle: Syr Lameroche with the wife of King Lote, that -was his own aunte. This is good stuffe for wise men to laughe at, -or honest men to take pleasure at. Yet I knowe when God's Bible was -banished the court and Morte Arthure receaved into the princes chamber, -what toyes the dayly reading of such a booke may worke in the will of -a yong gentleman, or a yong maide, that liveth welthely and idlely, -wise men can judge, and honest men do pittie[525:A];" and the latter -declaring in his "Wits' Commonwealth," that "as the Lord de la Nonne in -the sixe discourse of his politike and military discourses censureth -of the bookes of Amadis de Gaule, which he saith are no less hurtfull -to youth, than the workes of Machiavell, to age; so these bookes are -accordingly to be censured of, whose names follow; Bevis of Hampton, -Guy of Warwicke, _Arthur of the Round Table_," &c.[525:B] - -That these strictures are too severe, and that the consequences -apprehended by these ingenious scholars did not necessarily follow, we -have the authority of Milton to prove; who, so far from deprecating -the study of romances as dangerous to morality, declares "that -even those books proved to me so many enticements to the love and -stedfast observation of virtue[525:C];" a passage which appears to -have kindled in the mind of a modern writer, a spirited defence of -the utility of these productions, even at the present day. "There -is yet a point of view," he remarks, "in which Romance may be -regarded to advantage, even in the present age. The most interesting -qualities in a chivalrous knight, are his high-toned enthusiasm, and -disinterested spirit of adventure—qualities to which, when properly -modified and directed, society owes its highest improvements. Such -are the feelings of benevolent genius yearning to diffuse love and -peace and happiness among the human race. The gorgeous visions of -the imagination, familiar to the enthusiastic soul, purify the -heart from selfish pollutions, and animate to great and beneficent -action. Indeed, nothing great or eminently beneficial ever has been, -or can be effected without enthusiasm—without feelings more exalted -than the consideration of simple matter of fact can produce. That -Romances have a tendency to excite the enthusiastic spirit, we have -the evidence of fact in numerous instances. Hereafter, we shall hear -the great Milton indirectly bearing his testimony of admiration and -gratitude for their inspiring influence. It is of little consequence, -comparatively speaking, whether all the impressions made, be founded -in strict philosophical truth. If the imagination be awakened and the -heart warmed, we need give ourselves little concern about the final -result. The first object is to elicit power. Without power nothing -can be accomplished. Should the heroic spirit chance to be excited by -reading Romances, we have, alas! too much occasion for that spirit -even in modern times, to wish to repress its generation. Since the -Gallic hero has cast his malign aspect over the nations, it is become -almost as necessary to social security, as during the barbarism of the -feudal times. There is now little danger of its being directed to an -_unintelligible_ purpose. - -"Romances, then, not only merit attention, as enabling us to enter into -the feelings and sentiments of our ancestors,—a circumstance in itself -curious, and even necessary to a complete knowledge of the history -of past ages; they may still be successfully employed to awaken the -mind—to inspire genius: and when this effect is produced, the power -thus created may be easily made to bear on any point desired."[526:A] - -The demand for _Morte Arthur_, which continued for nearly two -centuries, produced of course several re-impressions: the _second_ -issued from the press of Winkin de Worde in 1498, the colophon of -which, as specified by Herbert, is singularly curious. "Here is the -ende of the hoole boke of kynge Arthur, and of his noble knygtes of -the rounde table. That whane they were hoole togyder, there was ever -an C. and XL. And here is the ende of the deth of Arthur. I praye you -all gentylmen and gentylwymmen that rede thys boke of Arthur and his -knyghtes from the beginnynge to the endynge praye for me whyle I am a -lyue, that, God send me good utterance. And when I am deed, I pray you -all pray for my soule: for the translacion of this boke was fynisshed -the IX. yere of the regne of kyng Edwarde the fourth, by syr Thomas -Maleore knyght, as Jhesu helpe him for his grete myghte, as he is the -servaunt of Jhesu bothe day and nyghte. Emprynted fyrst by William -Caxton, on whose soul God have mercy."[527:A] - -The re-impression of De Worde was followed by the editions of -_Copland_, _East_, and _William Stansby_, this last being dated 1634. -Of the elder copies East's was probably the one most generally used -in the reign of Elizabeth, and it differs only in a few unessential -phrases from the edition of Caxton. - -La Morte D'Arthur, which, by its frequent republication, kept alive -a taste for romantic fiction, may be considered as giving us, with a -few exceptions as to costume, a very pleasing though somewhat polished -picture of the chivalric romance of the Anglo-Norman period. It has the -merit also of furnishing an excellent specimen of purity and simplicity -in style and diction; qualities which have stamped upon many of its -otherwise extravagant details the most decided features of sublimity -and pathos. A passage in the twenty-second chapter of the second book, -for example, furnishes a noble instance of the former, and the speech -of Sir Bohort, over the dead body of Sir Launcelot, towards the close -of the work, is as admirable a specimen of the latter. These, as short, -peculiarly interesting, and characteristic of the work, we shall -venture to transcribe. - -The description of, and the effect arising from, so simple a -circumstance as that of blowing a horn, are thus painted:— - -"So hee rode forth, and within three days hee came by a cross, and -thereon was letters of gold written, that said, It is not for a knight -alone to ride toward this castle. Then saw hee an old hoar gentleman -coming toward him, that said, Balin le Savage, thou passest thy bounds -this way, therefore turn againe and it will availe thee. And hee -vanished away anon; and so hee heard an horne blow as it had been the -death of a beast. That blast, said Balin, is blown for mee; for I am -the prize, and yet am I not dead." - -Sir Ector de Maris, the brother of Sir Launcelot, after having sought -him in vain through Britain for seven years, has at length the -melancholy satisfaction of recognising the body of the hero, who had -just breathed his last. - -"And then Sir Ector threw his shield, his sword, and his helme, from -him. And when hee beheld Sir Launcelot's visage, hee fell downe in a -sowne. And when hee awaked, it were hard for any tongue to tell the -dolefull complaints that he made for his brother. Ah Sir Launcelot, -said hee, thou were head of all christian knights, and now I dare say, -said Sir Bors, that Sir Launcelot, there thou liest thou were never -matched of none earthly knight's hands. And thou were the curtiest -knight that ever beare shield. And thou were the truest friend to -thy lover that ever bestrod horse, and thou were the truest lover of -a sinful man that ever loved woman. And thou were the kindest man -that ever stroke with sword. And thou were the goodliest parson that -ever came among presse of knights. And thou were the meekest man -and the gentlest that ever eate in hall among ladies. And thou were -the sternest knight to thy mortall foe that ever put speare in the -rest."[528:A] - -We have taken the more notice of this work, not only as it affords -a pretty correct idea of what the old chivalric metrical romance -consisted, but as it was in Shakspeare's time the favourite book in -this branch of literature, and furnished Spenser with many incidents -for his "Faerie Queene."[529:A] It constitutes, in fact, an exemplar -and abridgment of the marvels of the Round Table, such as were -dispersed through a variety of metrical tales, and can only be found -condensed in this production, and of which the popularity may be -considered as an indubitable mark of the taste of the age in which it -was so much admired and cherished. - -If it be objected, that, though _Morte Arthur_ was very popular, it -did not originate during our period, it may be answered, that many -prose imitations of the Anglo-Norman romance, the undoubted offspring -of the Elizabethan era, might, if necessary, be mentioned; but one -will suffice, and this has been selected from its having maintained an -influence over the public mind nearly as long as the Death of Arthur. - -We allude to the well-known romance entitled _The Seven Champions of -Christendome_, written in the age of Elizabeth by Richard Johnson, the -author of various other productions during this and the subsequent -reign. In what year the first part of the _Seven Champions_ made -its appearance is not known; but the second was published with the -following title and date:—"The Second Part of the famous History of -the Seven Champions of Christendome. Likewise shewing the princely -Prowesse of Saint George's three Sonnes, the lively Sparke of -Nobilitie. With many memoriall atchieuements worthy the Golden Spurres -of Knighthood. Lond. Printed for Cuthbert Burbie, &c. 1597." 4to. -Black letter.[529:B] If Mr. Warton's opinion be correct, that Spenser -was indebted to this work for some incidents in the conduct of his -Faerie Queene, the first part must have been printed before 1590; and -Mr. Todd, indeed, seems to think that the second part "was published -some time after the first[529:C];" a supposition which is corroborated -by the address to the reader prefixed to the second part, in which, -after mentioning "_the great acceptance of HIS First Part_," -he nevertheless deprecates the severity of criticism to which it had -been exposed: "thy courtesy," he says, "must be my buckler against the -carping malice of mocking jesters, that being worse able to do well, -scoff commonly at that they cannot mend, censuring all things, doing -nothing, but, monkey-like, make apish jests at any thing they see in -print: and nothing pleaseth them, except it savour of a scoffing or -invective spirit;" passages which indicate that the first part of this -romance had been for some length of time before the public. We may -also add, that Johnson is known to have been a popular writer in 1592, -having published in that year his "Nine Worthies of London." - -If we except La Morte D'Arthur, and one or two Spanish romances, -which will be afterwards mentioned, the _Seven Champions_ appears to -have been the most popular book of its class. It has accumulated in a -small compass the most remarkable adventures of the ancient metrical -romances, and has related them in a rich and figurative, though -somewhat turgid style. Justice has been done to this compilation, once -so high in repute, both by Percy and Warton: the former speaks of its -"strong Gothic painting," and of its adherence to the old poetical -legends[530:A]; and the latter declares it to contain "some of the -most capital fictions of the old Arabian romance," and instances the -adventure of the ENCHANTED FOUNTAIN.[530:B] - -The various editions of this once celebrated compilation attest the -longevity of its fame; and though now no longer the amusement of the -learned and the great, yet is it far from being a stranger to the -literature of our juvenile libraries. A London impression appeared -in 1755, and it has lately been reprinted in a pocket-edition of the -British Classics. - -Having thus brought forward _La Morte D'Arthur_ and the _Seven -Champions_ as the most popular _prose_ compilations in Shakspeare's -time from the _Anglo-Norman_ metrical romances, we shall proceed -to notice two collections which were more immediately built on an -ORIENTAL foundation, and which have enjoyed, both at the epoch of -their first translation into English in the sixteenth century, and -subsequently to a very modern date, an almost unrivalled circulation. - -A little anterior to the birth of our great poet, W. Copland printed, -without date, a romance entitled _The Seven Wise Masters_, a direct -version from the Latin of a book published in Germany, soon after the -discovery of the art of printing, under the appellation of _Historia -Septem Sapientum_. This interesting series of tales has been traced by -Mr. Douce[531:A] to an _Indian_ prototype; to "The Book of the -Seven Counsellors, or Parables of SENDEBAR or SANDABAR," an Indian -philosopher, who is supposed to have lived about a century before -the Christian æra. The work of this sage, it appears, had been early -translated into Persic, Syriac, Arabic, and, from this latter, into -Hebrew by Rabbi Joel, under the title of _Mischle Sandabar_, a version -which is conjectured to have been made about the middle of the -fourteenth century, and is believed to be the only oriental manuscript -of these Parables which has been subjected to the press; having been -printed at Constantinople in 1517, and at Venice in 1544 and 1608. A -MS. of this Hebrew Sandabar is in the British Museum (Harleian MSS., -No. 5449.), but no English version of it has been hitherto attempted. - -The romance of our Indian fabulist made its next appearance, though -with some alterations in the incidents and names, in _Greek_, under -the title of _Syntipas_, of which many MSS. exist, the greater number -professing to be translated from the Syriac; but in the British Museum -is preserved a copy from the Persic, of so late a date as 1667. - -The first _Latin_ version is said to have proceeded from the pen of -Jean de Hauteselve, a native of Lorraine, but the existence of such a -copy is now only known, from its having been translated into _French_ -verse, by an ecclesiastic of the name of Herbers, who died 1226, and -who, in the opening of his poem, to which he has given the singular -title of _Dolopatos_, confesses to have taken it from the "_bel Latin_" -of Hauteselve. - -Another _French_ version, however, of greater importance, as it makes -a nearer approach to the remote original, and has been the source of -numerous imitations, is preserved in the French National Library, and -numbered 7595. It is a MS. in verse, of the 13th century, and was first -noticed by Mr. Ellis, through a communication from Mr. Douce, who -believes it to be not only the immediate original of many imitations in -French prose, but the source whence an old English metrical romance in -the Cotton Library (Galba, E. 9.) has been taken. - -This poem, a large fragment of which exists in the Auchinleck MS., -is entire in the Cotton Library, and is written in lines of eight -syllables. It is entitled "The Proces of the Sevyn Sages," and Mr. -Ellis refers its composition to a period not later than 1330.[532:A] - -The copy, however, which has given rise to the greatest number of -translations, is that already mentioned under the title of "Historia -Septem Sapientum," the first edition of which, with a date, was -published by John Hoelhoff at Cologne in 1490. This was very rapidly -transfused into the German, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, English, -and Scotch languages. - -Of the _Scotch_ version, which is metrical, and was undertaken by the -translator "at the request of his _Ant Cait_ (Aunt Kate) in Tanstelloun -Castle, during the siege of Leith," 1560, the first edition was printed -at Edinburgh in 1578, with the following title:—"THE SEVIN SEAGES, -TRANSLATIT OUT OF PROIS IN SCOTTIS METER, BE JOHNE ROLLAND, IN -DALKEITH; with ane Moralitie after everie Doctouris tale, and siclike -after the Emprice tale, togidder with ane loving and laude to everie -Doctour after his awin tale, and ane exclamation and outcrying when the -Empreouris wife after hir fals construsit tale. Imprentit at Edinburgh -be John Ros, for Henry Charteries."[533:A] - -The prose translation by Copland, which made its appearance between -the years 1550 and 1567, under the title of "The Seven Wise Masters," -was one of the most popular books of the sixteenth century. It has -undergone a variety of re-impressions, and when no longer occupying its -former place in the hall of the Baron and the Squire, descending to a -less ambitious station, it became the most delectable volume in the -collection of the School-boy. This change in the field of its influence -seems to have taken place in little better than a century after its -introduction into the English language; for in 1674, Francis Kirkman, -publishing a version from the Italian copy of this romance, which he -entitles the "History of Prince Erastus, son to the emperor Diocletian, -and those famous philosophers called The Seven Wise Masters of Rome," -informs us, in his preface, "that the book of 'The Seven Wise Masters' -is in such estimation in Ireland, that it was always put into the hands -of young children immediately after the horn-book."[533:B] - -The "Book of the Seven Counsellors," in short, appears to have been -familiarised in the language of every civilised nation in Asia and -Europe, and though often interpolated and disguised by the admixture -of fables from other oriental collections, and especially from the -fables of Pilpay, it has still preserved, through every transfusion, a -resemblance of its Indian type. Its admission into English literature -contributed to cherish and keep alive the taste for Eastern romance, -which had been generated during the period of the Crusades, and adopted -by the Anglo-Norman minstrels. - -If the collection of oriental apologues, to which we have alluded under -the name of Pilpay, had been as early naturalised amongst us, the -effect in favour of oriental fable would probably have been greater; -but it was the fate of this work, though superior in merit perhaps, and -of equal antiquity and similar origin with the Parables of Sandabar, -and alike popular in the East, not to have acquired an English dress -until the eighteenth century. The Heetopades of Veeshnoo Sarma, the -undoubted source of Pilpay's stories, we, at length, possess, in a -correct state, forming certainly the most interesting series of fables -extant.[534:A] - -There is another set of tales, however, in their complection almost -entirely oriental, which not only co-operated in their effect, but also -in their period of introduction, with the "Seven Wise Masters," from -the press of Copland. - -In 1577 Richard Robinson, a voluminous author who lived by his pen, -published "A record of ancyent historyes intituled in Latin _Gesta -Romanorum_;" and in a catalogue of his productions, written by himself, -and preserved in the British Museum, he says of this work that it was -"translated (auctore ut supponitur Iohane Leylando antiquario) by mee -perused corrected and bettered."[534:B] - -This is a partial version of one of two distinct works entitled, _Gesta -Romanorum_, collections of tales in the Latin language which, there is -reason to suppose, originated in the fourteenth century, and certainly -once enjoyed the highest popularity. - -Of the _first_, or what may be called the _Continental Gesta_, Mr. -Warton has given us a very elaborate and pleasing analysis. No -manuscript of this primary collection is known to exist, but it was -printed about 1473; the first six editions of it are in folio without -dates; three containing 152 chapters or gests each, and three 181 -each, and of those printed with dates, in folio, quarto, octavo, and -duodecimo, a list, amounting to twenty-eight, has been published by -Mr. Douce, from the year 1480 to 1555 inclusive. A Dutch translation -appeared in 1481; a German translation in 1489; the first French -translation with a date in 1521; but no English translation until 1703, -when only forty-five histories or gests were published, the translator, -either from want of encouragement, or from some other cause, having -only printed volume the first of his intended version. - -The _second_ or _English Gesta_ must be considered as the discovery of -Mr. Douce, for Warton, not perceiving its frequent discrepancy, had -confounded it with the original work. It is likewise remarkable, that -the circumstances attending its circulation are diametrically different -from those accompanying the prior collection; for while numerous -MSS. of the English Gesta exist in this country, not one copy in the -original Latin has been printed. - -It appears from the researches of Mr. Douce, that this compilation very -soon followed the original Gesta, and that the first manuscript may -with great probability be ascribed to a period as early as the reign -of Richard the Second; most of the MSS. however, none of which have -ever been found upon the continent, are of the age of fifth and sixth -Henries, and of these twenty-five are yet remaining preserved in the -British Museum, at Oxford, and in other collections. - -As the English Gesta was intended as an imitation of the _Continental_ -collection, many of its stories have, of course, been retained; but -these have undergone such alterations in language, and sometimes in -incident, together with new moralizations, and new names, as to give -it, with the addition of forty tales not found in its prototype, the -air of an original work.[535:A] It is not, however, so extensive as -the foreign compilation, the most complete manuscripts containing only -one hundred and two stories; yet as the sources from which it has drawn -its materials are, with a few exceptions, correspondent, in respect to -their oriental origin, with the continental copy, the character which -Mr. Warton has given of the primary, will apply to the secondary, -series. - -"This work," he observes, "is compiled from the obsolete Latin -chronicles of the later Roman or rather German story, heightened by -romantic inventions, from Legends of the Saints, oriental apologues, -and many of the shorter fictitious narratives which came into Europe -with the Arabian literature, and were familiar in the ages of ignorance -and imagination. The classics are sometimes cited for authorities; -but these are of the lower order, such as Valerius Maximus, -Macrobius, Aulus Gellius, Seneca, Pliny, and Boethius. To every tale -a _Moralization_ is subjoined, reducing it into a christian or moral -lesson. - -"Most of the oriental apologues are taken from the CLERICALIS -DISCIPLINA, or a Latin Dialogue between an Arabian Philosopher and -Edric[536:A] his son, never printed[536:B], written by Peter Alphonsus, -a baptized Jew, at the beginning of the twelfth century, and collected -from Arabian fables, apothegms, and examples.[536:C] Some are also -borrowed from an old Latin translation of the CALILAH U DAMNAH, a -celebrated set of eastern fables, to which Alphonsus was indebted. - -"On the whole, this is the collection in which a curious enquirer might -expect to find the original of Chaucer's Cambuscan:— - - "Or,——if aught else great bards beside - In sage and solemn tunes have sung, - Of turneys and of trophies hung, - Of forests and inchantments drear, - Where more is meant than meets the ear."[537:A] - -Of the translations of the _English_ Gesta, which, owing to the Latin -original not being known upon the continent, are solely confined to the -English language, three only have been noticed; and of these, the first -is a manuscript in the Harleian collection, No. 7,333, of the age of -Henry the Sixth, containing but seventy stories, and which Mr. Douce -conjectures to have been produced either by Lydgate, Gower, or Occleve, -as the English Gesta appears familiar to them, and this version -possesses not only several pieces by Lydgate, but some tales from the -_Confessio Amantis_ of Gower.[537:B] - -The first printed translation is said to have issued from the press -of Wynkyn de Worde, though without a date, and this edition has -been mentioned and referred to, both by Mr. Warton[537:C] and Dr. -Farmer.[537:D] Neither Herbert, however, nor Mr. Dibdin, has been -fortunate enough to detect its existence, and if it really had, or has, -a being, it is probably either the manuscript version of the reign of -Henry the Sixth, or the translation to which Robinson alludes as the -work of Leland the antiquary. - -We must, therefore, look to Robinson's Translation of 1577, as the -only one which has met with a general and undisputed circulation; and -this was so popular, that in 1601 it had been printed six times by -Thomas Easte.[537:E] The most enlarged edition, however, of Robinson's -version, contains but forty-four stories, and it is, therefore, much -to be regretted, that the Harleian manuscript is not committed to the -press. - -As this was then the only English translation accessible to the public, -of a collection of tales which in the original Latin, and under the -same name, had amused the learned and the curious for some centuries, -both on the continent, and for nearly the same space of time on our own -island, we shall not be surprised if we find, in a subsequent page, -that Shakspeare has availed himself of a portion of its contents, -especially as its subjects, and the mode of treating them, coincided -with his track of reading. - -The popularity of Robinson's work seems to have extended to the -eighteenth century; for the last edition, which we can now recollect, -is dated 1703, and there is reason to think it the fifteenth, while the -edition immediately preceding was published in 1689, but fourteen years -anteriorly. - -If Ascham thought he had reason to complain of the popularity of _Morte -Arthur_, and its associates, he found tenfold cause of complaint in the -daily increasing circulation of ITALIAN ROMANCES AND TALES; "ten _La -Morte d'Arthures_," he exclaims, "doe not the tenth parte so much -harme, as one of these bookes made in _Italie_, and translated in -_Englande_."[538:A] - -The frequent communication indeed with Italy, which took place -about the middle of the sixteenth century, had not only induced an -indiscriminate imitation of Italian manners, but had rendered the -literature of the Italians so fashionable, that, together with their -poetry, was imported into this island a multiplicity of their _prose_ -fictions and tales, a species of composition that had been cultivated -in Italy with incredible ardour from the period of Sacchetti and -Boccacio. - -These tales, by blending with the romantic fiction of the Normans and -Orientals the scenes of domestic life and manners; by introducing -greater complexity and skill in the arrangement of fable and -greater probability in the nature and construction of incident; by -intermingling more frequent and more interesting traits of the softer -passions, and by exciting more powerfully the emotions of pity and -compassion, presented to the public a new and poignant source of -gratification, and furnished the dramatic poets and the caterers for -the then universal appetite for story-telling with innumerable bases -for plays, tales, and ballads.[539:A] - -It may be asserted, we believe, with a close approach to accuracy, that -in the space which elapsed between the middle of the sixteenth century, -and the accession of James the First, nearly all the most striking -fictions of the Italian novellists had found their way to the English -press; either immediately translated from the original Italian, or -through the medium of Latin, French, or Spanish versions. - -Of these curious collections of prose narrative, real or imaginary, -comic or tragic, it will be thought necessary that we should notice a -few of the most valuable, and especially those to which our great poet -has been most indebted. - -One of the earliest of these works and mentioned by Laneham in 1575, as -an article in Captain Cox's library, was entitled _The Hundred Merry -Tales_. This series of stories, though existing in English so late as -1659[539:B], is now unfortunately lost; the probability, however, is, -that it was a translation from _Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles_, printed -at Paris before the year 1500, and compiled from Italian writers. The -English copy, says Warton, was licensed to be printed by John Waly, -in 1557, under the title of "A Hundreth mery tales," together with -_The freere and the boye, stans puer ad mensam, and youthe, charite, -and humylite_.[540:A] It is again noticed in the register of the -Stationers' Company for 1581, by Ames, under the article for James -Roberts, and in the following manner in a black-letter pamphlet of -1586:—"Wee want not also pleasant mad headed knaves that bee properly -learned and well reade in diverse pleasant bookes and good authors. As -Sir Guy of Warwicke, the Foure Sons of Aymon, the Ship of Fooles, the -Budget of Demandes, _the Hundredth merry Tales_, the Booke of Ryddles, -and many other excellent writers both witty and pleasaunt."[540:B] It -is alluded to by Shakspeare, in his _Much Ado about Nothing_, written -about 1600, where Beatrice complains of Benedict having declared, that -she had "her good wit out of the _Hundred Merry Tales_."[540:C] That -this collection was justly entitled to the epithet _merry_ has been -proved by Mr. Douce, from a reference to the supposed original, in -which only five stories out of the hundred are of a tragic cast, and -where the title, in the old editions, gives further propriety to the -appellation, by terming these tales _Comptes plaisans et recreatiz pour -deviser en toutes compaignies, et Moult plaisans á raconter par maniere -de joyeuseté_.[540:D] It should not be forgotten, however, that the -work entitled _Cento novelle antiche_ was in existence at this period, -though no translation of it is known to have been made, either before -or during Shakspeare's age; nor is it improbable that the term _A -hundred merry tales_, might have become a kind of cant expression for -an attack of personal satire; for Nashe, as Mr. Douce has observed, "in -his _Pappe with an hatchet_, speaks of a book then coming out under -the title of _A hundred merrie tales_, in which Martin Marprelate, i. -e. John Penry, and his friends, were to be satirized."[541:A] - -Though no complete translation of the Decameron of Boccacio was -executed before 1620, the greater part of his novels was given to the -public in 1566, by _William Paynter_, in his once popular collection, -entitled "_The Pallace of Pleasure_." This entertaining work occupies -two volumes, 4to.; of which, the first, dedicated to Lord Warwick, -appeared in the year above-mentioned, "containing _sixty_ novels out -of Boccacio," and the second followed in 1567, including thirty-four -novels, principally from Bandello, and dedicated to Sir George Howard. -It appears to have been the intention of the compiler to have added -a third part; for at the close of the second volume, he tells us, -"Bicause sodeynly, contrary to expectation, this volume is risen to -greater heape of leaves, I doe omit for this present time _Sundry -Novels_ of mery devize, reserving the same to be joyned with the rest -of an other part, wherein shall succeede the remnant of _Bandello_, -specially sutch, suffrable, as the learned French man _François de -Belleforrest_ hath selected, and the choysest done in the Italian. -Some also out of _Erizzo_, _Ser Giouanni Florentino_, _Parabosco_, -_Cynthio_, _Straparole_, _Sansovino_, and the best liked out of the -_Queene of Nauarre_, and others;" a passage which is important, as -showing, in a small compass, the nature and extent of his resources. - -What motive prevented the continuance of the work, is unascertained; it -certainly could not be want of encouragement, for a second edition of -the first volume, and a third of the second, were published together -in 4to. in 1575, and, as the author informs us in his title, "eftsones -perused, corrected, and augmented" by him. The conjecture of Warton, -that Painter, "in compliance with the prevailing mode of publication, -and for the accommodation of universal readers, was afterward -persuaded to print his _sundry novels_ in the perishable form of -separate pamphlets," is not improbable. - -The _Palace of Pleasure_ is, without doubt, not only one of the -earliest, but one of the most valuable selections of tales which -appeared during the reign of Elizabeth; and that it formed one of the -ornaments of Shakspeare's library, and one to which he was in the -habit of referring, the industry of his commentators has sufficiently -established.[542:A] - -In the same year with the second volume of Painter's Palace, appeared -"_Certaine Tragicall Discourses_" by _Geffray Fenton_, in one volume -4to. bl. letter. This _passing pleasant booke_, as Turberville terms -it, consists of stories principally from Italian writers, and, in the -dedication to Lady Mary Sydney, the author expresses his high opinion -of their merit, by declaring, "neyther do I thinke that oure Englishe -recordes are hable to yelde at this daye a _Romant_ more delicat and -chaste, treatynge of the veraye theame and effectes of love, than theis -_Hystories_;" an estimate of the value of his collection in which he is -borne out by his friend Turberville, who, in one of the recommendatory -poems prefixed to the book, says— - - "The learned stories erste, and sugred tales that laye - Removde from simple common sence, this writer doth displaye: - Nowe men of meanest skill, what Bandel wrought may vew, - And tell the tale in Englishe well, that erst they never knewe: - Discourse of sundrye strange, and tragicall affaires, - Of lovynge ladyes hepless haps, theyr deathes, and deadly cares." - -Mr. Warton is of opinion that Fenton's compilation "in point of -selection and size" is "perhaps the most capital miscellany of -this kind."[542:B] In size, however, it is certainly inferior to -Painter's work, and from a survey of its contents with which we have -been indulged, exhibits, in our conception, no superiority to its -predecessor even with regard to selection; it merits, however, the same -honour which is now paying to its rival, that of a re-print. - -In 1571 a series of tales, somewhat similar to Fenton's, was published -under the title of "_The Forest_ or collection of Historyes no lesse -profitable, than pleasant and necessary, doone out of Frenche into -English by _Thomas Fortescue_." This production, which forms a quarto -in black letter, and underwent a second, and a third edition, in -1576 and 1596, includes many stories manifestly of Italian birth and -structure, though the work is said to have been originally written in -the Spanish language. - -On the authority of Bishop Tanner, as reported by Warton[543:A], we -have to ascribe to the year 1580, a prose version of the _Novelle_ of -_Bandello_, next to Boccacio the most celebrated, at that period, among -the Italian novellists; and more chaste perhaps than any of them in -his sentiments, and more easy and natural in the construction of his -incidents. The translation is said to be by W. W. initials which Mr. -Warton is inclined to appropriate, either to William Warner or William -Webbe. - -Another collection of tales, several of which are from Giraldi -Cinthio and other Italian fabulists, was given to the public by -_George Whetstone_, in 1582, under the appellation of _Heptameron_, -a term which had been rendered fashionable by the popularity of a -suite of tales published at Paris in 1560, and entitled, "Heptameron -des Nouvelles de la Royne de Navarre." Whetstone possessed no -inconsiderable reputation in his day; he has been praised as a poet -by Meres and Webbe, and his _Heptameron_, though written in prose, -with only the occasional interspersion of poetry, had its share of -contemporary fame, and the still greater celebrity of furnishing some -portion of a plot to our great dramatic bard.[543:B] - -The first volume of a large collection of Italian tales made its -appearance at Paris in 1583, under the title of _Cent Histoires -Tragiques_. This work, the compilation of _Francis de Belleforrest_ -and _Boisteau_, was ultimately extended to seven volumes, and a part -of it, if not the whole, appears, on the authority of the Stationers' -Register, to have been translated into English, in 1596.[544:A] The -edition, however, to which Warton alludes, must have been posthumous; -for Belleforrest died on January 1st, 1583, and that he had printed -selections from the Italian novellists long anterior, is evident from -Painter's reference to them in the second volume of his Palace of -Pleasure, dated 1567. Probably what the historian terms the "_grand -repository_" commenced with the copy of 1583.[544:B] - -Independent of these large prose collections of Italian tales, a -vast variety of separate stories was in circulation from the same -source; and many of our poets, such as Gascoigne, Turberville, -&c.[544:C] amused themselves by giving them a metrical and sometimes -a semi-metrical, form. By these means the more rugged features of -the Anglo-Norman romance, were softened down, and a style of fiction -introduced more varied and more consonant to nature. - -The taste, however, for the wild beauties of Gothic fabling, though -polished and refined by the elegant imagination of the Italians, was -still cultivated with ardour, and, towards the close of Elizabeth's -reign, was further stimulated, by a fresh infusion of similar imagery, -through the medium of the _Spanish and Portuguese Romances_. - -These elaborate, and sometimes very interesting productions, are -evidently constructed on the model of the Anglo-Norman romance, though -with greater unity of design, and with more attention to morality. -There is reason to believe, with Mr. Tyrwhitt, that neither Spain nor -Portugal can produce a romance of this species older than the era of -printing[545:A]; for the manuscript of _Amadis of Gaul_, which has been -satisfactorily proved by Mr. Southey to have been the production of -Vasco Lobeira, and written in the Portuguese language, during the close -of the fourteenth century[545:B], was never printed, and is supposed to -be no longer in existence; while the Spanish version of Garciordonez de -Montalvo, the oldest extant, and which has, in general, passed for the -original, did not issue from the press before the year 1510, the date -of its publication at Salamanca. - -This romance, beyond all doubt the most interesting of its -[545:C]class, is well known as one of the very few in Don Quixote's -library which escaped the merciless fury of the Licentiate and the -Barber. "The first that master Nicholas put into his hands was Amadis -de Gaul in four parts; and the priest said, 'There seems to be some -mystery in this; for, as I have heard say, this was the first book of -chivalry printed in Spain, and all the rest have had their foundation -and rise from it; and, therefore, I think, as head of so pernicious a -sect, we ought to condemn him to the fire without mercy.'—'Not so, -sir,' said the barber; 'for I have heard also, that it is the best of -all the books of this kind; and therefore, as being singular in his -art, he ought to be spared.'—'It is true,' said the priest, 'and for -that reason his life is granted him.'"[546:A] Nor is the description -which Sir Philip Sidney has given of the effects of Amadis on its -readers less important than the encomium of Cervantes on its literary -merit; "Truly," says the knight, "I have known men, that even with -reading Amadis de Gaul, have found their hearts moved to the exercise -of courtesy, liberality, and especially courage."[546:B] - -The introduction of Amadis into the English language took place in the -year 1592, when the first four or five books were translated from the -French version and printed by Wolfe.[546:C] It experienced the same -popularity here which had attended its naturalisation in France, Italy, -and Spain, and seems to have been in the zenith of its reputation -among us at the close of the Shakspearean era; for Fynes Moryson, who -published his Itinerary in 1617, in his directions to a traveller how -to acquire languages, says, "I think no book better for his discourse -than _Amadis of Gaul_; for the knights errant, and the ladies of -courts, doe therein exchange courtly speeches, and these books are in -all languages translated by the masters of eloquence;" and Burton in -his Anatomy of Melancholy, written about the same period, mentions -_Amadis_ along with Huon of Bourdeaux, as one of the most fashionable -volumes of his day. Such, indeed, is the merit of this romance, -that the lapse of four hundred years has not greatly diminished its -attractions, and the admirable version of Mr. Southey, which, by -rejecting or veiling the occasional indelicacy of the original, has -removed the weightiest objections of Ascham, most deservedly finds -admirers even in the nineteenth century. - -Another specimen of this class of romances of nearly equal popularity -with the preceding, though inferior in point of merit, may be instanced -in the once celebrated _Palmerin of England_, which, like Amadis -of Gaul, safely passed the ordeal of the Curate of Don Quixote's -village:—"Let Palmerin of England," says the Licentiate, "be -preserved, and kept as a singular piece: and let such another case be -made for it, as that which Alexander found among the spoils of Darius, -and appropriated to preserve the works of the poet Homer.—Therefore, -Master Nicholas, saving your better judgment, let this and Amadis de -Gaul be exempted from the fire, and let all the rest perish without any -further enquiry."[547:A] - -Palmerin of England, like its prototype, Amadis de Gaul, is supposed -to have originated in Portugal. Mr. Southey, indeed, confidently -attributes it to the pen of Francis de Moraes; an ascription which is -in direct opposition to the authority of Cervantes, who asserts it -to have been written by a King of Portugal. It has shared the like -fate, too, in this country, with regard to its translator; Anthony -Munday having been the first to usher Palmerin, as well as Amadis, to -an English public; in fact, though in its original garb it appeared -a century and a half later than the romance of Lobeira, it claims -priority with regard to its English dress, having been licensed to -Charlewood, and printed in 1580. - -The multiplicity and rapid succession of extraordinary events in -Palmerin of England, are such as to distract the most steady attention, -and if it really deserved the encomium which the curate bestowed upon -it in comparison with the rest of the worthy knight's library, little -surprise can be excited at the mental hallucinations which the study of -such a collection might ultimately produce. - -Of the versions of honest Anthony, one of the most indefatigable -translators of romance in the reign of Elizabeth, not much can be -said, either in point of style or fidelity. Labouring for those who -possessed an eager and indiscriminating appetite for the marvellous, -he was not greatly solicitous about the preservation of the manners -and costume of his original, but rather strove to accommodate his -authors to the taste of the majority of his readers. To enumerate the -various romances which he attempted to naturalise, would be tedious -and unprofitable; the two that we have already noticed, together with -"Palmerin D'Oliva," and "The honorable, pleasant, and rare conceited -Historie of Palmendo[548:A]," were among the most popular, and will be -sufficient to impart an idea of what, among the peninsular works of -fiction, were most in vogue, when romances were as much read as novels -are in the present age. - -The last species of romance, which we shall notice as fashionable in -Elizabeth's reign, may be termed the _Pastoral_. Of this class the most -celebrated specimen that we can mention, is the _Arcadia_ of Sir Philip -Sidney, a book well known to Shakspeare, which continued highly popular -for near a century, and reached an eighth edition as early as 1633, -independent of impressions in Scotland, of which one occurs before the -year 1600.[548:B] - -The Arcadia appears to have been commenced by its author for the sole -amusement of himself and his sister, the Countess of Pembroke, during -his residence at Wilton, in 1580, and though prosecuted at various -periods was left incomplete at his death in 1586. The affection of -the Countess, however, to whose care and protection the scattered -manuscripts had been assigned, induced her to publish an impression of -it in the year 1590, revised under her own immediate direction; since -which period fourteen editions have borne testimony to the merits of -the work, and to the correctness of the editor's judgment. - -To the publication of this far-famed romance, which is in many respects -truly beautiful, and in every respect highly moral, we may attribute an -important revolution in the annals of fictitious writing. It appears to -have been suggested to the mind of Sir Philip, by two models of very -different ages, and to have been built, in fact, on their admixture; -these are the Ethiopic History of Heliodorus, Bishop of Tricca, in -Thessaly, and the Arcadia of Sannazaro, productions as widely separated -as the fourth and the sixteenth centuries. Their connection, however, -will be more readily explained, when we recollect, that a translation -of Heliodorus into English had been published only three years before -the commencement of Sidney's Arcadia. This was the work of Thomas -Underdowne, who printed a version of the ten entire books in 1577, -dedicating them to Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford.[549:A] That the -_English_ Heliodorus was chiefly instrumental in giving this peculiar -direction to the genius of Sidney, was the opinion of Warton; but we -must likewise recollect, that the Arcadia of Sannazaro, with which -Sir Philip, as an excellent Italian scholar, must have been well -acquainted[549:B], presented him with the model for his shepherds, for -their costume, diction, and sentiment, and that, like the English work, -it is a mingled composition of poetry and prose. - -Dismissing many of the paraphernalia of the ancient chivalric romance, -its magicians, enchanted castles, dragons, and giants, but retaining -its high-toned spirit of gallantry, heroism, and courtesy, combined -with the utmost purity in morals, and with all the traditionary -simplicity and innocence of rural life, the pastoral romance of Sidney -exhibited a species of composition more reconcilable to probability -than the adventures of Arthur and Amadis, but less natural and -familiar than the tales of the Italians. In these last, however, virtue -and decency are too often sacrificed at the shrine of licentiousness, -whilst in the Arcadia of our countryman not a sentiment occurs which -can excite a blush on the cheek of the most delicate modesty. To this -moral tendency of Sidney's fictions, the muse of Cowper has borne -testimony in the following pleasing lines:— - - "Would I had fall'n upon those happier days, - That poets celebrate; those golden times, - And those Arcadian scenes, that Maro sings, - And _Sidney, warbler of poetic prose_. - Nymphs were Dianas then, and swains had hearts. - That felt their virtues: innocence, it seems, - From courts dismissed, found shelter in the groves; - The footsteps of simplicity, impress'd - Upon the yielding herbage, (so they sing) - Then were not all effac'd: then speech profane, - And manners profligate, were rarely found; - Observed as prodigies, and soon reclaim'd."[550:A] - -Had the disciples of Sir Philip adhered to the model which he -constructed; had they, rejecting merely his unfortunate attempt to -introduce the Roman metres into modern poetry, preserved his strength -and animation in description, his beauty and propriety of sentiment, -his variety and discrimination of character, the school of Sidney -might have existed at the present hour. On the contrary, whatever was -objectionable and overstrained in their prototype, they found out the -art to aggravate; and by a monstrous and monotonous overcharge of -character, by a bloated tenuity of style, by a vein of sentiment so -quaintly exalted as to have nothing of human sympathy about it, and -by an indefinite prolixity of fable, they contrived to outrage nature -nearly as much as had been effected by the wonders of necromancy -and the achievements of chivalry; and this, too, without producing -a scintillation of those splendid traits of fancy which illumine, -and even atone for, the wild fictions of the Anglo-Norman romance. -The Astrea of D'Urfé, written about twenty years after Sidney's -work, though sufficiently tedious, and frequently unnatural, makes -the nearest approach to the pastoral beauty of the Arcadia; but what -longevity can attach to, or what patience shall endure, the numerous -and prodigious tomes of Madame Scuderi?[551:A] - -The shades of oblivion seem gathering fast even over the beautiful -reveries of Sidney, a fate most undoubtedly hastened by the prolix -and perverted labours of his successors; and what was the fashion and -delight of the seventeenth century has generally ceased to charm. So -great, indeed, was once the popularity of the Arcadia, that its effects -became an object of consideration to the satirist and the historian. -In 1631, we find the former thus admonishing the ladies:—"Insteade -of songes and musicke let them learn cookerie and launderie. And -instead of reading _Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia_, let them reade -the groundes of good huswifery."[551:B] But the grave annalist and -antiquary, Fuller, has, with more good sense, vindicated the study -of this moral romance:—"I confess," says he, "I have heard some of -modern pretended wits cavil at the _Arcadia_, because they made it -not themselves: such who say that his book is the occasion that many -precious hours are otherwise spent no better, must acknowledge it also -the cause that many idle hours are otherwise spent no worse than in -reading thereof."[551:C] There is no work, in short, in the department -of _prose-fiction_ which contains more apothegmatic wisdom than the -Arcadia of Sidney; and it is to be regretted that the volume which had -charmed a Shakspeare, a Milton, and a Waller[551:D], and which has -been praised by Temple[552:A], by Heylin[552:B], and by Cowper, should -be suffered, in any deference to the opinion of Lord Orford[552:C], to -slumber on the shelf. - -It is with pleasure, however, that we find a very modern critic not -only passing a just and animated eulogium on the Arcadia, but asserting -on his own personal knowledge, that, even in the general classes of -society, it has still its readers and admirers. "Nobody, it has been -said, reads the Arcadia. We have known very many persons who have read -it, men, women, and children, and never knew one who read it without -deep interest and admiration at the genius of the writer, great in -proportion as they were capable of appreciating it. The verses are -very bad, not that he was a bad poet, (on the contrary, much of his -poetry is of high merit,) but because he was then versifying upon an -impracticable system. Let the reader pass over all the eclogues, as -dull interludes unconnected with the drama, and if he do not delight -in the story itself, in the skill with which the incidents are woven -together and unravelled, and in the Shakespearean power and character -of language, with which they are painted; let him be assured the fault -is in himself and not in the book."[552:D] - -After this brief survey of the state of romantic literature, and of the -various romances which were most popular, in the days of Shakspeare, -it will be a proper appendage, if we add a few observations on the yet -lingering relics of chivalric costume. That gorgeous spectacle, the -Tournament, in which numerous knights engaged together on either side, -fighting with the sword and truncheon, was latterly superseded by the -joust or tilting-match, consisting of a succession of combats between -two knights at one time, and in which the spear was the only weapon -used. The dexterous management of this military amusement depended -upon striking the front of the opponent's helmet, in such a manner as -either to beat him backward from his horse, or break the spear in the -contest. Jousting or tilting, which was usually celebrated in honour -of the ladies, by whom the prizes were always awarded and distributed, -continued to be a favourite diversion with Elizabeth to the close of -her reign; she was attached to the gallantry which constituted the -soul of these games, and to the splendour which accompanied their -exhibition, and her nobles were not backward in encouraging and -gratifying her romantic taste. Of this a remarkable instance may be -adduced, in the person of Sir Henry Lee, Knight of the Garter, who -vowed that he would annually, while health and strength permitted, -enter the tilt-yard as his sovereign's knight. The completion of this -vow led to annual contentions in the lists, and twenty-five personages -of the first rank, among whom are to be found Lord Leicester, Sir -Christopher Hatton, &c. agreed to establish a society of arms for this -purpose. The presidency of the association was resigned by Sir Henry, -on the plea of infirmity, in 1590, when he formally invested the Earl -of Cumberland with his dignity, one of the most envied at that time, in -the court of Elizabeth.[553:A] - -It was usual at these chivalric exhibitions, which ceased on the demise -of their regal patroness, for the combatants, and even the men of -fashion who attended as spectators, to wear a lady's favour on their -arm; and when a knight had tilted with peculiar grace and spirit, the -ladies were wont to fling a scarf or glove upon him as he passed; a -custom which Shakspeare has attributed, as is frequent with him, to an -age long anterior to chivalric usage, for he represents Coriolanus, on -his way to the capitol, as thus honoured: - - —————— "The matrons flung their gloves, - Ladies and maids their scarfs and handkerchiefs, - Upon him as he pass'd."[554:A] - -It appears also, from a passage in the second part of _King Henry the -Fourth_, that an oath derived from a singular observance in the days of -chivalry, was common in the days of Shakspeare; for Shallow, persuading -Sir John Falstaff to remain with him as his visitor, exclaims, "By -_cock and pye_, Sir, you shall not away to night[554:B];" an adjuration -which Steevens and Ridley refer to a corruption of the sacred name, -and to a service-book of the Romish church, called in this country, -previous to the Reformation, _a pie_; but Mr. Douce has, with more -probability, advanced the origin to which we allude. "It will, no -doubt, be recollected," he observes, "that in the days of ancient -chivalry it was the practice to make solemn vows or engagements for -the performance of some considerable enterprize. This ceremony was -usually performed during some grand feast or entertainment, at which -a roasted peacock or pheasant, being served up by ladies in a dish of -gold or silver, was thus presented to each knight, who then made the -particular vow which he had chosen, with great solemnity. When this -custom had fallen into disuse, the peacock nevertheless continued to -be a favourite dish, and was introduced on the table in a _pie_, the -head, with gilded beak, being proudly elevated above the crust, and the -splendid tail expanded. Other birds of smaller value were introduced -in the same manner, and the recollection of the old peacock vows might -occasion the less serious, or even burlesque, imitation of swearing not -only by the bird itself, but also by the _pie_; and hence probably the -oath _by cock and pie_."[554:C] - -As all persons beneath the rank of an esquire were precluded, by -the laws of chivalry, from taking any part in the celebration of -justs and tournaments, while at the same time, a strong desire of -_imitation_ was excited in the public mind, by the attractive nature -of these diversions, it soon became an object with the commonality to -establish something which might bear a striking resemblance to the -favourite amusements of their superiors. Hence the origin of tilting -at the quintain, which we have already noticed in the chapter on Rural -Diversions, and of tilting at the ring and on the water; sports, of -which even the Queen herself condescended not unfrequently to be a -spectator. - -Tilting at the ring was considered as the most respectable of the three -amusements, and was generally practised as a preparatory exercise -to the knightly feat of jousting. The ring was suspended at a fixed -height, in a sheath, by the contrivance of two springs, and the object -of the tilter was, while riding at full speed, to thrust the point of -his lance through the ring, drawing it, by the strength of his stroke, -from its sheath, and bearing it away on the summit of his lance. -In this pastime, the horses, as well as the men, required constant -training and practice, and, on the day of contest, the palm of victory -was adjudged to him who in three courses, for this number was allowed -to each candidate, carried the point of his lance the oftenest through -the ring. - -Of these games the most vulgar, but the most productive of merriment, -was that of tilting on the water, in which the combatants, standing -in the centre of their respective boats, were armed with a lance -and shield, and he was esteemed the conqueror, who, by a dexterous -management of his weapon, contrived to strike his adversary in such a -manner as to overturn him in the water, while he himself remained firm -and stationary. With this curious exhibition it would appear that the -Queen was highly gratified, on her visit to Sandwich, "where certain -wallounds that could well swym, had prepared two boates, and in the -middle of each boate was placed a borde, upon which borde there stood -a man, and so they met together, with either of them a staff and a -shield of wood; and one of them did overthrow another, at which the -Queene had good sport."[556:A] - -To jousting, and to tilting at the ring, some of the most remarkable -relics of expiring chivalry, and of which the latter had attained to -almost scientific precision at the commencement of the seventeenth -century, Shakspeare has several allusions in the course of his -dramas.[556:B] The most striking of these refers to an accident which -not unfrequently occurred, when a knight, unable to manage his horse -with due skill, suffered it to deviate sideways in its career, the -consequence of which was, that instead of breaking his lance in a -direct line against his adversary's helmet, it was broken _across_ -his breast, a circumstance deemed highly dishonourable, as the result -either of timidity or want of dexterity:—"O, that's a brave man!" -says Celia, speaking of Orlando, in _As You Like It_, "he writes -brave verses, speaks brave words, swears brave oaths, and breaks them -bravely, quite traverse, athwart the heart of his lover; as a puny -tilter, that spurs his horse but on one side, breaks his staff like a -noble goose."[556:C] - -It was about this period too, the close of the sixteenth century, that -another remnant of romantic usage became nearly extinct. We allude to -the profession of the _Minstrel_, which, until the year 1597, had been -cherished or tolerated in this country, from an era as ancient as the -conquest. - -During the reign of Elizabeth, indeed, the character of the _Minstrel_, -combining the offices of the poet, the singer, and the musician, and -that of the _Jestour_, or mere reciter of tales and gestes, gradually -lost their importance and respectability, and were no longer protected -by the noble and the opulent. On the accession of the Queen, however, -and for about twenty years afterwards, instances may be adduced -where the Minstrel appears to have acted in his genuine capacity, -that is, as the sole depository of the poems which he chaunted, -and not, as was subsequently the case, the fabricator of songs and -ballads merely for the press. The latest specimens of what may be -termed the old Minstrelsy, Dr. Percy assigns to the years 1569 and -1572, when the ballads entitled "_The Rising in the North_," and -"_Northumberland betrayed by Douglas_," were produced.[557:A] Between -the Minstrel-ballads and those written merely for the press, a marked -difference was usually perceptible, the former exhibiting greater -rudeness of language, with a more northern cast in their structure; -greater irregularity in metre, and incidents more romantic, wild, and -chivalric; while the latter presented altogether a southern dialect, -more correct versification, incidents, though occasionally pathetic, -comparatively tame and insipid, and a costume more modern and familiar. -Of this last kind, were the numerous ballads of the reign of James -the First, frequently collected together, and published under the -appellation of _Garlands_. - -There is reason to suppose, notwithstanding the declining state of the -minstrel tribe, that some attention was yet paid to their appearance -and dress; that their ancient distinguishing costume was well known, -and sometimes imitated, and that, especially in the prior half of the -Elizabethan era, a peculiar garb was still attached to their office. We -are warranted in these inferences by contemporary authority: Laneham, -in his description of Elizabeth's entertainment at Killingworth Castle, -in 1575, mentions his having been in company with a person who was -to have performed the character of an _ancient Minstrel_ before the -Queen, "if meete time and place had been foound for it." This man, who -was probably a member of the profession, entertained some worshipful -friends, of which Laneham was one, with a representation of the part -which he should have enacted at the Earl of Leicester's; and it is -remarkable that this assumed minstrel is styled, "_a squire minstrel -of Middilsex, that travaild the cuntree THYS soomer season unto fayrz -and woorshipfull menz houzez_;" a strong proof that the character, -in all its full costume, was not considered as sufficiently bizarre -and obsolete to render such an assertion improbable. "A person very -meete seemed he for the purpose; (we here drop the author's absurd -orthography;) of a XLV years old, apparelled partly as he would -himself. His cap off, his head seemly rounded tonster-wise; fair -kembed, that with a sponge daintily dipt in a little capon's grease, -was finely smoothed to make it shine like a mallard's wing; his beard -smugly shaven; and yet his shirt after the new trink, with ruffs -fair-starched, sleeked, and glistering like a pair of new shoes: -marshalled in good order: with a stetting stick, and stout that every -ruff stood up like a wafer. A side gown of Kendal green, after the -freshness of the year now; gathered at the neck with a narrow gorget, -fastened afore with a white clasp and a keeper close up to the chin, -but easily for heat to undo when he list: seemly begirt in a red caddis -girdle; from that a pair of capped Sheffield knives hanging a to side -(one on each side): out of his bosom drawn forth a lappet of his -napkin, edged with a blue lace, and marked with a true love, a heart, -and a D. for _Damian_; for he was but a batchelor yet. - -"His gown had side sleeves down to midleg, slit from the shoulder to -the hand, and lined with white cotton. His doublet-sleeves of black -worsted: upon them a pair of poynets of tawny chamblet, laced along the -wrist with blue threaden joints; a wealt toward the hand of fustian -anapes: a pair of red neather stocks: a pair of pumps on his feet, -with a cross cut at the toes for cornes; not new, indeed, yet cleanly -blacked with soot, and shining as a shoeing horn. About his neck, a red -ribband suitable to his girdle: his harp in good grace dependent before -him: his wrest[558:A] tied to a green lace, and hanging by. Under the -gorget of his gown a fair flagon chain of pewter (for silver); as a -_squire minstrel_ of Middlesex, that travelled the country this summer -season, unto fairs and worshipful mens houses. From his chain hung a -scutcheon, with metal and colour, resplendent upon his breast, of the -ancient arms of Islington.—After three lowly courtsies, 'he' cleared -his voice with a hem and reach, and spat out withal; wiped his lips -with the hollow of his hand for filing his napkin, tempered a string -or two with his wrest, and after a little warbling on his harp for a -prelude, came forth with a solemn song, warranted for story out of -_King Arthur's acts_."[559:A] - -In 1592, Henry Chettle, describing _Anthony Now-Now_, an aged and -celebrated minstrel of his own time, represents him as "an od old -fellow; low of stature, his head covered with a _round cap_, his body -with a _tawney coate_, his legs and feete truste uppe in _leather -buskins_, his gray haires and furrowed face witnessed his age, his -_treble viol_ in his hande[559:B];" from which it would appear that -even to the last the members of this tuneful tribe were distinguished -by some peculiarity of dress. - -In the mean time, however, they were becoming, through the -dissoluteness of their manners, obnoxious to government, and -contemptible in the public estimation. Stubbes, in the first edition -of his Anatomie of Abuses, 1583, terms them a parcel of drunken -sockets, and baudy parasites, that "raunge the countries," he observes, -"riming and singing of unclean, corrupt, and filthy songs in tavernes, -ale-houses, innes, and other publike assemblies.—There is no ship," he -exclaims, "so laden with merchandize, as their heads are pestred with -al kinds of baudy songs, filthy ballades, and scurvy rymes, serving for -every purpose, and for every company. For proof whereof," he subjoins, -"who bee baudier knaves than they? who uncleaner than they? who more -licentious, and looser minded than they? and brieflie, who more -inclined to all kind of insolency and leudness than they?—I think that -al good minstrels, sober and chast musitions, may dance the wild Moris -through a needles eye." He subsequently adds that, notwithstanding -their immorality, "every toune, citie, and countrey, is full of these -minstrelles to pipe up a daunce to the devill." - -That this description is not much exaggerated by the puritanical -severity of its author, is evident from the language of Puttenham, -a courtier and polite writer, who calls this degraded race -"_cantabanqui_," singers "upon benches and barrels heads—minstrels -that give a fit of mirth for a groat—in taverns and ale-houses, and -such other places of base resort[560:A];" a picture corroborated by the -authority of Bishop Hall, who a few years afterwards, speaking of the -exhilarating effect of his own satirical poetry, says it is - - "Much better than a Paris-garden beare, - Or prating poppet on a theater, - _Or Mimœ's whistling to his tabouret, - Selling a laughter for a cold meal's meat_."[560:B] - -The character which Shakspeare attributes to the minstrel race of this -period, is in accordance with the preceding passages. In the original -edition of his _Rape of Lucrece_, which appeared in 1594, he draws his -heroine exclaiming, - - "_Feast-finding_ minstrels, tuning my defame, - Will tie the hearers to attend each line."[560:C] - -The epithet in _Italics_ very distinctly points out the vagrant life of -these attendants on merriment and good cheer. They were accustomed to -travel the country, in search of bride-ales, Christmas dinners, fairs, -&c., and wherever they could get access to the halls of the gentry and -nobility. - -It is in the _Winter's Tale_, however, that the minstrel of our poet's -age is but too faithfully depicted. In the person of Autolycus, whom -we have already noticed, when describing the country wake, is to be -found, in colours faithful to nature, the very object of Stubbe's -satire, a composition very curiously blending the various functions of -the minstrel, the pedlar, and the rogue. - -No harshness therefore can be attributed to the act of Queen Elizabeth, -which in 1597 nearly annihilated an occupation so vilely associated -and degraded. In the fourth chapter of this statute the law enacts -that "all fencers, bearwards, common players of enterludes, and -MINSTRELLS, wandering abroad; all juglers, tinkers, pedlars, &c. shall -be adjudged and deemed _rogues_, _vagabonds_, and _sturdy beggers_;" a -clause which, very deservedly, put an end to a profession which, though -once highly respectable and interesting, no longer had a claim to -public support; a clause which enabled Dr. Bull to say, with much truth, - - "Beggars they are with one consent, - And Rogues, by Act of Parliament."[561:A] - -Of the use which Shakspeare made of the various romances, tales, and -ballads which undoubtedly occupied a large portion of his library, an -accurate estimate may be formed from a close inspection of his dramas. -It will be found, that, with the exception of the Historical plays, -derived either from English chronicles or translations of classic -story, the residue of his dramatic productions may be traced to sources -exclusively existing within the regions of romantic literature. As we -shall have occasion, however, hereafter to notice the origin of each -drama, as it passes before us in chronological succession, it will -merely be necessary in this place, in order to afford some proof of -his familiarity with these fictions, to select a few specimens of his -allusion to them from the body of his plays. - -That our poet was well acquainted with the celebrated Romance, entitled -_Mort d'Arthure_, the most popular of its class, would have been -readily admitted from the known course of his studies, even if he had -not once alluded to it in the course of his works. In the _Second -Part_, however, of _King Henry the Fourth_, he makes _Shallow_, -vaunting of his youthful feats to Falstaffe, say, "I was then _Sir -Dagonet_ in _Arthur's show_[562:A];" a line upon which Mr. Douce -observes, "Whatever part Sir Dagonet took in this show would doubtless -be borrowed from Mallory's romance of the _Mort Arture_, which had been -compiled in the reign of Henry VII. What there occurs relating to Sir -Dagonet was extracted from the excellent and ancient story of _Tristan -de Leonnois_, in which Dagonet is represented as the fool of king -Arthur[562:B];" a character certainly well adapted to the powers of the -worthy justice. - -It should, however, be remarked, that the _Arthur's show_ in this -passage was not, what it might at first be supposed, an exact -representation of the ancient chivalric costume of that romantic -Prince and his knights, but principally an exhibition of _Archery_ by -a toxophilite society, of which Richard Robinson, the translator of -the English Gesta, has given us an account under the title of "_The -Auncient Order Societie, and Unitie Laudable, of Prince Arthure and his -knightly Armory of the Round Table. With a Threefold Assertion friendly -in favour and furtherance of English Archery at this day_." 1583. -4to.[562:C] - -These city-worthies, to the number of fifty-eight, it would seem, -had for some time assumed the arms and the names of the knights of -the Round Table, and Robinson, who the year before had published a -translation of Leland's _Assertio Arthvrii_, thought proper to dedicate -his _Ancient Order_ to M. Thomas Smith, Esq., the then Prince Arthur -of this fellowship, and compliments him by deducing his society from -the establishment of the round table in the reign of Edward the First. -"But touching your famous order and fellowship of knights in shooting, -though in K. E. I. his time (ann. 1279) a valiant Knight and manly -Mortimer at Kenelworth appointed a knightly game, which was called the -Round Table of 100 knights and so manie Ladies (nameth not expressely -shooting to be one) yet for exercise of armes thither came many warlike -knightes of divers kingdomes. And the most famous and victorious king -E. 3. builded at Winchester (ann. 1344) an house called the Round Table -of an exceeding compasse, to the exercise of like or farre greater -Chevalry therin:—So the most famous, prudent, politike and grave -prince K. Henry the 7 was the first Phenix in chusing out a number -of chiefe Archers to give daily attendance upon his person, whom he -named his Garde. But the high and mighty renowned prince his son, K. -H. 8. (ann. 1509) not onely with great prowes and praise proceeded in -that which his father had begon; but also added greater dignity unto -the same, like a most roial renowned David, enacting a good and godly -statute (ann. 33. H. 8. cap. 9.) for the use and exercise of shooting -in every degree. And furthermore for the maintenance of the same -laudable exercise in this honourable city of London by his gratious -charter confirmed unto the worshipful citizens of the same, this your -now famous order of Knights of Prince Arthures Round Table or Society: -like as in his life time when he sawe a good Archer indeede, he chose -him and ordained such a one for a knight of the same order."[563:A] - -As this "_friendly and franke fellowship_ of Prince Arthur's Knightes," -as Mulcaster terms it in his Positions[563:B], bore little resemblance -to its celebrated archetype in any point of chivalric observance, -beyond the name; and as archery had ceased to be an object with -government in a military light, and was considered indeed, in the -reign of James I., as a mere pastime, the society, though respectable -in the days of Robinson and Mulcaster, soon dwindled into contempt, -an idle mockery of an institution which had originally been great and -imposing. - -In MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, our author very distinctly refers to another -of Captain Cox's romances, _Huon of Bourdeaux_, a production of equal -popularity with Morte Arthure, and which was translated into English by -Lord Berners, in the reign of Henry the Eighth[564:A], under the title -of _Sir Hugh of Bourdeaux_. Benedict being informed of the approach -of Beatrice, addresses Don Pedro in the following terms:—"Will your -grace command me any service to the world's end? I will go on the -slightest errand now to the Antipodes, that you can devise to send me -on; I will fetch you a tooth-picker now from the farthest inch of Asia; -bring you the length of Prester John's foot; _fetch you a hair of the -great Cham's beard_; do you any embassage to the Pigmies, rather than -hold three word's conference with this harpy."[564:B] The passage in -Italics, together with the spirit of the context, will be discovered in -the subsequent command and achievement. - -"Thou must goe to the citie of Babylon to the Admiral Gaudisse, -to bring me thy hand full of the heare of his beard, and foure of -his greatest teeth. Alas, my lord, (quoth the Barrons,) we see -well you desire greatly his death, when you charge him with such a -message."[564:C] - -"He opened his mouth, and tooke out his foure great teeth, and then cut -off his beard, and tooke thereof as much as pleased him."[564:D] - -This version of Lord Berners furnished Shakspeare with the name, -though not with the character, of _Oberon_. - -The SECOND PART OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH supplies us with a reference -to the ancient romance of _Sir Bevis of Southampton_. In the combat -between Horner and his servant Peter, the former exclaims—"Peter, have -at thee with a downright blow, _as Bevis of Southampton fell upon_ -Ascapart."[565:A] - -This romance, which forms the fourth article in the Coventry Library, -was once highly popular, though possessing little merit. It was printed -by Pynson, and issued twice from the press of Copland, and once from -that of East. It has been since frequently republished, in various -forms, for the amusement of the juvenile part of the community. - -Of the hero of the tale, Selden has left us the following notice in -his notes on the Polyolbion:—"About the Norman invasion was Bevis -famous with the title of Earl of Southampton; Duncton in Wiltshire -known for his residence.—His sword is kept as a relique in Arundel -Castle; not equalling in length (as it is now worn) that of Edward 3, -at Westminster."[565:B] - -Shakspeare has done further honour to this legend, by putting two lines -of it into the mouth of Edgar. Bevis, being confined in a dungeon, was -allowed neither meat nor corn, but - - "Rattes and myce and such smal dere - Was his meate that seven yere;" - -a distich which the supposed madman in Lear has thus, almost verbally, -adopted:— - - "But mice, and rats, and such small deer, - Have been Tom's food for seven long year."[566:A] - -Dr. Percy has observed that Shakspeare had doubtless often heard this -metrical romance sung to the harp[566:B]; the popularity of these -legends, indeed, was such that, towards the end of Elizabeth's reign, -most of them were converted into prose, a degradation which befel Sir -Bevis, Sir Guy of Warwick, and many others of equal celebrity. To this -last romance Shakspeare has an allusion in his _King John_, where the -bastard speaks of - - "Colbrand the giant, that same mighty man,"[566:C] - -the defeat of this Danish Goliah, in single combat, by Sir Guy, being -one of the leading features of the story. - -It is highly probable, that the achievement ascribed to King Richard, -in this play, of tearing out the lion's heart[566:D], was immediately -derived from a copy of the old metrical romance in the poet's library. -It is true that the chronicles of Fabian and Rastall have detailed -this fiction, and there is no doubt, from the same authority; but -the metrical legend of Richard Cœur de Lion being one of the most -popular of the Anglo-Norman romances, and having been thrice printed, -twice by W. De Worde, and once by Will. Copland, there is much reason -to conclude that an acknowledged lover, and collector, of this branch -of literature would prefer taking his imagery from the poem itself, -more especially if it rested upon his shelves. - -It appears from this romance, that Richard not only tore out the -heart of the lion, but, dipping it in salt, eat it before the eyes of -the astonished king of Almain, a feat which instantly drew from His -Majesty the peculiar appellation which designates the tale:— - - "Yevis, as I understand can, - This is a devil, and no man, - That has my strong lion y-slawe, - The heart out of his body drawe, - And has it eaten with good will! - He may be called, by right skill, - King y-christened of most renown, - Strong _Richard Cœur de Lion_!"[567:A] - -The play of _Henry the Fifth_ furnishes a reference to the fifth -article in Laneham's catalogue of the Coxean collection. Fluellen -compelling Pistol to eat his leek, tells him,—"You called me -yesterday, mountain-squire; but I will make you to-day a _squire of low -degree_."[567:B] - -This romance, which was licensed to John Kynge on the tenth of June -1560[567:C], and printed by William Copland before 1570[567:D], was -one of the most popular of the sixteenth century, and possesses some -striking traits of manners, and several very curious poetical sketches. -It is twice alluded to by Spenser[567:E] in his Faerie Queene, and has -been supposed, though probably without sufficient foundation, to have -existed in manuscript anterior to the age of Chaucer.[567:F] - -There are some scenes in Shakspeare which appear to have been -originally derived from _Oriental_ fable. Thus, in _Twelfth Night_, the -leading ideas of Malvolio's soliloquy (act ii. sc. 5.), bear a strong -resemblance, as Mr. Tyrrwhitt observes, to those of Alnaschar, in _The -Arabian Nights Entertainments_; an observation which has drawn from Mr. -Steevens the following curious and pertinent note:— - -"Many Arabian fictions had found their way into obscure Latin and -French books, and from thence into English ones, long before any -professed version of _The Arabian Nights Entertainments_ had appeared. -I meet with a story similar to that of Alnaschar, in _The Dialoge of -Creatures Moralysed_, bl. l. no date, but probably printed abroad: -'It is but foly to hope to moche of vanyteys. Whereof it is told in -fablis that a lady uppon a tyme delyuered to her mayden a galon of -mylke to sell at a cite. And by the waye as she sate and restid her -by a dyche side, she began to thinke y{t} with ye money of the mylke -she wolde bye an henne, the which shulde bring forth chekyns, and when -they were grownyn to hennys she wolde sell them and by piggis, and -eschaunge them into shepe, and the shepe into oxen; and so whan she was -come to richnesse she sholde be married right worshipfully unto some -worthy man, and thus she rejoycid. And when she was thus marvelously -comfortid, and ravished inwardely in her secrete solace thinkynge with -howe great joye she shuld be ledde towarde the churche with her husbond -on horsebacke, she sayde to her self, Goo wee, goo wee, sodaynelye she -smote the grounde with her fote, myndynge to spurre the horse; but her -fote slypped and she fell in the dyche, and there laye all her mylke; -and so she was farre from her purpose, and never had that she hopid to -have. Dial. 100, LL. ij b."[568:A] - -We may also refer the _Induction_ to the _Taming of the Shrew_ to the -same source, to _The Sleeper awakened_, in the Arabian Nights, a tale -which seems to have crept from its oriental fountain through every -modern European language. Its earliest appearance in English that can -now be traced, is derived from the information of Mr. Warton, who -informs us that his friend Mr. Collins, the celebrated lyric poet, had -in his possession a collection of short comic stories in prose, "sett -forth by maister Richard Edwards, mayster of her Majesties revels," -and with the date of 1570. This book, which was printed in the black -letter, contained the story of the _Induction_, and was, there is -little doubt, the source whence Shakspeare and the author of the elder -_Taming of the Shrew_ drew their outline.[569:A] A similar tale is -the subject of a ballad in the Pepysian collection, which has been -published by Percy[569:B], and it is to be found also in Sir Richard -Barckley's _Discourse on the Felicitie of Man_, 1598, in Goulart's -_Admirable and Memorable Histories_, translated by E. Grimstone, 1607; -in Burton's _Anatomie of Melancholy_, 1615; in _The Apothegms of King -James, King Charles, the Marquis of Worcester_, &c. 1658, and in -Winstanley's _Historical Rarities_, 1684.[569:C] Some of the Arabian -Tales and some of the Fables of Pilpay may be traced in _The Seven Wise -Masters_, and in the English _Gesta Romanorum_. - -To romances of _Italian_ origin and structure, such as were exhibited -in English versions often mutilated and incorrect, our author's -obligations are so numerous, particularly with regard to the formation -of plot, that, referring to a future consideration of each play for -further illustration on these subjects, we shall only remark in this -place, that many of the faults which have been ascribed to Shakspeare's -want of judgment in the conduct of his dramas, are attributable to the -necessity he was under, either from want of power or want of time, of -applying to versions and imitations in lieu of the originals; a species -of accommodation which frequently led him to adopt the mistakes of a -wretched translation, when a reference to the Italian would immediately -have induced a better choice. This will account for many of the -charges which Mrs. Lennox has brought against the poet, in respect to -deficiency of skill in the arrangement of his incidents.[569:D] - -The _First Part of King Henry the Fourth_ presents us with an allusion -to one of those _Spanish_ romances which became so popular towards the -close of Elizabeth's reign. Falstaff, in answer to the Prince, who had -told him, that he saw no reason why he should "be so superfluous to -demand the time of the day," replies, "Indeed, you come near me now, -Hal: for we, that take purses, go by the moon and seven stars; and not -by Phœbus,—he, _that wandering knight so fair_."[570:A] - -The romance to which this passage stands indebted, is entitled, in the -best and most complete edition, "_Espeio de Principes, y Cavalleros. -En el qual se cuentan los immortales hechos de CAVALLERO DEL FEBO_," -&c. &c., four parts, folio, and is the subject of the Barber's eulogium -in Don Quixote. "He (the Don) had frequent disputes with the priest -of his village, who was a learned person, and had taken his degrees -in Ciguenza, which of the two was the better knight, Palmerin of -England, or Amadis de Gaul. But master Nicholas, barber-surgeon of -the same town, affirmed, that none ever came up to the _Knight of the -Sun_."[570:B] - -This production, the first part of which was translated into English, -under the title of _The Myrrour of Knighthood_, was well known in -Shakspeare's time; the second part of the first book having been -printed in the black letter, by Thomas Este, in 1585.[570:C] The whole -occupies three volumes in 4to., and in it the Knight of the Sun is -represented not only as "most excellently _faire_," but as a prodigious -_wanderer_; so that Falstaff, who, by an easy association, digresses -from Phœbus to this solar knight-errant, has very compendiously combined -his characteristics. - -It is probable that the celebrated passage in Hamlet's soliloquy, where -the prince speaks of - - "The undiscovered country, from whose bourn - No traveller returns,"[571:A] - -may have been founded on a similar idea in the Spanish romance entitled -_Palmerin d'Oliva_. The translation of Palmerin was first printed in -1588, and in Part II. chap. 3. the reader must be struck with the -following words,—"before he took his journey wherein no creature -returneth agaie." Now, as Hamlet, according to the chronological -arrangement of Mr. Malone, was not written until 1596, and Palmerin -d'Oliva may certainly be reckoned among the most fashionable romances -of its day, the conjecture is entitled to attention. It is necessary, -however, to add, that we are altogether indebted for it to a learned -and ingenious correspondent in the British Bibliographer, whose initial -signature is W. and whose acquaintance with romantic lore appears to be -equally accurate and profound.[571:B] - -To this gentleman we are under further obligation for the confirmation -of a supposition made by Mr. Douce, who, commenting on this part of -Hamlet's soliloquy, refers it to a passage in the _History of Valentine -and Orson_, and adds,—"It is probable that there was an edition of -Valentine and Orson in Shakspeare's time, though none such is supposed -now to remain."[571:C] - -Such an edition, it appears, is in the possession of the correspondent -of Sir Egerton Brydges, who has given us a description of it, together -with the following title, as drawn from the colophon:—"_The historie -of the two valyante brethren Valentyne and Orson, sônes vn to the -Emperour of Græce. Imprinted at London over a gaynst St. Margaretes -Churche in Lothbery be William Coplande._" Small 4to. b. l. sig. I. -i. 5. wood-cuts.[572:A] The antiquity of this copy, though without -date, is ascertained by the circumstance, that Will. Copland, the -printer, died between the years 1568 and 1569; and there is even -reason to suppose, that this is but a re-impression, for, after the -table of contents, a short note states, "Here endeth the table _newly -correcte_."[572:B] - -The reference of Mr. Douce is to page 63 of the edition of 1694, in -which occurs a sentence which undoubtedly bears a striking resemblance -to the lines of Shakspeare:—"I shall send some of you here present -_into such a country, that you shall scarcely ever return again_ to -bring tydings of your valour."[572:C] - -That our great poet was as well versed in the pages of Valentine -and Orson, as have been the school-boys of this country for the -last century, is our firm belief. "It would be difficult," says the -possessor of Copland's edition, "to find a reader of the present day, -who had not in the hour of childhood voted a portion of his scanty -stipend to the purchase of 'Valentine and Orson,' and withdrawn for -a few hours from more laborious exercises, or amusements, to peruse -its fascinating pages;" and equally difficult would it have been, in -Shakspeare's days, to have found a person of liberal education, who had -not devoted a portion of his leisure to the perusal of this simple but -energetic romance. - -From the numerous corresponding passages, however, cited by our -author's commentators, from the period of Catullus to the seventeenth -century, it would seem that the idea, and even the terms in which it -has been expressed, may be considered as a kind of common property, and -consequently rather a mark of coincidence than imitation. - -Of the _Arcadia_ of Sir Philip Sidney, the best _pastoral_ romance, and -one of the most popular books of its age, we cannot be surprised that -Shakspeare should have been an ardent admirer, and that occasionally -he should have been indebted to it for an incident or an image. The -first scene of the fourth act, in the _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, in -which Valentine accepts the captainship of a band of outlaws, appears -to be founded on that part of the Arcadia where Pyrocles, released from -prison by the Helots, consents to be their leader and captain.[573:A] - -More certainly is the episode of Gloster and his sons, in King Lear, -derived from the same work, the first edition of which, published in -1590, being divided into chapters, exhibits one with this title:—"The -pitifull state and storie of the Paphlagonian unkinde king, and his -kinde sonne: first related by the sonne, then by the blind father." -The subsequent editions omit the divisions into chapters, and in the -copy before us, which is the seventh impression, the story commences at -page 132, being part of the second book. As no other source for this -narrative than the _Arcadia_, has hitherto been traced, and as the -similarity of incident is considerable, there can be little doubt but -that this portion of _King Lear_ must confess its obligation to the -romance. - -The appellation, also, given to Cupid, in a passage in _Much Ado about -Nothing_, is evidently to be referred to a line in the _Arcadia_. Don -Pedro, speaking of Benedict, says, "he hath twice or thrice cut Cupid's -bow-string, and the little _hangman_ dare not shoot at him."[573:B] It -has been conjectured, that the word in Italics should be _hench-man_, a -page or attendant; but to decide the question it is only necessary to -quote the words of Sidney:— - - "Millions of yeares this old drivell Cupid lives; - While still more wretch, more wicked he doth prove: - Till now at length that Jove him office gives, - At Juno's suite, who much did Argus love, - In this our world a _hangman_ for to be - Of all those fooles that will have all they see."[573:C] - -If, from this catalogue of allusions, our author's intimacy with the -romances of his age, may be considered as proved, his familiarity with -the _ballads_ and _songs_ of the same period will not be deemed less -extensive, or less admitting of demonstration. Throughout his dramas, -indeed, a peculiar partiality for these popular little pieces is very -manifest; he delights to quote them, wherever he can find a place for -their introduction, and his own efforts in this line of poetry are -often of the utmost simplicity and beauty. - -How strongly he felt this predilection for the strains of our elder -minstrelsy, and how exquisitely he has expressed his attachment to -them, must be in the recollection of all who have ever read, or seen -performed, his admirable comedy of the _Twelfth Night_, in which the -Duke exclaims,— - - "Give me some musick:—but that piece of song, - That old and antique song we heard last night, - Methought it did relieve my passion much; - More than light airs and recollected terms, - Of these most brisk and giddy-paced times:— - Mark it, Cæsario; it is old, and plain: - The spinsters and the knitters in the sun, - And the free maids, that weave their thread with bones, - Do use to chaunt it; it is silly sooth, - And dallies with the innocence of love, - Like the old age."[574:A] - -Before we notice, however, the ballads which Shakspeare has quoted, -or to which he has alluded, it will be satisfactory, if, to the -articles specified in Captain Cox's "Bunch of Ballets and Songs," -we add a few more of similar popularity, and from a source equally -rare and authentic. In the _British Bibliographer_, Mr. Haslewood has -given us a description of the fragment of a tract in his possession, -entitled THE WORLD'S FOLLY, printed, as he concludes, from the type, -before 1600, and from which, "as every allusion," he justly observes, -"to our early ballads is interesting," he has obliged his readers -with some very curious quotations. "The author," he remarks, "appears -to describe the purgatory of Folly. He wanders from room to room, -and to each new character assigns a ballad, that may be presumed was -distinguished for popularity. A man, whose credit had decayed by -trusting servants, and had commenced botcher, 'had standing by him, for -meate and drinke, a pot of strong ale, which was often at his nose, -that it kept his face in so good a colour, and his braine in so kinde a -heate, as forgetting part of his forepassed pride, in the good humour -of grieving patience, made him with a hemming sigh, ilfavourdly singe -the ballad of _Whilom I was_: to the tune of _Tom Tinker_.' An old -man, shaking with palsy, who, 'having beene a man of some possessions, -and with too fat feeding of horses, too high keeping of hawkes, and -too much delighting in banquetinges, through lacke of husbandrie, was -forced to leave himself without lande; . . . after many a deepe sighe, -with a hollow voice, in a solemne tune, with a heavie hearte fell to -sing the song of _Oken leaves began wither_: to the tune of _Heavilie, -heavilie_.' A dapper fellow that in his youth had spent more than he -got on his person, 'fell to singe the ballad of the _blinde beggar_: to -the tune of _Heigh ho_.' The general lover, having no further credit -with beauty, 'howled out the dittie of _When I was faire and young_: to -the tune of _Fortune_. The next is whimsically described as 'one that -was once a virgin, had beene a little while a mayde, knew the name of -a wife, fell to be a widdow,' and finally a procuress; 'she would sing -the _Lamentation of a sinner_: to the tune of _Welladaye_.' A decayed -prostitute, who had become laundress to the house, 'stood singing the -ballet of _All a greene willowe_: to the famous tune of _Ding Dong_.' -A man with good personage, with a froward wife, 'hummed out the balled -of _the breeches_: to the tune of _Never, never_.' His termagant spouse -drewe from her pocket 'a ballad of _the tinker's wife that beate -her husbande_.' To the last character in the fragment is also given -Raleigh's ballad. He was 'one that had beene in love, sat looking on -his mistresse picture, making such a legge to it, writing such verses -in honour to it, and committing such idolatrie with it, that poore man, -I pittied him: and in his behalfe sorrowed to see how the Foole did -handle him: but there sat he, hanging his head, lifting up the eyes, -and with a deepe sigh, singing the ballad of _Come live with me and be -my love_: to the tune of _adieu my deere_.'"[576:A] - -It is, notwithstanding, to the dramas of our poet, that we must look -for more copious intimations relative to the ballad-poetry of the -sixteenth century, and of the first ten years of the reign of James the -First. The list which we shall collect from his works, in the order in -which they are usually published, will sufficiently evince his love -for these productions, and, at the same time, afford a pretty accurate -enumeration of those which were esteemed the most popular of his age. - -Yet, in forming this catalogue of Shakspearean ballads and songs, it -may be necessary to premise, that it is not our intention to comment -on the original pieces of our author in this branch of poetry, which -will fall under consideration in a subsequent chapter; but merely -to confine our notices to his quotations from and allusions to the -minstrel strains of others. We commence, therefore, with the ballad of -_Queen Dido_, which the poet had no doubt in view, when he represents -Gonzalo in the _Tempest_ so familiar with her name and history.[576:B] -That this was a favourite song with the common people appears from a -passage in a scarce pamphlet quoted by Mr. Ritson, and published in -1604. "O you ale-knights, you that devoure the marrow of the mault, -and drinke whole ale-tubs into consumptions; that sing _Queen Dido_ -over a cupp, and tell strange newes over an ale-pot."[576:C] Dr. Percy, -who has published a correct copy of this old ballad from his folio MS. -collated with two different printed copies, both in black letter, in -the Pepysian collection, terms it "_excellent_;" an epithet justly -merited, for, though blended with the manners of a Gothic age, it is -certainly both pathetic and interesting. - -Mrs. Ford, in the _Merry Wives of Windsor_, speaking of Falstaff's -proposals, says, that his disposition and his words "do no more adhere -and keep place together than the hundredth psalm to the tune of _Green -Sleeves_."[577:A] This seems to have been a very popular song about -1580, for it is licensed several times during this year, and entered -on the books of the Stationers' Company, under the titles of "A newe -northerne dittye of the Lady _Green Sleeves_," and "A new Northern Song -of _Green Sleeves_, beginning - - "The bonniest lass in all the land." - -It is mentioned by Beaumont and Fletcher in _The Loyal Subject_, but is -supposed to be now no longer extant. - -In the same play, Falstaff alludes to another old song, which was -entitled _Fortune my foe_[577:B], enumerating all the misfortunes -incident to mankind through the instability of fortune. Of this ballad, -which is mentioned by Brewer in his _Lingua_[577:C], twice by Beaumont -and Fletcher[577:D], and by Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy[577:E], -the tune is said to be the identical air now known by the song of -"Death and the Lady;" and the first stanza, observes Mr. Malone, was as -follows:— - - "_Fortune, my foe_, why dost thou frown on me? - And will my fortune never better be? - Wilt thou, I say, for ever breed my pain, - And wilt thou not restore my joys again?"[577:F] - -Sir Hugh Evans, in the first scene of the third act of this[577:G] -play, quotes, though from his trepidation very inaccurately, four -lines from two of the most popular little madrigals at the close -of the sixteenth century, entitled _The Passionate Shepherd to His -Love_, and _The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd_; the first written -by Christopher Marlow, and the second by Sir Walter Raleigh. These -had been attributed, however, to Shakspeare, in consequence of their -being included in a copy of his smaller poems printed by William -Jaggard in 1599. This edition being published during the life-time of -the poet, gave currency to the ascription; but in the year following -Marlow's poem appeared in _England's Helicon_, with his name annexed, -and Raleigh's with his usual signature of _Ignoto_[578:A]; and Isaac -Walton, in the first edition of his _Compleat Angler_, printed in -1653, has attributed these pieces to the same authors, describing -them as "that smooth song, which was made by Kit Marlow, now at least -fifty years ago; and—an Answer to it, which was made by Sir Walter -Raleigh in his younger days—old fashioned poetry," he adds, "but -choicely good; I think much better then the strong lines that are now -in fashion in this critical age."[578:B] Had Marlow written nothing but -this beautiful song, he would yet have descended to posterity as an -excellent poet; the imitations of it have been numerous. - -The _Twelfth Night_ presents us with a variety of fragments of ballads, -songs, and catches; Sir Andrew Ague-cheek calls for the catch of -_Thou Knave_, of which the words and musical notes are given by Sir -J. Hawkins[578:C]; Sir Toby compares Olivia to _Peg-a Ramsay_, a -licentious song mentioned by Nash among several other ballads, such -as _Rogero_, _Basilino_, _Turkelony_, _All the Flowers of the Broom_, -_Pepper is black_, _Green Sleeves_, _Peggie Ramsie_; and immediately -afterwards this jovial knight quotes several detached lines from as -many separate ballads, for instance, _Three merry men be we_; _There -dwelt a man in Babylon, lady, lady_; _O the twelfth day of December_; -_Farewell, dear heart, since I must needs be gone_.[579:A] Of these -the first was a burden common to many ancient songs, and is called in -_The Old Wives Tale_, by George Peele, 1595, an _Old Proverb_, and is -thus given:— - - "Three merrie men, and three merrie men, - And three merrie men be wee; - I in the wood, and thou on the ground, - And Jack sleepes in the tree:"[579:B] - -an association which acquired such notoriety as to become the frequent -sign of an ale-house, under the appellation of _The Three Merry Boys_. -The second is the first line and the burden of a ballad which was -licensed by T. Colwell, in 1562, under the title of _The goodly and -constant Wyfe Susanna_. It is preserved in the Pepysian collection, -and the first stanza of it has been quoted by Dr. Percy in his -_Reliques_[579:C]; the burden _lady, lady_, is again alluded to by -Mercutio in _Romeo and Juliet_, act ii. sc. 4. The third has not been -traced to its source, but the fourth, and the subsequent lines, are -taken, with a little variation, from _Corydon's Farewell To Phillis_, -published in a little black letter miscellany, called "The Golden -Garland of Princely Delights," and reprinted entire by Dr. Percy.[579:D] - -In act iv. sc. 2. the clown is introduced singing part of the first -two stanzas of a song which has been discovered among the ancient MSS. -of Dr. Harrington of Bath, and there ascribed, though perhaps not -correctly, to Sir Thomas Wyat. It is evident that Shakspeare trusted to -his memory in the quotation of these popular pieces, for most of them -deviate, in some degree, from the originals; in the present instance, -the first two lines, as given by the clown, - - "Hey Robin, jolly Robin, - Tell me how thy lady does," - -are substituted for the opening stanza of the old song:— - - "A Robyn, - Jolly Robyn, - Tell me how thy leman doeth, - And thou shalt knowe of myn."[580:A] - -The commencement of a madrigal, the composition of William Elderton, is -sung by Benedict, in _Much Ado about Nothing_. - - "The god of love, - That sits above," &c.[580:B] - -and a song beginning in a similar manner, is mentioned by Mr. Ritson, -to be in _Bacchus' Bountie_, 4to. bl. l. 1593; Elderton's production -was parodied by a puritan of the name of Birch, under the title of "The -Complaint of a Sinner."[580:C] - -In _Love's Labours Lost_, a sweet air, as Armado terms it, commencing -with the word _Concolinel_, is sung by Moth[580:D], but no further -intimation is given; and in another part of the same comedy, the burden -of an ancient ditty is chaunted by Roseline and Boyet.[580:E] In _As -You Like It_ Touchstone quotes a stanza from a ballad of which the -first line is _O sweet Oliver_, and which appears to be the same with -the ballad of - - "O sweete Olyver - Leave me not behinde thee," - -entered by Richard Jones, on the books of the Stationers' Company, -August 6th, 1584[580:F]; and in the subsequent act, Orlando alludes to -a madrigal under the title of _Wit whither wilt_.[580:G] - -_All's Well that Ends Well_ affords but two passages from the minstrel -poesy of the day, which are put into the mouth of the clown; one of -these is evidently taken from a ballad on the _Sacking of Troy_, and -the other seems to have been the chorus of a song on courtship or -marriage.[581:A] - -From the _Taming of the Shrew_ we collect the initial lines of two -apparently very popular ballads; the first beginning _Where is the -life that late I led_[581:B], which is likewise quoted by Ancient -Pistol[581:C], and referred to in _A gorgious Gallery of gallant -Inventions_, 4to. 1578; there is also a song or sonnet with this title, -observes Mr. Malone, in _a handeful of pleasant Delites, containing -sundrie new Sonets_, &c. 1584, where we read of "Dame Beautie's replie -to the _lover late at libertie_, and now complaineth himselfe to be her -captive, intituled, _Where is the life that late I led_: - - "The life that erst thou led'st, my friend, - Was pleasant to thine eyes," &c.[581:D] - -The second fragment with which Petruchio has favoured us, commencing - - "It was the friar of orders grey, - As he forth walked on his way,"[581:E] - -has given rise to one of the most pleasing and pathetic of modern -ballads, founded on a professed introduction of as many of our poet's -ballad fragments as could consistently be adapted. "Dispersed through -Shakspeare's plays," says the ingenious associator, "are innumerable -little fragments of ancient ballads, the entire copies of which -could not be recovered. Many of these being of the most beautiful and -pathetic simplicity, the editor was tempted to select some of them, and -with a few supplemental stanzas to connect them together, and form them -into a little Tale."[582:A] That much taste and poetic spirit, together -with a very successful effort in combination, have been exhibited in -this little piece, the public approbation has unequivocally decided. - -To the character of Autolycus, in the _Winter's Tale_, a very humorous -exemplar of the fallen state of the minstrel tribe, we are indebted -for some illustration of the prevalency of ballad-writing at the -commencement of the reign of James the First. Most of the songs -attributed to this adroit rogue, are, there is reason to think, the -composition of Shakspeare, with the exception of the catch beginning -_Jog on, jog on, the foot-path way_[582:B]; but, in his capacity of -ballad-vender, he throws considerable light on the subjects to which -these motley strains were devoted. He is represented as having ballads -of all descriptions, and "the prettiest love-songs for maids"—"and -where some stretch-mouth'd rascal would, as it were, mean mischief, and -break a foul gap into the matter, he makes the maid to answer, _Whoop, -do me no harm, good man_; puts him off, slights him, with _Whoop, do -me_ no harm, good man."[582:C] Accordingly at the Fair he is applied to -for these precious wares:— - - "_Clo._ What hast here? ballads? - - _Mop._ Pray now, buy some: I love a ballad in print, a'-life: - for then we are sure they are true. - - _Aut._ Here's one to a very doleful tune, How a usurer's wife - was brought to bed of twenty money-bags at a burden; and how - she longed to eat adder's heads, and toads carbonadoed. - - _Mop._ Is it true, think you? - - _Aut._ Very true; and but a month old. - - _Dor._ Bless me from marrying a usurer! - - _Aut._ Here's the midwife's name to't, one mistress Taleporter; - and five or six honest wives that were present: Why should I - carry lies abroad? - - _Mop._ 'Pray you now, buy it. - - _Clo._ Come on, lay it by: And let's first see more ballads; - we'll buy the other things anon. - - _Aut._ Here's another ballad, Of a fish, that appeared upon - the coast, on Wednesday the fourscore of April, forty thousand - fathom above water, and sung this ballad against the hard - hearts of maids: it was thought she was a woman, and was turned - into a cold fish, for she would not exchange flesh with one - that loved her: The ballad is very pitiful, and as true. - - _Dor._ Is it true, think you? - - _Aut._ Five justices' hands at it; and witnesses, more than my - pack will hold. - - _Clo._ Lay it by too: Another. - - _Aut._ This is a merry ballad; but a very pretty one. - - _Mop._ Let's have some merry ones. - - _Aut._ Why, this is a passing merry one; and goes to the tune - of, _Two maids wooing a man_: there's scarce a maid westward, - but she sings it; 'tis in request, I can tell you."[584:A] - -The request, in fact, for these popular pieces of poetry was then -infinitely greater than has since obtained in more modern times; not -a murder, or an execution, not a battle or a tempest, not a wonderful -event or a laughable adventure, could occur, but what was immediately -thrown into the form of a ballad, and the muse supplied what humble -prose now details to us among the miscellaneous articles of a -news-paper; a statement which is fully confirmed by the observation of -another character in this very play, who tells us that "such a deal of -wonder is broken out within this hour, that ballad-makers cannot be -able to express it."[584:B] - -In the _Second Part of King Henry the Fourth_ Falstaff enters a room, -in the Boar's Head Tavern, singing the first two lines of a ballad -which Dr. Percy has reprinted under the title of _Sir Lancelot Du -Lake_.[585:A] This, which is merely a metrical version of three -chapters from the first part of _Morte Arthur_, is quoted imperfectly -by the knight, owing to the interruptions attending his situation; the -opening lines of the ballad are, - - "When Arthur first in court began, - And was approved king," - -which Falstaff mutilates and alters, by omitting the last word of the -first line, and converting _approved_ into _worthy_[585:B]; the version -and quotation, it may be remarked, are strong proofs of the popularity -of the romance. - -To the admirably drawn character of _Silence_ in this play, we are -indebted for several valuable fragments of popular poesy. This curious -personage, who, when sober, has not a word to say, is no sooner -exhilarated by the circling glass, than he chaunts forth an abundance -of unconnected stanzas from the minstrelsy of his times. Having nothing -original in his ideas, no fund of his own on which to draw, he marks -his festivity by the vociferous repetition of scraps of catches, songs, -and glees. We may, therefore, conceive the poet to have appropriated -to this simple justice in his cups, the most generally known and, of -course, the favourite, convivial songs of the age. They are of such -a character, indeed, as to warrant the belief, that there was not a -hall in Shakspeare's days but what had echoed to these jovial strains; -a conclusion which almost imperatively calls for the admission of a -few, as specimens of the vocal hilarity of our ancestors, when warmed, -according to Shallow's confession, by "too much sack at supper."[585:C] - - "_Sil._ Do nothing but eat and make good cheer, (Singing.) - And praise heaven for the merry year; - When flesh is cheap and females dear,[586:A] - And lusty lads roam here and there, - So merrily, - And ever among so merrily. - - _Fal._ There's a merry heart!—Good master Silence, I'll give - you a health for that anon.— - - _Sil._ Be merry, be merry, my wife's as all;[586:B] - For women are shrews, both short and tall: - 'Tis merry in hall, when beards wag all, - And welcome merry shrove-tide. - Be merry, be merry, &c. - - _Fal._ I did not think, master Silence had been a man of this - mettle. - - _Sil._ A cup of wine, that's brisk and fine, - And drink unto the leman mine; - And a merry heart lives long-a. - - _Fal._ Well said, master Silence. - - _Sil._ And we shall be merry;—now comes in the sweet of the - night. - - _Fal._ Health and long life to you, master Silence. - - _Sil._ Fill the cup and let it come; - I'll pledge you a mile to the bottom."[586:C] - -After drinking another bumper, and singing another song, allusive -to the rights of pledging, _Do me right, And dub me knight_[586:D]; -and quoting the old ballad of _Robin Hood_, and the _Pindar of -Wakefield_[586:E], master Silence is carried to bed, fully saturated -with sack and good cheer. - -A character equally versed in minstrel lore, and equally prodigal of -his stock, though wanting the excuse of inebriation, has been drawn by -Beaumont and Fletcher, in the person of _Old Merrythought_ in their -_Knight of the Burning Pestle_[586:F]; but, in point of nature and -humour, it is a picture which falls infinitely short of Shakspeare's -sketch. - -Many of the old songs, or rather the fragments of them, which are -scattered through the dramas of our poet, either proceed from the -professed clown or fool of the play, or are given as the wild -and desultory recollections of derangement, real or feigned; the -ebullitions of a broken heart, and the unconnected sallies of a -disordered mind. - -Shakspeare's fools may be considered, in fact, as exact copies of the -living manners and costume of these singular personages, who, in his -era, formed a necessary part of the household establishment of the -great. To the due execution of their functions, a lively fancy, and a -copious fund of wit and sarcasm, together with an unlimited licence of -uttering what imagination and the occasion prompted, were essential; -but it was likewise required, that bitterness of allusion, and asperity -of remark, should be softened by the constant assumption of a playful -and unintentional manner. For this purpose, the indirect method of -quotation, and generally from ludicrous songs and ballads, is resorted -to, with the evident intention of covering what would otherwise have -been too naked and too severely felt. Thus, in an old play, entitled _A -very mery and pythie Comedy, called, The longer thou livest the more -Foole thou art_, printed about 1580, the appearance of a character of -this description is prefaced by the following stage-note:—"Entreth -_Moros_, counterfaiting a vaine gesture and a foolish countenance, -_synging the foote of many songs, as fools were wont_."[587:A] - -The simple yet sarcastic drollery of the fool, and the wild ravings of -the madman, have been alike employed by Shakspeare, to deepen the gloom -of distress. In the tragedy of _Lear_ it is difficult to ascertain -whether the horrors of the scene are more heightened by the seeming -thoughtless levity of the former, or by the delirious imagery of the -latter. The greater part of the bitterly sportive metres, attributed -to the fool, in this drama, appears evidently to have been written for -the character; and as the reliques drawn from more ancient minstrelsy, -seem rather the foot or burden of each song, than the commencement, -and are at the same time of little poetical value, we shall forbear -enumerating them. The fragments, however, allotted to Edgar are both -characteristic, and apparently initial; the line which Mr. Steevens -asserts to have seen in an old ballad, - - "Through the sharp hawthown blows the cold wind,"[588:A] - -is so impressive as absolutely to chill the blood; and the legendary -pieces beginning - - "Saint Withold footed thrice the wold,"[588:B] - -and - - "Child Rowland to the dark tower came,"[588:C] - -are reliques which well accord with the dreadful peculiarity of his -situation. The two subsequent quotations are from pastoral songs, of -which the first, - - "Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me,"[588:D] - -as Mr. Malone observes, has a marked propriety, alluding to an -association then common; for in a description of beggars, published in -1607, one class of these vagabonds is represented as counterfeiting -madness; - - ———————— "they were so frantique - They knew not what they did, but every day - Make sport with stick and flowers like an antique;— - _One calls herself poor Besse, the other Tom_."[588:E] - -The second seems to have been suggested to the mind of Edgar by some -connection, however distant and obscure, with the business of the -scene. Lear fancies he is trying his daughters; and the lines of Edgar, -who is appointed one of the commission, allude to a trespass which -takes place in consequence of the folly of a shepherd in neglecting his -charge,—the lines appear to be the opening stanza of a lyric pastoral. -"A shepherd," remarks Dr. Johnson, "is desired to pipe, and the request -is enforced by a promise, that though his sheep be in the corn, _i. e._ -committing a trespass by his negligence—yet a single tune upon his -pipe shall secure them from the pound. - - "Sleepest, or wakest thou, jolly shepherd? - Thy sheep be in the corn; - And for one blast of thy minikin mouth, - Thy sheep shall take no harm."[589:A] - -If the assumed madness of Edgar is heightened by the casual repetition -of these artless strains, how is the real distraction of the -heart-broken Ophelia augmented in its pathos by a similar appeal! -The interesting fragments which she sings, certainly do not produce -their effect, as Sir Joshua Reynolds imagined, by marking an "utter -insensibility to her own misfortunes[589:B];" for they manifestly refer -both to her father's death, and to her own unfortunate attachment, -their influence over the heart being felt as the consequence of this -indirect allusion. - -Of the first three fragments, which appear to be parts of the same -ballad, and, as the king observes, are a "conceit upon her father," the -two prior have been beautifully incorporated by Dr. Percy in his _Friar -of Orders Gray_: - - "How should I your true love know, - From another one? - By his cockle hat and staff, - And his sandal shoon." - - "He is dead and gone, lady, - He is dead and gone; - At his head a grass-green turf, - At his heels a stone."[589:C] - -The first line of the third, - - "White his shroud as the mountain snow," - -has been parodied by Chatterton, in the Mynstrelle's Songe in Œlla, - - "Whyte his rode as the sommer snowe." - -The subsequent songs, beginning - - "Good morrow, 'tis Saint Valentine's day," - -and - - "By Gis, and by Saint Charity,"[590:A] - -were, there is little doubt, suggested to the fair sufferer's mind, by -an obscure and distant association with the issue of her unfortunate -amour, a connection, however, which is soon dissipated by reverting -to the fate of her father, the scene closing with two fragments -exquisitely adapted to unfold the workings of her mind on this -melancholy event. - - "They bore him barefac'd on the bier— - And in his grave rain'd many a tear."[590:B] - - "And will he not come again? - And will he not come again? - No, no, he is dead, - Go to thy death-bed, - He never will come again, &c."[590:C] - -passages of which Dr. Percy has admirably availed himself in his _Friar -of Orders Gray_, and to which the Mynstrelle's song in Œlla is -indebted for its pathetic burden: - - "_Mie love ys dedde, - Gonne to his deathe-bedde_, - Alle underre the wyllowe tree."[590:D] - -The vacillation of poor Ophelia amid her heavy afflictions is rendered -strikingly apparent by the insertion of two ballad lines between the -stanzas last quoted, which again manifestly allude to her lover:— - - "_Oph._ You must sing, _Down a-down, an you call him adown-a_. - O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the false steward, that - stole his master's daughter.——"[591:A] - - "For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy."[591:B] - -We may remark that the expression, "_O, how the wheel becomes it!_" is -meant to imply the popularity of the song, that - - "The _spinsters_ and the knitters in the sun - Do use to _chaunt_ it," - -a custom which, as exercised in the winter, is beautifully exemplified -by Mr. Malone, in a passage from Sir Thomas Overbury's characters, -1614:—"She makes her hands hard with labour, and her head soft with -pittie; and when winter evenings fall early, sitting at her merry -_wheele_, she sings a defiance to the giddy wheele of fortune."[591:C] - -In the church-yard scene of this play, one of the grave-diggers, after -amusing himself and his companion by queries, which, as Mr. Steevens -observes, "perhaps composed the chief festivity of our ancestors by an -evening fire[591:D];" sings three stanzas, though somewhat corrupted -either by design or accident, of "A dyttie or sonet made by the lord -Vaus, in the time of the noble quene Marye, representing the image of -death."[591:E] This poem was originally published in Tottel's edition -of Surrey and Wyat, and the Poems of Uncertain Authors; the earliest -poetical miscellany in our language, and first printed in 1557 under -the title of "Songes and sonettes by the right honourable Henry Howard, -late earl of Surrey, and other." To this very popular collection, which -underwent many editions during the sixteenth century[592:A], Slender -alludes, in the _Merry Wives of Windsor_, where he exclaims, "I had -rather than forty shillings, I had my book of _Songs and Sonnets_ -here[592:B];" from which we may conclude that this was the fashionable -manual for lovers in the age of Elizabeth. Lord Vaux's lines have -been reprinted by Dr. Percy, who remarks on the apparent corruptions -of Shakspeare's transcript, that they were "perhaps so designed by -the poet himself, the better to suit the character of an illiterate -clown."[592:C] - -No fragment of our minstrel poetry has been introduced by Shakspeare -with greater beauty and effect, than the melancholy ditty which -he represents Desdemona as singing, under a presentiment of her -approaching fate: - - "_Des._ My mother had a maid call'd—Barbara; - She was in love; and he, she lov'd, prov'd mad, - And did forsake her: she had a song of—willow, - An old thing 'twas, but it express'd her fortune, - And she died singing it: That song to-night, - Will not go from my mind; I have much to do, - But to go hang my head all at one side, - And sing it like poor Barbara."[592:D] - -Of this song of willow, ushered in with such a powerful appeal to the -heart, Dr. Percy has given us a copy in his Reliques[592:E]; it is in -two parts, and proves that the poet has not only materially altered the -few lines which he quotes, but has changed also the sex of its subject; -for in the original in the Pepys collection, it is entitled "A Lover's -Complaint, being forsaken of _his_ Love." - -From the ample, we may almost say complete, enumeration, which we -have now given, of the fragments selected by Shakspeare from the -minstrel-poetry of his country, together with the accompanying remarks, -may be formed, not only a tolerably accurate estimate of the most -popular songs of this period, but a clear idea of the use to which -Shakspeare has applied them.[593:A] They will be found, in fact, with -scarcely any exceptions, either elucidatory of the business of the -scene, illustrative of the progress of the passions, or powerfully -assistant in developing the features and the shades of character. - -It will appear also, from the view which has been taken of romantic -literature, as comprehending all the branches noticed in this chapter, -that its influence, in the age of our poet, was great and universally -diffused; that he was himself, perhaps more than any other individual, -if we except Spenser, addicted to its study and partial to its -fictions; and that, if we take into consideration, what will hereafter -be mentioned, the bases of his various plays, he may be affirmed to -have availed himself of its stores often with great skill, and with as -much frequency as the nature of the province which he cultivated, would -admit. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[520:A] Nichols's Progresses, vol. i. Laneham's Letter, p. 34-36. - -[520:B] Dibdin's Bibliographical Romance, p. 349, 350, and note. - -[521:A] Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie, reprint of 1811, p. 33, 69. - -[522:A] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. v. p. 283. col. 2. - -[522:B] Anatomy of Melancholy, folio. 8th edit. p. 84. col. 2. p. 177. -col. 2. - -[522:C] See Ellis's Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances, vol. -i. Introduction, p. 38.; and the Abbé de la Rue's Dissertations on the -Anglo-Norman poets, Archæologia, vol. xii. and xiii. - -[523:A] See Toland's Life of Milton, p. 35. - -[524:A] The title of this first edition, as gathered from the prologue -and colophon, has been thus given by Mr. Dibdin:— - -"A BOOK OF THE NOBLE HYSTORYES OF KYNGE ARTHUR, and of certeyn of his -knyghtes. Whiche book was reduced in to englyshe by syr Thomas Malory -knyght _and by me devyded into XXI bookes chapytred and enprynted, and -fynysshed in th abbey Westmestre the last day of Juyl the yere of our -lord M.CCCC._ lxxxv. FOLIO."—Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities, vol. -i. p. 241. - -[525:A] Ascham's Works, Bennet's edit. p. 254. - -[525:B] Vide p. 268. - -[525:C] Toland's Life of Milton, p. 35. - -[526:A] Burnet's Specimens of English Prose Writers, vol. i. p. 287-289. - -[527:A] Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 81, 82. - -[528:A] Book III. chap. 176. - -[529:A] Vide Warton's Observations on the Faerie Queene, and Todd's -edition of Spenser's Works, vol. ii. p. lxviii. - -[529:B] Vide Bibliotheca Reediana, No. 2670, and Todd's Spenser, vol. -ii. p. lxvii. note _k_. - -[529:C] Todd's Spenser, vol. ii. p. lxvii. note. - -[530:A] Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 217. - -[530:B] Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 230. note. - -[531:A] Ellis's Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances, vol. iii. -p. 4. et seq. - -[532:A] Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 223. - -[533:A] This short summary has been drawn up from the larger account -detailed by Mr. Ellis in his Specimens of Early English Metrical -Romances, vol. iii. p. 1-22. - -[533:B] Ellis's Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances, vol. iii. -p. 17. - -[534:A] The common version of Pilpay was published in 1747. It should -be remarked, however, that a translation from the Italian of Doni, -containing many of the fables of Pilpay, and professedly rendered -by Doni, from the Directorium Humanæ Vitæ, vel Parabole Antiquorum -Sapientum, was given in English by Sir Thomas North, 4to. 1570, and -1601, under the title of the "Moral Philosophy of Doni." From this -source, therefore, Shakspeare and his contemporaries may have been -partially acquainted with this collection of tales. - -[534:B] Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 424. - -[535:A] Two of these tales, chap. 31. and 32. are immediately taken -from _The Seven Wise Masters_, and may be found also in the Arabian -Nights and Pilpay's Fables. - -[536:A] "_Edric_ was the name of _Enoch_ among the Arabians, to whom -they attribute many fabulous compositions. Herbelot, in V.—Lydgate's -_Chorle_ and _The Bird_ is taken from the _Clericalis Disciplina_." - -[536:B] MSS. Harl. 3861, and in many other libraries. It occurs in old -French verse, MSS. Digb. 86. membrar. "_Le Romaune de Peres Aunfour -coment il aprist et chastia son fils belement._" - -[536:C] "See Tyrwhitt's Chaucer, vol. iv. p. 325. seq." - -[537:A] Milton's "Il Penseroso." Warton's History of English Poetry, -vol. iii. Dissertation on the Gesta Romanorum, p. v. vi. - -[537:B] Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 422. - -[537:C] History of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 18. vol. iii. p. lxxxiii. - -[537:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 229. - -[537:E] According to his own assertion, in the MS. catalogue of his -works in the British Museum, to which he has given the title of -_Eupolemia_. See Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 423. 425. - -[538:A] Ascham's Schole Master, Bennet's edit. 4to. p. 255. - -[539:A] A writer, whose work has just fallen into my hands, closes a -long and accurate analysis of the Italian Tales, with the following -just observations:—"The larger works of fiction," he remarks, -"resemble those productions of a country which are consumed within -itself, while tales, like the more delicate and precious articles of -traffic, which are exported from their native soil, have gladdened and -delighted every land. They are the ingredients from which Shakspeare, -and other enchanters of his day, have distilled those magical drops -which tend so much to sweeten the lot of humanity, by occasionally -withdrawing the mind, from the cold and naked realities of life, to -visionary scenes and visionary bliss."—Dunlop's History of Fiction, -vol. ii. p. 409. - -[539:B] "In The London Chaunticleres, 1659, this work, among others," -remarks Mr. Steevens, "is cried for sale by a ballad-man; The Seven -Wise Men of Gotham; a _Hundred merry Tales_; Scoggin's Jests," &c.—See -Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 42. - -[540:A] History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 475. - -[540:B] The English Courtier and the Cuntrey Gentleman, sig. H. 4. See -Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 43. note. - -[540:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 42. Act ii. sc. 1. - -[540:D] Illustrations, vol. i. p. 166. - -[541:A] Illustrations, vol. i. p. 168. - -[542:A] The Roxburghe copy of the Palace of Pleasure produced the sum -of 42_l._ - -[542:B] History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 478. - -[543:A] History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 473. - -[543:B] Ritson thinks that Whetstone's Heptameron was republished in -1593, under the title of "Aurelia." In the Roxburghe Library, No. 6392, -this romance is termed "The Paragon of Pleasure, or the Christmas -Pleasures of Queene Aurelia," 4to. 1593. - -[544:A] Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 487. - -[544:B] Of the Italian tales it may be useful to enumerate the best and -most celebrated of those which were written during the fifteenth and -sixteenth centuries; as, in some shape or other, most of them became -familiar to English readers before the death of Shakspeare. - -1. _Cento Novelle Antike._ The earliest collection of Italian novels. - -2. _Boccacio il Decamerone._ Venet. Valdarfer. 1471. This, which is the -first edition, was purchased at the Roxburghe sale, by the Marquis of -Blandford, for 2260_l._! - -3. _Novelle di Sacchetti._ Sacchetti died in 1408. - -4. _Masuccio_, _Il Novellino_, nel quale si contengono _cinquanta_ -Novelle.—Best edition that of 1484, folio. - -5. _Sabadino_, _Porretane_, dove si narra Novelle _settanta una_. - -6. _Sansovino_, _Cento Novelle_ scelte da più nobili Scrittori. - -7. _Giovanni Fiorentino_, _il Pecorone_, nel quale si contengono -_cinquanta_ Novelle antiche. First and best edition, 1559. - -8. _Novelle del Bandello_, 3 vols. 4to. 1554. - -9. _Straparola_, _le piacevoli Notte_. 2 vols. 1557. - -10. _Giraldi Cinthio_, _gli Hecatomithi_, (Cento Novelle.) 4 vols. - -11. _Erizzo_, _le Sei Giornate_, (trenta cinque Novelle) Edizione prim. -4to. Ven. 1567. - -12. Parabosco, i Diporti, o varo Novelle, Venet. 1558. - -13. _Granucci_, _la piacivol Notte, et lieto Giorno_ (undici Novelle), -Venet. 1574. - -14. Novelle di Ascanio de Mori. 4to. 1585. - -15. Malespini, Ducento Novelle, 4to. - -[544:C] Vide Gascoigne's Tale of Ferdinando Jeronimi, from the Italian -riding tales of Bartello, in his "Weedes," and Turberville's "Tragical -Tales, translated out of sundrie Italians," 1587. - -[545:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 221. - -[545:B] Vide Aikin's General Biography, vol. vi. article Lobeira. - -[545:C] "Amadis of Gaul," remarks Mr. Southey, "is among prose, what -Orlando Furioso is among metrical Romances, not the oldest of its kind, -but the best."—Preliminary Essay to his Translation, 4 vols. 1803. - -"This" (Amadis de Gaul), says Mr. Burnet, "is perhaps one of the most -beautiful books that ever was written."—Specimens of English Prose -Writers, vol. i. p. 289. note. - -[546:A] Jervis's Translation of Don Quixote, vol. i. chap. 6. - -[546:B] Sir Philip Sidney's Works, fol. edit. of 1629. p. 551. - -[546:C] This version, which was reprinted in 1618, is by Anthony Munday. - -[547:A] Jervis's Don Quixote, vol. i. chap. - -[548:A] The first edition of Palmerin D'Oliva, translated by Anthony -Munday, was published by Charlewood in 1588. Vide Bibliotheca Reediana, -No. 2665; and his version of Palmendos, was printed by J. C. for Simon -Watersonne (1589), 4to. bl. l. - -[548:B] In a letter from Mr. Whyte to Sir Robert Sidney, dated -September 1599, it is said, that "the Arcadia is now printed in -Scotland, according to the best edition, which will make them good -cheap, but is very hurtful to Ponsonbie, who held them at a very -high rate: he must sell as others doe, or they will lye upon his -hands."—Vide Zouch's Memoirs of Sir Philip Sidney, p. 361. - -[549:A] A second edition of Underdowne's Heliodorus was printed in -1587, and a third in 1605. - -[549:B] A complete edition of Sannazaro's Arcadia appeared in 1505. - -[550:A] Task, book iv. - -[551:A] Among the bulky romances of this prolific lady, who died June -2. 1701, aged 94, it may be worth while to enumerate a few, merely as -instances of her uncommon fecundity, viz. Artamene, ou le Grand Cyrus, -10 vols. 8vo.; Clelie, 10 vols. 8vo.; Almahide ou l'Esclave Reine, 8 -vols. 8vo.; Ibrahim ou l'Illustre Bassa, 4 vols. 8vo. - -[551:B] Tom of All Trades, or the plaine Pathway to Preferment, &c. By -Thomas Powell. Lond. 1631. 4to. pp. 47, 48.—Vide Warton's History of -English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 425, and 426. - -[551:C] Fuller's Worthies, 1662, part ii. p. 75. - -[551:D] See his Verses on Saccharissa, the Lady Dorothy Sidney. - -[552:A] In his Essay on Poetry. - -[552:B] In his Description of Arcadia in Greece, where he tells us that -the Arcadia, "besides its excellent language, rare contrivances, and -delectable stories, hath in it all the strains of poesy, comprehendeth -the universal art of speaking, and to them who can discern and will -observe, affordeth notable rules for demeanor both private and public." - -[552:C] Park's edition of Royal and Noble Authors, vol. ii. p. 221. An -excellent defence of the Arcadia against the decision of Lord Orford, -who terms it "a tedious, lamentable, pedantic, pastoral romance," may -be found in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1767, p. 57. See also Sir -Egerton Brydges's edition of Phillip's Theatrum Poetarum, p. 134, et -seq., and Zouch's Memoirs of Sidney, p. 155. - -[552:D] Aikin's Annual Review, vol. iv. p. 547. - -[553:A] Pennant's London, p. 103. - -[554:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvi. p. 84., and Malone's note. - -[554:B] Ibid. vol. xii. p. 213. Act v. sc. 1. - -[554:C] Douce's Illustrations, vol. i. p. 472. - -[556:A] Nichols's Progresses, vol. i. p. 56., the year 1573. - -[556:B] See Comedy of Errors, act iv. sc. 2. Henry IV. Part I. act ii. -sc. 3. Romeo and Juliet, act iii. sc. 1. Love's Labour's Lost, act v. -sc. 2. Taming of the Shrew, act i. sc. 1. - -[556:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. pp. 124, 125. Act iii. sc. 4. - -[557:A] Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. i. pp. liv. -285. 295. - -[558:A] _Wrest_—the key with which the harp is tuned. - -[559:A] Nichols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i. - -[559:B] Kind Harts Dreame, sig. B. 2. - -[560:A] Arte of English Poesie, reprint, p. 69. - -[560:B] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. v. p. 273. col. 1. Book iv. sat. -1. - -[560:C] Malone's Supplement to Shakspeare's Plays, vol. i. p. 521. - -[561:A] See Ritson's Ancient Engleish Metrical Romanceës, vol. i. -Dissertation on Romance and Minstrelsy, p. ccxxiv. - -[562:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 144. Act iii. sc. 2. - -[562:B] Douce's Illustrations, vol. i. p. 465. - -[562:C] British Bibliographer, No. II. p. 125. - -[563:A] British Bibliographer, No. II. p. 126, 127. - -[563:B] _Positions concerning the training up of Children_, London, -1581 and 1587. 4to. chap. xxvi. - -[564:A] The original, the _Histoire de Huon de Bordeaux_, was ushered -into the world at the Fair of Troyes in Champagne, in the first century -of printing. - -[564:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 51. Act ii. sc. 1. - -[564:C] Huon of Bourdeaux, chap. xvii. - -[564:D] Chap. xlvi. edit. of 1601. Lord Berners's translation underwent -three editions. The original has had the honour of giving birth to -the Chef d'Oeuvre of _Wieland_—"the child of his genius," observe -the Monthly Reviewers, "in moments of its purest converse with the -all-beauteous forms of ideal excellence;—the darling of his fancy, -born in the sweetest of her excursions amid the ambrosial bowers of -fairy-land;—the OBERON,—an epic poem, popular beyond example, yet as -dear to the philosopher as to the multitude; which, during the author's -lifetime, has attained in its native country all the honours of a -sacred book; and to the evolution of the beauties of which, a Professor -in a distinguished university has repeatedly consecrated an entire -course of patronized lectures." New Series, vol. xxiii. p. 576. - -The beauties of Oberon are now accessible to the mere English scholar, -through the medium of Mr. Sotheby's version, which, though strictly -faithful to the German, has the spirit and harmony of an original poem. - -[565:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xiii. p. 249. Act ii. sc. 3. - -[565:B] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 189. col. 1.—Polyolbion, -canto ii. - -[566:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 475. Act iii. sc. 4. - -[566:B] Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. iii. p. xxiii. - -[566:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 363. Act i. sc. 1. - -[566:D] Ibid. p. 367. King John, act i. sc. 1. - -[567:A] Vide Ellis's Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances, vol. -ii. p. 201., and Weber's Metrical Romances, vol. i. - -[567:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 502. Act v. sc. 1. - -[567:C] Ritson's Ancient Engleish Metrical Romancees, vol. iii. p. 344. - -[567:D] Vide Garrick Collection in Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 400. - -[567:E] Todd's Spenser, vol. v. p. 313. 367. - -[567:F] This poet is conjectured to have thrown some ridicule on the -Squire of Low Degree, in his rhyme of _Sir Thopas_; but Ritson remarks, -that this romance "is never mentioned by any one writer before the -sixteenth century; nor is it known to be extant in manuscript; and, -in fact, the Museum copy is the onely one that exists in print." -Romancees, vol. iii. p. 345. - -[568:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 326. note. - -[569:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 5., and Walton's Hist. of -Poetry, vol. iii. p. 294. - -[569:B] Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. i. p. 254. - -[569:C] See Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. pp. 201, 202., and Douce's -Illustrations, vol. i. p. 342. - -[569:D] See _Shakspeare Illustrated_, by Mrs. Lennox, 3 vols. 12mo. -1754. - -[570:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 191. Act i. sc. 2. - -[570:B] Jarvis's Don Quixote, vol. i. part i. chap. 1. Sharpe's edit. -p. 3. - -[570:C] Vide Bibliotheca Reediana, No. 2661. - -[571:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 173. Act iii. sc. 1. - -[571:B] British Bibliographer, No. II. p. 148. - -[571:C] Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 240.—Mr. Douce observes, -that the "oldest (edition) we know of is that of 1649, printed by -Robert Ibbitson. In 1586, _The old book of Valentine and Orson_ was -licensed to T. Purfoot." P. 240. - -[572:A] British Bibliographer, No. V. p. 469. - -[572:B] Ibid. p. 470. - -[572:C] Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 240. - -[573:A] Arcadia, book i. p. 29. 7th edit. - -[573:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 87. Act iii. sc. 2. - -[573:C] Book ii. pp. 153, 154. edit. of 1629. - -[574:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. pp. 305. 307, 308. Act ii. sc. 4. - -[576:A] British Bibliographer, No. X. pp. 559, 560. This fragment, says -Mr. Haslewood, "is in black letter, one sheet, and bears signature C." - -[576:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 60. Act ii. sc. 1. - -[576:C] Jacke of Dover, his quest of Inquirie, or his privy Search for -the veriest Foole in England, 4to.—Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. -60. note 4. - -[577:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 64. and note by Steevens. - -[577:B] Ibid. p. 130. Act iii. sc. 3. - -[577:C] Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 219. col. 1. Act iii. sc. 7. - -[577:D] Custom of the Country, act i. sc. 1. The Knight of the Burning -Pestle, act v. - -[577:E] Anatomy of Melancholy, edit. 1632. p. 576. - -[577:F] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 131. note 8. - -[577:G] Ibid. p. 110. - -[578:A] England's Helicon, 3d edit., reprint of 1812. p. 214, 215. - -[578:B] Compleat Angler, Bagster's edit. 1808. pp. 147, 148. - -[578:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 293. Act ii. sc. 3. - -[579:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. pp. 294-297. 299. - -[579:B] Ibid. v. p. 296. note by Steevens. - -[579:C] Vol. i. p. 220. - -[579:D] Reliques, vol. i. p. 220. - -[580:A] Percy's Reliques, vol. i. p. 194. - -[580:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 166. - -[580:C] Ibid. p. 166. note. - -[580:D] Ibid. vol. vii. p. 51. Act iii. sc. 1. - -[580:E] Ibid. p. 82. Act iv. sc. 1. - -[580:F] Ibid. vol. viii. p. 119. Act iii. sc. 3. - -[580:G] Ibid. p. 144. Act iv. sc. 1. - -[581:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. pp. 238-240. Act i. sc. 3. - -[581:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 131. Act iv. sc. 1.—There -appears to be allusions to two catches in this scene. Grumio exclaims -"_fire, fire; cast on no water_," which Judge Blackstone traces to the -following old catch in three parts:— - - "Scotland burneth, Scotland burneth. - Fire, fire;——Fire, fire; - Cast on some more water." - -Grumio a little afterwards calls out, "Why, _Jack boy! ho boy!_" the -beginning, as Sir John Hawkins asserts, of an old round in three parts, -of which he has given us the musical notes. - -[581:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 244. - -[581:D] Ibid. vol. ix. p. 131. note. - -[581:E] Ibid. vol. ix. p. 132. Act iv. sc. 1. - -[582:A] Percy's Reliques, vol. i. p. 259. - -[582:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 328. Act iv. sc. 2. - -[582:C] Ibid. p. 346. Act iv. sc. 3.—We shall add, in this note, -in order to complete the catalogue, all the fragments of ancient -minstrelsy that have escaped our enumeration in the text. - -In Troilus and Cressida, Pandarus, lamenting the approaching departure -of Cressida, expresses his sorrow by quoting an old song beginning— - - "O heart, o heart, o heavy heart, - Why sigh'st thou without breaking." - Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 393. - -Hamlet, bantering Polonius, quotes part of the first stanza of a ballad -entitled, _Jephtha, Judge of Israel_. This has been published by Dr. -Percy, retrieved, as he relates, from utter oblivion by a lady, who -wrote it down from memory as she had formerly heard it sung by her -father.—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 142.; and Percy's Reliques, -vol. i. p. 189. - -It is probable that Hamlet, who appears to have been well versed in -ballad-lore, has again introduced two morsels from this source, in his -dialogue with Horatio on the conduct of the king at the play: they -strongly mark his triumph in the success of his plan for unmasking the -crimes of his uncle:— - - "Why let the strucken deer go weep," &c. - - * * * * * - - "For thou dost know, O Damon dear," &c. - Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. pp. 212. 214. - -Iago in the drunken scene with Cassio, in the view of adding to his -exhilaration, sings a portion of two songs; the first apparently a -chorus,— - - "And let me the canakin, clink, clink," &c. - -the second, - - "King Stephen was a worthy peer," - -from a humorous ballad of Scotch origin, preserved by Percy in his -Reliques, vol. i. p. 204.—Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. pp. 334. -336. - -In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio, in the following passage, alludes to two -ballads of considerable notoriety:— - - "Young _Adam_ Cupid, he that shot so trim, - When king _Cophetua_ lov'd the _beggar maid_;" - -the first line referring to the celebrated ballad of _Adam Bell_, _Clym -of the Clough_, and _William of Cloudesly_, and the second to _King -Cophetua and the Beggar-Maid_; popular pieces which are again the -objects of allusion in _Much Ado about Nothing_, act i.; and in the -Second Part of Henry IV. act v. sc. 3.—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. -77.; and Percy's Reliques, vol. i. pp. 154. 198. - -The same play will afford us three or four additional references; -Mercutio, ridiculing the old Nurse, gives us a ludicrous fragment -commencing "_An old hare hoar_," vol. xx. p. 116.; and Peter, after -calling for two songs called _Heart's ease_, and _My heart is full of -woe_, attempts to puzzle the musicians by asking for an explanation -of the epithet _silver_ in the first stanza of _A Song to the Lute -in Musicke_, written by Richard Edwards, in the "Paradise of Daintie -Devises," and commencing, - - "Where griping griefs the hart would wounde." - Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 220. 222. - and Percy's Reliques, vol. i. p. 196. - -[584:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. pp. 353-355. Act iv. sc. 3. - -[584:B] Ibid. p. 403. Act v. sc. 2. - -[585:A] Reliques, vol. i. p. 214. - -[585:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 78. - -[585:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 232. Act v. sc. 3. - -[586:A] _Dear_ is here to be remembered in its double sense.—Farmer. - -[586:B] _My wife's as all_, that is, as all women are.—Steevens. - -[586:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. pp. 232-236. Act v. sc. 3. - -[586:D] Ibid. p. 237. - -[586:E] Ibid. p. 241. - -[586:F] This play was first printed in the year 1613. - -[587:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 366, note. - -[588:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 463, and 490, note. This -finely descriptive line, Dr. Percy has interwoven in his ballad of _The -Friar of Orders Gray_. - -[588:B] Reed's Shakspeare vol. xvii. p. 472. Act iii. sc. 4. - -[588:C] Ibid. p. 478. Act iii. sc. 4. - -[588:D] Ibid. p. 484. Act iii. sc. 6. - -[588:E] Ibid. p. 485, note by Malone. - -[589:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 486. - -[589:B] Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 278. note. - -[589:C] Ibid. p. 278-280. Act iv. sc. 5. - -[590:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 281, 282. Act iv. sc. 5. - -[590:B] Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 292. Act iv. sc. 5. - -[590:C] Ibid. p. 299. Act iv. sc. 5. - -[590:D] Poems, supposed to have been written at Bristol, by Thomas -Rowley, and others. Cambridge edition, 1794, p. 70. - -[591:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 293. - -[591:B] Ibid. p. 298. - -[591:C] Ibid. p. 294. note. - -[591:D] Ibid. p. 322, note 4. - -[591:E] Warton's Hist. of Eng. Poetry, vol. iii. p. 45. - -[592:A] Namely in 1565, 1567, 1569, 1574, 1585, 1587, &c. - -[592:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 27. - -[592:C] Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. i. p. 186. - -[592:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 472. Act iv. sc. 3. - -[592:E] Vol. i. p. 208. - -[593:A] To form a complete enumeration of the songs of the Elizabethan -era, it would be necessary not only to consult _all_ the dramatic -writers of this age, but to acquire a perfect series of the very -numerous _Collections of Madrigals_ which were published during the -same period. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - CURSORY VIEW OF POETRY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE DRAMA, DURING - THE AGE OF SHAKSPEARE. - - -The space which elapsed between the birth and the death of Shakspeare, -from April 1564 to April 1616, a period of fifty-two years, may be -pronounced, perhaps, the most fertile in our annals, with regard to the -production of poetical literature. Not only were the great outlines of -every branch of poetry chalked out with skill and precision, but many -of its highest departments were filled up and finished in a manner -so masterly as to have bid defiance to all subsequent competition. -Consequently if we take a survey of the various channels through -which the genius of poetry has been accustomed to diffuse itself, it -will be found, that, during this half century, every province had its -cultivators; that poems epic and dramatic, historic and didactic, lyric -and romantic, that satires, pastorals, and sonnets, songs, madrigals, -and epigrams, together with a multitude of translations, brightened and -embellished its progress. - -On a subject, however, so productive, and which would fill volumes, -it is necessary, that, in consonancy with the limits and due keeping -of our plan, the utmost solicitude for condensation be observed. In -this chapter, accordingly, which, to a certain extent, is meant to be -introductory to a critical consideration of the miscellaneous poems of -Shakspeare, the dramatic writers are omitted; a future section of the -work being appropriated to a detail of their more peculiar labours for -the stage. - -After a few general observations, therefore, on the poetry of this era, -it is our intention to give short critical notices of the principal -bards who flourished during its transit; and with the view of affording -some idea of the extensive culture and diffusion of poetic taste, an -alphabetical table of the minor poets, accompanied by slight memoranda, -will be added. An account of the numerous _Collections_ of Poetry which -reflect so much credit on this age, and a few remarks and inferences, -more particularly with respect to Shakspeare's study of his immediate -predecessors and contemporaries in miscellaneous poetry, will complete -this portion of our subject. - -The causes which chiefly contributed to produce this fertility in -poetical genius may, in a great measure, be drawn from what has been -already remarked under the heads of _superstition_, _literature_, and -_romance_. - -The sun of philosophy and science, which had just risen with the -most captivating beauty, and which promised a meridian of uncommon -splendour, had not yet fully dissipated those mists that for centuries -had enveloped and darkened the human mind. What remained, however, -of the popular creed, was much less gross and less contradictory to -common experience, than what had vanished from the scroll; these -reliques were, indeed, such, as either appealed powerfully to a warm -and creative imagination, or were intimately connected with those -apprehensions which agitate the breast of man, when speculating on his -destiny in another and higher order of existence. - -Under the first of these classes may be included all that sportive, -wild, and terrific imagery which resulted from a partial belief in the -operations of fairies, witches, and magicians, and in the reveries -of the alchemist, the rosicrusian, and the astrologer; and under the -second will be found, what can scarcely be termed superstition in the -customary sense, that awful and mysterious conception of the spiritual -world, which supposes its frequent intervention, through the agency -either of departed spirits, or superhuman beings. - -The opinions which prevailed with regard to these topics in the days -of Shakspeare, were such as exactly suited the higher regions of -poetry, without giving any violent shock to the deductions of advancing -philosophy. The national credulity had been, in fact, greatly chastised -through the efforts of enquiry and research, and though it may still -appear great to us, was in perfect accordance with the progress of -civilisation, and certainly much better calculated for poetic purposes -than has been any subsequent though purer creed. - -The state of _literature_, too, was precisely of that kind which -favoured, in a very high degree, the nurture of poetical genius. -The vocabulary of our language was rich, beyond all example, both -in natives and exotics; not only in "new grafts of old withered -words[596:A]," but in a multitude of expressive terms borrowed from -the learned languages; and this wealth was used freely and without -restriction, and without the smallest apprehension of censure. - -An enthusiastic spirit for literary acquisition had been created -and cherished by the revival, the study, and the translation of the -_ancient classics_; and through this medium an exhaustless mine of -imagery and allusion was laid open to our vernacular poets. - -Nor were these advantages blighted or checked by the fastidious canons -of dictatorial _criticism_. Puttenham's was the only _Art of Poetry_ -which had made its appearance, and, though a taste for discussion of -this kind was rapidly advancing, the poet was yet left independent of -the critic; at liberty to indulge every flight of imagination, and -every sally of feeling; to pursue his first mode of conception, and to -adopt the free diction of the moment. - -The age of _chivalry and romance_, also, had not yet passed away; the -former, it is true, was verging fast towards dissolution, but its tone -was still exalting and heroic, while the latter continued to throw -a rich, though occasionally a fantastic light over every species of -poetic composition. In short, the unrestricted copiousness of our -language, the striking peculiarities of our national superstition, the -wild beauties of Gothic invention, and the playful sallies of Italian -fiction, combined with a plentiful infusion of classic lore, and -operating on native genius, gave origin, not only to an unparalleled -number of great bards, but to a cast of poetry unequalled in this -country for its powers of description and creation, for its simplicity -and energy of diction, and for its wide dominion over the feelings. - -If we proceed to consider the _versification_, _economy_, and -_sentiment_ of the Elizabethan poetry, candour must confess, that -considerable defects will be found associated with beauties equally -prominent, especially in the first and second of these departments. We -must be understood, however, as speaking here only of rhymed poetry, -for were the blank verse of our dramatic poets of this epoch included, -there can be no doubt but that in versification likewise the palm must -be awarded to Shakspeare and his contemporaries. Indeed, even in the -construction of rhyme, the inferiority of our ancestors is nearly, -if not altogether, confined to their management of the pentameter -couplet; and here, it must be granted, that, in their best artificers -of this measure, in the pages of Daniel, Drayton, and Browne, great -deficiencies are often perceptible both in harmony and cadence, in -polish and compactness. It has been said by a very pleasing, and, in -general, a very judicious critic, that "the older poets _disdained_ -stooping to the character of syllable-mongers; as their conceptions -were vigorous, they trusted to the simple provision of nature for -their equipment; and though often introduced into the world _ragged_, -they were always healthy."[597:A] Now versification is to poetry, what -colouring is to painting, and though by no means among the higher -provinces of the art, yet he who _disdains_ its cultivation, loses one -material hold upon the reader's attention; for, though plainness and -simplicity of garb best accord with vigour, sublimity, or pathos of -conception, _raggedness_ can never coincide in the production of any -grand or pleasing effect. - -It is remarkable, however, that, in lyrical composition, the poets of -Elizabeth's reign, so far from being defective in harmony of metre, -frequently possess the most studied modulation; and numbers of their -songs and madrigals, as well as many stanzas of their longer poems -constructed on the model of the Italian _octava rima_, exhibit in their -versification so much high-finishing, and such an exquisite polish, -as must render doubtful, in this province, at least, the assumed -superiority of modern art. - -A more striking desideratum in the poetry of this era has arisen -from a want of economy in the use of imagery and ornament, and in -the distribution of parts as relative to a whole. That relief, which -is produced by a judicious management of light and shade, appears to -have been greatly neglected; the eye, after having been fatigued by -an unsubdued splendour and warmth of style, suddenly passes to an -extreme poverty of colouring, without any intermediate tint to blend -and harmonize the parts; in short, to drop the metaphor, after a -prodigal profusion of imagery and description, the exhausted bard sinks -for pages together into a strain remarkable only for its flatness and -imbecillity. To this want of union in style, may be added an equal -defalcation in the disposition, connection, and dependency of the -various portions of an extended whole. These requisites, which are -usually the result of long and elaborate study, have been successfully -cultivated by the moderns, who, since the days of Pope, have paid -a scrupulous attention to the mechanism of versification, to the -consonancy and keeping of style, and to the niceties and economy of -arrangement. - -We can ascribe, however, to the poets of Elizabeth's reign the greater -merit of excelling in energy and truth of _sentiment_, in simplicity -of diction, in that artless language of nature which irresistibly -makes its way to the heart. To excite the emotions of sublimity, of -terror, of pity, an appeal to the artificial graces of modern growth -will not be found successful; on the contrary, experience has taught -us, that in the higher walks of poetry, where sensations of grandeur -and astonishment are to be raised, or where the passions in all their -native vigour are to be called forth, we must turn to the earlier -stages of the art, when the poet, unshackled by the overwhelming -influence of venerated models, unawed by the frowns of criticism, -and his flow of thought undiverted by any laborious attention to the -minutiæ of diction and cadence, looked abroad for himself, and drew -fresh from the page of surrounding nature, and from the workings of -his own breast, the imagery, and the feelings, which he was solicitous -to impress. In consequence of this self-dependence, this appeal to -original sources, the poetry of the period under our notice possesses a -strength, a raciness, and verisimilitude which have since very rarely -been attained, and which more than compensate for any subordinate -defects in the ornamental departments of metre, or style. - -It is conceivable, indeed, that a poet may arise, who shall happily -combine, even in a long poem of the highest class, the utmost -refinements of recent art, with the originality, strength, and -independency of our elder bards; it is a phenomenon, however, rather -to be wished for than expected, as the excellencies peculiar to these -widely-separated eras appear to be, in their highest degree, nearly -incompatible. Yet is the attempt not to be given up in despair; in -short poems, especially of the lyric species, we know that this -union has been effected among us; for Gray, to very lofty flights of -sublimity, has happily united the utmost splendour of diction, and -the utmost brilliancy of versification; and even in a later and more -extended instance, in "The Pleasures of Hope" by Mr. Campbell, we find -some of the noblest conceptions of poetry clothed in metre exquisitely -sweet and polished, and possessing at the same time great variety of -modulation, and a considerable share of simplicity in its construction. - -If, however, upon the large scale, which the highest cast of poetry -demands, the studied harmony of later times be found incapable of -coalescing with effect, there can be no doubt what school we should -adopt; for who would not prefer the sublime though unadorned conception -of Michael Angelo to the glowing colouring even of such an artist as -Titian? - -Of the larger poems of the age of Shakspeare, the defects may be -considered as of two kinds, either apparent only, or real; under the -first may be classed that want of high-finishing which is the result, -partly of its incompatibility with greatness of design, and partly as -the effect of a just taste; for much of the minor poetry of the reign -of Elizabeth, as hath been previously observed, is polished even to -excess; while under the second are to be placed the positive defects -of want of union in style, and want of connection and arrangement in -economy; omissions not resulting from necessity, and which are scarcely -to be atoned for by any excellencies, however transcendent. - -It is creditable to the present age, that in the higher poetry several -of our bards have in a great degree reverted to the ancient school; -that, in attempting to emulate the genius of their predecessors, they -have judiciously adopted their strength and simplicity of diction, -their freedom and variety of metre, preserving at the same time, and -especially in the disposition of their materials, and the keeping -of their style, whatever of modern refinement can aptly blend with -or heighten the effect of the sublime, though often severely chaste -outline, of the first masters of their art. - -That meretricious glare of colouring, that uniform though seductive -polish, and that monotony of versification, which are but too apparent -in the school of Pope, and which have been carried to a disgusting -excess by Darwin and his disciples, not only vitiate and dilute all -developement of intense emotion, but even paralyse that power of -picturesque delineation, which can only subsist under an uncontrolled -freedom of execution, where, both in language and rhythm, the utmost -variety and energy have their full play. He who in sublimity and pathos -has made the nearest approach to our three immortal bards, Spenser, -Shakspeare, and Milton, and who may, therefore, claim the fourth -place in our poetical annals, the lamented Chatterton; and he who, -in the present day, stands unrivalled for his numerous and masterly -sketches of character, and for the truth, locality, and vigour of his -descriptions, the poet of Marmion and of Rokeby; are both well known -to have built their fame upon what may be emphatically termed the old -_English_ school of poesy. The difference between them is, that while -both revert to the costume and imagery of the olden time, one adheres, -in a great measure, to the language of his day, while the other must -be deemed a laborious though not very successful imitator of the -phraseology and extrinsic garb of the remote period to which, for no -very laudable purpose, he has assigned his productions. - -These few remarks on the poetry of our ancestors being premised, the -critical notices to which we have alluded, may with propriety commence; -and in executing this part of the subject, as well as in the tabular -form which follows, an alphabetical arrangement will be observed. - -1. BEAUMONT, SIR JOHN. Though the poems of this author were not -published, yet were they written, during the age of Shakspeare, and -consequently demand our notice in this chapter. He was the elder -brother of Francis the dramatic poet, and was born at Grace-dieu, in -Leicestershire, in 1582. He very early attached himself to poetical -studies, and all his productions in this way were the amusements of -his youthful days. Of these, the most elaborate is entitled "Bosworth -Field," a very animated, and often a very poetical detail of the -circumstances which are supposed immediately to precede and accompany -this celebrated struggle. The versification merits peculiar praise; -there is an ease, a vigour, and a harmony in it, not equalled, perhaps, -by any other poet of his time; many of the couplets, indeed, are such -as would be distinguished for the beauty of their construction, even in -the writings of Pope. An encomium so strong as this may require some -proofs for its support, and among the number which might be brought -forward, three shall be adduced as specimens not only of finished -versification, but of the energy and heroism of the sentiments which -pervade this striking poem. - - "There he beholds a high and glorious throne, - Where sits a king by lawrell garlands knowne, - Like bright Apollo in the Muses' quires, - His radiant eyes are watchfull heavenly fires; - Beneath his feete pale Envie bites her chaine, - And snaky Discord whets her sting in vaine." - -Ferrers, addressing Richard, exclaims,— - - "I will obtaine to-day, alive or dead, - The crownes that grace a faithfull souldiers head. - 'Blest be thy tongue,' replies the king, 'in thee - The strength of all thine ancestors I see, - Extending warlike armes for England's good, - By thee their heire, in valour as in blood.'" - -On the flight of Catesby, who advises Richard to embrace a similar mode -of securing his personal safety, the King indignantly answers, - - "Let cowards trust their horses' nimble feete, - And in their course with new destruction meete; - Gaine thou some houres to draw thy fearefull breath: - To me ignoble flight is worse than death." - -Of the conclusion of Bosworth Field, Mr. Chalmers has justly observed, -that "the lines describing the death of the tyrant may be submitted -with confidence to the admirers of Shakspeare."[602:A] - -The translations and miscellaneous poems of Sir John include several -pieces of considerable merit. We would particularly point out -Claudian's Epigram on the Old Man of Verona, and the verses on his -"dear sonne Gervase Beaumont." - -Sir John died in the winter of 1628, aged forty-six. - -2. BRETON, NICHOLAS. Of this prolific poet few authenticated facts -are known. His first publication, entitled, "A small handfull of -fragrant flowers," was printed in 1575; if we therefore allow him -to have reached the age of twenty-one before he commenced a writer, -the date of his birth may, with some probability, be assigned to -the year 1554. The number of his productions was so great, that a -character in Beaumont and Fletcher's _Scornful Lady_, declares that -he had undertaken "with labour and experience the collection of those -thousand pieces—of that our honour'd Englishman, Nich. Breton."[602:B] -Ritson has given a catalogue of twenty-nine, independent of his -contributions to the "Phœnix Nest" and "England's Helicon," and five -more are recorded by Mr. Park in the Censura Literaria.[603:A] Most -of these are poetical, some a mixed composition of rhyme and prose, -and a few entirely prose; they are all extremely scarce, certainly not -the consequence of mediocrity or want of notice, for they have been -praised by Puttenham[603:B], Meres[603:C], and Phillips; and one of -his most beautiful ballads is inserted in "The Muse's Library," 1740. -After a lapse of twenty-five years, Dr. Percy recalled the attention of -the public to our author by inserting in his Reliques the same piece -which Mrs. Cowper had previously chosen[603:D]; in 1801 Mr. Ellis -favoured us with eight specimens, from his pamphlets and "England's -Helicon[603:E]," and Mr. Park has since added two very valuable -extracts to the number.[603:F] These induce us to wish for a more -copious selection, and at the same time enable us to declare, that as a -lyric and pastoral poet he possessed, if not a splendid, yet a pleasing -and elegant flow of fancy, together with great sweetness and simplicity -of expression, and a more than common portion of metrical harmony. - -He is supposed, on the authority of an epitaph in the church of -Norton, a village in Northamptonshire, to have died on the 22d of June -1624.[603:G] - -3. BROWNE, WILLIAM, was born at Tavistock, in Devonshire, in 1590, and, -there is reason to suppose, began very early to cultivate his poetical -talents; for in the first book of his _Britannias Pastorals_, which -were published in folio, in 1613, when in his twenty-third year, he -speaks of himself, "as weake in yeares as skill[603:H]," an expression -which leads to the supposition that his earlier pastorals were written -before he had attained the age of twenty. Indeed all his poetry appears -to have been written previous to his thirtieth year. In 1614, he -printed in octavo, _The Shepherds Pipe_, in seven eclogues; in 1616, -the second part of his _Britannias Pastorals_ was given to the public, -and in 1620, his _Inner Temple Mask_ is supposed to have been first -exhibited. - -Browne enjoyed a large share of popularity during his life-time; -numerous commendatory poems are prefixed to the first edition of his -pastorals; and, in a copy of the second impression of 1625, in the -possession of Mr. Beloe, and which seems to have been a presentation -copy to Exeter College, Oxford, of which Browne was a member and -Master of Arts, there are thirteen adulatory addresses to the poet, -from different students of this society, and in the hand-writing -of each.[604:A] Among his earliest eulogists are found the great -characters Selden, Drayton, and Jonson, by whom he was highly respected -both as a poet and as a man; and as a still more imperishable honour, -we must not forget to mention, that he was a favourite with our divine -Milton. - -Until lately, however, he has been under little obligation to -subsequent times; nearly one hundred and fifty years elapsed before a -third edition of his poems employed the press; this came out in 1772, -under the auspices of Mr. Thomas Davies, and, with the exception of -some extracts in Hayward's British Muse, this long interval passed -without any attempt to revive his fame, by any judicious specimens of -his genius.[604:B] A more propitious era followed the republication -of Davies; in 1787, Mr. Headley obliged us with some striking proofs -of, and some excellent remarks on, his beauties; in 1792, his whole -works were incorporated in the edition of the poets, by Dr. Anderson; -in 1801, Mr. Ellis gave further extension to his fame by additional -examples, and in 1810 his productions again became a component part -of a body of English poetry in the very elaborate and comprehensive -edition of the English Poets, by Mr. Chalmers. - -Still it appears to us, that sufficient justice has not, since the era -of Milton, been paid to his talents; for, though it be true, as Mr. -Headley has observed, that puerilities, forced allusions, and conceits, -have frequently debased his materials; yet are these amply atoned for -by some of the highest excellencies of his art; by an imagination -ardent and fertile, and sometimes sublime; by a vivid personification -of passion; by a minute and truly faithful delineation of rural -scenery; by a peculiar vein of tenderness which runs through the -whole of his pastorals, and by a versification uncommonly varied and -melodious. With these are combined a species of romantic extravagancy -which sometimes heightens, but more frequently degrades, the effect of -his pictures. Had he exhibited greater judgment in the selection of his -imagery, and greater simplicity in his style, his claim on posterity -had been valid, had been general and undisputed. Browne is conjectured -by Wood to have died in the winter of 1645.[605:A] - -4. CHALKHILL, JOHN. This poet was the intimate friend of Spenser, a -gentleman, a scholar, and, to complete the encomium, a man of strict -moral character. He was the author of a pastoral history, entitled, -_Thealma and Clearchus_; but "he died," relates Mrs. Cooper, "before -he could perfect even the Fable of his poem, and, by many passages -in it, I half believe, he had not given the last hand to what he has -left behind him. However, to do both him and his editor justice, -if my opinion can be of any weight, 'tis great pity so beautiful a -relique should be lost; and the quotations I have extracted from it -will sufficiently evidence a fine vein of imagination, a taste far from -being indelicate, and both language and numbers uncommonly harmonious -and polite."[606:A] - -The editor alluded to by Mrs. Cooper was the amiable Isaac Walton, who -published this elegant fragment in 8vo. in 1683, when he was ninety -years old, and who has likewise inserted two songs by Chalkhill in his -"Complete Angler."[606:B] - -The pastoral strains of Chalkhill merit the eulogium of their female -critic; the versification, more especially, demands our notice, and may -be described, in many instances, as possessing the spirit, variety, -and harmony of Dryden. To verify this assertion, let us listen to the -following passages; describing the Golden age, he informs us, - - "Their sheep found cloathing, earth provided food, - And Labour drest it as their wills thought good: - On unbought delicates their hunger fed, - And for their drink the swelling clusters bled: - The vallies rang with their delicious strains, - And Pleasure revell'd on those happy plains." - -How beautifully versified is the opening of his picture of the Temple -of Diana! - - "Within a little silent grove hard by, - Upon a small ascent, he might espy - A stately chapel, richly gilt without, - Beset with shady sycamores about: - And, ever and anon, he might well hear - A sound of music steal in at his ear - As the wind gave it Being: so sweet an air - Would strike a Syren mute and ravish her." - -Pourtraying the cell of an Enchantress, he says, - - "About the walls lascivious pictures hung, - Such as whereof loose Ovid sometimes sung. - On either side a crew of dwarfish Elves, - Held waxen tapers taller than themselves: - Yet so well shap'd unto their little stature, - So angel-like in face, so sweet in feature; - Their rich attire so diff'ring, yet so well - Becoming her that wore it, none could tell - Which was the fairest——."[607:A] - -Mr. Beloe, in the first volume of his Anecdotes, p. 70., has given -us a Latin epitaph on a John Chalkhill, copied from Warton's History -of Winchester. This inscription tells us, that the person whom it -commemorates died a Fellow of Winchester College, on the 20th of -May, 1679, aged eighty; and yet Mr. Beloe, merely from similarity of -name and character, contends that this personage must have been the -Chalkhill of Isaac Walton; a supposition which a slight retrospection -as to dates, would have proved impossible. Walton, in the title-page -of Thealma and Clearchus, describes Chalkhill as an acquaintant and -friend of Edmund Spenser; now as Spenser died in January, 1598, and the -subject of this epitaph, aged 80, in 1679, the latter must consequently -have been born in 1599, the year after Spenser's death! The coincidence -of character and name is certainly remarkable, but by no means -improbable or unexampled. - -5. CHAPMAN, GEORGE, who was born in 1557 and died in 1634, aged -seventy-seven, is here introduced as the principal translator of his -age; to him we are indebted for Homer, Musæus, and part of Hesiod. His -first published attempt on Homer appeared in 1592[607:B], under the -title of "Seaven Bookes of the Shades of Homere, Prince of Poets;" and -shortly after the accession of James the First, the entire Iliad was -completed and entitled, "The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets. Never -before in any language truly translated. With a comment upon some of -his chief places: done according to the Greeke." - -This version, which was highly prized by his contemporaries, is -executed in rhymed couplets, each line containing fourteen syllables; -a species of versification singularly cumbrous and void of harmony; -and, notwithstanding this protracted metre, fidelity is, by no means, -the characteristic of Chapman. He is not only often very paraphrastic, -but takes the liberty of omitting, without notice, what he could not -comprehend. It has been asserted by Pope, that a daring fiery spirit, -something like what we might imagine Homer himself to have written -before he arrived to years of discretion, animates his translation, -and covers his defects[608:A]; an opinion which seems rather the -result of partiality than unbiassed judgment; for though Chapman is -certainly superior to his successor Hobbes, and occasionally exhibits -some splendid passages, he must be considered by every critic of the -present day as, in general, coarse, bombastic, and often disgusting; a -violator, indeed, in almost every page, of the dignity and simplicity -of his original. - -The magnitude and novelty of the undertaking, however, deserved and met -with encouragement, and Chapman was induced, in 1614, to present the -world with a version of the Odyssey. This is in the pentameter couplet; -inferior in vigour to his Iliad, but in diction and versification more -chaste and natural. Of his Musæus and his Georgics of Hesiod, we shall -only remark that the former was printed in 1616, the latter in 1618, -and that the first, which we have alone seen, does not much exceed the -character of mediocrity. As an original writer, we shall have to notice -Chapman under the dramatic department, and shall merely add now, that -he was, in a moral light, a very estimable character, and the friend of -Spenser, Shakspeare, Marlowe, Daniel, and Drayton. - -6. CHURCHYARD, THOMAS. This author merits notice rather for the -quantity than the quality of his productions, though a few of his -pieces deserve to be rescued from utter oblivion. He commenced a -writer, according to his own account[609:A], in the reign of King -Edward the Sixth, and as Wood informs us that at the age of seventeen -he went to seek his fortune at court, and lived four years with Howard -Earl of Surry, who died 1546, it is probable that he was born about -1524. Shrewsbury had the honour of producing him, and he continued -publishing poetical tracts until the accession of James the First. -Ritson has given us a catalogue, which might be enlarged, of seventeen -of his publications, with dates, from 1558 to 1599, independent of -a variety of scattered pieces; some of these are of such bulk as to -include from twelve to twenty subjects, and in framing their titles -the old bard seems to have been very partial to alliteration; for -we have _Churchyards Chippes_, 1575; _Churchyards Choice_, 1579; -_Churchyards Charge_, 1580; _Churchyards Change_; _Churchyards Chance_, -1580; _Churchyards Challenge_, 1593; and _Churchyards Charity_, -1595.[609:B] In the "Mirror for Magistrates," first published in 1559, -he contributed "_The Legend of Jane Shore_," which he afterwards -augmented in his "Challenge," by the addition of twenty-one stanzas; -this is perhaps the best of his poetical labours, and contains several -good stanzas. His "_Worthiness of Wales_," also, first published in -1587, and reprinted a few years ago, is entitled to preservation. This -pains-taking author, as Ritson aptly terms him, died poor on April 4th, -1604, after a daily exertion of his pen, in the service of the Muses, -for nearly sixty years. - -7. CONSTABLE, HENRY, of whom little more is personally known, than -that he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts at St. John's College, -Cambridge, in 1579[609:C]; that he was compelled to leave his native -country from a zealous attachment to the Roman Catholic religion, and -that, venturing to return, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, -but released towards the close of 1604.[610:A] Constable possessed -unrivalled reputation with his contemporaries as a writer of sonnets; -Jonson terms his muse "ambrosiack[610:B];" in _The Return from -Parnassus_, 1606, we are told that - - "Sweet Constable doth take the wondring ear - And lays it up in willing prisonment;"[610:C] - -and Bolton calls him "a great master in English tongue," and adds, -"nor had any gentleman of our nation a more pure, quick, or higher -delivery of conceit; witness among all other, that Sonnet of his -before his Majesty's Lepanto."[610:D] In consequence of these encomia -more modern authors have prolonged the note of praise; Wood describes -him as "a noted English poet[610:E];" Hawkins, as the "first, or -principal sonnetteer of his time[610:F]," and Warton, as "a noted -sonnet-writer."[610:G] - -To justify the reputation thus acquired, we have two collections of -his sonnets still existing; one published in 1594, under the title of -"Diana, or the excellent conceitful sonnets of H. C. augmented with -divers quatorzains of honorable and learned personages, devided into -viij Decads;" and the other a manuscript in the possession of Mr. Todd, -consisting of sonnets divided into three parts, each part containing -three several arguments, and every argument seven sonnets.[610:H] - -From the specimens which we have seen of his Diana, and from the sonnet -extracted by Mr. Todd from the manuscript collection, there can be -little hesitation in declaring, that the reputation which Constable -once enjoyed, was built upon no stable foundation, and that mediocrity -is all which the utmost indulgence of the present age can allow him. - -8. DANIEL, SAMUEL, a poet and historian of no small repute, was born -near Taunton, in Somersetshire, in 1562. Having received a classical -education at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and being afterwards enabled to -pursue his studies under the patronage of the Earl of Pembroke's -family, he became the most correct poet of his age. He commenced author -as early as 1585, by a translation of Paulus Jovius's Discourse of -rare Inventions; but his first published poems appear to have been his -Delia, a collection of Sonnets, with the complaint of Rosamond, 1592. -He continued to write until nearly the close of his life, for the -Second Part of his History of England was published in 1618, and he -died on the 14th of October 1619. - -Of the poetry of Daniel, omitting for the present all notice of his -dramatic works, the most important are his _Sonnets to Delia_, the -_History of the Civil War_, the _Complaint of Rosamond_ and the -_Letter from Octavia to Marcus Antonius_; the remainder consisting -of occasional pieces, and principally of Epistles to his friends and -patrons. - -The Sonnets are not generally constructed on the legitimate or -Petrarcan model; but they present us with some beautiful versification -and much pleasing imagery. The "Civil Wars between the two houses of -Lancaster and York," the first four books of which were published -in 1595, and the eighth and last in 1609, form the _magnum opus_ -of Daniel, and to which he looked for fame with posterity. That he -has been disappointed, must be attributed to his having too rigidly -adhered to the truth of history; for aspiring rather at the correctness -of the annalist than the fancy of the poet, he rarely attempts the -elevation of his subject by any flight of imagination, or digressional -ornaments. Sound morality, prudential wisdom, and occasional touches -of the pathetic, delivered in a style of then unequalled chastity -and perspicuity, will be recognised throughout his work; but neither -warmth, passion, nor sublimity, nor the most distant trace of -enthusiasm can be found to animate the mass. In the _Complaint of -Rosamond_, and in the _Letter from Octavia_, he has copied the manner -of Ovid, though with more tenderness and pathos than are usually found -in the pages of the Roman. - -In short, purity of language, elegance of style, and harmony of -versification, together with an almost perfect freedom from pedantry -and affectation, and a continual flow of good sense and just -reflection, form the merits of Daniel, and resting on these qualities -he is entitled to distinguished notice, as an improver of our diction -and taste; but to the higher requisites of his art, to the fire and -invention of the creative bard, he has few pretensions. - -Daniel was the intimate friend of Shakspeare, Marlowe, Chapman, -Camden, and Cowel; and was so highly esteemed by the accomplished -Anne, Countess of Pembroke, that she not only erected a monument to -his memory in Beckington church, Somersetshire, but in a full length -of herself, at Appleby Castle in Cumberland, had a small portrait of -her favourite poet introduced.[612:A] This partiality seems to have -sprung from a connection not often productive of attachment; Daniel -had been her tutor when she was only thirteen years old, and in his -poems he addresses an epistle to her at this early age, which, as Mr. -Park has justly said, "deserves entire perusal for its dignified vein -of delicate admonition."[612:B] Dissatisfied with the opinions of his -contemporaries as to his poetical merit, which appears to have been -similar to the estimate that we have just given[612:C], he relinquished -the busy world, and spent the closing years of his life in the -cultivation of a farm. - -9. DAVIES, SIR JOHN, was born at Chisgrove in Wiltshire in 1570. -Though a lawyer of great eminence, he is chiefly known to posterity -through the medium of his poetical works. His _Nosce Teipsum_, -or poem on the Immortality of the Soul, on which fame rests, was -published in 1599, and not only secured him the admiration of his -learned contemporaries, among whom may be recorded the great names of -Camden, Harrington, Jonson, Selden, and Corbet, but accelerated his -professional honours; for being introduced to James in Scotland, in -order to congratulate him on his accession to the throne of England, -the king, on hearing his name, enquired "if he was _Nosce Teipsum_? and -being answered in the affirmative, graciously embraced him, and took -him into such favour, that he soon made him his Solicitor, and then -Attorney-General in Ireland."[613:A] - -Beside this philosophical poem, the earliest of which our language -can boast, Sir John printed, in 1596, a series of Epigrams, which -were published at Middleburg, at the close of Marlowe's translation -of Ovid's Epistles, and in the same year the first edition of his -"Orchestra, or a poeme of dauncing;" these, with twenty-six acrostics -on the words Elizabetha Regina, printed in 1599, and entitled "Hymns of -Astræa," complete the list of his publications. - -His "Nosce Teipsum" is a piece of close reasoning in verse, peculiarly -harmonious for the period in which it appeared. It possesses, also, -wit, ingenuity, vigour and condensation of thought, but exhibits few -efforts of imagination, and nothing that is either pathetic or sublime. -In point of argument, metaphysical acuteness and legitimate deduction, -the English poet is, in every respect, superior to his classical model -Lucretius; but how greatly does he fall beneath the fervid genius and -creative fancy of the Latian bard! - -Sir John died suddenly on the 7th of December 1626, in the -fifty-seventh year of his age. - -10. DAVORS, JOHN. Of this poet little more is known, than that he -published, in 1613, the following work: "The Secrets of Angling: -teaching the choicest Tooles, Baits, and Seasons, for the taking of -any Fish, in Pond or River: practised and familiarly opened in three -Bookes." 12mo. - -Upon a subject so technical and didactic, few opportunities for -poetical imagery might naturally be expected; but Davors has most -happily availed himself of those which occurred, and has rendered his -poem, in many places, highly interesting by beauty of sentiment, and -warmth of description. A lovely specimen of his powers may be found -in the "Complete Angler" of Isaac Walton[614:A], and the following -invocation, from the opening of the First Book, shall be given as a -further proof of the genuineness of his inspiration, and with this -additional remark, that his versification is throughout singularly -harmonious:— - - "You Nimphs that in the springs and waters sweet, - Your dwelling have, of every hill and dale, - And oft amidst the meadows green do meet - To sport and play, and hear the nightingale, - And in the rivers fresh do wash you feet, - While Progne's sister tels her wofull tale: - Such ayd and power unto my verses lend, - As may suffice this little worke to end. - - And thou, sweet Boyd, that with thy wat'ry sway - Dost wash the Cliffes of Deignton and of Week, - And through their rocks with crooked winding way, - Thy mother Avon runnest soft to seek; - In whose fair streams, the speckled trout doth play, - The roch, the dace, the gudgin, and the bleike: - Teach me the skill with slender line and hook - To take each fish of river, pond, and brook." - -A second edition of "The Secrets of Angling," "augmented with many -approved experiments," by W. Lawson, was printed in 1652, and a third -would be acceptable even in the present day. - -11. DONNE, JOHN, D.D. The greater part of the poetry of this prelate, -though not published, was written, according to Ben Jonson, before he -was twenty-five years of age; and as he was born in London in 1573, he -must consequently be ranked as a bard of the sixteenth century. His -poems consist of elegies, satires, letters, epigrams, divine poems, and -miscellaneous pieces, and procured for him, among his contemporaries, -through private circulation and with the public when printed, during -the greater part of the seventeenth century, an extraordinary share of -reputation. A more refined age, however, and a more chastised taste, -have very justly consigned his poetical labours to the shelf of the -philologer. A total want of harmony in versification, and a total want -of simplicity both in thought and expression, are the vital defects -of Donne. Wit he has in abundance, and even erudition, but they are -miserably misplaced; and even his amatory pieces exhibit little else -than cold conceits and metaphysical subtleties. He may be considered -as one of the principal establishers of a school of poetry founded on -the worst Italian model, commencing towards the close of Elizabeth's -reign, continued to the decease of Charles the Second, and including -among its most brilliant cultivators the once popular names of Crashaw, -Cleveland, Cowley, and Sprat. - -Dr. Donne died in March 1631, and the first edition of his poems was -published by his son two years after that event. - -12. DRAYTON, MICHAEL, of an ancient family in Leicestershire, was born -in the village of Harshul, in the parish of Atherston, in Warwickshire, -in 1563. This voluminous and once highly-popular poet has gradually -sunk into a state of undeserved oblivion, from which he can alone be -extricated by a judicious selection from his numerous Works. These -may be classed under the heads of _historical_, _topographical_, -_epistolary_, _pastoral_, and _miscellaneous_ poetry. The first -includes his _Barons Warres_, first published in 1596 under the title -of "Mortimeriades; the lamentable Civil Warres of Edward the Second, -and the Barons;" his _Legends_, written before 1598 and printed in an -octavo edition of his poems in 1613, and his _Battle of Agincourt_. It -cannot be denied that in these pieces there are occasional gleams of -imagination, many just reflections, and many laboured descriptions, -delivered in perspicuous language, and generally in smooth -versification; but they do not interest the heart or elevate the fancy; -they are tediously and minutely historical, void of passion, and, for -the most part, languid and prosaic. The second department exhibits -the work on which he rested his hopes of immortality, the elaborate -and highly-finished _Poly-olbion_, of which the first eighteen songs -made their appearance in 1612, accompanied by the very erudite notes -of Selden, and the whole was completed in thirty parts in 1622. The -chief defect in this singular poem results from its plan; to describe -the woods, mountains, vallies, and rivers of a country, with all their -associations, traditionary, historical, and antiquarian, forms a task -which no genius, however exalted, could mould into an interesting -whole, and the attempt to enliven it by continued personification has -only proved an expedient which still further taxes the patience of -the reader. It possesses, however, many beauties which are poetically -great; numerous delineations which are graphically correct, and a -fidelity with regard to its materials so unquestioned, as to have -merited the reference of Hearne and Wood, and the praise of Gough, who -tells us that the Poly-olbion has preserved many circumstances which -even Camden has omitted. It is a poem, in short, which will always be -consulted rather for the information that it conveys, than for the -pleasure that it produces. - -To _England's Heroical Epistles_, which constitute the third class, -not much praise can now be allotted, notwithstanding they were once -the most admired of the author's works. Occasional passages may, it is -true, be selected, which merit approbation for novelty of imagery and -beauty of expression; but nothing can atone for their wanting what, -from the nature of the subjects chosen, should have been their leading -characteristic—pathos. - -It is chiefly as a _pastoral_ poet that Drayton will live in the memory -of his countrymen. The shepherd's reed was an early favourite; for -in 1593 he published his "Idea: the Shepherd's Garland, fashioned in -nine Eglogs: and Rowland's Sacrifice to the nine Muses," which were -reprinted under the title of Pastorals, and with the addition of a -tenth eclogue. His attachment to rural imagery was nearly as durable -as his existence; for the year previous to his death he brought -forward another collection of pastorals, under the title of _The -Muses Elisium_. Of these publications, the first is in every respect -superior, and gives the author a very high rank among rural bards; his -descriptions are evidently drawn from nature; they often possess a -decided originality, and are couched in language pure and unaffected, -and of the most captivating simplicity. - -The _miscellaneous_ productions of Drayton include a vast variety of -pieces; odes, elegies, sonnets, religions effusions, &c. &c. To specify -the individual merit of these would be useless; but among them are two -which, from their peculiar value, call for appropriate notice. A most -playful and luxuriant imagination is displayed to much advantage in the -_Nymphidia_, or _The Court of Fairy_, and an equal degree of judgment, -together with a large share of interest, in the poem addressed to his -loved friend Henry Reynolds, _On Poets and Poesy_. These, with the -first collection of pastorals, part of the second, and some well-chosen -extracts from his bulkier works, would form a most fascinating -little volume. Drayton died on December 23. 1631, and was buried in -Westminster Abbey. - -13. DRUMMOND, WILLIAM. The birth of this truly elegant poet is placed -at Hawthornden in Scotland, on the 13th of December, 1585, and the -publication of the first portion of his Sonnets, in 1616, entitles him -to due notice among these critical sketches. - -A disappointment of the most afflictive nature, for death snatched -from him the object of his affection almost immediately after she had -consented to be his, has given a peculiar and very pathetic interest -to the greater part of his poetical compositions, which are endeared -to the reader of sensibility by the charm resulting from a sincere and -never-dying regret for the memory of his earliest love. - -His poetry, which has never yet been properly arranged, consists -principally of poems of a lyrical cast, including sonnets, madrigals, -epigrams, epitaphs, miscellanies, and divine poems. - -Of these classes, the first and second exhibit numerous instances -of a versification decidedly more polished and elegant than that of -any of his contemporaries, and to this technical merit is frequently -to be added the still more rare and valuable distinctions of beauty -of expression, simplicity of thought, delicacy of sentiment, and -tenderness of feeling. Where he has failed, his faults are to be -attributed to the then prevailing taste for Italian _concetti_; to -the study of Marino, and his French imitators, Bellày and Du Bartas. -These deviations from correct taste are, however, neither frequent nor -flagrant, and are richly atoned for by strains of native genius, and -the felicities of unaffected diction.[618:A] - -Drummond was the intimate friend of Drayton, the Earl of Stirling, and -Ben Jonson; the latter holding him in such estimation as to undertake -a journey to Scotland on foot, solely for the purpose of enjoying -his company and conversation. How far this meeting contributed to -enhance their mutual regard, is doubtful; no two characters could be -more opposed, the roughness and asperity of Jonson ill according with -the elegant manners of the Scottish poet, whose manuscript memoranda -relative to this interview plainly intimate his disapprobation of the -disposition and habits of his celebrated guest; but, unfortunately, at -the same time, display a breach of confidence, and a fastidiousness of -temper, which throw a shade over the integrity of his own friendship, -and the rectitude of his own feelings. - -This accomplished bard died on the 4th of December 1649, aged -sixty-three, and though his poems were republished by Phillips, the -nephew of Milton, in 1656, with a high encomium on his genius, he -continued so obscure, that in 1675, when the Theatrum Poetarum of the -same critic appeared, he is said to be "utterly disregarded and laid -aside[618:B];" a fate which, strange as it may seem, has, until these -few years, almost completely veiled the merit of one of the first -poets of the sister kingdom. - -14. FAIREFAX, EDWARD. The singular beauty of this gentleman's -translation of Tasso, and its influence on English versification, -demand a greater share of notice than is due to any poetical version -preceding that of Pope. He was the son of Sir Thomas Fairefax, of -Denton in Yorkshire, and early cultivating the enjoyment of rural and -domestic life, retired with the object of his affections to Newhall, -in the parish of Fuyistone, in Knaresborough forest, where he usefully -occupied his time in the education of his children, and the indulgence -of literary pursuits. His "Godfrey of Bulloigne," the work which has -immortalised his name, was written whilst he was very young, was -published in 1600, and dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. - -This masterly version, which for the last half century has been most -undeservedly neglected, has not hitherto been superseded by any -posterior attempt. Though rendered line by line, and in the octave -stanza of the Italians, it possesses an uncommon share of elegance, -vigour, and spirit, and very frequently exhibits the facility and -raciness of original composition. That it contributed essentially -towards the improvement of our versification, may be proved from the -testimony of Dryden and Waller, the former declaring him superior -in harmony even to Spenser, and the latter confessing that he owed -the melody of his numbers to a studious imitation of his metrical -skill.[619:A] - -It is greatly to be regretted that the original poetry of Fairefax, -with the exception of one piece, has been suffered to perish. It -consisted of a poetical history of the Black Prince, and twelve -Eclogues, of which the fourth is preserved by Mrs. Cooper in her Muses' -Library. This lady informs us that the eclogues were all written after -the accession of King James to the throne of England; that they were -occupied by "important subjects relating to the manners, characters, -and incidents of the times he lived in; that they were pointed with -many fine strokes of satire; dignified with wholesome lessons of -morality, and policy, to those of the highest rank; and some modest -hints even to Majesty itself;" and that the learning they contained was -"so various and extensive, that, according to the evidence of his son, -(who has written large Annotations on each,) no man's reading, beside -his own, was sufficient to explain his references effectually."[620:A] - -Fairefax died about the year 1632; and, beside his poetical works, was -the author of several controversial pieces, and of a learned essay on -Demonology. - -15. FITZGEFFREY, CHARLES, was a native of Cornwall, of a genteel -family, and was entered a commoner of Broadgate's hall, Oxford, in -1592. Having taken his degrees in arts, and assumed the clerical -profession, he finally became rector of St. Dominic in his own county. -In 1596, he published a poem to the memory of Sir Francis Drake, -entitled "Sir Francis Drake his honorable Life's commendation; and his -tragicall Deathe's lamentation;" 12mo. This poem, which possesses no -small portion of merit, is dedicated, in a sonnet, "to the beauteous -and vertuous Lady Elizabeth, late wife unto the highlie renowned Sir -Francis Drake, deceased," and is highly spoken of by Browne and Meres; -the former declaring that he unfolded - - "The tragedie of Drake in leaves of gold;"[620:B] - -and the latter asserting that "as C. Plinius wrote the life of -Pomponius secundus, so yong Cha. Fitz-Geffray, that high-touring -falcon, hath most gloriously penned the honourable life and death of -worthy Sir Francis Drake."[621:A] - -As the poetry of Fitzgeffrey is very little known, we shall give the -Sonnet to Lady Drake as a pleasing specimen of his genius: - - "Divorc'd by Death, but wedded still by Love, - For Love by Death can never be divorc'd; - Loe! England's dragon, thy true turtle dove, - To seeke his make is now againe enforc'd. - Like as the sparrow from the kestrel's ire, - Made his asylum in the wise man's fist: - So, he and I, his tongues-man, do require - Thy sanctuary, envie to resist. - So may heroique Drake, whose worth gave wings - Unto my Muse, that nere before could fly, - And taught her tune these harsh discordant strings - A note above her rurall minstrelsy, - Live in himselfe, and I in him may live; - Thine eyes to both vitality shall give."[621:B] - -Beside his volume on Drake, Fitzgeffrey was the author of a collection -of Latin epigrams, in three books, under the title of _Affaniæ_, -printed in 8vo., 1601, and of a religious poem, called "The Blessed -Birth-day," 1634, 4to. He lived highly respected both as a poet and -divine, and died at his parsonage-house in 1636-7. - -16. FLETCHER, GILES, the elder brother of Phineas Fletcher, was born -in 1588, took the degree of bachelor of divinity at Oxford, and died -at his rectory of Alderton, in Suffolk, in 1623. The production which -has given him a poet's fame, was published in 1610, under the title -of "Christ's Victory and Triumph in Heaven and Earth over and after -Death," Cambridge, 4to. It is written in stanzas of eight lines, and -divided into four parts, under the appellations of _Christs Victory -in Heaven_, his _Triumph on Earth_, his _Triumph over Death_, and his -_Triumph after Death_. - -This is a poem which exhibits strong powers of description, and a -great command of language; it is, however, occasionally sullied by -conceits, and by a frequent play upon words, of which the initial -stanza is a striking proof. Our author was an ardent admirer of -Spenser, and has in many instances successfully imitated his -picturesque mode of delineation, though he has avoided following him -in the use of the prosopopeia. - -17. FLETCHER, PHINEAS, who surpassed his brother in poetical genius, -took his bachelor's degree at King's College, Cambridge, in 1604, and -his master's degree in 1608. Though his poems were not published until -1633, there is convincing proof that they were written before 1610; for -Giles, at the close of his "Christ's Victory," printed in this year, -thus beautifully alludes not only to his brother's Purple Island, but -to his eclogues, as previous compositions:— - - "But let the Kentish lad, that lately taught - His _oaten reed_ the trumpets silver sound, - _Young Thyrsilis_; and for his music brought - The willing spheres from Heav'n, to lead around - The dancing nymphs and swains, that sung, and crown'd - Eclectas Hymen with ten thousand flowers - Of choicest praise, and hung her heav'nly bow'rs - With saffron garlands, dress'd for nuptial paramours: - - Let his shrill trumpet, with her silver blast - Of fair Eclecta, and her spousal bed, - Be the sweet pipe, and smooth encomiast: - But my green Muse, hiding her younger head, - Under old Camus's flaggy banks, that spread - Their willow locks abroad, and all the day - With their own wa'try shadows wanton play: - Dares not those high amours, and love-sick songs assay."[622:A] - -It is, indeed, highly probable, that they were composed even before -he took his bachelor's degree; for, in the dedication of his "Purple -Island" to his learned friend, Edward Benlowes, Esq., he terms them -"raw essays of my very unripe years, and almost childhood."[622:B] - -The "Purple Island" is an allegorical description, in twelve cantos, -of the corporeal and intellectual functions of man. Its interest -and effect have been greatly injured by a too minute investigation -of anatomical facts; the first five cantos being little else than -a lecture in rime, and productive more of disgust than any other -sensation. In the residue of the poem, the bard bursts forth with -unshackled splendour, and the passions and mental powers are -personified with great brilliancy of imagination, and great warmth of -colouring. Like his brother, however, he is defective in taste; the -great charm of composition, simplicity, is too often lost amid the -mazes of quaint conception and meretricious ornament. Yet are there -passages interspersed through this allegory, of exquisite tenderness -and sweetness, alike simple and correct in diction, chaste in creative -power, and melodious in versification. - -The "Piscatory Eclogues," to novelty of scenery, add many passages -of genuine and delightful poetry, and the music of the verse is -often highly gratifying to the ear; but many of the same faults are -discernible in these pieces, which we remarked in the "Purple Island;" -pedantry and forced conceits occasionally intrude, and, though the -poet has not injured the effect of his delineations by coarseness, or -rusticity of expression, he has sometimes forgotten the simple elegance -which should designate the pastoral muse. - -Our author was presented to the living of Hilgay, in Norfolk, in 1621, -and died there about the year 1650. - -18. GASCOIGNE, GEORGE, the son of Sir John Gascoigne, was descended -from an ancient family in Essex, and, after a private education under -the care of Stephen Nevinson, L.L.D. he was sent to Cambridge, and from -thence to Gray's Inn, for the purpose of studying the law. Like many -men, however, of warm passions and strong imagination, he neglected -his profession for the amusements and dissipation of a court, and -having exhausted his paternal property, he found himself under the -necessity of seeking abroad, in a military capacity, that support which -he had failed to acquire at home. He accordingly accepted a Captain's -commission in Holland, in 1572, under William Prince of Orange, and -having signalised his courage at the siege of Middleburg, had the -misfortune to be captured by the Spaniards near Leyden, and, after four -month's imprisonment, revisited his native country. - -He now resumed his profession and his apartments at Gray's Inn; but in -1575, on his return from accompanying Queen Elizabeth in her progress -to Kenelworth Castle, he fixed his residence at his "poore house," at -Walthamstow, where he employed himself in collecting and publishing -his poems. He was not long destined, however, to enjoy this literary -leisure; for, according to George Whetstone, who was "an eye-witness -of his godly and charitable end in this world[624:A]," he expired at -Stamford, in Lincolnshire, on the 7th of October, 1577, when he was -probably under forty years of age.[624:B] - -The poetry of Gascoigne was twice collected during his life-time; -firstly, in 1572, in a quarto volume, entitled, "A Hundreth sundrie -Flowres bounde up in one small Poesie. Gathered partely (by -translation) in the fyne outlandish Gardins of Euripides, Ovid, -Petrarke, Ariosto, and others: and partly by invention, out of our -owne fruitefull Orchardes in Englande: Yielding sundrie sweet savors -of Tragical, Comical, and Morall Discourses, both pleasaunt and -profitable to the well smellyng noses of learned Readers. Meritum -petere, grave. At London, Imprinted for Richarde Smith;" and secondly -in 1575, with the title of "The Posies of George Gascoigne Esquire. -Corrected, perfected and augmented by the Authour. _Tam Marti, quam -Mercurio._ Imprinted at London by H. Bynneman for Richard Smith." -The edition is divided into three parts, under the appellation of -_Flowers_, _Hearbes_, and _Weedes_, to which are annexed "Certayne -notes of Instruction concerning the making of verse or ryme in English, -written at the request of Master Edouardo Donati." - -Besides these collections, Gascoigne published separately, "The Glasse -of Government. A Tragical Comedie," 1575. "The Steele Glas. A Satyre," -1576. "The Princely Pleasures, at the Court at Kenelworth," 1576; and -"A Delicate Diet for daintie mouthde Drunkards," a prose tract, 1576. -After his death appeared, in 1586, his tract, entitled, "The Droome of -Doomes Day;" and in 1587, was given to the world, a complete edition of -his works, in small quarto, black letter. - -Gascoigne, though patronised by several illustrious characters, among -whom may be enumerated, Lord Grey of Wilton, the Earl of Bedford, -and Sir Walter Raleigh, appears to have suffered so much from the -envy and malignity of his critics, as to induce him to intimate, that -the disease of which he died, was occasioned by the irritability of -mind resulting from these attacks; and yet, as far as we have an -opportunity of judging, his contemporaries seem to have done justice -to his talents; at least Gabriel Harvey[625:A] and Arthur Hall[625:B], -Nash[625:C], Webbe[625:D], and Puttenham[625:E], have together praised -him for his wit, his imagination, and his metre; and in the Glosse -to Spenser's Calender, he is styled "the very chief of our late -rymers."[626:A] - -The poetry of our author has not, in modern times, met with all the -attention which it deserves; specimens, it is true, have been selected -by Cooper, Percy, Warton, Headley, Ellis, Brydges, and Haslewood; but, -with the exception of the re-impression of 1810, in Mr. Chalmers's -English Poets, no edition of his works has been published since -1587. This is the more extraordinary, for, as the ingenious editor -just mentioned has remarked, "there are three respects in which his -claims to originality require to be noticed as æras in a history of -poetry. His Steele Glass is among the first specimens of blank verse -in our language; his Jocasta is the second theatrical piece written -in that measure; and his Supposes is the first comedy written in -prose."[626:B] Warton has pronounced him to have "much exceeded all the -poets of his age in smoothness and harmony of versification[626:C]," -an encomium which peculiarly applies to the lyrical portion of his -works, which is indeed exquisitely polished, though not altogether free -from affectation and antithesis. Among these pieces, too, is to be -discovered a considerable range of fancy, much tenderness and glow of -sentiment, and a frequent felicity of expression. In moral and didactic -poetry, he has likewise afforded us proofs approaching to excellence, -and his satire entitled "The Steele Glass," includes a curious and -minute picture of the manners and customs of the age. - -To the "Supposes" of Gascoigne, a translation from the Suppotiti of -Ariosto, executed with peculiar neatness and ease, Shakspeare has been -indebted for a part of his plot of the "Taming of the Shrew."[626:D] - -19. GREENE, ROBERT. Of this ingenious and prolific writer, we have -already related so many particulars, that nothing more can be wanting -here, than a brief character of his poetical genius. Were his poetry -collected from his various pamphlets and plays, of which nearly fifty -are known to be extant, a most interesting little volume might be -formed. The extreme rarity, however, of his productions, may render -this an object of no easy attainment; but of its effect a pretty -accurate idea may be acquired from what has been done by Mr. Beloe, -who, in his Anecdotes of Literature, has collected many beautiful -specimens from the following pieces of our author. _Tullie's Love_, -1616; _Penelope's Web_, 1601; _Farewell to Follie_, 1617; _Never Too -Late_, 1590; _History of Arbasto_, 1617; _Arcadia, or Menaphon_, 1589; -_Orphanion_, 1599; _Philomela_, 1592.[627:A] - -Though most of the productions of Greene were written to supply the -wants of the passing hour, yet the poetical effusions scattered through -his works betray few marks of haste or slovenliness, and many of them, -indeed, may be classed among the most polished and elegant of their -day. To much warmth and fertility of fancy, they add a noble strain -of feeling and enthusiasm, together with many exquisite touches of -the pathetic, and so many impressive lessons of morality, as, in a -great measure, to atone for the licentiousness of several of his prose -tracts.[627:B] - -20. HALL, JOSEPH, Bishop of Exeter and Norwich, was born on the -first of July 1574, at Brestow Park, Leicestershire. He was admitted -of Emanuel College, Cambridge, at the age of fifteen, and when -twenty-three years old, published his satires, under the title of -Virgidemiarum, Sixe Bookes. First Three Bookes of Tooth-less Satyrs: -1. Poetical; 2. Academicall; 3. Moral; printed by T. Creede for R. -Dexter 1597. The Three last Bookes of Byting Satyrs, by R. Bradock -for Dexter, 1598. Both parts were reprinted together in 1599, and have -conferred upon their author a just claim to the appellation of one of -our earliest and best satiric poets. Of the legitimate satire, indeed, -he appears to have given us the first example, an honour upon which he -justly prides himself, for, in the opening of his prologue, he tells us - - "I first adventure, with fool-hardy might, - To tread the steps of perilous despight: - I first adventure, follow me who list, - And be the _second_ English satirist." - -On the re-publication of the Virgidemiarum at Oxford, in 1752, Gray, -in a letter to Dr. Wharton, speaking of these satires, says, "they -are full of spirit and poetry, as much of the first as Dr. Donne, and -far more of the latter[628:A];" and Warton, at the commencement of -an elaborate and extended critique on Hall's poetic genius, in the -Fragment of his fourth volume of the History of English Poetry, gives -the following very discriminative character of these satires. They "are -marked," he observes, "with a classical precision, to which English -poetry had yet rarely attained. They are replete with animation of -style and sentiment. The indignation of the satirist is always the -result of good sense. Nor are the thorns of severe invective unmixed -with the flowers of pure poetry. The characters are delineated in -strong and lively colouring, and their discriminations are touched with -the masterly traces of genuine humour. The versification is equally -energetic and elegant, and the fabric of the couplets approaches -to the modern standard. It is no inconsiderable proof of a genius -predominating over the general taste of an age when every preacher was -a punster, to have written verses, where laughter was to be raised, -and the reader to be entertained with sallies of pleasantry, without -quibbles and conceits. His chief fault is obscurity, arising from a -remote phraseology, constrained combinations, unfamiliar allusions, -elliptical apostrophes, and abruptness of expression. Perhaps some -will think that his manner betrays too much of the laborious exactness -and pedantic anxiety of the scholar and the student. Ariosto in -Italian, and Regnier in French, were now almost the only modern -writers of satire; and I believe there had been an English translation -of Ariosto's Satires. But Hall's acknowledged patterns are Juvenal -and Persius, not without some touches of the urbanity of Horace. -His parodies of these poets, or rather his adaptations of ancient -to modern manners, a mode of imitation not unhappily practised by -Oldham, Rochester, and Pope, discover great facility and dexterity of -invention. The moral gravity and the censorial declamation of Juvenal, -he frequently enlivens with a train of more refined reflection, or -adorns with a novelty and variety of images."[629:A] - -The Satires of Hall exhibit a very minute and curious picture of -the literature and manners, the follies and vices of his times, and -numerous quotations in the course of our work will amply prove the wit, -the sagacity, and the elegance of his Muse. Poetry was the occupation -merely of his youth, the vigour and decline of his days being employed -in the composition of professional works, calculated, by their piety, -eloquence, and originality, to promote, in the most powerful manner, -the best interests of morality and religion. This great and good man -died, after a series of persecution from the republican party, at his -little estate at Heigham, near Norwich, on the 8th of September 1656, -and in the eighty-second year of his age. - -21. HARINGTON, SIR JOHN. Among the numerous translators of the -Elizabethan period, this gentleman merits peculiar notice, as -having, through the medium of his Ariosto, "enriched our poetry by -a communication of new stores of fiction and imagination, both of -the romantic and comic species, of Gothic machinery and familiar -manners."[629:B] His version of the Orlando Furioso, of which the -first edition was published in 1591, procured him a large share of -celebrity. Stowe, in his Annals, has classed him among those "excellent -poets which worthily flourish, in their own works, and lived together -in Queen Elizabeth's reign[630:A];" and Fuller[630:B], Philips, Dryden, -and others, to the middle of the eighteenth century, have spoken of -him in terms of similar commendation. In point of poetical execution, -however, his translation, whatever might be its incidental operation -on our poetic literature, must now be considered as vulgar, tame, and -inaccurate. Sir John was born at Kelston near Bath, in 1561, and died -there in 1612, aged fifty-one. His "Epigrams," in four Books, were -published after his death; first in 1615, when the fourth book alone -was printed; again in 1618, including the whole collection; and a third -time in 1625, small 8vo.[630:C] The poetical merit of these pieces is -very trifling, but they throw light upon contemporary character and -manners.[630:D] - -22. JONSON, BENJAMIN. Of this celebrated poet, the friend and companion -of Shakspeare, a very brief notice, and limited to his minor pieces, -will here be necessary, as his dramatic works and some circumstances of -his life, will hereafter occupy their due share of attention. His poems -were divided by himself into "Epigrams," "The Forest," "Under-woods," -and a translation of "Horace's Art of Poetrie;" to which his late -editors have added, "Miscellaneous Pieces." The _general_ cast of -these poems is not such as will recommend them to a modern ear; they -are but too often cold and affected; but occasionally, instances of a -description the very reverse of these epithets, are to be found, where -simplicity and beauty of expression constitute the prominent features. -It is chiefly, if not altogether, among his minor pieces in the lyric -measure that we meet with this peculiar neatness and concinnity of -diction: thus, in "The Forest," the lines from Catullus, beginning -"Come, my Celia, let us prove," and the well-known song - - "Drink to me only with thine eyes;" - -in the "Underwoods," the stanzas commencing - - "For Love's sake kisse me once again;" - - "Or scorne, or pittie on me take;" - -and, among his "Songs," these with the initial lines - - "Queene and huntresse, chaste and faire;" - - "Still to be neat, still to be drest;" - -are striking proofs of these excellencies. - -We must also remark that, among his "Epistles" and "Miscellaneous -Pieces," there are discoverable a few very conspicuous examples of the -union of correct and nervous sentiment with singular force and dignity -of elocution. Of this happy combination, the Lines to the Memory of -Shakspeare, an eulogium which will claim our attention in a future -page, may be quoted as a brilliant model. - -23. LODGE, THOMAS, M. D. This gentleman, though possessing celebrity, -in his day, as a physician, is chiefly entitled to the attention of -posterity as a poet. He was a native of Lincolnshire, and born about -1556; educated at Oxford, of which he became a member about 1573, and -died of the plague at London, in September 1625. He has the double -honour of being the first who published, in our language, a Collection -of Satires, so named, and of having suggested to Shakspeare the plot of -his AS YOU LIKE IT. Philips, in his Theatrum Poetarum, characterises -him as "one of the writers of those pretty old pastoral songs, which -were very much the strain of those times[632:A];" but has strangely -overlooked his satirical powers; these, however, have been noticed by -Meres, who remarks, that "as Horace, Lucilius, Juvenal, Persius and -Lucullus are the best for Satyre among the Latins, so with us in the -same faculty, these are chiefe: Piers Plowman, LODGE, Hall of Emanuel -Colledge in Cambridge, the author of Pigmalion's Image," &c.[632:B] The -work which gives him precedence, as a writer of professed satires, is -entitled "A FIG FOR MOMUS; containing pleasant Varietie, included in -_Satyrs_, Eclogues, and Epistles, by T. L. of Lincolnes Inne, Gent." -1595.[632:C] It is dedicated to "William, Earle of Darbie," and though -published two years before the appearance of Hall's Satires, possesses -a spirit, ease and harmony, which that more celebrated poet has not -surpassed. Than the following lines, selected from the first satire, we -know few which, in the same department, can establish a better claim to -vigour, truth, and melody:— - - "All men are willing with the world to haulte, - But no man takes delight to knowe his faulte— - Tell bleer-eid Linus that his sight is cleere, - Heele pawne himselfe to buy thee bread and beere;— - Find me a niggard that doth want the shift - To call his cursed avarice good thrift; - A rakehell sworne to prodigalitie, - That dares not terme it liberalitie; - A letcher that hath lost both flesh and fame, - That holds not letcherie a pleasant game:— - Thus with the world, the world dissembles still, - And to their own confusions follow will, - Holding it true felicitie to flie, - Not from the sinne, but from the seeing eie."[633:A] - -The debt of Shakspeare to our author is to be found in a pamphlet -entitled "Rosalynde: Euphues Golden Legacie, found after his Death in -his Cell at Silexdra, by T. L. Gent." The poetical pieces interspersed -through this tract correspond with the character given of Lodge's -composition by Phillips; for they are truly pastoral, and are finished -in a style of great sweetness, delicacy, and feeling. Want of taste, -or want of intimacy with this production, has induced Mr. Steevens to -give a very improper estimate of it; "Shakspeare," he remarks, "has -followed Lodge's novel more exactly than is his general custom when he -is indebted to such _worthless_ originals; and has sketched some of his -principal characters, and borrowed a few expressions from it."[633:B] - -The poetry of Lodge is to be gleaned from his pamphlets; particularly -from the two which we have mentioned, and from the two now to be -enumerated, namely, "Phillis: honoured with pastorall sonnets, elegies -and amorous delights. Where-unto is annexed, the tragicall complaynt -of Elstred," 1593, 4to., and "A most pleasant historie of Glaucus and -Scilla: with many excellent poems, and delectable sonnets," 1610, 4to. -He contributed, likewise, to the Collections termed _The Phœnix Nest_, -1593, and _England's Helicon_, 1600; and in the Preface, by Sir -Egerton Brydges, to the third edition of the latter Miscellany, so just -a tribute is paid to his genius as imperatively demands insertion; more -particularly if we consider the obscurity into which this poet has -fallen. "In ancient writings," observes the critic, "we frequently -meet with beautiful passages; but whole compositions are seldom free -from the most striking inequalities; from inharmonious verses; from -lame, or laboured and quaint expressions; and creeping or obscure -thoughts. In Lodge we find whole pastorals and odes, which have all -the ease, polish, and elegance of a modern author. How natural is -the sentiment, and how sweet the expression of the following in _Old -Damon's Pastoral_: - - "Homely hearts do harbour quiet; - Little fear, and mickle solace; - States suspect their bed and diet; - Fear and craft do haunt the palace. - Little would I, little want I, - Where the mind and store agreeth; - Smallest comfort is not scanty; - Least he longs that little seeth. - Time hath been that I have longed. - Foolish I to like of folly, - To converse where honour thronged, - To my pleasures linked wholly: - Now I see, and seeing sorrow - That the day consum'd returns not: - Who dare trust upon to-morrow, - When nor time nor life sojourns not!" - -"How charmingly he breaks out in _The Solitary Shepherd's Song_:— - - "O shady vale, O fair enriched meads, - O sacred flowers, sweet fields, and rising mountains; - O painted flowers, green herbs where Flora treads, - Refresh'd by wanton winds and watry fountains!" - -"Is there one word or even accent obsolete in this picturesque and -truly poetical stanza? - -"But if such a tender and moral fancy be ever allowed to trifle, is -there any thing of the same kind in the whole compass of English poetry -more exquisite, more delicately imagined, or expressed with more -finished and happy artifice of language, than Rosalind's Madrigal, -beginning— - - "Love in my bosom, like a bee, - Doth suck his sweet: - Now with his wings he plays with me, - Now with his feet. - Within mine eyes he makes his rest; - His bed amidst my tender breast; - My kisses are his daily feast; - And yet he robs me of my rest. - Ah, wanton, will ye?"— - -"Compare Dr. Lodge not only with his cotemporaries but his successors, -and who, except Breton, has so happily anticipated the taste, -simplicity, and purity of the most refined age."[635:A] - -Beside his miscellaneous poetry, Lodge published two dramatic -pieces[635:B], and may be considered as a voluminous prose writer. -Seven of his prose tracts are described by Mr. Beloe[635:C], and he -translated the works of Josephus and Luc. An. Seneca.[635:D] - -24. MARLOW, CHRISTOPHER. As the fame of this poet, though once in high -repute as a dramatic writer, is now supported merely by one of his -miscellaneous pieces, which is, indeed, of exquisite beauty, it has -been thought necessary briefly to introduce him here; a more extended -notice being deferred to a subsequent page. His earliest attempt -appeared in 1587, when he was about twenty-five years of age, in a -Translation of Coluthus's Rape of Helen into English rhyme. This was -followed by "Certaine of Ovid's Elegies," licensed in 1593, but not -printed until 1596. His next and happiest version was given to the -public in 1598, under the title of "The Loves of Hero and Leander," -being, like the preceding, a posthumous publication; for the author -died prematurely in 1593, leaving this translation, of which the -original is commonly but erroneously ascribed to Musæus, unfinished. -Phillips, in his character of Marlow, comparing him with Shakspeare, -says, that he resembled him not only in his dramatic circumstances, -"but also because in his begun poem of Hero and Leander, he seems to -have a resemblance of that clean, and unsophisticated wit, which is -natural to that incomparable poet."[636:A] Marlow translated also -"Lucans first booke, line for line," in blank verse, which was licensed -in 1593, and printed in 1600; but the production which has given him a -claim to immortality, and which has retained its popularity even to the -present day, first made its appearance in "England's Helicon," under -the appellation of _The Passionate Shepheard to his Love_. Of an age -distinguished for the excellence of its rural poetry, this is, without -doubt, the most admirable and finished pastoral. - -25. MARSTON, JOHN, who has a claim to introduction here, from his -powers as a satirical poet. In 1598, he published "The Metamorphosis, -or Pigmalion's Image. And certaine Satyres." Of these the former is -an elegant and luxurious description of a well-known fable, and to -this sportive effusion Shakspeare seems to allude in his "Measure for -Measure," where Lucio exclaims, "What, is there none of Pygmalion's -images, newly made woman, to be had now?"[636:B] His fame as a satirist -was established the year following, by the appearance of his "Scourge -of Villanie. Three Bookes of Satyres." - -A reprint of these pieces was given to the world by Mr. Bowles, in the -year 1764, who terms the author the "_British Persius_," and adds, that -very little is recorded of him with certainty. "Antony a Wood," he -remarks, "who is generally exact in his accounts of men, and much to be -relied upon, is remarkably deficient with respect to him; indeed there -seems to be little reason to think he was of Oxford: it is certain from -his works, that he was of Cambridge, where he was cotemporary with Mr. -Hall, with whom, as it appears from his satyre, called Reactio, and -from the Scourge of Villanie, sat. 10., he had some dispute.—It has -not been generally known who was the author of Pigmalion and the five -satyres: but that they belong to Marston is clear from the sixth and -tenth satyres of the Scourge of Villanie: and to this may be added the -evidence of the collector of England's Parnassus, printed 1600, who -cites the five first lines of the dedication to opinion, prefixed to -Pigmalion by the name of J. Marston, p. 221." - -"These satyres," says Mr. Warton, "in his observations on Spenser, -contain many well drawn characters, and several good strokes of -a satyrical genius, but are not, upon the whole, so finished and -classical as Bishop Hall's: the truth is, they were satyrists of a -different cast: Hall turned his pen against his cotemporary writers, -and particularly versifiers; _Marston_ chiefly inveighed against the -growing foibles and vices of the age."[637:A] - -There is undoubtedly a want of polish in the satirical muse of -Marston, which seems, notwithstanding, the result rather of design -than inability; for the versification of "Pigmalion's Image," is in -many of its parts highly melodious. Strength, verging upon coarseness, -is, however, the characteristic of the "Scourge of Villanie," and may -warrant the assertion of the author of "The Returne from Parnassus," -that he was "a ruffian in his stile."[637:B] Yet he is highly -complimented by Fitz-Geoffry, no mean judge of poetical merit, who -declares that he is - - —————— "satyrarum proxima primæ, - Primaque, fas primas si numerare duas."[637:C] - -26. NICCOLS, RICHARD. This elegant poet was born in 1584, was entered -of Magdalen College, Oxford, 1602, and took his bachelor's degree -in 1606. In 1607, he published "The Cuckow, a Poem," in the couplet -measure, which displays very vivid powers of description. His next -work was a new and enlarged edition of "The Mirror for Magistrates," -dated 1610, and to which, as a third and last part, he has added, -with a distinct title, "A Winter Night's Vision. Being an Addition -of such Princes, especially famous, who were exempted in the former -Historie. By Richard Niccols, Oxon. Magd. Hall, &c." This supplement -consists of an Epistle to the Reader, a Sonnet to Lord Charles Howard, -an Induction, and the Lives of King Arthur; Edmund Ironside; Prince -Alfred; Godwin, Earl of Kent; Robert Curthose; King Richard the First; -King John; King Edward the Second; the two young Princes murdered in -the Tower, and King Richard the Third; a selection, to which, with -little accordancy, he has subjoined, in the octave stanza, a poem -entitled "England's Eliza: or the victorious and triumphant reigne of -that virgin empresse of sacred memorie, Elizabeth Queene of Englande, -&c." This is preceded by a Sonnet to Lady Elizabeth Clere, an Epistle -to the Reader, and an Induction. - -Niccols' addition to this popular series of Legends merits considerable -praise, exhibiting many touches of the pathetic, and several -highly-wrought proofs of a strong and picturesque imagination. In the -Legend of Richard the Third, he appears to have studied with great -effect the Drama of Shakspeare. - -In 1615, our author published "Monodia: or, Waltham's Complaint upon -the Death of the most virtuous and noble Lady, late deceased, the Lady -Honor Hay;" and in the subsequent year, an elaborate poem, under the -title of "London's Artillery, briefly containing the noble practise -of that worthie Societie; with the moderne and ancient martiall -exercises, natures of armes, vertue of Magistrates, Antiquitie, Glorie -and Chronography of this honourable Cittie." 4to.[638:A] This work, -dedicated to "the Right Honourable Sir John Jolles, Knight, Lord -Maior," &c. is introduced by two Sonnets, a Preface to the Reader, and -a metrical Induction; it consists of ten cantos, in couplets, with -copious illustrative notes; but, in point of poetical execution, is -greatly inferior to his Cuckow, and Winter Night's Vision. Niccols, -after residing several years at Oxford, left that University for the -capital, where, records Wood, he "obtained an employment suitable to -his faculty."[639:A] - -27. RALEIGH, SIR WALTER. Of this great, this high-minded, but -unfortunate man, it will not be expected that, in his military, -naval, or political character, any detail should here be given; it is -only with Sir Walter, as a poet, that we are at present engaged, and -therefore, after stating that he was born in 1552, at Hayes Farm, in -the parish of Budley in Devonshire, and that, to the eternal disgrace -of James the First, he perished on a scaffold in 1618, we proceed to -record the singular circumstance, that, until the year 1813, no lover -of our literature has thought it necessary to collect his poetry. -The task, however, has at length been performed, in a most elegant -and pleasing manner, by Sir Egerton Brydges[639:B], and we have only -to regret that the pieces which he has been able to throw together, -should prove so few. Yet we may be allowed to express some surprise, -that two poems quoted as Sir Walter's in Sir Egerton's edition of -Phillips's "Theatrum Poetarum," should not have found a place in -this collection. Of these, the first is attributed to Raleigh, on -the authority of MSS. in the British Museum, and is entitled, "Sir -Walter Raleigh in the Unquiet Rest of his last Sickness," a production -equally admirable for its sublimity and Christian morality, and for the -strength and concinnity of its expression[639:C]; the second, of which -the closing couplet is quoted by Puttenham[639:D] as our author's, is -given entire by Oldys from a transcript by Lady Isabella Thynne, where -it is designated as "The Excuse written by Sir Walter Raleigh in his -younger years[639:E]," and though vitiated by conceit, appears to be -well authenticated. These, together with two fragments preserved by -Puttenham[640:A], would have proved welcome additions to the volume, -and, with the exception of his "Cynthia," a poem in praise of the -Queen, and now lost, might probably have included all that has been -attributed to the muse of Raleigh. - -The poetry of our bard seems to have been highly valued in his own -days; Puttenham says, that "for dittie and amorous ode, I finde Sir -Walter Rawleygh's vayne most loftie, insolent, and passionate[640:B];" -and Bolton affirms, that "the English poems of Sir Walter Raleigh -are not easily to be mended[640:C];" opinions which, even in the -nineteenth century, a perusal of his poems will tend to confirm. Of -vigour of diction, and moral energy of thought, the pieces entitled, -"_A Description of the Country's Recreations_;" a "_Vision upon the -Fairy Queen_;" the "_Farewell_," and the _Lines_ written in "_his last -Sickness_," may be quoted as exemplars: and for amatory sweetness, and -pastoral simplicity, few efforts will be found to surpass the poems -distinguished as "_Phillida's Love-call_;" "_The Shepherd's Description -of Love_;" the "_Answer to Marlow_," and "_The Silent Lover_." - -The general estimate of Raleigh as a poet, has been sketched by -Sir E. Brydges with his usual felicity of illustration, and as the -impression with which he has favoured the public is very limited, and -must necessarily soon become extremely scarce, a transcript from this -portion of his introductory matter, will have its due value with the -reader. - -"Do I pronounce RALEIGH a poet? Not, perhaps, in the judgment of a -severe criticism. RALEIGH, in his better days, was too much occupied -in action to have cultivated all the powers of a poet, which require -solitude and perpetual meditation, and a refinement of sensibility, -such as intercourse with business and the world deadens! - -"But, perhaps, it will be pleaded, that his long years of imprisonment -gave him leisure for meditation, more than enough! It has been -beautifully said by Lovelace, that - - "Stone walls do not a prison make, - Nor iron bars a cage," - -so long as the mind is free. But broken spirits, and indescribable -injuries and misfortunes, do not agree with the fervour required by the -Muse. Hope, that 'sings of promised pleasure,' could never visit him -in his dreary bondage; and Ambition, whose lights had hitherto led him -through difficulties and dangers and sufferings, must now have kept -entirely aloof from one, whose fetters disabled him to follow as a -votary in her train. Images of rural beauty, quiet, and freedom might, -perhaps, have added, by the contrast, to the poignancy of his present -painful situation; and he might rather prefer the severity of mental -labour in unravelling the dreary and comfortless records of perplexing -History in remote ages of war and bloodshed, than to quicken his -sensibilities by lingering amid the murmurs of Elysian waterfalls! - -"There are times when we dare not stir our feelings or our fancies; -when the only mode of reconciling ourselves to the excruciating -pressure of our sorrows is the encouragement of a dull apathy, which -will allow none but the coarser powers of the intellect to operate. - -"The production of an _Heroic Poem_ would have nobly employed this -illustrious Hero's mighty faculties, during the lamentable years of -his unjust incarceration. But how could _He_ delight to dwell on the -tale of Heroes, to whom the result of Heroism had been oppression, -imprisonment, ruin, and condemnation to death? - -"We have no proof that RALEIGH possessed the copious, vivid, and -creative powers of Spenser; nor is it probable that any cultivation -would have brought forth from him fruit equally rich. But even in -the careless fragments now presented to the reader, I think we can -perceive some traits of attraction and excellence which, perhaps, even -Spenser wanted. If less diversified than that gifted bard, he would, -I think, have sometimes been more forcible and sublime. His images -would have been more gigantic, and his reflections more daring. With -all his mental attention keenly bent on the busy state of existing -things in political society, the range of his thoughts had been lowered -down to practical wisdom; but other habits of intellectual exercise, -excursions into the ethereal fields of fiction, and converse with the -spirits which inhabit those upper regions, would have given a grasp -and a colour to his conceptions as magnificent as the fortitude of his -soul!"[642:A] - -28. SACKVILLE, THOMAS, Lord Buckhurst, was born at Withyam, in Sussex, -in 1527.[642:B] Though a statesman of some celebrity in the reign of -Elizabeth, his fame with posterity rests entirely on his merits as a -poet, and these are of the highest order. He possesses the singular -felicity of being the first writer of a genuine English tragedy, and -the primary inventor of "The Mirrour for Magistrates;" two obligations -conferred upon poetry of incalculable extent. - -Of Gorboduc, which was acted in 1561, and surreptitiously printed in -1563, we shall elsewhere have occasion to speak, confining our notice, -in this place, to his celebrated _Induction_ and _Legend of Henry -Duke of Buckingham_, which were first published in the _Second Part_ -and _Second Edition of Baldwin's Mirrour for Magistrates_, printed -in 1563. To this collection we are, indeed, most highly indebted, if -the observation of Lord Orford be correct:—"Our historic plays," he -remarks, "are allowed to have been founded on the heroic narratives in -the Mirrour for Magistrates; to that plan, and to the boldness of lord -Buckhurst's new scenes, perhaps we owe SHAKSPEARE!"[642:C] - -Our gratitude to this nobleman will be still further enhanced, when -we recollect, that he was more assuredly a model for _Spenser_, -the allegorical pictures in his _Induction_ being, in the opinion -of Warton, "so beautifully drawn, that, in all probability, they -contributed to direct, at least to stimulate, Spenser's imagination." -In fact, whoever reads this noble poem of Lord Buckhurst with attention -must feel convinced, that it awoke into being the allegorical groupes -of Spenser; and that, in force of imagination, in pathos, and in awful -and picturesque delineation, it is not inferior to any canto of the -Fairie Queen. Indeed from the nature of its plan, the scene being laid -in hell, and _Sorrow_ being the conductor of the hapless complainants, -it often assumes a deeper tone and exhibits a more sombre hue than the -muse of Spenser, and more in consonance with the severer intonations of -the harp of Dante. How greatly is it to be lamented that the effusions -of this divine bard are limited to the pieces which we have enumerated, -and that so early in life he deserted the fountains of inspiration, -to embark on a troubled sea of politics. Lord Buckhurst died, full of -honours, at the Council-Table at Whitehall, on April 19th, 1608, aged -eighty-one. - -Sir Egerton Brydges, speaking of his magnificent seat at Knowle in -West-Kent, tells us, that, "though restored with all the freshness -of modern art, it retains the character and form of its Elizabethan -splendour. The visitor may behold the same walls, and walk in the same -apartments, which witnessed the inspiration of him, who composed _The -Induction_, and _the Legend of the Duke of Buckingham_! He may sit -under the same oaks, and behold, arrayed in all the beauty of art, -the same delightful scenery, which cherished the day-dreams of the -glowing poet! Perchance he may behold the same shadowy beings glancing -through the shades, and exhibiting themselves in all their picturesque -attitudes to his entranced fancy!"[643:A] - -29. SOUTHWELL, ROBERT. This amiable but unfortunate Roman Catholic -Priest was born at St. Faith's in Norfolk, 1560; he was educated at -the University of Douay, became a member of the Society of Jesus at -Rome, when but sixteen, and finally prefect in the English college -there. Being sent as a missionary to England, in 1584, he was betrayed -and apprehended in 1592, and after being imprisoned three years, and -racked ten times, he was executed, as an agent for Popery, at Tyburn, -on the 21st of February 1595. - -Whatever may have been his religious intemperance or enthusiasm, his -works, as a poet and a moralist, place him in a most favourable light; -and we are unwilling to credit, that he who was thus elevated, just, -and persuasive in his writings, could be materially incorrect in his -conduct. In 1595, appeared his "Saint Peters Complaint, with other -poems:" 4to., which went through a second impression in the same -year, and was followed by "Mœoniæ. Or certaine excellent poems and -spiritual Hymns; omitted in the last impression of Peter's complaint; -being needefull thereunto to be annexed, as being both divine and -wittie," 1595-1596. 4to. These two articles contain his poetical works; -his other publications, under the titles of "Marie Magdalen's Funerall -Tears;" "The Triumphs over Death; or a consolatorie Epistle, for -afflicted minds, in the effects of dying friends," and "Short Rules of -Good Life," being tracts in prose, though interspersed with occasional -pieces of poetry. - -The productions of Southwell, notwithstanding the unpopularity of his -religious creed, were formerly in great request; "it is remarkable," -observes Mr. Ellis, "that the very few copies of his works which are -now known to exist, are the remnant of at least seventeen different -editions, of which eleven were printed between 1593 and 1600."[644:A] -The most ample edition of his labours was printed in 1620 in 16mo., and -exhibits five distinct title-pages to the several pieces which we have -just enumerated. - -Bolton in his "Hypercritica," written about 1616, does credit, to -his taste, by remarking that "never must be forgotten St. Peter's -Complaint, and those other serious poems, said to be father -Southwells: the English whereof, as it is most proper, so the -sharpness and light of wit is very rare in them."[645:A] From this -period, however, oblivion seems to have hidden the genius of Southwell -from observation, until Warton, by reproducing the criticism of Bolton, -in the third volume of his History of English Poetry 1781, recalled -attention to the neglected bard. Two years afterwards, Mr. Waldron, -in his notes to Ben Jonson's Sad Shepherd, gave us three specimens of -Southwell's poetry; Mr. Headley reprinted these in 1787[645:B]; Mr. -Ellis extracted an additional piece from the "Mœoniæ" in 1801; in 1802 -Ritson presented us with a list of his writings accompanied by the -notes of Mr. Park[645:C]; and lastly, in 1808, Mr. Haslewood favoured -us with an essay on his life and works.[645:D] - -Both the poetry and the prose of Southwell possess the most decided -merit; the former, which is almost entirely restricted to moral and -religious subjects, flows in a vein of great harmony, perspicuity, and -elegance, and breathes a fascination resulting from the subject and -the pathetic mode of treating it, which fixes and deeply interests the -reader. - -Mr. Haslewood, on concluding his essay on Southwell, remarks, that -"those who 'least love the religion,' still must admire and praise the -author, and regret that neither his simple strains in prose, nor his -'polished metre,' have yet obtained a collected edition of his works -for general readers." The promise of such an edition escaped from -the pen of Mr. Headley; at least it was his intention to re-publish -"the better part of Southwell's poetry;" but death, most unhappily, -precluded the attempt. - -30. SPENSER, EDMUND. This great poet, who was born in London in 1553, -has acquired an ever-during reputation in pastoral and epic poetry, -especially in the last. His "Shepheard's Calender: conteining twelve -aeglogues, proportionable to the twelve monethes," was published in -1579; it is a work which has conferred upon him the title of the -Father of the English pastoral, and has almost indissolubly associated -his name with those of Theocritus and Virgil. Yet two great defects -have contributed deeply to injure the popularity of his Calender; -the adoption of a language much too old and obsolete for the age in -which it was written, and the too copious introduction of satire on -ecclesiastical affairs. The consequence of this latter defect, this -incongruous mixture of church polemics, has been, that the aeglogues -for May, July, and September, are any thing but pastorals. Simplicity -of diction is of the very essence of perfection in pastoral poetry; but -vulgar, rugged, and obscure terms, can only be productive of disgust; -a result which was felt and complained of by the contemporaries of the -poet, and which not all the ingenuity of his old commentator, E. K., -can successfully palliate or defend. The pieces which have been least -injured by this "ragged and rustical rudeness," as the scholiast aptly -terms it, are the pastorals for January, June, October and December, -which are indeed very beautiful, and the genuine offspring of the rural -reed. - -It is, however, to the _Fairie Queene_ that we must refer for a -just delineation of this illustrious bard. It appears to have been -commenced about the year 1579; the first three books were printed in -1590, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth, in 1596. Whether the remaining -six books, which were to have completed the design, were finished or -not, continues yet unascertained; Browne, the author of Britannias -Pastorals[646:A], and Sir Aston Cokain[646:B], consider the poem to -have been left nearly in its present unfinished state; while Sir James -Ware asserts[646:C] that the latter books were lost by the carelessness -of the poet's servant whom he had sent before him into England on -the breaking out of the rebellion, and, what seems still more to the -purpose, Sir John Stradling, a contemporary of Spenser, and a highly -respectable character, positively declares that some of his manuscripts -were burnt when his house in Ireland was fired by the rebels.[647:A] -Now, as two cantos of a lost book, entitled _The Legend of Constancy_, -were actually published in 1609 as a part of Spenser's manuscripts -which had escaped the conflagration of his castle, it is highly -probable that the declaration of Sir John Stradling is correct, and -that the poet, if he did not absolutely finish the Fairie Queene, had -made considerable progress in the work, and that his labours perished -with his mansion. - -The defects which have vitiated the _Shepheard's Calender_, are not -apparent in the _Fairie Queene_; the charge of obsolete diction, which -has been so generally urged against the latter poem, must have arisen -from the just censure which, in this respect, was bestowed upon the -former, and the transference may be considered as a striking proof of -critical negligence, and of the long-continued influence of opinion, -however erroneous. The language of the Fairie Queene is, in fact, the -language of the era in which it was written, and even in the present -day, with few and trifling exceptions, as intelligible as are the texts -of Shakspeare and Milton.[647:B] - -Had Spenser, in this admirable poem, preserved greater unity in the -construction of his fable; had he, following the example of Ariosto, -employed human instead of allegorical heroes, he would undoubtedly -have been at once the noblest and most interesting of poets. But, as -it is, the warmest admirer of his numerous excellencies must confess, -that the Personifications which conduct the business of the poem, and -are consequently exposed to the broad day-light of observation, are -too unsubstantial in their form and texture, too divested of all human -organisation, to become the subjects of attachment or anxiety. They -flit before us, indeed, as mere abstract and metaphysical essences, as -beings neither of this nor any other order of planetary existence. A -witch, a fairy, or a magician, is a creation sufficiently blended with -humanity, to be capable of exciting very powerful emotion; but the -meteor-shades of Holiness or Chastity, personally conducting a long -series of adventures, is a contrivance so very remote from all earthly, -or even what we conceive of supernatural, agency, as to baffle and -revolt the credulities of the reader, however ductile or acquiescent. - -Yet, notwithstanding these great and obvious errors in the very -foundation of the structure, the merits of Spenser in every other -respect are of so decided and exalted a nature, as to place him, -in spite of every deduction, in the same class with Homer, Dante, -Shakspeare, and Milton. His versification is, in general, uncommonly -sweet and melodious; his powers of description such, with respect -to beauty, fidelity, and minute finishing, as have not since been -equalled; while in strength, brilliancy, and fertility of imagination, -it will be no hyperbole to assert, that he takes precedence of almost -every poet ancient or modern. - -One peculiar and endearing characteristic of the Fairie Queene, is the -exquisite tenderness which pervades the whole poem. It is impossible -indeed to read it without being in love with the author, without being -persuaded that the utmost sweetness of disposition, and the purest -sincerity and goodness of heart distinguished him who thus delighted -to unfold the kindest feelings of our nature, and whose language, by -its singular simplicity and energy, seems to breathe the very stamp and -force of truth. How grateful is it to record, that the personal conduct -of the bard corresponded with the impression resulting from his works; -that gentleness, humility, and piety, were the leading features of his -life, as they still are the most delightful characteristics of his -poetry.[649:A] - -Yet amiable and engaging as is the general cast of Spenser's genius, he -has nevertheless exhibited the most marked excellence as a delineator -of those passions and emotions which approach to, or constitute, the -sublime. No where do we find the agitations of fear, astonishment, -terror, and despair, drawn with such bold and masterly relief; they -start in living energy from his pen, and bear awful witness to the -grandeur and elevation of his powers. - -It is almost superfluous to add, after what has been already -observed, that the morality of the Fairie Queene is throughout pure -and impressive. It is a poem which, more than any other, inculcates -those mild and passive virtues, that patience, resignation, and -forbearance, which owe their influence to Christian principles. While -vice and intemperance are developed in all their hideous deformity, -those self-denying efforts, those benevolent and social sympathies, -which soften and endear existence, are painted in the most bewitching -colours: it is, in short, a work from the study of which no human being -can rise without feeling fresh incitement to cherish and extend the -charities of life. - -Spenser died comparatively, though not actually, indigent, on the 16th -of January, 1598. - -31. STIRLING, WILLIAM ALEXANDER, EARL OF. This accomplished nobleman -was born at Menstrie, in the county of Clackmannan, Scotland, 1580, -a descendant of the family of Macdonald. He was a favourite both of -James the First, and of his son Charles, and by the latter was created -Viscount Canada, and subsequently Earl of Stirling. From an early -period he gave promise of more than common genius, and his attachment -to poetry was fostered, as in Drummond, by the sorrows of unrequited -love. To the stimulus of this powerful passion we are indebted for his -"Aurora: containing the first Fancies of the Author's Youth," 4to., -which was published, together with some other pieces, in 1604. This -elegant production, the solace of a rural retreat, on his return from -a tour on the continent, consists of one hundred and six sonnets, ten -songs or odes, some madrigals, elegies, &c., and places the talents of -the writer in a very favourable point of view: for the versification -is often peculiarly harmonious, and many beauties, both in imagery and -sentiment, are interspersed through the collection, which, though a -juvenile production, must be pronounced the most poetical of his works. -The diction approximates, indeed, so nearly to that of the present -century, that a specimen may be considered as a curiosity, and will -confirm the assertion of Lord Orford, that he "was _greatly superior -to the style of his age_."[650:A] With the exception of a little -quaintness in the second line, the subsequent sonnet will equal the -expectation of the reader:— - - -SONNET X. - - "I SWEARE, Aurora, by thy starrie eyes, - And by those golden lockes whose locke none slips, - And by the corall of thy rosie lippes, - And by the naked snowes which beautie dies; - I sweare by all the jewels of thy mind, - Whose like yet never worldly treasure bought, - Thy solide judgement and thy generous thought, - Which in this darkened age have clearly shin'd: - I sweare by those, and by my spotless love, - And by my secret, yet most fervent fires, - That I have never nurc'd but chast desires, - And such as modestie might well approve. - Then since I love those vertuous parts in thee, - Shouldst thou not love this vertuous mind in me?"[650:B] - -The remaining poems of Stirling consist of four tragedies in alternate -rhyme, termed by their author "monarchicke;" namely, Darius, published -in 1603; Crœsus, in 1604; and the Alexandrean Tragedy, and Julius -Cæsar, in 1607. These pieces are not calculated for the stage; but -include some admirable lessons for sovereign power, and several -choruses written with no small share of poetic vigour. With the Aurora -in 1604, appeared his poem entitled, "A Parænesis to the Prince," a -production of great value both in a moral and literary light, and which -must have been highly acceptable to a character so truly noble as was -that of Henry, to whose memory he paid a pleasing tribute, by printing -an "Elegie on his Death," in 1612. - -The most elaborate of this nobleman's works was given to the public at -Edinburgh, in 1614, in 4to., and entitled, "Domes-day; or the great -Day of the Lord's Judgment." It is divided into twelve _Houres_ or -_Cantos_, and has an encomium prefixed by Drummond. Piety and sound -morality, expressed often in energetic diction, form the chief merit -of this long poem, for it has little pretension to either sublimity or -pathos. It had excited, however, the attention of Addison; for when the -first two books of Domes-day were re-printed by A. Johnstoun in 1720, -their editor tells us, "that Addison had read the author's whole works -with the greatest satisfaction; and had remarked, that 'the beauties -of our ancient English poets were too slightly passed over by modern -writers, who, out of a peculiar singularity, had rather take pains to -find fault than endeavour to excel.'"[651:A] - -Lord Stirling republished the whole of his poetical works, with the -exception of the "Aurora," in 1637, in a folio volume, including a new -but unfinished poem, under the title of _Jonathan_. This impression had -undergone a most assiduous revision, and was the last labour of its -author, who died on the 12th of February, 1640, in his sixtieth year. - -32. SYDNEY, SIR PHILIP, one of the most heroic and accomplished -characters in the annals of England, was born at Penshurst[652:A], -in West Kent, on Nov. 29th, 1554, and died at the premature age of -thirty-one, on the 17th of October, 1586, having been mortally wounded -on the 26th of the preceding September, in a desperate engagement -near Zutphen. "As he was returning from the field of battle," records -his friend, Lord Brooke, "pale, languid, and thirsty with excess of -bleeding, he asked for water to quench his thirst. The water was -brought; and had no sooner approached his lips, than he instantly -resigned it to a dying soldier, whose ghastly countenance attracted his -notice—speaking these ever-memorable words; _This_ man's necessity is -still greater than mine."[652:B] - -Had Sir Philip paid an exclusive attention to the poetical art, there -is every reason to suppose that he would have occupied a master's -place in this department; as it is, his poetry, though too often -vitiated by an intermixture of antithesis and false wit, and by an -attempt to introduce the classic metres, is still rich with frequent -proofs of vigour, elegance, and harmony. His "Arcadia," originally -published in 1590, abounds in poetry, among which are some pieces of -distinguished merit. In 1591, was printed his "Astrophel and Stella," -a collection of one hundred and eight sonnets, and eleven songs, and -of these several may be pronounced beautiful. They were annexed to the -subsequent editions of the Arcadia, together with "Sonets," containing -miscellaneous pieces of lyric poetry, several of which had appeared in -Constable's "Diana," 1594. To these may be added, as completing his -poetical works, fifteen contributions to "England's Helicon," a few -sonnets in "England's Parnassus," three songs in "The Lady of May, a -masque," subjoined to the Arcadia, two pastorals in Davison's poems, -1611, and an English version of the Psalms of David. - -That Sydney possessed an exquisite taste for, and a critical knowledge -of poetry, is sufficiently evident from his eloquent "Defence of -Poesy," first published in 1595. This, with his Collected Poetry, -would form a very acceptable reprint, especially if recommended by an -introduction from the elegant and glowing pen of Sir Egerton Brydges, -whose favourite Sydney avowedly is, and to whom he has already paid -some very interesting tributes.[653:A] - -The moral character of this great man equalled his intellectual energy; -and the last years of his short life were employed in translating Du -Plessi's excellent treatise on the Truth of Christianity. - -33. SYLVESTER, JOSHUA, a poet who has lately attracted a considerable -degree of attention, from the discovery of his having furnished to -Milton the _Prima Stamina_ of his Paradise Lost.[653:B] He was educated -by his uncle, William Plumb, Esq., and died at Middleburgh, in Zealand, -on the 28th of September, 1618, aged fifty-five. His principal work, a -translation of the "Divine Weeks and Works" of Du Bartas, was commenced -in 1590, prosecuted in 1592, 1598, 1599, and completed in 1605, since -which period it has undergone six editions; three in quarto, and three -in folio, the last being dated 1641. - -Both the version of Sylvester, and his original poems, published with -it, are remarkable for their inequality, for great beauties, and for -glaring defects. His versification is sometimes exquisitely melodious, -and was recognised as such by his contemporaries, who distinguished him -by the appellation of "silver-tongued Sylvester."[653:C] His diction -also is occasionally highly nervous and energetic, and sometimes -simply elegant; but much more frequently is it disfigured by tumour -and bombast. Of the golden lines which his Du Bartas contains, it may -be necessary to furnish the reader some proof, and the following, we -imagine, cannot fail to excite his surprise: - - "O thrice, thrice happy he, who shuns the cares - Of city-troubles, and of state affairs; - And, serving Ceres, tills with his own team - His own free land, left by his friends to him!— - And leading all his life at home in peace, - Always in sight of his own smoke; no seas, - No other seas he knows, nor other torrent, - Than that which waters with his silver current - His native meadows: and that very earth - Shall give him burial, which first gave him birth. - - To summon timely sleep, he doth not need - Æthiops cold rush, nor drowsy poppy seed, - The stream's mild murmur, as it gently gushes, - His healthy limbs in quiet slumber hushes;— - ——all self-private, serving God, he writes - Fearless, and sings but what his heart indites, - 'Till Death, dread Servant of the Eternal Judge, - Comes very late to his sole-seated Lodge.— - - Let me, Good Lord! among the Great unkenn'd, - My rest of days in the calm country end: - My company, pure thoughts, to work thy will, - My court, a cottage on a lowly hill."[654:A] - -So popular was this version in the early part of the seventeenth -century, that Jonson, no indiscriminate encomiast, exclaims, in an -epigram to the translator, - - "Behold! the rev'rend shade of Bartas stands - Before my thought, and in thy right commands, - That to the world I publish for him this, - 'Bartas doth wish thy English now were his.' - So well in that are his inventions wrought, - As _his_ will now be the _translation_ thought; - Thine the _original_; and France shall boast - No more the maiden glories she has lost."[655:A] - -The greatest compliment, however, which Sylvester has received, is the -imitation of Milton. - -The virtues of Sylvester were superior to his talents; he was, in fact, -to adopt the language of one of his intimate friends, a poet - - "Whom Envy scarce could hate; whom all admir'd, - Who liv'd beloved, and a Saint expir'd."[655:B] - -34. TURBERVILLE, GEORGE, a younger son of Nicholas Turberville, of -Whitechurch, in Dorsetshire, a gentleman of respectable family, was -born about the year 1540. He was educated at Winchester and Oxford, -and in 1562 became a member of one of the Inns of Court. Here the -reputation which he had acquired for talents and the dispatch of -business, obtained for him the appointment of secretary to Thomas -Randolph, Esq., ambassador to the Court of Russia, and, whilst in -this country, he employed his leisure in writing poems descriptive of -its manners and customs, addressed to Spenser, Dancie, and Park, and -afterwards published in Hakluyt's Voyages, 1598, vol. i. pp. 384, 385. - -On his return from this tour, he added greatly to his celebrity, as -a scholar and a gentleman, by the publication of his "Epitaphes, -epigrams, songs, and sonets, with a discourse of the friendly -affections of Tymetes to Pyndara his ladie," 8vo. 1567. This year, -indeed, appears to have been fully occupied by him in preparing his -works for the press; for, during its course, independent of the -collection just mentioned, he printed "The Heroycall Epistles of the -learned Poet Publius Ovidius Naso: with Aulus Sabinus aunsweres to -certaine of the same," 8vo., and "The Eclogs of the poet B. Mantuan -Carmelitan, turned into English verse, and set forth with the argument -to every eglogue." 12mo. These productions, with his "Tragical Tales, -translated in time of his troubles, out of Sundrie Italians, with the -argument and L'Envoye to ech tale," printed in 1576, and again in 1587, -with annexed "Epitaphs and Sonets, and some other broken pamphlettes -and Epistles," together with some pieces of poetry in his "Art of -Venerie," and in his "Booke of Faulconrie or Hauking," 1575, and a few -commendatory stanzas addressed to his friends, form the whole of his -poetical works. - -Turberville enjoyed, as a writer of songs, sonnets, and minor poems, a -high degree of popularity in his day; it was not, however, calculated -for durability, and he appears to have been forgotten, as a poet, -before the close of the seventeenth century. His muse has experienced -a temporary revival, through the medium of Mr. Chalmers's English -Poets, and to the antiquary, and lover of old English literature, this -reprint will be acceptable; but, for the general reader, he will be -found deficient in many essential points. Fancy, it is true, may be -discovered in his pieces, although forced and quaint; but of nature, -simplicity, and feeling, the portion is unfortunately small. Occasional -felicity of diction, a display of classical allusion, and imagery taken -from the amusements and customs of the age, are not wanting; but the -warmth, the energy, and the enthusiasm of poetry are sought for in vain. - -Our author survived the year 1594, though the date of his death is not -known. - -35. TUSSER, THOMAS, one of the most popular, and, assuredly, one -of the most useful of our elder poets, was born, according to Dr. -Mavor, about 1515, and died about 1583.[656:A] The work which ushers -him to notice here, and has given him the appellation of the English -Varro, was published in 1557, and entitled "A Hundreth Good Pointes -of Husbandrie," a small quarto of thirteen leaves. It was shortly -followed by "One Hundreth Good Poyntes of Huswiffry;" and in 1573, the -whole was enlarged with the title of "Five Hundreth Points of Good -Husbandry, united to as many of Good Huswifery." The most complete -edition, however, and the last in the author's life-time, was printed -in 1580. So acceptable did this production prove to the lovers of -poetry and agriculture, that it underwent nineteen editions during -its first century, and Dr. Mavor's edition, published in 1812, forms -the last, and twenty-fourth. The mutilated state of the old copies, -indeed, exemplifies, more than any thing else, the practical use to -which they were subjected; "some books," remarks Mr. Haslewood, "became -heir-looms from value, and Tusser's work, for useful information -in every department of agriculture, together with its quaint and -amusing observations, perhaps passed the copies from father to son, -till they crumbled away in the bare shifting of the pages, and the -mouldering relic only lost its value, by the casual mutilation of -time."[657:A] That the estimation in which the poems of Tusser were -held by his contemporaries, might lead to such a result, it may be -allowable to conclude from the assertion of Googe, who, speaking of -our author's works, says, that "in his fancie, they may, without any -presumption, compare with any of the Varros, Columellas, or Palladios -of Rome."[657:B] - -The great merit of Tusser's book, independent of the utility of its -agricultural precepts, consists in the faithful picture which it -delineates of the manners, customs, and domestic life of the English -farmer, and in the morality, piety, and benevolent simplicity, which -pervade the whole. In a poetical light its pretensions are not great. -The part relative to Husbandry is divided into months, and written -in quatrains, of eleven syllables in each line, which are frequently -constructed with much terseness, and with a happy epigrammatic brevity. -The abstracts prefixed to each month, are given in short verses of -four and five syllables each; and numerous illustrative pieces, and -nearly the whole of the Huswifery, present us with a vast variety -of metres, among which, as Ritson has observed, "may be traced the -popular stanza which attained so much celebrity in the pastoral ballads -of Shenstone."[658:A] Little that can be termed ornamental, either in -imagery or episode, is to be found in this poem; but the sketches of -character and costume, of rural employment and domestic economy, are -so numerous, and given with such fidelity, raciness, and spirit, as to -render the work in a very uncommon degree interesting and amusing. - -36. WARNER, WILLIAM. Of the biography of this fine old poet, little -has descended to posterity. He is supposed to have been born about the -year 1558; and that he died at Amwell in Hertfordshire, and was by -profession an attorney, are two of the principal facts which, by an -appeal to the parish register of Amwell, have been clearly ascertained. -In a note to his poem on this village, Mr. Scott first communicated -this curious document:—"1608-1609. Master William Warner, a man of -good yeares, and of honest reputation: by his profession an atturnye -of the Common Pleas: author of Albion's England, diynge suddenly in -the night in his bedde, without any former complaynt or sicknesse, on -Thursday night, beeinge the 9th day of March: was buried the Saturday -following, and lyeth in the church at the corner, under the stone of -Gwalter Fader."[658:B] - -The lines which gave occasion to this extract form a pleasing tribute -to the memory of the bard: - - "He, who in verse his Country's story told, - Here dwelt awhile; perchance here sketch'd the scene, - Where his fair Argentile, from crowded courts - For pride self-banish'd, in sequester'd shades - Sojourn'd disguis'd, and met the slighted youth - Who long had sought her love—the gentle bard - Sleeps here, _by Fame forgotten_." - -The words in Italics which close this passage, were not at the time -they were written correctly true, for Warner had then been a subject -of great and judicious praise, both to Mrs. Cooper and Dr. Percy; and, -since the era of Scott, he has been imitated, re-edited, and liberally -applauded. He is conjectured to have been a native of Warwickshire, -to have been educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and to have left -the University without a degree, for the purpose of cultivating his -poetical genius in the metropolis. His _Albion's England_, on which his -fame is founded, was first printed in 1586, when the poet was probably -about eight and twenty. It underwent six subsequent editions during -the author's life-time, namely, in 1589, 1592, 1596, 1597, 1602, and -1606.[659:A] - -This extensive poetic history, which is deduced from the deluge to the -reign of Elizabeth, is distributed into twelve books, and contains -seventy-seven chapters; it is dedicated to Henry Cary, Lord Hunsdon, -under whose patronage and protection Warner appears to have spent -the latter portion of his life. Such was the popularity of "Albion's -England," that it threw into the shade what had formerly been the -favourite collection, the "Mirror for Magistrates;" Warner was ranked -by his contemporaries, says Dr. Percy, on a level with Spenser; they -were called the Homer and Virgil of their age[659:B]; and Meres, -speaking of the English tongue, declares, that by his (Warner's) pen, -it "was much enriched and gorgeously invested in rare ornaments and -resplendent habiliments."[659:C] Less hyperbolical, and, therefore, -more judicious praise, was allotted him by Drayton, who, after noticing -his incorrectnesses, adds with a liberal spirit— - - ————————— "yet thus let me say - For my old friend, some passages there be - In him, which I protest have taken me - With almost wonder, so fine, so clear, and new, - As yet they have been equalled by few;"[659:D] - -a decision which subsequent criticism has confirmed. - -One of his most pleasing episodes, "Argentile and Curan," was -inserted by Mrs. Cooper in her "Muses' Library," who justly terms it -"a tale full of beautiful incidents, in the romantic taste, extremely -affecting, rich in ornament, wonderfully various in stile, and, in -short, one of the most beautiful pastorals I ever met with."[660:A] -This was again republished by Percy in his "Reliques[660:B]," and -finally honoured by Mason in the third volume of his Poems, 1796, where -it forms a _Legendary Drama in five acts, written on the old English -model_. Ritson, Headley, and Ellis, have furnished us with additional -extracts, and at length _Albion's England_ has found its place in the -body of our English Poetry through the taste and exertions of Mr. -Chalmers.[660:C] - -Ease, simplicity, and pathos, are the leading virtues of Warner's -muse. He eminently excelled in depicting rural and pastoral lite, and -in developing those simple and touching emotions which pervade the -innocent and artless bosom. His vices were those of his age, and may -be included under the heads of indelicacy, inequality, and quaintness; -these expunged, his finer parts strongly interest our affections, and -endear to us the memory of the good old bard. - -37. WATSON, THOMAS, a once popular writer of sonnets, was born in -London, and educated at Oxford, whence he returned to the metropolis -for the purpose of practising the law. In 1581, his principal poetical -work was entered on the Stationers' books, and afterwards published -with the following title, though without date:—"The ΕΚΑΤΟΜΠΑΘΙΑ, or -Passionate Centurie of Love, divided into two Parts: whereof the first -expresseth the Author's Sufferance in Love: the latter, his long -Farewell to Love and all his Tyrannie. Composed by Thomas Watson, -Gentleman; and published at the Request of certeine Gentlemen his very -Friends." - -Of this Collection, which occupies a thin 4to., black letter, with -a sonnet on each page, an admirable critical analysis has been -given by Sir Egerton Brydges, in the twelfth number of the British -Bibliographer, accompanied by seventeen specimens of the sonnets, and -from this critique, and from the Theatrum Poetarum, edited by the same -elegant scholar, we have drawn our account, for the original is so -scarce, as to be of hopeless acquisition. - -It will strike the reader, in the first place, that the poems which -Watson termed Sonnets, have no pretensions, in point of mechanism -and form, to the character of the legitimate sonnet. Instead of the -beautiful though artificial construction of the Petrarcan model, they -consist of eighteen lines, including three quatrains in alternate -rhyme, and a couplet appended to each quatrain; a system of verse -totally destitute of the union and dignity which distinguish this -branch of poetry in the practice of the Italians. It should be -remarked, however, that our poet has occasionally given us a sonnet -in Latin verse, in which he confines himself to fourteen lines, and, -as he observes, in the Introduction to his sixth sonnet, "commeth -somwhat neerer unto the Italian phrase than the English doth."[661:A] -Watson was, indeed, an elegant Latin poet, and in the matter prefixed -to his first and sixth sonnets, informs us that he had written a poem -"De Remedio Amoris," and that he was then "busied in translating -Petrarch his sonnets into Latin,—which one day may perchance come -to light."[661:B] In fact there appears to be more of true poetry in -his Latin than in his English verse; for though to the "Centurie of -Love" must be attributed great purity, correctness, and perspicuity of -diction, and a versification uncommonly polished, harmonious, and well -sustained, yet the soul of poetry, tenderness, simplicity, and energy -of sentiment, will be found wanting. In their place Watson has bestowed -upon us a multitude of metaphysical conceits, an exuberant store of -classical mythology, and an abundance of learned allusion; but, to -adopt the interesting observations of the critic mentioned in the -preceding paragraph, "to meditate upon a subject, till it is broken -into a thousand remote allusions and conceits; to accustom the mind to -a familiarity with metaphysical subtleties and casual similitudes in -contradictory objects, is to cultivate intellectual habits directly -opposite to those from whence real poetry springs; and to produce -effects directly opposite to those which real poetry is intended to -produce. - -"The real poet does but pursue, fix, and heighten those day-dreams -which every intellectual being more or less at times indulges; though -the difference of the degree, as well as of the frequency, in which -individuals indulge them, is incalculable; arising from the difference -of mental talent and sensibility, as well as of cultivation. But -who is there in whose fancy some absent image does not occasionally -revive? And who is there so utterly dull and hard, that in him it -arises unassociated with the slightest emotion of pain or pleasure? -Yet in what abundance and richness of colouring such images are -constantly springing up in the mind of the poet? Visions adhere to the -boughs of every tree; and painting what he sees and feels with his -natural enthusiasm, he carries the reader of sensibility along with -him; kindles his fainter ideas into a flame; draws forth the yet weak -impression into body and form; and irradiates his whole brain with his -own light. The chords of the heart are touched; and while thus played -upon produce enchanting music; till, as the spell is silent, the object -of this borrowed inspiration is astonished to find, that all this -brilliant entertainment sprung from the wand of the poetical magician. - -"If this be the secret of true poetry, what is he who seeks to convey -images so unnatural, that no one had ever even an imperfect glimpse of -them before, and no one can sympathize with them when expressed? Can he -whose thoughts find no mirror in the minds of others be a poet? Is not -a _metaphysical poet_ a contradiction of terms? - -"He who adopts these principles, will think of Watson as I do.—Has he -painted the natural emotions of the mind, or the heart? Has he given - - "A local habitation and a name" - -to those 'airy nothings' which more or less haunt every fancy? Or has -he not sat down rather to exercise the subtlety of his wit, than to -discharge the fullness of his bosom?"[663:A] - -Yet has Watson, with these vital defects, been pronounced by Mr. -Steevens superior as a sonneteer to Shakspeare[663:B]; a preference -which we shall have occasion to consider in the chapter appropriated to -the minor poems of our great dramatist. - -Beside the "Hekatompathia," Watson published, in 1581, a Latin -translation of the Antigone of Sophocles; in 1582, "Ad Olandum de -Eulogiis serenissimæ nostræ Elizabethæ post Anglorum prœlia cantatis, -Decastichon;" in 1586, a Paraphrase in Latin verse of the "Raptus -Helenæ," of Coluthus; in 1590, an English Version of Italian -Madrigalls, and "Melibœus, a Latin Eclogue on the Death of Sir Francis -Walsingham," 4to.; in 1592, he printed "Amintæ Gaudia," in hexameter -verses, 4to.; and beside other fugitive pieces, two poems of his are -inserted in the "Phœnix Nest," 1593, and in "England's Helicon," 1600. - -Watson has been highly praised by Nash[663:C], by Gabriel -Harvey[663:D], and by Meres; the latter asserting that "as Italy had -Petrarch, so England had Thomas Watson."[663:E] He is supposed to have -died about the year 1595, for Nash, in his "Have with you to Saffron -Walden," printed in 1596, speaks of him as then deceased, adding, that -"for all things he has left few his equals in England." - -38. WILLOBIE, HENRY. From the Preface of Hadrian Dorrell, to the first -edition of Willobie's "Avisa" in 1594, in which he terms the author, -"a young man, and a scholar of very good hope," there is foundation -for conjecturing that our poet was born about the year 1565. It -appears also from this prefatory matter that, "being desirous to -see the fashions of other countries for a time, he not long sithence -departed voluntarily to her majestie's service," and that Dorrell, in -his friend's absence, committed his poem to the press.[664:A] He gave -it the following title, "Willobie his Avisa; or the true picture of -a modest Maide and of a chast and constant wife. In hexameter[664:B] -verse. The like argument whereof was never heretofore published:" -4to. A second edition was published by the same editor in 1596, with -an Apology for the work, dated June 30, and concluding with the -information, that the author was "of late gone to God." A fourth -impression "corrected and augmented," consisting of 72 leaves 4to., -made its appearance in 1609[664:C], with the addition of "the victorie -of English Chastitie never before published," and subscribed "Thomas -Willoby, _frater Henrici Willoby nuper defuncti_." - -Mr. Haslewood conjectures from Dorrell's calling Willobie his -_chamber-fellow_, and then dating his Preface from his chamber in -Oxford; and from a passage in the "Avisa" itself, that our author was -educated in that university, and that he was a native of Kent.[665:A] -We are told likewise by Dorrell, in his "Apologie," that his friend had -written a poem entitled "Susanna," which still remained in manuscript. - -The "Avisa," which consists of a great number of short cantos, is -written to exemplify and recommend the character of a chaste woman, -under all the temptations to which the various situations incident to -her life, expose her. "In a void paper," says the editor, "rolled up in -this book, I found this very name Avisa, written in great letters, a -pretty distance asunder, and under every letter a word beginning with -the same letter, in this forme:— - - A. V. I. S. A. - Amans. Vxor. Inviolata. Semper. Amanda. - -"That is, in effect, A loving wife that never violated her faith is -alwayes to be beloved. Which makes me conjecture, that he minding -for his recreation to set out the idea of a constant wife (rather -describing what good wives should do than registring what any hath -done,) devised a woman's name that might fitly expresse this woman's -nature whom he would aime at: desirous in this (as I conjecture) to -imitate a far off, either Plato in his commonwealth, or More in his -Utopia."[665:B] Prefixed are two commendatory copies of verses, of -which the second, signed _Contraria Contrariis_, is remarkable for -an allusion to Shakspeare's "Rape of Lucrece," and will be noticed -hereafter. - -Of invention and enthusiasm, the poet's noblest boast, few traits are -discoverable in the Avisa, nor can it display any vivid delineation of -passion; but it occasionally unfolds a pleasing vein of description, -and both the diction and metre are uniformly clear, correct, and -flowing. Indeed, the versification may be pronounced, for the age in -which it appeared, peculiarly sweet and well modulated, and the whole -poem, in language and rhythm, makes a close approximation to modern -usage. - -39. WITHER, GEORGE. This very voluminous writer is introduced here, in -consequence of his _Juvenilia_, which constitute the best of his works, -having been all printed or circulated before the death of Shakspeare. -He was born at Bentworth, near Alton in Hampshire, in 1590, and, after -a long life of tumult, vicissitude, and disappointment, died in his -seventy-eighth year in 1667. He continued to wield his pen to the last -month of his existence, and more than one hundred of his pieces, in -prose and verse, have been enumerated by Mr. Park in a very curious and -elaborate catalogue of his works.[666:A] We shall confine ourselves, -however, for the reason already assigned, to that portion of his poetry -which was in circulation previous to 1616. - -It appears from Wither's own catalogue of his works[666:B], that four -of his earliest poems, entitled "Iter Hibernicum," "Iter Boreale," -"Patrick's Purgatory," and "Philarete's Complaint," were lost in -manuscript. The first of his published productions was printed in 1611, -under the title of "_Abuses Stript and Whipt_: or Satyricall Essays. -Divided into two Bookes;" 8vo., to which were annexed "The Scourge," -a satire, and "Certaine Epigrams." This book, he tells us[666:C], -was written in 1611, and its unsparing severity involved him in -persecution, and condemned him for several months to a prison. It was -nevertheless highly popular, and underwent an eighth impression in 1633. - -An elegant writer in the British Bibliographer has subjoined the -following very just and interesting remarks to his notice of these -poignant satires. "The reign of King James," he observes, "was not -propitious to the higher orders of poetry. All those bold features, -which nourished the romantic energies of the age of his predecessor, -had been suppressed by the selfish pusillanimity and pedantic policy -of this inglorious monarch. Loving flattery and a base kind of -luxurious ease, he was insensible to the ambitions of a gallant -spirit, and preferred the cold and barren subtleties of scholastic -learning to the breathing eloquence of those who were really inspired -by the muse. Poetical composition therefore soon assumed a new -character. Its exertions were now overlaid by learning, and the -strange conceits of metaphysical wit took place of the creations of a -pure and unsophisticated fancy. It was thus that Donne wasted in the -production of unprofitable and short-lived fruit the powers of a most -acute and brilliant mind. It was thus that Phineas Fletcher threw away -upon an unmanageable subject the warblings of a copious and pathetic -imagination. The understanding was more exercised in the ingenious -distortion of artificial stores, than the faculties which mark the poet -in pouring forth the visions of natural fiction. - - "Such scenes as youthful poets dream, - On summer eve, by haunted stream, - -were now deemed insipid. The Fairy Fables of Gorgeous Chivalry were -thought too rude and boisterous, and too unphilosophical for the -erudite ear of the book-learned king! - -"As writers of verse now brought their compositions nearer to the -nature of prose, the epoch was favourable to the satyrical class, for -which so much food was furnished by the motley and vicious manners -of the nation. Wither, therefore, bursting with indignation at the -view of society which presented itself to his young mind, took this -opportunity to indulge in a sort of publication, to which the prosaic -taste of the times was well adapted; but he disdained, and, perhaps, -felt himself unqualified, to use that glitter of false ornament, which -was now substituted for the true decorations of the muse. 'I have -arrived,' says he[667:A], 'to be as plain as a pack-saddle.'—'Though -you understand them not, yet because you see this wants some _fine -phrases and flourishes_, as you find other men's writings stuffed -withal, perhaps you will judge me unlearned.'—'Yet I could with ease -have amended it; for it cost me, I protest, more labour to observe this -plainness, than if I had more poetically trimmed it.'"[668:A] - -The plainness of which Wither here professes himself to have been -studious, forms one of the noblest characteristics of his best -writings. Dismissing with contempt the puerilities and conceits which -deformed the pages of so many of his contemporaries, he cultivated, -with almost uniform assiduity, a simplicity of style, and an expression -of natural sentiment and feeling, which have occasioned the revival of -his choicest compositions in the nineteenth century[668:B], and will -for ever stamp them with a permanent value. - -Returning to his Juvenilia, we find that in 1612 he published in a -thin quarto, "_Prince Henrie's Obsequies_; or mournfull Elegies upon -his Death. With a supposed Interlocution betweene the Ghost of Prince -Henry and Great Britaine;" which was followed the succeeding year -by his "_Epithalamia_: or Nuptiall Poemes," 4to., on the marriage -of Frederick the Fifth, with Elizabeth, only daughter of James the -First. These pieces have been re-printed, by Sir Egerton Brydges, in -his "Restituta:" the _Obsequies_ contain forty-five elegiac sonnets, -succeeded by an _Epitaph_, the _Interlocution_, and a _Sonnet of -Death_, in Latin rhymes, with a paraphrastic translation. Among the -numerous sonnet-writers of the age of Shakspeare, Wither claims a most -respectable place, and many of these little elegies deserve a rescue -from oblivion. We would particularly point out Nos. 14 and 17, from -which an admirable sonnet might be formed by subjoining six lines -of the former to the first two quatorzains of the latter, and this -without the alteration of a syllable; the _octave_ will then consist -of a soliloquy by the poet himself, and the _sestain_ be addressed to -Elizabeth the sister of Prince Henry; a transition which is productive -of a striking and happy effect:— - - "Thrice happy had I been, if I had kept - Within the circuit of some little Village, - In ignorance of Courts and Princes slept, - Manuring of an honest halfe-plough tillage: - Or else, I would I were as young agen - As when _Eliza_, our last _Phœnix_ died; - My childish yeares had not conceived then - What 'twas to lose a Prince so dignified:— - Thy brother's well: and would not change estates - With any prince that reigns beneath the skie: - No, not with all the world's great potentates: - His plumes have born him to eternitie!— - He shall escape (for so th' Almighty wills) - The stormy Winter of ensuing ills."[669:A] - -In 1614, our author published "A _Satyre_ written to the King's most -excellent Majestie," 8vo.; and "_The Shepherds Pipe_," 8vo.; the -latter, a production of high poetical merit, having being composed in -conjunction with Browne, the author of Britannia's Pastorals. - -In 1615, appeared "_The Shepheards Hunting_: Being certaine -Eglogues, written during the time of the Author's imprisonment in -the Marshalsey," 8vo. This was intended as a continuation of the -"Shepheard's Pipe," and is fully equal, if not superior, to the prior -portion: Phillips, indeed, speaking of Wither, says, "the most of -poetical fancy, which I remember to have found in any of his writings, -is in a little piece of pastoral poetry, called _The Shepherd's -Hunting_."[669:B] - -The next work with which Wither favoured us, though not published for -_general_ circulation before 1619, yet, as the stationer, George -Norton, tells us, had been "long since imprinted for the use of the -author, to bestow on such as had voluntarily requested it _in way of -adventure_;" words which seem to intimate, that it had been dispersed -for the purpose of _pecuniary_ return, and probably with the intent -of supporting the bard during his imprisonment in the Marshalsea. It -has accordingly a title-page which implies a second impression, and -is termed "_Fidelia_. Newly corrected and augmented." This is a work -which ought to have protected the memory of Wither from the sarcasms -of Butler, Swift, and Pope; for it displays a vein of poetry at once -highly elegant, impassioned, and descriptive. To _Fidelia_ was first -annexed the two exquisite songs, reprinted by Dr. Percy, commencing - - "Shall I, wasting in dispaire," - -and - - "Hence away, thou Syren, leave me."[670:A] - -We shall close the list of those works of Wither that fall within the -era to which we are limited, by noticing his "_Faire Virtue_: the -Mistresse of Phil'arete," 8vo. This beautiful production, glowing -with all the ardours of a poetic fancy, was one of his earliest -compositions, and is alluded to in his "Satire to the King," in -1614, before which period there is reason to suppose it was widely -circulated in manuscript; for in a prefatory epistle to the copy of -1622, published by John Grismand, but which was originally prefixed -to an anonymous edition printed by John Marriot, and not now supposed -to be in existence, Wither tells us, that "the poem was composed many -years agone, and, unknown to the author, got out of his custody by an -acquaintance;" and he adds, "when I first composed it, I well liked -thereof, and it well enough became my years." To high praise of this -work in its poetical capacity, Mr. Dalrymple has annexed the important -remark, that it unfolds a more perfect system of female tuition than is -any where else to be discovered. - -The great misfortune of Wither was, that the multitude of his -subsequent publications, many of which were written during the -effervescence of party zeal, and are frequently debased by coarse and -vulgar language, overwhelmed the merits of his earlier productions. Yet -it must be conceded, that his prose, during the whole period of his -authorship, generally exhibits great strength, perspicuity, and freedom -from affectation; and on the best of his poetical effusions we may -cheerfully assent to the following encomium of an able and impartial -judge:— - -"If poetry be the power of commanding the imagination, conveyed in -measure and expressive epithets, Wither was truly a poet. Perhaps -there is no where to be found a greater variety of English measure -than in his writings, (Shakspeare excepted,) more energy of thought, -or more frequent developement of the delicate filaments of the human -heart."[671:A] - -40. WOTTON, SIR HENRY. This elegant scholar and accomplished gentleman -was forty-eight years of age when Shakspeare died, being born at -Boughton-Hall in Kent, in 1568. His correspondence with Milton on the -subject of Comus in 1638, is on record, and it is highly probable that, -on his return from the continent in 1598, after a long residence of -nine years in Germany and Italy, he would not long remain a stranger -either to the reputation or the person of the great Dramatic Luminary -of his times. - -Having mentioned these great poets as contemporaries of Sir Henry -Wotton, it may be a subject of pleasing speculation to conjecture how -far they could be personally known to each other. The possibility -of some intercourse of this kind, though transient, seems to have -forcibly struck the mind of an elegant poet and critic of the present -day; speaking of Comus, presented at Ludlow-Castle in 1634, he -remarks,—"Much it has appeared to me of the _Shaksperean_ diction -and numbers and form of sentiment may be traced in this admirable -and delightful Drama: in which the streams of the _Avon_ mix with -those of the _Arno_, of the _Mincius_, and the _Ilissus_. Part of -MILTON'S affectionate veneration, beside what arises from congenial -mind, may have arisen from _personal_ respect. At the _death_ of -SHAKSPEARE, MILTON was in his _eighth_ year. - - ——— "Heroum laudes et facta Parentum - Jam legere, et quæ sit poterat cognoscere Virtus." - -"It is hardly probable that they never met. SHAKSPEARE, if they did see -each other, could not but be charmed with the countenance and manners -of a boy like MILTON: and MILTON, whose mind was never childish, and -whose countenance at ten has the modest but decisive character of his -high destiny, would feel the interview: his young heart would dilate, -and every recollection would bring SHAKSPEARE, once seen and heard, to -his remembrance and imagination with increasing force."[672:A] - -The most powerful circumstance which militates against this interesting -supposition, is, that, if such an interview had taken place, we should, -in all probability, have found it recorded in the minor poems, Latin or -English, of Milton, who has there preserved many of the occurrences of -his youthful days, and would scarcely have failed, we think, to put the -stamp of immortality on such an event. - -The poetry of Wotton, though chiefly written for the amusement of his -leisure, and through the excitement of casual circumstances, possesses -the invaluable attractions of energy, simplicity, and the most touching -morality; it comes warm from the heart, and whether employed on an -amatory or didactic subject, makes its appropriate impression with an -air of sincerity which never fails to delight. Of this description are -the pieces entitled, "A Farewell to the Vanities of the World;" the -"Character of a Happy Life," and the Lines on the Queen of Bohemia. One -of his earliest pieces, being "written in his youth," was printed in -Davison's "Poetical Rapsody," 1602, and his Remains were collected and -published by his amiable friend Isaac Walton. Sir Henry died, Provost -of Eton, in December 1639, in the seventy-third year of his age. - -In drawing up these Critical Notices of the principal poets who, -independent of the Drama, flourished during the life-time of -Shakspeare, we have been guided chiefly by the consideration of their -positive merit, or great incidental popularity; and few, if any, who, -on these bases, call for admission, have probably been overlooked. -There is one poet, however, whose memory has been preserved by -Phillips, and of whom, from the high character given of him by this -critic, it may be necessary to say a few words; for if the following -eulogium on the compositions of this writer be not the result of a -marked partiality, it should stimulate to an ardent enquiry after -manuscripts so truly valuable. - -"JOHN LANE, a fine old Queen Elizabeth's gentleman, who was living -within my remembrance, and whose several Poems, had they not had the -ill fate to remain unpublisht, when much better meriting than many, -that are in print, might possibly have gained him a name not much -inferior, if not equal to Drayton, and others of the next rank to -Spencer; but they are all to be produc't in manuscript, namely his -'_Poetical Vision_,' his '_Alarm to the Poets_,' his '_Twelve Months_,' -his '_Guy of Warwick, a Heroic Poem_' (at least as much as many others -that are so entitled), and lastly his '_Supplement to Chaucer's -Squire's Tale_.'"[673:A] - -It has happened unfortunately for Lane, that the only specimen of his -writings which has met the eye of a modern critic, has proved a source -of disappointment. Warton, after recording that a copy of Lane's -supplement to Chaucer existed in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, adds, -"I conceived great expectations of him on reading Phillips's account. -But I was greatly disappointed, for Lane's performance, upon perusal, -proved to be not only an inartificial imitation of Chaucer's manner, -but a weak effort of invention."[674:A] This discovery, however, should -not arrest all future research; for his four preceding poems, of which -the latter two must necessarily, from their titles, be of considerable -length, may yet warrant the decision of Phillips.[674:B] - -To this brief summary of Master-Bards we shall now subjoin, in a -tabular and alphabetic form, a catalogue of those numerous minor poets -who were content to follow in the train of more splendid talent. In -carrying this arrangement into execution it will not be necessary, -after the example of Ritson, to dignify with the name of poet every -individual who contributed a single copy of verses, as a tribute to -contemporary merit—a prostitution of the title which appears truly -ridiculous; for though bulk be no proof of excellence, yet were we -to assign the name of poet to every penner of a stanza, the majority -of those who barely read and write, might be included in the list. -To those alone, therefore, who either published themselves, or had -their productions thrown into a collective form by others, will the -appellation be allotted. - -With a view to simplicity and brevity, the Table will consist but of -three parts; the first, occupied by the names of the poets; the second, -by abbreviated titles of their works, with their dates; and the third, -in order to prevent the frequent repetition of similar epithets, will -contain arbitrary marks, designative of the general merit of their -writings, and forming a kind of graduated scale. Thus _mediocrity_ will -be designated by a broad black line (|); _excellence_ will be expressed -by eight asterisks before the mark of mediocrity, (* * * * * * * * |), -and absolute _worthlessness_ by eight after it (| * * * * * * * *); -while the intermediate shades of merit will be sufficiently pointed out -by the intervening asterisks. Occasional _notes_, where peculiarity of -any kind may call for them, will be added. - -On this plan of _tabular_ construction, the tediousness of a mere -catalogue will, in a great measure, be avoided; and, at the same time, -an adequately accurate view be given of the multiplicity and diffusion -of poetical composition which pervaded this fertile period. - - -_TABLE of Minor Miscellaneous Poets, during the Age of -SHAKSPEARE._ - -SCALE. - - E M AW - * * * * * * * * | * * * * * * * * - - Key: E = _Excellence._ - M = _Mediocrity._ - AW = _Absolute Worthlessness._ - - ACHELEY, THOMAS. "_A most lamentable and - tragical Historie._" 12mo. 1576 - - A translation from a novel of Bandello | * - - ANDERSON, JAMES. _Ane godly treatis_, calit - the first and second cumming of Christ, - with the tone of the wintersnycht. 16mo. - Edin. 1595 | * - - ANDREWE, THOMAS. _The Unmasking of a feminine - Machiavell._ 4to. 1604 | * - - ANNESON, JAMES. _Carolana_, that is to say, - a Poeme in Honour of our King, Charles-James, - Queen Anne, and Prince Charles, &c. 4to. 1614 - - ARTHINGTON, HENRY. _Principall Points of Holy - Profession._ 4to. 1607 | * * - - ASKE, JAMES. _Elizabetha Triumphans._ 4to. - Blank Verse. 1588 | * - - AVALE, LEMEKE. _A Commemoration or Dirge_ of - bastarde Edmonde Boner. 8vo. 1659 | - - BALNEVIS, HENRY. _Confession of Faith_, - conteining how the troubled man should seeke - refuge at his God. 12mo. Edin. 1584 | - - BARNEFIELDE, RICHARD. _Cynthia_ with - certeyne Sonnettes and the Legend of - Cassandra. 1594 | - - The _Affectionate Shepherd_. 16mo.[677:A] 1595 * | - - _The Encomion of Lady Pecunia._ 4to. 1598 | - - BARNES, BARNABE. _Parthenophil and - Parthenope._ Sonnettes, Madrigals, Elegies - and Odes. 1593 * | - - _A Divine Centurie of Spirituall - Sonnettes._[677:B] 1595 * | - - BASTARD, THOMAS. _Chrestoleros._ Seven - Books of Epigrams. 8vo.[677:C] 1595 * | - - BATMAN, STEPHEN. _The Travayled Pylgrime._ - 4to. 1569 | * * * - - BEVERLEY, PETER. _The History of Ariodanto - and Jeneura._ 8vo. 2d edit. From Ariosto. 1600 | - - BIESTON, ROGER. _The Bayte and Snare of - Fortune._ Folio. ten leaves. No date.[677:D] - - BLENERHASSET, THOMAS. _The Seconde Part of - the Mirrour for Magistrates._ 4to. 1578 | * - - BOURCHER, ARTHUR. _A Fable of Æsop_ - Versified. 8vo. 1566 - - BOURMAN, NICHOLAS. _A Friendelie Well - Wishinge_ to such as endure. A Ballad. 1581 - - BRADSHAW, THOMAS. _The Shepherd's Starre._ - 4to. 1591 - - BRATHWAYTE, RICHARD. _The Golden Fleece_, - with other poems. Sm. 8vo. 1611 | - - _The Poets Willow_, or the Passionate - Shepherd. 8vo. 1614 | - - _A Strappado for the Divell._ Epigrams - and Satyres. 8vo. 1615 | - - BRICE, THOMAS. _The Courte of Venus - Moralized._ 1567 - - _Songes and Sonnettes._ 1567 - - BROUGHTON, ROWLAND. _A Briefe Discourse_ - of the Lyfe and Death of the late Right - High and Hon{ble} Sir Will{m} Pawlet, - Knight. 1572 | * * - - BROOKE, THOMAS. _Certayne Verses_ in the - time of his imprisonment, the day before - his deathe. Norwich. 1570 - - BROOKE, CHRISTOPHER. _Elegy_ on Prince - Henry. 1613 - - _Eclogues._ Dedicated to W{m} - Browne.[678:A] 1614 | - - BRYSKETT, LODOWICK. _The Mourning Muses_ - of Lod. Bryskett upon the deathe of the - most noble Sir Philip Sydney knight.[678:B] 1587 * | - - BUC, SIR GEORGE. Δαφνις Πολυστεφανος. An - Eclog treating of Crownes, and of - Garlandes, and to whom of right they - appertaine. 4to. 1605 * | - - CAREW, RICHARD. "_Godfrey of Bulloigne_, - or the Recoverie of Hierusalem." First - Five Cantos translated from Tasso. First - edition, no date. Second, 4to. 1594 | * - - CARPENTER, JOHN. _A Sorrowfull Song_ for - sinfull soules. 8vo. 1586 - - CHESTER, ROBERT. "_Loves Martyr_, or - Rosalins Complaint." From the Italian of - Torquato Cœliano. "With the true Legend of - famous King Arthur."[679:A] 1601 | * - - CHETTLE, HENRY. _The Pope's pitiful - Lamentation_ for the death of his deere - darling Don Joan of Austria. 4to. 1578 - - "_The Forest of Fancy._" Consisting of - apothegmes, histories, songs, sonnets, - and epigrams. 4to. 1579 - - _A Dolefull Ditty_ or sorowful sonet of - the Lord Darly, some time King of Scots. 1579 | - - CHUTE, ANTHONY. _Beawtie Dishonoured_, - written under the title of Shore's Wife. - 4to. 1593 - - _Procris and Cephalus._[679:B] 1593 | * - - CLAPHAM, HENOCH. _A Briefe of the Bible's - History_; Drawne first into English poesy. - 8vo. Edin. 1596 | * * * - - COPLEY, ANTHONY. _Loves Owle_: an idle - conceited Dialogue betwene Love and an - Olde-man. 4to. 1595 - - _A Fig for Fortune._ 4to. 1596 | * * - - COTTESFORD, THOMAS. _A Prayer to - Dannyell._ 1570 - - COTTON, ROGER. _An Armor of Proofe_, - brought from the Tower of David. 4to. 1596 - - _A Spirituall Song._ 4to. 1596 - - CULROSE, ELIZABETH. _Ane Godly Dream._ - 4to. Edin. 1603 | - - CUTWODE, T. _Caltha-poetarum_, or the - Bumble Bee, 4to. 1599 - - DAVIDSTONE, JOHNE. _Ane Brief Commendation_ - of Uprichtnes, &c. in Inglis Meter. 4to. 1573 - - _A Memorial of the Life and Death_ of - two worthye Chrittians. In English Meter. - 8vo. 1595 - - DAVIES, JOHN. _The Scourge of Folly._ - Consisting of satyricall Epigramms, &c. - 8vo. 1611 - - _Humours Heavn on Earth._ 1605 - - _Microcosmos._ The Discovery of the - Little World, with the government - thereof. 4to. 1603 - - _The Muses Sacrifice_; or Divine - Meditations. 12mo. 1612 - - _Wittes Pilgrimage_, (by Poeticall - Essaies,) Through a World of amorous - Sonnets, &c. 4to.[680:A] 16 - - _A Select Second Husband_ for Sir Thos. - Overburie's Wife. Small 8vo. 1616 - - _Mirum in Modum._[680:B] 1602 | * * - - DAVISON, FRANCIS. } _Sonnets, Odes, - DAVISON, WALTER. } Elegies, Madrigals, - and Epigrams_, by - Francis and Walter - Davison, brethren. - 12mo.[680:C] 1602 * | - - DELONE, THOMAS. _Strange Histories_, or - songes and sonnets of kinges, princes, - dukes, lords, ladyes, knights, and - gentlemen: &c. 4to.[681:A] 1612 | * - - DERRICKE, JOHN. _The Image of Irelande._ - 4to. 1581 | * - - DOWRICKE, ANN. _The French Historie._ - 4to. 1589 - - DRANT, THOMAS. _A Medicinable Morall_, - that is, the two bookes of Horace his - satyres, englyshed, &c. 4to. 1566 - - _Horace his Arte of Poetrie_, pistles, - and satyres, englished. 4to. 1567 - - _Greg. Nazianzen_, his epigrammes, and - spirituall sentences. 8vo.[681:B] 1568 | * - - EDWARDES, C. The Mansion of Myrthe 1581 - - ELDERTON, WILLIAM. _Elderton's Solace_ in - tyme of his sickness, contayning sundrie - sonets upon many pithe parables. 1578 | * - - _Various Ballads_ from 1560 to[681:C] 1590 | * - - ELVIDEN, EDMOND. _The Closet of Counselles._ - Translated and collected out of divers - aucthors into English verse. 8vo. 1569 - - _The History of Pisistratus and Catanea._ - 12mo. - - EVANS, LEWES. _The Fyrste twoo Satars or - Poyses of Orace._ 1564 - - EVANS, WILLIAM. _Thamesiades_, or Chastities - Triumph. 8vo.[682:A] 1602 | * - - FENNER, DUDLEY. _The Song of Songs._ - Translated out of the Hebrue into Englishe - Meeter. 8vo. 1587 - - FENNOR, WILLIAM. _Fennor's Descriptions._ - 4to.[682:B] 1616 | * - - FERRERS, GEORGE. _Legends_ of Dame Eleanor - Cobham and Humfrey Plantagenet—in the - Myrrour for Magistrates, edition[682:C] 1578 | * - - FETHERSTONE, CHRISTOPHER. _The Lamentations - of Jeremie_, in prose and meeter, with apt - notes to singe them withall. 8vo. 1587 - - FLEMING, ABRAHAM. _The Bucolikes of P. - Virgilius Maro_, with alphabeticall - annotations. 1575 | * - - _The Georgiks or Ruralls_: conteyning - four books. 4to.[682:D] 1589 | * - - FLETCHER, ROBERT. _An Epitaph_ or briefe - Lamentation for the late Queene. 4to. 1603 - - FRAUNCE, ABRAHAM. _The Lamentations of - Amintas_ for the death of Phillis: - paraphrastically translated out of Latine - into English hexameters. 4to. 1588 | * - - "_The Arcadian Rhetoricke._" Verse and - Prose. 8vo. 1588 | * - - _The Countess of Pembroke's Emanuel._ - Conteining the nativity, passion, burial, - and resurrection of Christ: togeather - with certaine psalmes of David. 4to. 1591 | * - - _The Countesse of Pembroke's Ivychurch._ - Conteining the affectionate life, and - unfortunate death of Phillis and Amyntas. - 4to.[683:A] 1591 | * - - _The Third Part of_ the Countesse of - Pembrokes Ivychurch: entitled: Amintas - Dale. 4to. 1592 | * - - _Heliodorus's Ethiopics._ 8vo.[683:B] 1591 | * - - FREEMAN, THOMAS. _Rub and a Great Cast_: and - Runne, and a Great Cast. The second bowle. - In 200 Epigrams. 4to.[683:C] 1614 | - - FULWELL, ULPIAN. _The Flower of Fame._ - Containing the bright Renowne, and most - fortunate raigne of King Henry the viij. - 4to. 1575 | * * - - GALE, DUNSTAN. _Pyramus and Thisbe._[683:D] 1597 * | - - GAMAGE, WILLIAM. _Linsi-Woolsie_: or Two - Centuries of Epigrammes. 12mo.[684:A] 1613 | * * * * * - - GARTER, BARNARD. _The Tragicall History of - two English Lovers._ 8vo. 1565 - - GIFFORD, HUMPHREY. _A Posie of Gilloflowers_, - eche differing from other in colour and - odour, yet all sweete. 4to. 1580 * | - - GOLDING, ARTHUR. _The XV. Bookes of P. - Ovidius Naso_, entytuled Metamorphosis, a - worke very pleasaunt and delectable. 4to. 1567 * | - - GOOGE, BARNABY. _The Zodiake of Life_, - written by the godly and learned poet - Marcellus Pallingenius Stellatus, wherein - are conteyned twelve bookes. Newly - translated into English Verse. 4to. 1565 | - - _The Popish Kingdome_, or reigne of - Antichrist. Written in Latine verse - by Thomas Naogeorgus, and Englyshed by - Barnaby Googe. 4to.[684:B] 1570 | - - _The overthrow of the Gowte_: written in - Latin verse, by Chr. Balista, translated - by B. G. 8vo.[684:C] 1577 | - - GORDON, PATRICK. _The Famous History of the - Valiant Bruce_, in heroic verse. 4to. 1615 * | - - GORGES, SIR ARTHUR. _The Olympian - Catastrophe_, dedicated to the memory of - the most heroicall Lord Henry, late - illustrious Prince of Wales, &c. By Sir - Arthur Gorges, Knight.[685:A] 1612 - - _Lucan's Pharsalia_: containing the Civill - Warres betweene Cæsar and Pompey. Written - in Latine Heroicall Verse by M. Annæus - Lucanus. Translated into English verse by - Sir Arthur Gorges, Knight.[685:B] 1614 * | - - GOSSON, STEPHEN. _Speculum Humanum._ In - stanzas of eleven lines.[685:C] 1580 | - - GRANGE, JOHN. _His Garden_: pleasant to - the eare and delightful to the reader, if - he abuse not the scent of the floures. - 4to.[685:D] 1577 | * - - GREENE, THOMAS. _A Poets Vision_ and a - Prince's Glorie. 4to. 1603 - - GREEPE, THOMAS. _The true and perfect Newes_ - of the woorthy and valiaunt exploytes, - performed and doone by that valiant knight - Syr Frauncis Drake. 4to.[686:A] 1587 | * - - GREVILE, SIR FULKE. Poems, viz. - - _Cælica_, a collection of 109 songs. | - - _A Treatise of Human Learning_, in 150 - stanzas. | - - _Upon Fame and Honour_, in 86 stanzas. | - - _A Treatise of Wars_, in 68 stanzas. | - - _Remains_, consisting of political and - philosophical poems. | - - _Poems in England's Helicon._[686:B] 1600 | - - GRIFFIN, B. "_Fidessa, more chaste than - kinde._" A collection of amatory sonnets. - 12mo. 1596 - - GRIFFITH, WILLIAM. The Epitaph of the - worthie Knight Sir Henry Sidney, Lord - President of Wales. Small 8vo. 1591 | * - - GROVE, MATTHEW. _The most famous and - tragical historie_ of Pelops and - Hippodamia. Whereunto are adjoyned sundrie - pleasant devises, epigrams, songes, and - sonnettes. 8vo. 1587 - - GRYMESTON, ELIZABETH. _Miscellanea_— - Meditations—Memoratives.[686:C] 1604 | * - - HAKE, EDWARD. _A Commemoration_ of the most - prosperous and peaceable raigne of our - gratious and deere soveraigne lady - Elizabeth. 8vo. 1575 | - - _A Touchstone_ for the time present, &c. - 12mo. 1574 | * - - _Of Gold's Kingdom_ and this unhelping - age, described in sundry poems. 4to. 1604 - - HALL, ARTHUR. "_Ten Books of Homer's - Iliades._" Translated from the French of - Hugues Salel. 4to.[687:A] 1581 | * * - - HALL, JOHN. _The Courte of Vertue_, - contayning many holy or spretuall songes, - sonnettes, psalms, balletts, and shorte - sentences, &c. 16 mo. 1565 - - HARBERT, SIR WILLIAM. _Sidney, or - Baripenthes_, briefely shadowing out the - rare and never-ending laudes of that most - honorable and praise-worthy gent. Sir - Philip Sidney, knight. 4to. 1586 - - HARBERT, WILLIAM. _A Prophesie of - Cadwallader_, last King of the Britaines, - &c. 4to.[687:B] 1604 | - - HARVEY, GABRIEL. _Four Letters and Certaine - Sonnets._[687:C] 1592 | * - - HAWES, EDWARD. _Trayterous Percyes and - Catesbyes Prosopopeia._ 4to. 1606 - - HEATH, JOHN. _Two Centuries of Epigrammes._ - 12mo. 1610 | - - HERBERT, MARY. _A Dialogue between two - shepheards_, in praise of Astrea, by the - Countesse of Pembroke.[687:D] 1602 | - - HEYWOOD, JASPER. _Various Poems and - Devises._[687:E] 1576 | - - HEYWOOD, THOMAS. _Troia Britanica_: or, - Great Britaine's Troy. A Poem, devided into - 17 severall Cantons, &c.[688:A] 1609 | - - HIGGINS, JOHN. _The First Part of the - Mirour of Magistrates_, contayning the - falles of the first infortunate Princes of - this Lande: from the comming of Brute to - the incarnation of our Saviour, &c. - 4to.[688:B] 1575 | - - HOLLAND, ROBERT. _The Holie Historie_ of our - Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's nativitie, - life, actes, miracles, doctrine, death, - passion, resurrection and ascension: gathered - into English meeter, &c. 8vo.[688:C] 1594 | * - - HOWELL, THOMAS. _The Arbor of Amitie_; - wherein is comprised pleasant poems and - pretie poesies. 12mo.[688:D] 1568 | * - - _Thomas Howell's Devises_ for his owne - exercise and his friend's pleasure. 4to. 1581 - - HUBBARD, WILLIAM. _The Tragicall and - Lamentable Historie_ of two faythfull mates, - Ceyx kynge of Thrachyne, and Alcione his - Wife. 1569 - - HUDSON, THOMAS. _The Historie of Judith_ in - forme of a Poeme. Translated from Du Bartas. - 8vo. 1584 | * - - HUME, ALEXANDER. _Hymnes, or Sacred Songes_, - wherein the right Use of Poesie may be - espied. Edin. 4to. 1599 - - HUNNIS, WILLIAM. _A Hyve full of Hunnye_, - contayning the firste booke of Moses called - Genesis. 4to. 1578 | * * - - _A Handfull of Honisuckles._ 1578 | * - - _Seven Sobs of a Sorrowfull Soule for - Sinne_, &c. &c. 24to. 1585 | * - - JACKSON, RICHARD. _The Battle of Floddon_ - in nine fits.[689:A] 1564 | - - JENEY, THOMAS. _A Discours of the present - troobles in Fraunce_, and miseries of this - time, compyled by Peter Ronsard, gentilman - of Vandome;—translated by Thomas Jeney, - gentilman. 4to. 1568 - - JENYNGES, EDWARD. _The Notable Hystory of - Two Faithfull Lovers_, named Alfagus and - Archelaus. Whearin is declared the true - figure of amytie and freyndship. 4to. 1574 - - JOHNSON, RICHARD. _The Nine Worthies of - London._ 4to. 1592 | * - - _Anglorum Lachrymæ_, in a sad passion, - complayning the death of our late Queene - Elizabeth. 4to. 1603 | * - - KELLY, EDMUND. _Poems_ on Chemistry, and - on the Philosophers Stone.[689:B] 1591 | * * - - KEMPE, WILLIAM. _A Dutifull Invective_ - against the moste haynous treasons of - Ballard and Babington, &c. 4to. 1587 | * - - KENDALL, TIMOTHY. "_Flowers of Epigrammes_, - out of sundrie the most singular authors, - as well auncient as late writers." To which, - as a second part, are added _Trifles_, by - Timothie Kendal, devised and written (for - the moste part) at sundrie tymes in his yong - and tender age. 16mo.[690:A] 1577 | - - KNELL, THOMAS. _An Epitaph_ on the life and - death of D. Boner, sometime unworthy Bishop - of London, &c. 8vo. 1569 - - _Answere_ to the most heretical and - trayterous papistical bil, cast in the - streets of Northampton, &c. 1570 - - KYFFIN, MAURICE. _The Blessednes of - Brytaine_, or a celebration of the Queene's - holyday, &c. 4to. 1587 | * - - LEIGHTON, SIR WILLIAM. _The Teares or - Lamentations_ of a Sorrowfull Soule. 4to. 1613 | * - - LEVER, CHRISTOPHER. _Queene Elizabeth's - Teares_; or Her resolute bearing the - Christian Crosse, &c. 4to. 1607 | * - - LINCHE, RICHARD. _The Fountaine of Ancient - Fiction._ Wherein is lively depictured the - Images and Statues of the Gods of the - Ancients, &c. Done out of Italian into - English. Verse and Prose. 4to.[691:A] 1599 * | - - LISLE, WILLIAM. _Babilon_, a part of the - seconde weeke of Guillaume de Saluste - Seigneur du Bartas, with the Commentarie, - and marginall notes of S. G. S. 1596 | * * - - _The Colonyes of Bartas_, with the - commentarye of S. G. S.[691:B] 1597 | * * - - LLOYD, LODOWICK. _The Pilgrimage of - Queenes._[691:C] 1573 | * - - _Hilaria_: or the triumphant feast for the - fift of August. 1607 | * - - LOK, HENRY. _The Booke of Ecclesiastes_; - and Sundry Christian Passions, contayned in - two hundred Sonnets. 4to.[692:A] 1597 | * * * - - LOVELL, THOMAS. _A Dialogue between Custome - and Veritie_, concerning the use and abuse - of dauncing and minstrelsie. 8vo. 1581 - - MARBECK, JOHN. _The Holie Historie of King - David._ 4to. 1579 - - MARKHAM, GERVASE. _The Poem of Poems_, or - Sion's Muse, contayning the divine song of - king Saloman, devided into eight eclogues. - 8vo. 1595 | - - _The Most Honorable Tragedy_ of Sir - Richard Grenvill knight; a heroick poem. - 8vo. 1595 | - - "_Devoreux._ Vertues Tears for the losse - of the most Christian King Henry, third - of that name, king of Fraunce; and the - untimely death of the most noble and - heroicall gentleman, Walter Devoreux." - From the French of Madam Geneuuesne - Petau Maulette. 4to. 1597 * | - - _The Tears of the Beloved_, or the - Lamentation of St. John, containing the - death and passion of Christ. 4to. 1600 | - - _Marie Magdalens Lamentations_ for the - losse of her Master Jesus. 4to.[692:B] 1601 | - - _Ariosto's Satyres._ 4to.[692:C] 1608 - - _The Famous Whore, or Noble Curtizan_, - conteining the lamentable complaint of - Paulina, the famous Roman curtezan, - sometimes Mrs. unto the great cardinall - Hypolito, of Est. 4to. 1609 | - - MAXWELL, JAMES. _The Laudable Life, and - Deplorable Death_, of our late peerlesse - Prince Henry, &c. 4to. 1612 | * - - MIDDLETON, CHRISTOPHER. _The Historie of - Heaven_, containing the poetical fictions - of all the starres in the firmament. 4to. 1596 - - _The Legend of Humphrey Duke of - Gloucester_, 4to. 1600 - - MIDDLETON, THOMAS. _The Wisdome of Solomon_ - paraphrased, 4to. 1597 - - MONTGOMERY, ALEXANDER. _The Cherrie and - the Slae_, Edin. 4to.[693:A] 1595 * * | - - MUNCASTER, RICHARD. _Nœnia Consolans_, or - a comforting complaint. Latin and English. - 4to. 1603 | * - - MUNDAY, ANTHONY. _The Mirrour of - Mutabilitie._ Selected out of the sacred - Scriptures. 4to. 1579 | * - - _The Pain of Pleasure._ 4to. 1580 | * - - _The Fountayne of Fame._ 4to. 1580 | * - - _The Sweet Sobbes and Amorous Complaints_ - of Sheppardes and Nymphes. 1583 | * - - _Munday's Strangest Adventure_ that ever - happened. 4to. 1601 | * - - MURRAY, DAVID. "_The Tragicall Death of - Sophonisba_;" in seven line stanzas, to - which is added _Cœlia_: containing certaine - Sonets. 12mo.[694:A] 1611 * | - - NEWTON, THOMAS. _Atropoion Delion_: or the - Death of Delia, with the teares of her - funerall. 4to. 1603 | - - _A Pleasant New History_: or, a fragrant - posie made of three flowers, rosa, - rosalynd, and rosemary.[694:B] 1604 | - - NICHOLSON, SAMUEL. _Acolastus_, his after - witte. 4to. 1600 - - NIXON, ANTHONY. _The Christian Navy_, - wherein is playnely described the perfect - course to sayle to the haven of happiness. - 4to. 1602 - - NORDEN, JOHN. _The Storehouse of Varieties_, - an elegiacall poeme. 4to. 1601 | - - _A Pensive Soules Delight._ 4to. 1603 - - _The Labyrinth of Mans Life_, or Vertues - Delyght, and Envie's Opposite.[694:C] - 4to. 1614 | * - - OVERBURY, SIR THOMAS. A Wife: now the - Widdow of Sir Thomas Overburye: being a - most exquisite and singular poem of the - Choise of a Wife. 4to. 4th edition.[694:D] 1614 * | - - PARKES, WILLIAM. _The Curtaine-Drawer of - the World_: or, the Chamberlaine of that - great Inne of Iniquity, &c. 4to.[695:A] 1612 * | - - PARROT, HENRY. _The Mouse Trap._ - Consisting of 100 Epigrams. 4to. 1606 | - - _The More the Merrier_: containing - three-score and odde headlesse epigrams, - &c. 4to. 1608 | - - "_Epigrams._" Containing 160. 4to. 1608 | - - _Laquei Ridiculosi_: or Springes for - Woodcoks. In 2 books. 12mo.[695:B] 1613 | - - PARTRIDGE, JOHN. _The Most Famouse and - Worthie Historie_ of the worthy Lady - Pandavola, &c. 8vo. 1566 - - _The Worthye Historie_ of the most noble - and valiaunt knight Plasidas, &c. 8vo. 1566 - - _The Notable Historie_ of two famous - princes Astianax and Polixona. 8vo. 1566 - - PAYNE, CHRISTOPHER. _Christenmas-Carrolles_ 1569 - - PEACHAM, HENRY. _Minerva Britanna_, or a - Garden of Heroical Devises. 4to. 1612 * | - - PEELE, GEORGE. _A Farewell_, entituled to - the famous and fortunate generalls of our - English forces: Sir John Norris and Syr - Francis Drake, knights, &c. Whereunto is - annexed a tale of Troy. 4to. 1589 | * - - _Polyhymnia_ describing the honourable - triumphs at tylt, before her Majestie, - &c. 4to. 1590 | * - - _The Honour of the Garter_: displaced - in a poeme gratulatorie, &c. 4to.[696:A] 1593 | * - - PEEND, THOMAS DE LA. _The Pleasant Fable of - Hermaphroditus and Salmacis._ 8vo. 1565 | * - - _The Historie of John Lord Mandozze._ - From the Spanish. 12mo.[696:B] 1565 | * - - PERCY, WILLIAM. _Sonnets to the fairest - Cælia._ 4to. 1594 | * * - - PETOWE, HENRY. The Second Part of the Loves - of Hero and Leander, &c. 4to. 1598 | * - - _Philochasander and Elanira_ the faire - Lady of Britaine, &c. 4to.[696:C] 1599 | * - - _Elizabetha quasi vivans_, Elizas - funerall, &c. 4to. 1603 - - _The Whipping of Runawaies._ 1603 - - PETT, PETER. _Times Journey_ to seek his - Daughter Truth, and Truths letter to Fame, - of England's excellencie. 4to. 1599 - - PHILLIP, JOHN. _A Rare and Strange - Historicall Novell_ of Cleomenes and - Sophonisba, surnamed Juliet; very pleasant - to reade. 8vo. 1577 - - _A Commemoration_ of the Right Noble and - Vertuous Ladye Margrit Duglases Good - Grace, Countes of Lennox, &c.[696:D] 1578 | * - - PHISTON, WILLIAM. _A Lamentacion of - Englande_, for the Right Reverent Father - in God, John Ivele, Doctor of Divinitie: - and Bisshop of Sarisburie. 8vo.[697:A] 1571 | * - - _The Welspring of Wittie Conceights_, - 4to.[697:B] 1584 | * - - PLAT, HUGH. _The Floures of Philosophie_, - with the Pleasures of Poetrie annexed to - them, &c. 8vo.[697:C] 1572 | * - - POWELL, THOMAS. _The Passionate Poet_, with - a description of the Thracian Ismarus, in - verse. 4to. 1601 - - PRESTON, THOMAS. _A Geliflower_ or swete - marygolde, wherein the frutes of teranny - you may beholde. 1569 | * - - PRICKET, ROBERT. _A Souldier's Wish_ unto - his Sovereign Lord, King James. 4to. 1603 | * - - PROCTOR, THOMAS. _Pretie Pamphlets._ - 4to.[697:D] 1578 * | - - PUTTENHAM, GEORGE. _Partheniades._[697:E] 1579 | * - - RAMSEY, LAURENCE. _Ramsie's Farewell_ to his - late lord and master therle of Leicester 1588 - - RANKINS, WILLIAM. _Seven Satyres_, &c. 1596 - - RAYNOLDS, JOHN. _Dolarny's Primerose_; or - the first part of the Passionate Hermit, - &c. Written by a Practitioner in Poesie and - a stranger amongst Poets. 4to.[698:A] 1606 * | - - RICE, RICHARD. _An Invective_ against vices - taken for vertue: gathered out of the - Scriptures, &c. 8vo. 1581 - - ROBINSON, RICHARD. _The Rewarde of - Wickednesse_, discoursing the sundrye - monstrous abuses of wicked and ungodly - Worldelings, &c. 4to. 1574 | * * - - _A Dyall of Dayly Contemplacion_, or - divine Exercise of the Mind, &c. Verse - and Prose.[698:B] 1578 | * * - - ROLLAND, JOHN. _Ane Treatise callit the - Court of Venus_, devidit into four Buikes. - Edin. 4to. 1575 - - _The Sevin Seages_, translatit out of - Prois into Scottis meiter. Edin. - 4to.[698:C] 1578 | - - ROSSE, J. _The Author's Teares_ upon the - death of his honorable freende Sir William - Sackvile knight of the ordre de la Colade - in Fraunce: sonne to the right ho. the - lorde Buckhurst Anno Dni.[699:A] 1592 * | - - ROUS, FRANCIS. _Thule, or Vertues Historie._ - In two books. The first booke 4to. 1598 - - ROWLAND, SAMUEL. 1. _The Betraying of - Christ_, &c. 4to. 1598 - - 2. _The Famous History of_ Guy Earle of - Warwicke. 4to. - - 3. _The Letting of Humours Blood_ in the - head-vaine: &c. 4to.[699:B] 1600 - - 4. _Looke to it for ile stabbe ye._ - 4to. 1604 - - 5. _Democritus._ 1607 - - 6. _Humors Looking-Glasse._ 8vo. 1608 - - 7. _Hell Broke Loose_, &c. 4to. - - 8. _Doctor Merrieman_, or nothing but - mirth. 4to. 1609 - - 9. _Martin Markal_, beadle of Bridewell. - 4to. 1610 - - 10. _The Knave of Clubs_, or 'tis merrie - when Knaves meet. 4to. 1611 - - 11. _The Knave of Hearts._ 4to.[699:C] - - 12. _More Knaves Yet_; the Knaves of - Spades and Diamonds. 4to.[699:D] 1613 - - 13. _The Melancholie Knight._ 4to.[699:E] 1615 - - 14. _Tis Merrie when Gossips Meet_; newly - enlarged, with divers songs. 4to.[700:A] * | - - SABIE, FRANCIS. _Pan his Pipe_: conteyning - three pastorall Eglogues in Englyshe - hexameter; with other delightfull verses. - 4to. 1595 * | - - _The Fissher-mans Tale_: of the famous - Actes, Life and love of Cassander a - Grecian Knight. 4to. 1595 | - - _Floras Fortune._ The second part and - finishing of the Fisherman's Tale, - &c.[700:B] 1595 | - - SAKER, AUG. _The Labirinth of Liberty._ 1579 - - SAMPSON, THOMAS. _Fortune's Fashion_, - Pourtrayed in the troubles of the Ladie - Elizabeth Gray, wife to Edward the Fourth. - 4to. 1613 | * - - SANDFORD, JAMES. _Certayne Poems_ dedicated - to the queenes moste excellent majestie. - 8vo.[700:C] 1576 - - SCOLOKER, ANTHONY. _Daiphantus_, or the - Passions of Love, 4to. 1604 - - SCOT, GREGORY. _A Briefe Treatise_ agaynst - certaine errors of the Romish Church. 12mo. 1570 - - SCOTT, THOMAS. _Four Paradoxes_: of Arte, - of Lawe, of Warre, of Service. Small - 8vo.[700:D] 1602 * * | - - SCOTT, THOMAS. _Phylomythie_, or - Philomythologie: wherein Outlandish Birds, - Beasts, and Fishes, are taught to speake - true English plainely.[701:A] 1616 | * - - SMITH, JUD. _A Misticall Devise_ of the - spirituall and godly love between Christ the - spouse, and the Church or congregation. - Firste made by the wise prince Salomon, and - now newly set forth in Verse, &c. Small - 8vo. 1575 | * * - - SMITH, WILLIAM. _Chloris_, or the complaint - of the passionate despised shepheard. 4to. 1596 - - SOOTHERN, JOHN. _Pandora_, the Musique of - the Beautie of his Mistresse Diana. - 4to.[701:B] 1584 | * * * * * - - STANYHURST, RICHARD. _The First Four Bookes - of Virgil's Æneis_, translated into English - heroicall verse by Richard Stanyhurst: with - other poeticall devises thereto annexed. - 4to.[701:C] 1583 | * * * * * * - - STORER, THOMAS. _The Life and Death of - Thomas Wolsey_, cardinall, divided into - three parts: his aspiring, triumph, and - death. 4to.[702:A] 1599 * | - - STUBBS, PHILIP. _A View of Vanitie_, and - Allarum to England, or retrait from sinne. - 8vo. 1582 | * - - STEWART, JAMES THE FIRST, KING OF ENGLAND. - _The Essayes of a Prentise_ in the Divine - Art of Poesie. 4to. Edin.[702:B] 1584 | * - - _His Majesties Poeticall Exercises_ at - Vacant Houres. 4to. Edin.[702:C] 1591 | * - - TARLTON, RICHARD. _Toyes_: in Verse. 1576 - - _Tragicall Treatises_, conteyninge sundrie - discourses and pretie conceipts, bothe in - prose and verse. 1577 - - _Tarlton's Repentance_, or his farewell to - his frendes in his sickness, a little - before his deathe.[702:D] 1589 - - TAYLOR, JOHN. _Heaven's Blessing and Earth's - Joy_, &c. on the marriage of Frederick Count - Palatine, and the Princess Elizabeth; - including Epithalamia, &c. 1613 | * * - - _The Nipping or Snipping of Abuses_, or - the Wool-gathering of Wit.[703:A] 1614 | * * - - TOFTE, ROBERTE. _Two Tales_ translated out - of Ariosto, &c. With certaine other Italian - stanzas and proverbes. 4to. 1597 | * - - _Laura._ The toyes of a traveller; or the - feast of fancie, divided into 3 parts. - 4to. 1597 - - _Orlando Inamorato._ The three first - bookes, &c. Done into English heroicall - verse. 4to. 1598 - - _Alba_, the month's minde of a melancholy - lover. 8vo. 1598 - - _Honours Academy_, or the famous pastorall - of the faire shepherdesse Julietta. Verse - and prose. Folio. 1610 | - - _The Fruits of Jealousie._ Contayning the - disastrous Chance of two English Lovers, - overthrowne through meere Conceit of - Jealousie. 4to.[703:B] 1615 | * * - - TREEGO, WILLIAM. _A Daintie Nosegay_ of - divers smelles, containing many pretie - ditties to diverse effects. 1577 - - TUDOR, ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF ENGLAND. _Two - Little Anthemes_, or things in meeter of hir - majestie.[704:A] 1578 | * - - TURNER, RICHARD. _Nosce Te_ - (_Humors._)[704:B] 1607 - - TWYNE, THOMAS. _The whole _xij_ Bookes of - the Œneidos of Virgill_. Whereof the first - ix. and part of the tenth, were converted - into English meeter by Thomas Phaër esquier, - and the residue supplied, and the whole - worke together newly set forth, by Thomas - Twyne gentleman. 4to. 1573 | * - - TYE, CHRISTOPHER. _A Notable Historye_ of - Nastagio and Traversari, no less pitiefull - than pleasaunt, translated out of Italian - into English. 12mo. 1569 - - UNDERDOWNE, THOMAS. _Ovid his Invective_ - against Ibis. 8vo. 1569 * | - - _The Excellent Historye_ of Theseus and - Ariadne, &c. Written in English Meeter. - 8vo. 1566 * | - - VALLANS, WILLIAM. _A Tale of Two Swannes_, - &c. 4to. 1590 - - VENNARD, RICHARD. "_The Miracle of Nature_," - and other poems. 4to.[705:A] 1601 - - VERSTEGAN, RICHARD. _Odes_: in imitation of - the Seaven Penitential Psalms. With sundry - other poemes and Ditties, tending to - devotion and pietie. 8vo. 1601 | * - - WARREN, WILLIAM. _A Pleasant New Fancie_, of - a fondling's device, intituled and cald, The - nurcerie of names, &c. 4to. 1581 - - WEBBE, WILLIAM. _The First and Second - Eclogues of Virgil._ In English hexameters, - and printed in his "Discourse of English - Poetrie." 1586 | * - - WEBSTER, WILLIAM. _The Moste Pleasant and - Delightful Historie_ of Curan, a prince of - Danske, and the fayre princesse Argentill, - &c. 4to.[705:B] | * - - WEDDERBURN. _Ane Compendious Booke of Godly - and Spirituall Songs_, collectit out of - sundrie partes of the Scripture, with sundrie - of other Ballates changed out of Prophane - Sanges, for avoyding of Sinne and Harlotrie. - 12mo. Edin.[705:C] 1597 | * - - WEEVER, JOHN. _A Little Book of Epigrams._ - 8vo. 1599 - - _The Mirror of Martyrs_, or the life and - death of that thrice valiant capitaine and - most godly martyre, Sir John Oldcastle - knight, lord Cobham. 18mo. 1601 - - WENMAN, THOMAS, _The Legend of Mary, Queen - of Scots_, with other Poems.[706:A] 1601 | - - WHARTON, JOHN. _Wharton's Dreame_: - conteyninge an invective agaynst certaine - abhominable caterpillars, &c. 4to. 1578 - - WHETSTONE, GEORGE. _The Rocke of Regard_: - divided into foure parts. The first, the - Castle of Delight, &c. The second, the - Garden of Unthriftinesse, &c. The thirde, - the Arbour of Virtue, &c.; and the fourth, - the Orchard of Repentance, 4to.[706:B] 1576 | * - - _A Report of the Vertues_ of the right - valiant and worthy knight S. Frauncis, - Lord Russell, 4to.[706:C] 1585 | * - - WHITNEY, GEOFFREY. _A Choice of Emblemes_, - and other devises. 4to. 1586 | * - - _Fables or Epigrams._ 4to.[706:D] 1586 - - WILKINSON, EDWARD. _Isahac's Inheritance_; - dew to ovr high and mightie Prince, James - the sixt of Scotland, &c. 4to. 1603 | * - - WILLET, ANDREW. _Sacrorum Emblematum_ - centura una, in Latin and English verse. - 4to.[706:E] - - WILLYMAT, WILLIAM. _A Princes Looking - Glasse_, or a Princes Direction, &c. 4to. 1603 | * - - WYRLEY, WILLIAM. _Lord Chandos._ The - glorious life and honourable death of Sir - John Chandos, &c. 4to. 1592 | * * - - _Capitall de Buz._ The honourable life and - languishing death of Sir John de Gralhy - Capitall de Buz. 4to.[707:A] 1592 | * * - - YATES, JAMES. _The Castell of Courtesie_, - whereunto is adjoyned The Holde of - Humilitie; with the Chariot of Chastitie - thereunto annexed. Also a Dialogue betweene - Age and Youth; and other matters herein - conteined. 4to.[707:B] 1582 | * - - YONG, BARTHOLOMEW. _Diana of George of - Montemayer._ Translated out of Spanish into - English. Prose and Verse. Folio.[707:C] 1598 * | - - ZOUCHE, RICHARD. _The Dove_, or Passages of - Cosmography, by Richard Zouche, Civilian of - New College, in Oxford.[707:D] 1613 | - -Several articles in this table, it will be observed, are without any -mark designating their merit in the scale, a defalcation which has -occurred from our not having been able to procure either the works -themselves, or even specimens of them, a circumstance not exciting -wonder, if we consider the extreme rarity of the greater part of the -pieces which form the catalogue. - -Another result which may immediately strike the reader will be, that -of _one hundred and ninety-three_ poets included in this list, so few -should have risen even one degree above mediocrity, and so many should -have fallen below it; but it should be recollected that the nobler -bards, amounting to _forty_, had been previously enumerated, and that -poetic excellence is, at all times, of very rare attainment. - -The most legitimate subject of admiration, indeed, arising from -a review of these details, is the extraordinary fecundity of the -Shakspearean era; that in the course of fifty-two years, and -independent of any consideration of dramatic effort, or of the various -contributors to collections of poetry, nearly _two hundred and -thirty-three_ bards in the miscellaneous department should have been -produced: and these, not the writers of scattered or insulated verses, -but the publishers of their own collected works. - -A still more heightened conception of the fertility of the period will -accrue from a survey of its numerous POETICAL MISCELLANIES, a species -of publication which constitutes a remarkable feature of the age. - -Before the reign of Elizabeth, only one production of the kind had -made its appearance, namely, the Collection, called by Tottel "The -Poems of Uncertaine Auctors," and appended to his edition of Surrey and -Wyat in 1557. But, during the first year after the accession of our -maiden queen, appeared the MIRROUR for MAGISTRATES, a quarto volume -containing nineteen legends or characters drawn from English history. -The plan originated with Sackville, who, not finding leisure to write -more than an Induction and the Legend of Henry Duke of Buckingham, -transferred the completion of the work to _Richard Baldwyne_ and -_George Ferrers_, who were further assisted in its prosecution by -_Churchyard_, _Phayer_, _Skelton_, _Dolman_, _Seagers_, and _Cavyl_. A -second edition, of what may be termed Baldwyne's Mirrour, was printed -in 1563, with the addition of eight legends; a third issued from the -press in 1571, and a fourth in 1575. With the exception of Sackville's -two pieces, on which an eulogium has already been given, mediocrity -may be said to characterise the productions of Baldwyne and his -associates. - -In the same year which produced the fourth edition of Baldwyne's -Collection, a new series of Legends was published in 4to. by _John -Higgins_, which, commencing at an earlier period than his predecessor's -work, he entitled "The firste Part of the Mirour for Magistrates." -This portion commences, after an Induction, with the legend of King -Albanact, the youngest son of Brutus, and terminates with that of Lord -Irenglas, "slayne about the yeere before Christ;" including seventeen -histories, the sole composition of Higgins. It was reprinted, with -little or no alteration, in 1578, and occasioned Baldwyne's prior -publication to be called "The Last Part." - -The year 1578, however, not only produced this second impression -of Higgins's Mirrour, but witnessed a fifth and separate edition -of Baldwyne's labours, with the addition of two legends, and an -intermediate part written by _Thomas Blener-Hasset_, containing -_twelve_ stories, and entitled "The Seconde part of the Mirrour of -Magistrates, conteining the falles of the infortunate Princes of this -Lande: from the Conquest of Cæsar unto the commyng of Duke William the -Conquerer," 4to. - -A much more complete edition of this very curious collection of of -poetic biography at length appeared in 1587, under the care of Higgins, -who, blending Baldwyne's pieces with his own former publications, and -adding greatly to both parts, produced a quarto volume consisting of -seventy-three legends. - -Enlarged and improved as this impression must necessarily be deemed, -it was still further augmented, and, in fact, digested anew by -Richard Niccols, who, in 1610, published his copy of the work with -the following title: "_A Mirrour for Magistrates_, being a true -Chronicle-history of the untimely falles of such unfortunate princes -and men of note as have happened since the first entrance of Brute -into this Iland untill this our age. Newly enlarged with a last part -called a _Winter Night's Vision_, being an addition of such Tragedies -especially famous as are exempted, in the former Historie, with a poem -annexed called _England's Eliza_." - -Niccols's edition forms a thick quarto of eight hundred and -seventy-five pages, including ninety legends, and embracing, with -the exception of four pieces, all the parts previously published, in -chronological order, and super-adding an induction and ten poems of his -own composition. He has taken the liberty, however, of modernising and -abbreviating some of the earliest stories, with the view of rendering -the series more acceptable to his contemporaries. - -Of the _Mirror for Magistrates_, the poetical merit must, of course, -be various and discrepant. Sackville stands pre-eminent and apart, -the author, indeed, of a poem, which, for strength and distinctness -of imagery, is almost unrivalled. Next, but with many a length -between, Niccols claims our attention for sweetness of versification, -perspicuity of diction, and occasional flights of fancy. In his legend -of Richard the Third, he is evidently indebted to Shakspeare, and his -poem assumes, on that account, a higher imaginative tone. The other -writers of this bulky collection are as much inferior to Niccols, as he -is to Sackville. The best production of Higgins is his legend of Queen -Cordelia; and from Baldwyne and Ferrers, a few stanzas, animated by the -breath of poetry, might be quoted; but Blener-Hasset seldom, if ever, -reaches mediocrity. - -The popularity of this work, and its influence on our national poetry -throughout the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First, were very -considerable. Even in its earliest and most unfinished state it had -attracted the admiration of Sir Philip Sidney, who says, "I account the -Mirrour of Magistrates, meetely furnished of beautiful partes[710:A];" -and in its last and most perfect form, it seems to have been considered -as a book necessary to the accomplished gentleman; for in Chapman's -Comedy, entitled _May-Day_, and printed in 1611, a character versed -in the elegant literature of the time, is described as "One that -has read Marcus Aurelius, Gesta Romanorum, and the _Mirrour of -Magistrates_."[711:A] - -That this Collection contributed to accelerate the progress of -dramatic poetry, and to familiarise the events of our history, there -can be little doubt, if we reflect that, previous to its appearance, -historical plays were scarcely known; that its pages present us with -innumerable specimens of dramatic speeches, incidents, and characters, -and that it has thrown into a metrical form the most interesting -passages of the ancient chroniclers, a medium through which the best -parts of those massive compilations soon descended to the lower orders -of society. - -The next work which calls for our attention is THE PARADYSE OF DAYNTY -DEVISES, originally published in 1576 with the following title:—"The -Paradyse of daynty devises, aptly furnished with sundry pithie and -learned inventions: devised and written for the most part by M. -Edwards, sometimes of her Majesties Chappel: the rest by sundry learned -Gentlemen, both of honor, and worshippe: viz. - - S. Barnarde. Jasper Heywood. - E. O. F. K. - L. Vaux. M. Bewe. - D. S. R. Hill. - M. Yloop, with others. - -Imprinted at London, by Henry Disle, dwellyng in Paules Church-yard, -at the South west doore of Saint Paules Church, and are there to be -solde," 4to. - -Though, until the late re-print by Sir Egerton Brydges, this miscellany -had become extremely rare[711:B], yet numerous editions of it were -called for during the first thirty years of its existence. In 1577, -and 1578, Disle again published it in quarto, and it is remarkable for -being the only book of his printing which has reached the present age. -The edition of 1578 differs, in some respects, from the preceding, -and from all, in including a poem by George Whetstone, no where else -discoverable. - -A fourth edition, from the press of Disle, appeared in 1580, varying so -greatly from the earlier copies, that it omits eighteen poems contained -in the first impression, and substitutes eighteen others in their place. - -In 1585, the public attention was fixed on a fifth edition by Edward -White, who also republished the work in 1596 and 1600 in 4to. The two -latter impressions were printed by Edward Allde for White, and exhibit -some variations from the copy of 1580, omitting four pieces in that -edition, and adding seven new ones. Beside these, there was an edition, -without date, printed by Allde for White, and constituting an _eighth_ -impression. - -That a Collection which ran through so many editions in so short a -period, must possess a considerable share of merit, will be a natural -inference; nor will the readers of the Reprint lately published be -disappointed in such an expectation. It is true that the _Paradise of -Daintie Devises_ contains no piece of such high poetic character as the -_Induction_ of Sackville; for its contributions are chiefly on subjects -of an ethic and didactic cast; but it displays a vast variety of short -compositions, on love, friendship, and adversity; on the consolations -of a contented mind, on the instability of human pleasures, and on -many of the minor morals and events of life. These are expressed, in -many instances, with simplicity and vigour, and often with a flow of -versification and perspicuity of diction, which, considering the age -of their production, is truly remarkable. If no splendour of imagery, -or sublimity of sentiment, arrest the attention, it cannot be denied -that several of these poems make their way to the heart, by attractions -resulting from a clear perception, that the writers wrote from their -own unadulterated feelings, from the instant pressure of what they -suffered or enjoyed. - -Of the contributors to this Miscellany, which, in its most perfect -state, consists of one hundred and twenty-four poems, more than one -half was communicated by six individuals; by Lord Vaux fourteen pieces; -by Richard Edwardes fourteen; by William Hunnis twelve; by Francis -Kinwelmarsh ten; by Jasper Heywood eight; and by the Earl of Oxford -seven. - -The compositions of Lord Vaux, are uniformly of a moral and pensive -cast, and breathe a spirit of religion and resignation often truly -touching, and sometimes bordering on the sublime. Of this description -more particularly are the poems entitled "Of the instabilitie of -youth;" "Of a contented mind;" and on "Beying asked the occasion of his -white head," from the last of which a few lines will afford a pleasing -specimen of the pathetic tone and unaffected style of this noble bard:— - - "These heeres of age are messingers, - Whiche bidd me fast, repent and praie: - Thei be of death the harbingers, - That doeth prepare and dresse the waie, - Wherefore I joye that you mai see, - Upon my head such heeres to bee. - - Thei be the line that lead the length, - How farre my race was for to ronne: - Thei saie my yongth is fledde with strength, - And how old age is well begonne. - The whiche I feele, and you maie see, - Upon my head such lines to bee."[713:A] - -Of a character still higher for poetic power are the effusions of -Richard Edwards, who excels alike in descriptive, ethic, and pathetic -strains. Of the first, his two pieces called "May" and "I may not" -are, with the exception of the third stanza of the latter poem, very -striking instances; of the second, he has afforded us several proofs; -and of the last, his lines on the maxim of Terence, _Amantium iræ -amoris redintegratio est_, form one of the most lovely exemplifications -in the language. Of the opening stanza it is scarcely possible to -resist giving a transcription:— - - "In going to my naked bed, as one that would have slept, - I heard a wife syng to her child, that long before had wept: - She sighed sore and sang full sore, to bryng the babe to rest, - That would not rest but cried still in suckyng at her brest: - She was full wearie of her watche, and grieved with her child, - She rocked it and rated it, untill on her it smilde: - Then did she saie nowe have I founde the proverbe true to prove, - The fallyng out of faithfull frends renewing is of love."[714:A] - -"The happiness of the illustration," remarks Sir Egerton Brydges, "the -facility, elegance, and tenderness of the language, and the exquisite -turn of the whole, are above commendation; and show to what occasional -polish and refinement our literature even then had arrived. Yet has the -treasure which this gem adorned, lain buried and inaccessible, except -to a few curious collectors, for at least a century and an half."[714:B] - -Edwards has a song of four stanzas "In commendation of Musick,"[714:C] -of which the first has been quoted by Shakspeare in _Romeo and -Juliet_[714:D], affording a proof, if any were wanted, that the -madrigals of Edwards were very popular in their day. - -Of the poetry of _William Hunnis_ the more remarkable features are a -peculiar flow of versification, and a delicate turn upon the words, -which approximate his songs, in an extraordinary degree, to the -standard of the present age. By dividing his lines of sixteen syllables -into two, this similarity becomes more apparent; for instance,— - - "When first mine eyes did view and mark - Thy beauty fair for to behold, - And when mine eares gan first to hark - The pleasant words that thou me told; - I would as then I had been free - From ears to hear and eyes to see. - - And when in mind I did consent - To follow thus my fancy's will, - And when my heart did first relent - To taste such bait myself to spill, - I would my heart had been as thine, - Or else thy heart as soft as mine.[715:A] - - * * * * * - - O flatterer false, thou traitor born, - What mischief more might thou devise, - Than thy dear friend to have in scorn, - And him to wound in sundry wise? - Which still a friend pretends to be, - And art not so by proof I see. - Fie, fie, upon such treachery."[715:B] - -From the ten contributions by Kinwelmarsh, three may be selected as -pleasing, both from their sentiment and melody, viz. "On learning;" -"All thinges are vain," which is a truly beautiful poem; and "The -complaint of a Sinner."[715:C] Neither the productions of Heywood, nor -of the Earl of Oxford, surmount mediocrity. - -Of the remaining writers who assisted in forming this collection, _M. -Bew_ has written five pieces; _Arthur Bourcher_, one; _M. Candish_, -one; _Thos. Churchyard_, one; _G. Gashe_, one; _Richard Hill_, seven; -_Lodowick Lloyd_, one; _T. Marshall_, two; _Barnaby Rich_, one; _D. -Sands_, five; _M. Thorn_, two; _Yloop_, two, and there are five with -the signature of _My lucke is losse_. There are sixteen poems also with -initials only subjoined, and seven anonymous contributions. Most of -these consist of moral precepts versified, and, though little entitled -to the appellation of poetry, from any display either of imagery or -invention, are yet of high value as developing the progress both of -literary and intellectual cultivation. - -The popularity of Edwards's Miscellany produced, two years afterward, -another collection of a similar kind, under the title of "A GORGIOUS -GALLERY OF GALLANT INVENTIONS. Garnished and decked with Divers Dayntie -Devises, right delicate and delightfull, to recreate eche modest minde -withall. First framed and fashioned in sundrie formes, by Divers Worthy -Workemen of late dayes: and now joyned together and builded up: By T. -P. Imprinted at London, for Richard Jones. 1578." - -Of this work, "one copy only," relates Mr. Park, "is known to have -survived the depredation of time. This was purchased by Dr. Farmer, -with the choice poetical stores of Mr. Wynne, which had been formed -in the seventeenth century by Mr. Narcissus Luttrell. At Dr. Farmer's -book-sale this _unique_ was procured by Mr. Malone; from whose -communicative kindness a transcript was obtained, which furnished the -present reprint. One hiatus, occasioned by the loss of a leaf, occurs -at p. 102, which it will be hopeless to supply, unless some chance copy -should be lurking in the corner of a musty chest, a family-library, or -neglected lumber-closet; though, in consequence of the estimation in -which all antiquated rarities are now held, even such hiding-places -have become very assiduously explored."[716:A] - -By the Initials T. P. we are to understand _Thomas Proctor_, the editor -of this "Gorgious Gallery," and who has been noticed in the preceding -table on account of his "Pretie Pamphlets," which commence at p. 125 -of Mr. Park's Reprint. His verses following this title are numerous, -and in various metres, and indicate him to have been no mean observer -of life and manners. If he display little of the fancy of the poet, he -is not often deficient in moral weight of sentiment, and though not -remarkable for either the melody or correctness of his versification, -he may be considered as having passed the limits of mediocrity. - -Of the other contributors our information is so scanty, that we -can only mention _Anthony Munday_ and _Owen Royden_, and this in -consequence of the first having prefixed a copy of verses "In -commendation of this Gallery," and the second a more elaborate poem, -"To the curious company of Sycophants." It is probable that they were -both coadjutors in the body of the work. - -The "Gorgious Gallery of Gallant Inventions" consists of seventy-four -poems, and some, especially the "History of Pyramus and Thisbie," of -considerable length. Too many of them are written in drawling couplets -of fourteen syllables in a line, and with too flagrant a partiality -for the meretricious garb of alliteration.[717:A] There appears to be -also too little variety in the selection of topics, and some of the -pieces are reprinted from "Tottel's Miscellany" and the "Paradyse of -Dayntie Devises." It must be pronounced, indeed, inferior to these its -predecessors in the essential points of invention, harmony of metre, -and versatility of style, though it seems to have shared with them -no small portion of popular favour; for Nashe, in his life of Jacke -Wilton, 1594, alluding to the Gardens of Rome, says, that "to tell you -of their rare pleasures, their baths, their vineyards, their galleries, -were to write a second part of the _Gorgious Gallerie of Gallant -Devices_."[717:B] - -In 1584 was published, in 16mo., "A HANDEFULL OF PLEASANT DELITES: -containing Sundrie new Sonets and delectable Histories in divers kindes -of meeter. Newly devised to the newest tunes, that are now in use to -be sung: everie sonet orderly pointed to his proper tune. With new -additions of certain songs, to verie late devised notes, not commonly -knowen, nor used heretofore. By Clement Robinson: and divers others. At -London, printed by Richard Jhones: dwelling at the signe of the Rose -and Crowne, neare Holburne Bridge." - -Only one copy of the printed original of this Miscellany, which is in -the Marquis of Blandford's library, is supposed to be in existence. -The editor, Clement Robinson, if all the pieces unappropriated to -others, be of his composition, must be deemed worthy of high praise -for numerous productions of great lyric sweetness in point of -versification, and composed in a vein of much perspicuity with regard -to diction. His associates, as far as we have any authority from the -work itself, amount only to five; and these, with the exception of -_Leonard Gibson_, who claims only one piece, consist of names unknown -elsewhere in the annals of poetry. Two effusions are attributed -to _J. Tomson_; two to _Peter Picks_; one to _Thomas Richardson_, -and one to _George Mannington_. This last production, denominated -"A sorrowfull Sonet," if we make allowance for a commencement too -alliterative, possesses a large share of moral pathos, and unaffected -simplicity.[718:A] - -Thirty-two poems occupy the pages of this pleasing little volume, among -which, at p. 23., is _A New Courtly Sonet of the Lady Greensleeves, to -the new tune of Greensleeves_, alluded to by Shakspeare in the _Merry -Wives of Windsor_, Act ii. Sc. 1., and which throws some curious light -on the female dress of the period. - -In point of interest, vivacity, and metrical harmony, this compilation -has a decided superiority over the "Gorgious Gallery of Gallant -Inventions." It is, in a great measure, formed of ballads and songs, -adapted to well-known popular tunes, and, though its poets have -been arbitrarily confined in the structure of their verse by the -pre-composed music, yet many of their lyrics have a smoothness and -sweetness in the composition of their stanzas, which may even arrest -the attention of a modern ear. - -To the publication of Clement Robinson succeeded, in 1593, "THE PHŒNIX -NEST. Built up with the most rare and refined workes of Noblemen, -worthy Knights, gallant Gentlemen, Masters of Arts, and brave Scholers. -Full of varietie, excellent invention, and singular delight. Never -before published. Set foorth by R. S. of the Inner Temple, Gentleman. -Imprinted at London, by John Jackson, 4to." - -The opening of Mr. Park's "Advertisement" to his Reprint of this -Collection includes so much just, and elegantly expressed, criticism -on our elder poetry, and on Shakspeare, that we seize with pleasure -the opportunity of transferring it to our pages. - -"Between the Gorgious Gallery of Gallant Inventions," he remarks, -"printed in 1578, and the present miscellany in 1593, an interval of -only fifteen years, there will be traced no inconsiderable advance -towards poetical elegance and sentimental refinement. Watson, Breton, -Peele, and Lodge, contributed very materially to the grace, and melody, -and strength, of our amatory, lyric, and satiric verse; while Spenser, -Daniel, and Drayton enlarged the sphere of the allegoric, and historic, -and descriptive Muse. But the magnitude of the works of the two latter -poets, owing to the subjects they unhappily selected, has conduced to -deaden that reputation which several of their minor effusions were -calculated to keep alive. The very labours which might otherwise have -extended their fame, have fatally contracted it. Their ponderous -productions are incorporated indeed with the late general collections -of British Poets, but where is the poetic amateur who peruses them? -They resemble certain drugs in a family-dispensary, which, though -seldom if ever taken, still eke out the assemblage. From reading the -fair specimens put forth by Mr. Ellis, many may be allured to covet the -entire performances of our elder bards: but should these be obtained, -they will probably be found (as Mr. Steevens said by the Shakspearian -quartos) of little more worth than a squeezed orange. The flowers will -appear to have been culled and distilled by the hand of judgment; -and the essence of early poetry, like most other essences, will be -discovered to lie in a narrow compass. 'Old poets in general,' says Mr. -Southey, 'are only valuable because they are old.' It must be allowed -that few poems of the Elizabethan æra are likely to afford complete -satisfaction to a mere modern reader, from the fastidious delicacy of -modern taste. Some antiquated alloy, either from incongruous metaphor -or infelicitous expression, will commonly jar upon his mind or ear. -The backward footstep of Time will be audible, if not visible. Yet the -songs of our unrivalled Shakspeare combine an almost uniform exception -to this remark. They are exquisite in thought, feeling, language, and -modulation. They blend simplicity with beauty, sentiment with passion, -picture with poesy. They unite symmetry of form with consistency of -ornament, truth of nature with perfection of art, and must ever furnish -models for lyric composition. As a sonnet-writer Shakspeare was not -superior to some of his contemporaries: he was certainly inferior -to himself. In lighter numbers and in blank verse, peculiar and -transcendent was his excellence. His songs never have been surpassed, -his dramas never are likely to be."[720:A] - -Of the editor of the Phœnix Nest, intended by the initials R. S., no -certain information has been obtained. The work has been attributed to -_Richard Stanyhurst_, _Richard Stapleton_, and to _Robert Southwell_, -by Coxeter, by Warton, and by Waldron; but their claims, founded merely -on conjecture, are entitled to little confidence. It is perhaps more -interesting to know, that the chief contributors to this miscellany -were among the best lyric poets of their age, that _Thomas Watson_, -_Nicholas Breton_, and, above all, _Thomas Lodge_, assisted the unknown -editor. Not less than sixteen pieces have the initials of this last -bard, and many of them are among the most beautiful productions of -his genius. Beside these, _George Peele_, _William Smith_, _Matthew -Roydon_, Sir _William Herbert_, the _Earl of Oxford_, and several -others, aided in completing this elegant volume. - -The "Phœnix Nest," which comprehends not less than seventy-nine -poems, is certainly one of the most attractive of the Elizabethan -miscellanies, whether we regard its style, its versification, or -its choice of subject, and will probably be deemed inferior only to -"England's Helicon," which, indeed, owes a few of its beauties to this -work. - -Of the valuable Collection thus mentioned, the first edition made its -appearance in 1600, with the following title-page: "ENGLAND'S HELICON. - - Casta placent superis - pura cum veste venite, - Et manibus puris - sumite fontis aquam. - -At London. Printed by J. R. for John Flasket, and are to be sold in -Paules Church-yard, at the signe of the Beare." 4to. - -The second edition was published in 1614, and entitled, "England's -Helicon, or the Muses Harmony. - - The Courts of Kings heare no such straines, - As daily lull the Rusticke Swaines. - -London: Printed for Richard More; and are to be sould at his shop in S. -Dunstanes Church-yard." 8vo. - -England's Helicon, which, in its first impression, contained one -hundred and fifty poems, and in its second one hundred and fifty-nine, -has the felicity of enrolling among its contributors all the -principal poets of its era. These, enumerated alphabetically, are as -follow:—_Richard Barnefield_ has two pieces; _Thomas Bastard_, one; -_Edmund Bolton_, five; _Nicholas Breton_, eight; _Christopher Brooke_, -one; _William Browne_, one; _Henry Constable_, four; _John Davis_, -one; _Michael Drayton_, five; Sir _Edward Dyer_, six; _John Ford_, -one; _Robert Greene_, seven; _Fulke Grevile_, two; _John Gough_, one; -_Howard, Earle of Surrie_, two; _Howell_, one: _William Hunnis_, two; -_Thomas Lodge_, ten; _Jervis Markham_, two; _Christopher Marlow_, one; -_Earle of Oxenford_, one: _George Peele_, three; Sir _Walter Raleigh_, -fourteen; _William Shakspeare_, two; Sir _Philip Sidney_, fourteen; -_William Smith_, one; _Edmund Spenser_, three; _Shepherd Tonie_, seven; -_Thomas Watson_, five; _John Wootton_, two, and _Bartholomew Yong_, -twenty-five. Of anonymous contributions there are sixteen. - -Amid this galaxy of bards we cannot fail to distinguish for their -decided superiority, the productions of _Breton_, _Greene_, _Lodge_, -_Marlow_, and _Raleigh_, which might confer celebrity on any selection. -The principal feature, indeed, of England's Helicon is its _pastoral_ -beauty, and in this department how few have surpassed, or even -equalled, the exquisite strains of Lodge or Marlow! - -"It cannot be idle or useless," remarks Sir Egerton Brydges, "to -study this early Collection of Pastoral compositions. Here is the -fountain of that diction, which has since been employed and expanded -in the description of rural scenery. Here are the openings of those -reflections on the imagery of nature, in which subsequent poets have so -much dealt. They show us to what occasional excellence, both in turn -of thought and polish of language, the literature of Queen Elizabeth -had arrived; and how little the artificial and incumbered prose of mere -scholars of that time exhibits a just specimen of either the sentiment -or phrase of the court or people! In the best of these productions, -even the accentuation and rhythm scarce differs from that of our -days. Lodge and Breton in particular, who are characterised by their -simplicity, are striking proofs of this!— - -"To such as could enjoy the rough and far-fetched subtlety of -metaphysical verses, this Collection must have appeared inexpressibly -insipid and contemptible. To those whose business it was to draw -similitudes from the most remote recesses of abstruse learning, how -childish must seem the delineation of flowers that were open to every -eye, and images which found a mirror in every bosom!! - -"But, O, how dull is the intricate path of the philosopher, how -uninteresting is all the laboured ingenuity of the artist, compared -with the simple and touching pleasures which are alike open to the -peasant, as to the scholar, the noble, or the monarch! It is in the -gift of exquisite senses, and not in the adventitious circumstances of -birth and fortune, that one human being excels another! - - "The common air, the sun, the skies, - To him are opening Paradise." - -"We are delighted to see reflected the same feelings, the same -pleasures from the breasts of our ancestors. We hear the voices of -those bearded chiefs, whose portraits adorn the pannels of our halls -and galleries, still bearing witness to the same natural and eternal -truths; still inveighing against the pomp, the fickleness, and the -treachery of courts; and uttering the songs of the shepherd and the -woodman, in language that defies the changes of time, and speaks to all -ages the touching effusions of the heart. - -"If some little additional prejudice in favour of these compositions be -given by the association in our ideas of their antiquity, if we connect -some reverence, and some increased force, with expressions which were -in favourite use with those who for two centuries have slept in the -grave, the profound moral philosopher will neither blame nor regret -this effect. It is among the most generous and most ornamental, if not -among the most useful habits of the mind! - -"Such are among the claims of this Collection to notice. But the seal -that has been hitherto put upon this treasure; the deep oblivion in -which the major parts of its contents have for ages been buried, ought -to excite curiosity, and impart a generous delight at its revival. -Who is there so cold as to be moved with no enthusiasm at drawing the -mantle from the figure of Time? For my part, I confess how often I have -watched the gradual developement with eager and breathless expectation; -and gazed upon the reviving features till my warm fancy gave them a -glow and a beauty, which perhaps the reality never in its happiest -moments possessed."[723:A] - -That very nearly two hundred years should have elapsed between the -second and third editions of this miscellany is a striking proof of the -neglect to which even the best of our ancient poetry has been hitherto -subjected. The rapidly increasing taste of the present age, however, -for the reliques of long-departed genius, cannot fail of precluding in -future any return of such undeserved obscurity. - -In 1600 the industry of Robert Allot presented the public with a large -collection of extracts from the most popular poets of his times, under -the title of "ENGLAND'S PARNASSUS: or the choysest flowers of our -moderne poets, with their poeticall comparisons. Descriptions of -Bewties, Personages, Castles, Pallaces, Mountaines, Groves, Seas, -Springs, Rivers, &c. Whereunto are annexed other various discourses, -both pleasant and profitable." Small 8vo. pp. 510. - -Had the editor of this curious volume, beside citing the names of -his authors, added the titles of the works from which he culled his -specimens, an infinity of trouble would have been saved to subsequent -research; yet the deficiency has served, in a peculiar manner, to -mark the successful progress of modern bibliography. When Oldys wrote -his Preface to Hayward's British Muse, which was first published in -1738, he complains grievously of this omission, observing that most -of Allot's poets "were now so obsolete, that not knowing what they -wrote, we can have no recourse to their works, if still extant."[724:A] -Since this sentence was written, such has been the industry of our -literary antiquaries, that almost every poem which Allot laid under -contribution in forming his volume, has been ascertained, and rendered -accessible to the curious enquirer; and so far from the writers being -obsolete, after nearly eighty years have been added to their antiquity, -we may venture to affirm that, excepting about half-a-dozen, they are -as familiar to us as the poets of the present reign. It is but just, -however, to acknowledge that a considerable portion of this intimacy -may be ascribed to Allot's book, which, by its numerous passages from -bards rendered scarce by neglect, has stimulated the bibliographical -enthusiasm of the last twenty years to achieve their detection. An -enumeration of the contributors to England's Parnassus, will serve to -illustrate and confirm these remarks:— - - 1. Thomas Achelly. - 2. Thomas Bastard. - 3. George Chapman. - 4. Thomas Churchyard. - 5. Henry Constable. - 6. Samuel Daniel. - 7. John Davies. - 8. Thomas Dekkar. - 9. Michael Drayton. - 10. Edmund Fairfax. - 11. Charles Fitzgeffrey. - 12. Abraham Fraunce. - 13. George Gascoigne. - 14. Edward Gilpin. - 15. Robert Greene. - 16. Sir John Harrington. - 17. John Higgins. - 18. Thomas Hudson. - 19. James, King of Scots. - 20. Benjamin Jonson. - 21. Thomas Kyd. - 22. Thomas Lodge. - 23. Gervase Markham. - 24. Christopher Marlowe. - 25. John Marston. - 26. Christopher Middleton. - 27. Thomas Nash. - 28. Oxford, Earl of. - 29. George Peele. - 30. Matthew Roydon. - 31. Sackville, Lord Buckhurst. - 32. William Shakspeare. - 33. Edmund Spenser. - 34. Thomas Storer. - 35. Surrey, Earl of. - 36. Sir Philip Sidney. - 37. Joshua Sylvester. - 38. George Turberville. - 39. William Warner. - 40. Thomas Watson. - 41. John Weever. - 42. William Weever. - 43. Sir Thomas Wyatt. - -Though Oldys has severely blamed the judgment of the editor in his -selection of authors and extracts, yet a much more consummate critic, -the highly-gifted Warton, considers him as having exhibited taste in -his choice, and it must be acknowledged that the volume has preserved -many exquisite passages from poets who, but for this selection, had -probably been irrecoverably merged in oblivion. - -In the same year with England's Parnassus came forth another -compilation, to which its editor, _John Bodenham_, gave the following -title: "BEL-VEDERE, OR THE GARDEN OF THE MUSES. - - Quem referent Musæ vivet, dum robora tellus, - Dum cælum stellas, dum vehit amnis aquas. - -Imprinted at London, by F. K. for Hugh Astley, dwelling at Saint Magnus -Corner. 1600." Small 8vo. pp. 236. - -This collection, which underwent a second impression in 1610, with the -omission of its first appellative, Bel-vedere, though it contain a vast -number of quotations, is, on two accounts, inferior to the "Parnassus." -In the first place, no authors' names are annexed to the extracts, -and, in the second, a much greater defect has arisen from the editor's -determination to confine his specimens to one or two lines at most, a -brevity which almost annihilates the interest of the work. To obviate, -however, in some degree, the inconveniences arising from the first -of these plans, he has recourse, in his _Proemium_, to the following -detail, which, as it gives a very curious narrative of the construction -of the book, will have its due value with the reader:— - -"Now that every one may be fully satisfied concerning this Garden, that -no man doth assume to him-selfe the praise thereof, or can arrogate -to his owne deserving those things, which have been derived from so -many rare and ingenious spirits; I have set down both how, whence, and -where, these flowres had their first springing, till thus they were -drawne together into the Muses Garden; that every ground may challenge -his owne, each plant his particular, and no one be injured in the -justice of his merit. - -"First, out of many excellent speeches, spoken to her Majestie, at -tiltings, triumphes, maskes, and shewes, and devises perfourmed in -prograce: as also out of divers choise ditties sung to her; and some -especially, proceeding from her owne most sacred selfe! Here are -great store of them digested into their meete places, according as -the method of the worke plainly delivereth. Likewise out of private -poems, sonnets, ditties, and other wittie conceits, given to her -honourable Ladies and vertuous Maids of Honour; according as they could -be obtained by sight, or favour of copying, a number of most wittie -and singular sentences. Secondly, looke what workes of poetrie have -been put to the world's eye, by that learned and right royall king and -poet, James King of Scotland; no one sentence of worth hath escaped, -but are likewise here reduced into their right roome and place. Next, -out of sundrie things extant, and many in private, done by these right -honourable persons following: - - Thomas, (Henry) Earl of Surrey. - The Lorde Marquesse of Winchester. - Mary Countess of Pembrooke. - Sir Philip Sidney. - -"From poems and workes of these noble personages extant: - - Edward, Earle of Oxenford. - Ferdinando, Earle of Derby. - Sir Walter Raleigh. - Sir Edward Dyer. - Fulke Grevile, Esq. - Sir John Harrington. - -"From divers essayes of their poetrie; some extant among other -honourable personages writings, some from private labours and -translations. - - Edmund Spencer. - Henry Constable, Esq. - Samuel Daniell. - Thomas Lodge, Doctor of Physicke. - Thomas Watson. - Michaell Drayton. - John Davies. - Thomas Hudson. - Henrie Locke, Esq. - John Marstone. - Chr. Marlowe. - Benjn. Johnson. - William Shakspeare. - Thomas Churchyard, Esq. - Tho. Nash. - Tho. Kidde. - Geo. Peele. - Robert Greene. - Josuah Sylvester. - Nicolas Breton. - Gervase Markham. - Thomas Storer. - Robert Wilmot. - Chr. Middleton. - Richard Barnefield. - -"These being moderne and extant poets, that have lived together, from -many of their extant workes, and some kept in private. - - Thomas Norton, Esq. - George Gascoigne, Esq. - Frauncis Hindlemarsh, Esq. - Thomas Atchelow. - George Whetstones. - -"These being deceased, have left divers extant labours, and many more -held back from publishing, which for the most part have been perused, -and their due right here given them in the Muses Garden. - -"Besides, what excellent sentences have been in any presented Tragedie, -Historie, Pastorall, or Comedie, they have been likewise gathered, and -are here inserted in their proper places."[727:A] - -It will be perceived that eleven poets are here enumerated, who had -no share in England's Parnassus; and it may be worth while to remark, -that, among the verses prefixed in praise of the book, are some lines -by _R. Hathway_, whom Mr. Malone conjectures to have been the kinsman -of _Ann Hathaway_, the wife of our immortal bard.[727:B] - -A small contribution of pieces by a few of the chief poets of the age, -was, in 1601, annexed to a production by Robert Chester, entitled, -"LOVE'S MARTYR, OR ROSALIN'S COMPLAINT, allegorically shadowing the -Truth of Love in the constant fate of the Phœnix and Turtle. A poem, -enterlaced with much varietie and raritie; now first translated out of -the venerable Italian Torquato Cæliano, by Robert Chester. With the -true legend of famous King Arthur, the last of the nine worthies; being -the first Essay of a new British poet: collected out of authenticall -records. _To these are added some new compositions of several modern -writers; whose names are subscribed to their severall workes; upon the -first subject; viz. the Phœnix and Turtle._" - -These _new compositions_ have the following second title immediately -preceding them: "_Hereafter follow diverse poetical essaies on the -former subject; viz. the Turtle and Phœnix. Done by the best and -chiefest of our modern writers, with their names subscribed to their -particular workes. Never before extant. And now first consecrated by -them all generally to the love and merit of the truly noble Knight, Sir -John Salisburie._" - -The only known copy of this collection was in Major Pierson's -possession, and it is solely from Mr. Malone, to whom we are indebted -for the above titles, that we learn the names of the principal -contributors; these are _Shakspeare_, _Ben Jonson_, _Marston_, and -_Chapman_.[728:A] Shakspeare's contribution forms the twentieth poem in -"The Passionate Pilgrim," commencing - - "Let the bird of loudest lay," &c. - -A miscellany upon a more extensive scale than the preceding, and -of great value for the taste exhibited in its selection, succeeded -in 1602, under the appellation of "A POETICAL RAPSODÎE; containing -diverse Sonnets, Odes, Elegies, Madrigals, Epigrams, Pastorals, -Eglogues, with other Poems, both in Rime and Measured Verse. For -varietie and pleasure, the like never yet published. - - The Bee and Spider by a diverse power, - Sucke hony and poyson from the selfe-same flower. - -London. 12mo." - -The editor and principal contributor, was _Francis Davison_, a poet of -no mean talents, and son of that Secretary of State, who experienced in -so remarkable a degree the duplicity of Elizabeth, in relation to Mary -Queen of Scots. In an Address to the Reader, he thus accounts for the -form which the volume assumes:—"Being induced by some private reasons, -and by the instant entreaty of speciall friends, to suffer some of -my worthlesse poems to be published, I desired to make some written -by my deere friends _Anonymoi_, and my deerer _Brother_, to beare -them company: both, without their consent; the latter being in the -low-country warres, and the rest utterly ignorant thereof. My friends -names I concealed; mine owne and my brother's, I willed the printer to -suppresse, as well as I had concealed the other, which he having put in -without my privity, we must now undergo a sharper censure perhaps than -our namelesse workes should have done; and I especially. For if their -poems be liked, the praise is due to their invention; if disliked, the -blame both by them and all men will be derived upon me, for publishing -that which they meant to suppresse." - -He then enters upon a defence of poetry, experience proving, he -remarks, "by examples of many, both dead and living, that divers -delighted and excelling herein, being princes or statesmen, have -gouerned and counselled as wisely; being souldiers, have commanded -armies as fortunately; being lawyers, have pleaded as judicially and -eloquently; being divines, have written and taught as profoundly; and -being of any other profession, have discharged it as sufficiently, as -any other men whatsoever;" and concludes by alleging, as an excuse "for -these poems in particular, that those under the name of _Anonymos_ -were written (as appeareth by divers things to Sir Philip Sidney -living, and of him dead) almost twenty years since, when poetry was -farre from that perfection to which it hath now attained: that my -brother is by profession a souldier, and was not eighteen years old -when he writ these toys: that mine owne were made most of them sixe or -seven yeares since, at idle times as I journeyed up and downe during my -travails." - -The division of the "Rapsodie" more peculiarly occupied by these -kindred bards, is that including "Sonnets, Odes, Elegies, Madrigals, -and Epigrams, by Francis and Walter Davison, brethren;" and they were -assisted in that, and the residue of the work, by Spenser, Sidney, -Sir John Davis, Mary Countess of Pembroke, Thomas Campion, Thomas -Watson, Charles Best, Thomas Spelman, and by others, whose initials are -supposed to indicate Henry Constable, Walter Raleigh, Henry Wotton, -Robert Greene, Andrew Willet, and Joshua Sylvester.[730:A] - -The "Poetical Rapsodie" is dedicated by Davison in a sonnet, "To the -most noble, honorable, and worthy Lord William Earl of Pembroke, Lord -Herbert of Cardiffe, Marmion, and St. Quintine," and was successively -republished with augmentations in 1608, 1611, and 1621. It may be -said to present us, not only with a felicitous choice of topics, but -it claims the merit of having preserved several valuable poems not -elsewhere to be discovered, and which, owing to the rarity of the book, -although four times subjected to the press, have not, until lately, -attracted the notice that is due to them. - -Independent of the _ten_ miscellanies which we have now enumerated, an -immense multitude of _Airs_, _Madrigals_, and _Songs_, set to music, -and printed in Parts, were published during the latter part of the -reign of Elizabeth, and during the reign of James the First. These -Collections contain a variety of lyric poems not elsewhere to be met -with, and which were either written expressly for the Composers, or -selected by the latter from manuscripts, or rare and insulated printed -copies. Foremost among these Professors of Music, who thus indirectly -contributed to enrich the stores of English Poetry, stands _William -Byrd_. This celebrated composer's first printed work in English was -licensed in 1587, and has the following title:—"_Tenor. Psalmes, -Sonets, and Songs of sadnes and pietie, made into musicke of five -parts: whereof, some of them going a broad among divers, in untrue -coppies, are heere truely corrected, and the other being Songs very -rare and newly composed, are heere published, for the recreation of all -such as delight in Musicke. By William Byrd, one of the Gent. of the -Queene's Maiesties Royall Chappell._" 4to. - -The volume is dedicated to Sir Christopher Hatton; and he tells his -reader, in an epistle subscribed the most assured friend to all that -love or learne musicke, William Byrd,—"heere is offered unto thy -courteous acceptation, musicke of sundrie sorts, and to content divers -humors. If thou bee disposed to pray, heere are psalmes. If to bee -merrie, heere are sonets. If to lament for thy sins, heere are songs -of sadnesse and pietie. If thou delight in musicke of great cõpasse, -heere are divers songs, which beeing originally made for instruments to -expresse the harmony, and one voyce to pronounce the dittie, are now -framed in all parts for voyces to sing the same. If thou desire songs -of smal compasse and fit for the reach of most voyces, heere are most -in number of that sort." - -Next to Byrd, whose publications of this kind are numerous, we may -mention _Thomas Morley_, no less remarkable for his skill in music, -and for his fertility in the production of _madrigals_, _ballets_, and -_canzonets_. How fashionable and universal had become the practice of -singing these compositions at every party of amusement, may be drawn -from one of the elementary works of this writer:—"Being at a banquet," -he relates, "supper being ended, and music books brought to table, the -mistress of the house, _according to custom_, presented me with a part, -earnestly intreating me to sing; when, after many excuses, I protested -unfeignedly that I could not, _every one began to wonder_, yea, some -whispered to others demanding _how I was brought up_."[732:A] - -Of the various collections of lyric poetry adapted to music and -published by Morley, who died about the period of the accession of -James the First, we shall notice two; one as indicatory of the manners -of the age, and the other of the estimation in which the science was -held by our composer, who seems, on this occasion, to have partaken -the enthusiasm of Shakspeare; for in a dedication, "To the Worshipfull -Sir Gervis Clifton, Knight," prefixed to "_Madrigals to five voyces. -Selected out of the best approved Italian Authors. By Thomas Morley, -Gentleman of hir Maiesties Royall Chappell_, 1598," he tells his -worthy patron, "I ever held this sentence of the poet, as a canon of -my creede; _That whom God loveth not, they love not Musique_. For as -the Art of Musique is one of the most Heavenly gifts, so the very love -of Musique (without art) is one of the best engrafted testimonies of -Heavens love towards us." - -In 1601, Morley published in quarto, "Cantus Madrigales. The triumphes -of Oriana, to 5 and 6 voices: composed by divers severall aucthors,"—a -collection remarkable for its object, as it consisted of twenty-five -songs, composed by twenty-four several musicians, for the express -purpose of commemorating the beauty and virginity of Elizabeth, under -the appellation of Oriana, and who was now in the sixty-eighth year of -her age, one, among innumerable proofs, of the extreme vanity of this -singular woman. - -That a great proportion of these musical miscellanies consisted of -translations from the Italian, is evident from the publications of -_Byrd_ and _Morley_, and from the _Musica Transalpina_ of _Nicolas -Yonge_, printed in two parts, in the years 1588 and 1597, where, -however, equal industry appears to have been exerted in collecting -English songs; the dedication, indeed, points out very distinctly the -sources whence these popular works were derived. "I endeavoured," says -Yonge, "to get into my hands all such English songes as were praise -worthie, and amongst others I had the hap to find in the hands of some -of my good friends certaine Italian Madrigales translated most of them -five years ago by a gentleman for his private delight." The two parts -of Musica Transalpina contain eighty-one songs. - -It seems probable, indeed, from _Orlando Gibbons_'s dedication of his -"First set of Mardrigals and Mottets" to Sir Christopher Hatton, dated -1612, that the courtiers of that period sometimes employed themselves -in writing lyrics for their domestic Lutenists; for Orlando tells his -lord,—"They were most of them composed in your own house, and do -therefore properly belong unto you as lord of the soil; _the language -they speak you provided them_; I only furnished them with tongues to -utter the same." It may be, however, that Sir Christopher was only a -selector of poetry for the lyre of Gibbons. - -To enumerate the multitude of music-stricken individuals, who, during -this period, were occupied in procuring and collecting lyric poetry -for professional purposes, would fill a volume. Among the most -indefatigable, may be mentioned _John Wilbye_, _Thomas Weelkes_, _John -Dowland_ and _Robert Jones_; "_The Musicall Dream_," 1609, and "_The -Muse's Gardin of Delights_," 1610, by the last of these gentlemen, were -held in great esteem. - -We cannot close this subject, indeed, without acknowledging our -obligations to this numerous class for the preservation of many most -beautiful specimens of lyric poetry, which, it is highly probable, -without their care and accompaniments, would either not have existed, -or would have perished prematurely.[733:A] - -As a further elucidation of the Poetical Literature of this period, and -with the view of condensing its retrospect, by an arrangement under -general heads, it may prove satisfactory, if we briefly throw into -classes, the names of those poets who may be considered as having given -ornament or extension to their art. The following divisions, it is -expected, will include all that, in this place, it can now be necessary -to notice. - - --------------------+-------------------+------------- - _Epic Poetry._ |_Historic._ |_Lyric._ - --------------------+-------------------+------------- - Spenser. |Sackville. |Gascoigne. - |Higgins. |Greene. - |Niccols. |Raleigh. - |Warner. |Breton. - |Daniel. |Lodge. - |Drayton. |Shakespeare. - |Shakespeare. |Jonson. - |Marlow. |Wotton. - |Fitzgeffrey. |Wither. - |Storer. | - |Willobie. | - |Beaumont. | - --------------------+-------------------+------------- - _Didactic._ |_Satiric._ |_Sonnet._ - --------------------+-------------------+------------- - Tusser. |Lodge. |Spenser. - Davies Sir J. |Hall. |Sidney. - Davors. |Marston. |Constable. - Fletcher G. |Donne. |Watson. - |Wither. |Shakespeare. - | |Daniel. - | |Drayton. - | |Barnes. - | |Barnefield. - | |Smith. - | |Stirling. - | |Drummond. - --------------------+-------------------+ - _Pastoral._ |_Translators._ | - --------------------+-------------------+ - Spenser. |Chapman. | - Chalkhill. |Harrington. | - Marlow. |Fairefax. | - Drayton. |Sylvester. | - Fairefax. |Golding. | - Brown. | | - -We have thus, in as short a compass as the nature of the subject would -admit, given, we trust, a more accurate view of the poetry of the -Shakspearean era, as it existed independent of the Drama, than has -hitherto been attempted. - -That Shakspeare was an assiduous reader of English Poetry; that he -studied with peculiar interest and attention his immediate predecessors -and contemporaries, there is abundant reason to conclude from a careful -perusal of his volume of miscellaneous poetry, which is modelled on a -strict adherence to the taste which prevailed at the opening of his -career. The collection, indeed, may, with no impropriety, be classed -under the two divisions of _Historic_ and _Lyric_ poetry; the former -concluding "Venus and Adonis," and the "Rape of Lucrece," and the -latter the "Sonnets," the "Passionate Pilgrim," and the "Lover's -Complaint." - -The great models of Historic poetry, during the prior portion of -Shakspeare's life, were the "Mirror for Magistrates" and "Warner's -Albion's England;" but for the mythological story of Venus and -Adonis, though deviating in several important circumstances from its -prototype, we are probably indebted to Golding's Ovid; and for the Rape -of Lucrece and the structure of the stanza in which it is composed, to -the reputation and the metre of the _Rosamond_ of Daniel, printed in -1592. For the Sonnets, he had numerous examples in the productions of -Spenser, Sidney, Watson, and Constable; and, through the wide field of -amatory lyric composition, excellence of almost every kind, in the form -of ode, madrigal, and song, might be traced in the varied effusions of -Gascoigne, Greene and Raleigh, Breton and Lodge. - -How far our great bard exceeded, or fell beneath, the models which he -possessed; in what degree he was independent of their influence, and to -what portion of estimation his miscellaneous poetry is justly entitled, -will be the subjects of the next chapter, in which we shall venture to -assign to these efforts of his early days a higher rank in the scale of -excellence than it has hitherto been their fate to obtain. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[596:A] Preface to Gondibert. Vide Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. -p. 351. - -[597:A] Headley's Select Beauties of Ancient English Poetry, vol. i. -Introduction, p. 19. edit. 1810. - -[602:A] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 4. - -[602:B] Act ii. - -[603:A] Vol. ix. p. 163. - -[603:B] Arte of English Poesie, reprint of 1811. p. 49. - -[603:C] Vide Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 47. - -[603:D] Percy's Reliques, vol. iii. p. 62. - -[603:E] Specimens of the Early English Poets, vol. ii. p. 240. - -[603:F] Censura Literaria, vol. ix. pp. 159. 161. - -[603:G] Shaw's Staffordshire, vol. i. p. 442. Ritson's Bibliographia -Poetica, p. 143. - -[603:H] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 268. col. 2. - -[604:A] Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books, vol. vi. p. -58. et seq. - -[604:B] It is sufficient praise, however, to remark, that Milton, both -in his L'Allegro and his Lycidas, is under many obligations to our -author. - -[605:A] We are told by Prince, in his "Worthies of Devonshire," that as -Browne "had honoured his country with his sweet and elegant Pastorals, -so it was expected, and he also entreated a little farther to grace -it by his drawing out the line of his poetic ancestors, beginning in -Joseph Iscanus, and ending in himself." Had this design been executed, -how much more full and curious had our information been with regard to -Shakspeare and his contemporaries, and how much is it to be lamented -that so noble a scheme was relinquished. - -Since these critical notices were written, Sir Egerton Brydges has -favoured the world with some hitherto unpublished poems of Browne; -productions which not only support the opinions given in the text, but -which tend very considerably to heighten our estimation of the genius -and imagination of this fine old bard. - -[606:A] Muses Library, 1741. p. 315. - -[606:B] Bagster's edit. 1808. p. 156. 276. - -[607:A] Muses Library, pp. 317. 319. 327. - -[607:B] See Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 83. Ritson has erroneously -dated this publication 1598. - -[608:A] Vide Pope's Preface to the Iliad; and Warton's History of -English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 442, 443. - -[609:A] In his "Challenge," he tells us, that his first publication was -"a book named _Davie Dicars Dream_, in King Edward's daies." - -[609:B] This publication, which was likewise called "A Musicall Consort -of heavenly Harmonie," is not mentioned by Ritson. - -[609:C] Vide Bibliographia Poetica, p. 169. - -[610:A] Vide Birch's Memoirs of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i.; and Winwood's -Memor. vol. ii. p. 36. - -[610:B] Underwood's edit. of 1640, folio, p. 196. - -[610:C] Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 49. col. 1. - -[610:D] Brydge's Theatrum Poetarum, p. 268. - -[610:E] Athenæ Oxonienses, vol. i. p. 14. - -[610:F] Origin of the English Drama, vol. iii. p. 212. - -[610:G] Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 292. note. - -[610:H] Todd's Milton, 2d. edit. vol. vi. p. 439. - -[612:A] Percy's Reliques, vol. i. p. 328. - -[612:B] Park's Royal and Noble Authors, vol. iii. p. 167. note. - -[612:C] Thus Drayton speaks of him as - - ——— "too much historian in verse. - His rhimes were smooth, his metres well did close; - But yet his manner better fitted prose;" - -and Bolton describes his works as containing "somewhat a flat, but yet -withal a very pure and copious English, and words as warrantable as any -man's, and fitter perhaps for prose than measure." - -[613:A] Brydges's Theatrum Poetarum, p. 273. - -[614:A] Vide Bagster's edit. p. 128. - -[618:A] Lord Woodhouslee, speaking of our author's poem entitled, -Forth Feasting, observes that it "attracted the envy as well as the -praise of Ben Jonson, is superior, in harmony of numbers, to any of -the compositions of the contemporary poets of England; and is, in its -subject, one of the most elegant panegyrics that ever were addressed by -a poet to a prince."—Life of Lord Kaimes. - -[618:B] Theatrum Poetarum, p. 195. original edition. - -[619:A] Dr. Johnson was of opinion that the translation of Mr. -Hoole would entirely supersede the labours of Fairefax. With no -discriminating judge of poetry, however, will this ever be the case; -there is a lameness and mediocrity in the version of Mr. Hoole, which -must always place it far beneath the spirited copy of the elder bard. -Had Mr. Brookes completed the Jerusalem with the same harmony and -vigour which he has exhibited in the first three books, a desideratum -in English literature had been supplied, and the immortal poem of Tasso -had appeared clothed in diction and numbers worthy of the most polished -era of our poetry. - -[620:A] Muses Library, 1741. p. 363. - -[620:B] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 295. col. 2. - -[621:A] Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 53. - -[621:B] Vide British Bibliographer, No. VII. p. 118. - -[622:A] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 79. col. 2. - -[622:B] Ibid. vol. vi. p. 81. - -[624:A] Whetstone published a pamphlet, entitled, "A Remembrance of -the wel imployed life and godly end of George Gaskoigne Esquire, who -deceased at Stalmford in Lincolne Shire, the 7th of October 1577. The -reporte of George Whetstone Gent. an eye witness of his Godly and -charitable end in this world. _Formæ nulla Fides._ Imprinted At London -for Edward Aggas, dwelling in Pauls Churchyard and are there to be -solde." "Since the antiquities of poetry," observes Mr. Chalmers, "have -become a favourite study, many painful inquiries have been made after -this tract, but it could not be found in Tanner's Library, which forms -part of the Bodleian, or in any other collection, private or public, -and doubts were entertained whether such a pamphlet had ever existed. -About three years ago, however, it was discovered in the collection of -a deceased gentleman, a Mr. Voight, of the Custom-house, London, and -was purchased at his sale by Mr. Malone. It consists of about thirteen -pages small quarto, black letter, and contains, certainly not much -_life_, but some particulars unknown to his biographers."—English -Poets, vol. ii. p. 447, 448. - -[624:B] For further particulars of his life see Chalmers's English -Poets, vol. ii. p. 447. et seq., Censura Literaria, vol. i. p. 110., -and British Bibliographer, vol. i. 73. - -[625:A] Gratulationes Valdinenses, edit. Binneman, 1578, 4to. lib. iv. -p. 22. - -[625:B] In his Dedication prefixed to his Translation of Ten Books of -Homer. - -[625:C] In his Address to Gentlemen Students, prefixed to Green's -Arcadia. - -[625:D] Discourse of English Poetrie, 1586. - -[625:E] Arte of Poesie, 1589, reprint, p. 51. - -[626:A] Todd's Spenser, vol. i. p. 191. Glosse to November. - -[626:B] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. ii. p. 455. - -[626:C] Observations on the Fairy Queen, vol. ii. p. 168. - -[626:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 144. note 4. - -[627:A] Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 191. et seq.; and vol. vi. p. 1. -21. - -[627:B] The reprint which has just appeared of our author's -_Philomela_, is a proof, however, that his prose was occasionally -the medium of sound instruction; for the moral of this piece is -unexceptionable. We may also remark, that the confessions wrung from -him in the hour of repentance are highly monitory, and calculated to -make the most powerful and salutary impression. - -[628:A] Mason's Gray, p. 224. - -[629:A] Vide Chalmers's English Poets, vol. v. p. 226. - -[629:B] Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 485. - -[630:A] Nugæ Antiquæ, apud Park, vol. i. p. xxii. - -[630:B] This writer terms Sir John "one of the most ingenious poets -of our English nation," and says "he was a Poet in all things, save -in his wealth, leaving a fair estate to a learned and religious -son."—Worthies, part iii. p. 28. - -[630:C] They were also annexed to the third edition of the Translation -of "Orlando Furioso," fol. 1634. - -[630:D] The popularity of these epigrams, notwithstanding their -poetical mediocrity, may be estimated from the opinion of the publisher -of the edition of 1625. "If in poetry," he remarks, "heraldry were -admitted, he would be found in happiness of wit near allied to the -great Sidney: yet but near; for the Apix of the Cœlum Empyrium is not -more inaccessible, than is the height of Sidney's poesy, which by -imagination we may approach, by imitation never attain to."—Dedication -to George Villiers Duke of Buckingham. - -A subsequent writer has also gifted them with extraordinary longevity:— - - "Still lives the Muse's Apollonian son, - The Phœnix of his age, rare HARINGTON! - Whose _Epigrams_, when time shall be no more, - May die, perhaps, but never can before." - Beedome's Poems, 1641. - -Vide Nugæ Antiquæ, vol. i. p. xxiii. - -[632:A] Edition of 1800, by Sir Egerton Brydges, p. 197, 198. - -[632:B] Vide Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, vol. ii. p. 114. - -[632:C] Ibid. p. 115. - -[633:A] Vide Beloe on Scarce Books, vol. ii. pp. 115-117. - -[633:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 3. - -[635:A] British Bibliographer, No. 11. Preface to England's Helicon, -pp. 6, 7. - -[635:B] Biographia Dramatica, vol. i. p. 287. edit. 1782. - -[635:C] Vol. ii. p. 159. et seq. - -[635:D] Phillips's Theatrum apud Brydges, p. 199. - -[636:A] Theatrum Poetarum, edit. of 1800, p. 113. - -[636:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 318. Act iii. sc. 2. - -[637:A] Miscellaneous Pieces of Antient English Poesie, preface. - -[637:B] Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 49. - -[637:C] Affaniæ, lib. ii. Ad Johannem Marstonium. - -[638:A] British Bibliographer, vol. i. p. 363. - -[639:A] Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. col. 402. - -[639:B] "The Poems of Sir Walter Raleigh: now first collected. With a -Biographical and Critical Introduction:" Dedicated to William Bolland, -Esq. - -[639:C] Phillips's Theatrum apud Brydges, p. 308, 309. - -[639:D] Arte of English Poesie, reprint of 1811. p. 168. - -[639:E] Phillips's Theatrum apud Brydges, p. 314, 315. - -[640:A] Arte of English Poesie, reprint, p. 165. 167. - -[640:B] Ibid. p. 51. - -[640:C] Vide Phillips's Theatrum apud Brydges, p. 269. - -[642:A] Biographical and Critical Introduction, pp. 43-46. - -[642:B] The date of this nobleman's birth has been variously given: -thus Ritson affirms in his Bibliographia, p. 324., he was born in 1536; -and Sir Egerton Brydges in his edition of the "Theatrum Poetarum," also -expressly tells us, that "Sackville was not born till 1536," p. 66; but -in "The British Bibliographer" he has corrected this assertion, and -places his nativity in 1527, which is the true era, as he died aged 81, -in 1608. - -[642:C] Park's edition of Lord Orford's Royal and Noble Authors, vol. -ii. p. 130. - -[643:A] British Bibliographer, No. IV. p. 295. - -[644:A] Specimens of the Early English Poets, 1st edit. vol. ii. p. 166. - -[645:A] Vide Warton, vol. iii.; or, Phillips's Theatrum apud Brydges, -p. 268. - -[645:B] Select Beauties of Antient English Poetry, vol. ii. Kett's -edit. pp. 2. 5. 86. - -[645:C] Bibliographia Poetica, p. 340, 341. - -[645:D] Censura Literaria, vol. vi. p. 285-298. - -[646:A] Book ii. Song 1. See Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 276. -col. 2. - -[646:B] Poems, edit. 1658. p. 8. - -[646:C] Preface to Spenser's View of the State of Ireland, 1633. - -[647:A] Epigrammatum Libri quatuor, 1607, p. 100. For this striking -testimony we are indebted to Mr. Todd's valuable edition of Spenser, -vol. i. p. cxxi. - -[647:B] To the charge of "critical negligence," in this respect, I am -sorry to say, that I must plead guilty in my "Literary Hours;" where, -in delineating the character of Spenser, I have brought forward this -accusation of _obsolete diction_, without the proper discrimination. -Vide Literary Hours, 3d edit. vol. ii. p. 161.—In every other respect -I consider the criticism as correct. I had then read Spenser but twice -through; a further familiarity with the Fairie Queene has induced me to -withdraw the censure, and to accede to the opinion of Mr. Malone, who -conceives the language of the _Fairie Queene_ to have been "perfectly -intelligible to every reader of poetry in the time of Queen Elizabeth, -though the _Shepheards Calendar_ was not even then understood without a -commentary."—See his Dryden's Prose Works, vol. iii. p. 94. - -[649:A] It is impossible to view the portrait prefixed to Mr. Todd's -valuable edition of Spenser, without being incredulous as to its -authenticity. There is a pertness and satirical sharpness in its -expression very inconsistent, not only with the disposition of the -poet, but with the features given to him in every other representation, -of which the leading character is an air of pensive sweetness. - -[650:A] Royal and Noble Authors apud Park, vol. v. p. 73. - -[650:B] Chalmers's English Poets, vol. v. p. 298. - -[651:A] Orford's Royal and Noble Authors apud Park, vol. v. p. 76. - -[652:A] "Its rude grandeur, its immense hall, its castellated form, its -numerous apartments, well accord with the images of chivalry, which the -memory of Sydney inspires."—British Bibliographer, vol. i. p. 293. - -[652:B] Zouch's Life of Sydney, 4to. p. 256. - -[653:A] Vide Poems, 1807, 12mo. 4th. edit.; and British Bibliographer, -vol. i. p. 81-105. and 289-295. Censura Literaria, vol. ii. p. 175. et -seq.; and vol. iii. p. 389. - -[653:B] Considerations on Milton's Early Reading, and the Prima Stamina -of his Paradise Lost; together with Extracts from a Poet of the -Sixteenth Century. In a Letter to William Falconer, M. D., from Charles -Dunster, Esq. M. A. London, 1800. - -[653:C] Vide Wood's Athenæ, vol. i. p. 594.; and Phillips's Theatrum. - -[654:A] For further observations on, and numerous extracts from, -Sylvester's Du Bartas, see Dunster's Considerations, and Drake's -Literary Hours, 3d edit. vol. iii. Nos. 49, 50, and 51. - -[655:A] One of the Epigrams prefixed to the folio edition of -Sylvester's Works. Ten pages in the copy of 1641 are occupied by -commendatory Poems on the Translator. - -[655:B] Lines by Viccars, under the portrait of Sylvester, in the -edition of 1641. - -[656:A] Vide Preliminary Dissertation to his edition of Tusser, pp. 5. -13. 20, 21. 25. - -[657:A] British Bibliographer, No. III. p. 286. - -[657:B] Preface to his Translation of Conradus Heresbachius, printed in -1596, and 1601. - -[658:A] Bibliographia Poetica, p. 374. - -[658:B] See Sharpe's British Poets, No. LXXIX. p. 17. note 20. - -[659:A] Ritson's Bibliographia Poetica, p. 384. - -[659:B] Reliques, vol. ii. p. 239. 4th edit. - -[659:C] Wit's Academy, part ii. p. 280. edit. of 1598. - -[659:D] Of Poets and Poesy, Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 399. -col. 2. - -[660:A] Edit. 1741. p. 157. - -[660:B] Vol. ii. p. 238. - -[660:C] Vol. iv. p. 499. - -[661:A] British Bibliographer, No. XII. p. 7. - -[661:B] Ibid. p. 5. 7. - -[663:A] British Bibliographer, No. XII. p. 3, 4. - -[663:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 31. - -[663:C] Epistle prefixed to Greene's Menaphon. - -[663:D] Foure Letters and certaine Sonnets, 1592. - -[663:E] Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 47. - -[664:A] In the Apologie of Dorrell, dated 1596, and annexed to the -second edition, he tells us, that "this poetical fiction was penned by -the author at least for thirty and five yeares sithence." "If there -was sufficient ground for this assertion," remarks Mr. Haslewood, "it -fixes the time of the composition about 1561, and supposing the author -then, as seems reasonable to presume, to have attained his twenty-first -year, it places the time of his birth, as conjecturally fixed by Mr. -Ellis, at 1540. However, some doubt arises whether this inference is -not contradicted by the preface of 1594; which describes the author -not only as 'a scholar of very good hope,' but also as a 'young man,' -who, desirous of seeing the fashions of other countries, had, 'not long -sithence,' departed voluntarily in Her Majesty's service. Here the -most enlarged meaning bestowed on the expression 'not long sithence,' -can neither explain the sentence that calls him a 'scholar of very -good hope,' nor that of a 'young man,' whereby they shall be terms -applicable to a person who had written thirty years before, and from -the above inference might have been then in the fifty-fourth year of -his age. It is probable the preface may be relied on; otherwise the -author's departure from this country will be found too remote for the -term of any voluntary engagement, civil or military, that could be -attached to foreign service. Dorrell's subsequent anachronism may be -ascribed to inadvertency: to a zealous, but hurried attempt to parry -the attack of the critic, by the supposed youth of the writer; and -by fixing the composition at a period sufficiently early to prevent -an unfavourable comparison with more recent productions." British -Bibliographer, No. XIV. p. 242. - -[664:B] The term _hexameter_ is here meant to designate stanzas -consisting of _six lines_. - -[664:C] Ritson dates this fourth impression 1609, but Mr. Haslewood -1605: see Brit. Bibliogr., No. XIV. p. 241. - -[665:A] Brit. Bibliogr., No. XIV. p. 243. - -[665:B] Ibid., p. 245. - -[666:A] Brit. Bibliogr., No. III. p. 17, et seq. - -[666:B] At the end of his "Fides Anglicanæ," 1660. - -[666:C] In his "Warning-piece to London," 1665. - -[667:A] Vide Preface to "Abuses Stript and Whipt." - -[668:A] Brit. Bibliogr., No. I. p. 4, 5. - -[668:B] A Selection from Wither's Works, in three volumes 8vo., -was promised, five years ago, by a gentleman of Bristol. In 1785 -Mr. Alexander Dalrymple published Extracts from his Juvenilia; and -"Fidelia," "Faire Virtue," "The Shepheard's Hunting," and "Abuses -Stript and Whipt," are now separately reprinting from the press of -Longman and Co.—October 1814. - -[669:A] Restituta, No. VI. p. 394, 395. - -[669:B] Theatrum Poetarum, edition of 1675. - -[670:A] Reliques, vol. iii., 4th edit. p. 190-264. - -[671:A] Dalrymple's Extracts from Wither's Juvenilia, 1785. - -[672:A] "Laura: or an Anthology of Sonnets." By Capel Lofft. 5 vols. -Preface, vol. i. p. cxliv. cxlv. - -[673:A] Theatrum Poetarum apud Brydges, p. 318, 319. - -[674:A] Observations on Spenser, vol. i. p. 155, 156. - -[674:B] It may be useful in this note, to place, in immediate -juxta-position, the names of the Poets whom we have thus enumerated, -as leaders of a great portion of their Art, during a period of half a -century. - - 1. Beaumont, Sir John. - 2. Breton. - 3. Browne. - 4. Chalkhill. - 5. Chapman. - 6. Churchyard. - 7. Constable. - 8. Daniel. - 9. Davies. - 10. Davors. - 11. Donne. - 12. Drayton. - 13. Drummond. - 14. Fairfax. - 15. Fitzgeffrey. - 16. Fletcher, Giles. - 17. Fletcher, Phineas. - 18. Gascoigne. - 19. Greene. - 20. Hall. - 21. Harrington. - 22. Jonson. - 23. Lodge. - 24. Marlow. - 25. Marston. - 26. Niccols. - 27. Raleigh. - 28. Sackville. - 29. Southwell. - 30. Spenser. - 31. Stirling. - 32. Sydney. - 33. Sylvester. - 34. Turberville. - 35. Tusser. - 36. Warner. - 37. Watson. - 38. Willobie. - 39. Wither. - 40. Wotten. - - Lane. - -[677:A] "Here, through the course of twenty sonnets, not inelegant, -and which were exceedingly popular, the poet bewails his unsuccessful -love for a beautiful youth, by the name of Ganymede, in a strain of the -most tender passion, yet with professions of the chastest affection." -Warton's Hist. vol. iii. p. 405.—It was the fashion, at this period, -to imitate the second Eclogue of Virgil. - -[677:B] The Sonnets of Barnes, which are written in strict adherence -to the recurring _rima_ of the Italian school, frequently possess -no inconsiderable beauties. The Sonnet on Content, selected by Mr. -Beloe (vol. ii. p. 78.), from Parthenophil, is highly pleasing and -harmonious, and at least twenty of his centenary may be pronounced, -both in imagery and versification, above mediocrity. - -[677:C] Sheppard, in his Poems, 1651, remarks that "none in England, -save Bastard and Harington, have divulged epigrams worth notice." A -beautiful specimen of his Epigrams is given by Mr. Park, in Censura -Literaria, vol. iv. p. 375. - -[677:D] To this poet, Nash dedicated his "Strange Newes," &c. 1592, in -the subsequent curious terms: "To the most copious carminist of our -time, and famous persecutor of Priscian, his verie friend maister _Apis -lapis_."—Vide Ritson, p. 131. note. - -[678:A] For an account of this author, see British Bibliographer, No. -VIII. p. 235. In this, as in other instances, I have only inserted the -pieces published during the life of Shakspeare. - -[678:B] Two pieces by this writer, entitled "The Mourning Muse of -Thestylis," and "A Pastorall Aeglogue upon the Death of Sir Philip -Sidney," have been inserted in Spenser's Works (Todd's edit. vol. -viii. p. 66. et seq.), and probably form the contents of "The Mourning -Muses." He is described by Spenser as a swain - - "Of gentle wit and daintie sweet device," - -and if, as Ritson asserts, (Bibliograph. Poet. p. 146,) "we probably -owe much that has descended to us of the incomparable "Faery Queen," -to this poet, we are greatly his debtors indeed. That Bryskett had -importuned his friend for the continuance of his immortal poem, is -evident from Spenser's thirty-third sonnet, which pleads, as an excuse, -disappointment in love, and closes with the following petitionary -couplet:— - - "Cease then, till she vouchsafe to grawnt me rest; - Or lend you me another living breast." - Vol. viii. p. 137. - -Bryskett succeeded Spenser as Clerk of the Council of Munster. - -[679:A] To these poems by Chester, are added on the first subject, -which, he tells us, "allegorically shadows the truth of love, in the -constant fate of the phœnix and turtle," poems by Shakspeare, Jonson, -Marston, Chapman, and others.—Vide Ritson, p. 159. - -[679:B] Ritson remarks,—"This is probably the poem alluded to in the -_Midsummer-Night's Dream_:— - - "Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true, - As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you." - Page 170. - -[680:A] That Wittes Pilgrimage was written before 1614, is evident from -its being alluded to in his _Scourge for Paper-Persecutors_: annexed to -the _Scourge of Folly_, printed in this year. - -[680:B] Beside these productions here enumerated, Davies published, in -1617, "_Wits Bedlam_," 8vo.; containing not less than 400 Epigrams, and -about 80 Epitaphs. This writer usually designated himself by the title -of _John Davies of Hereford_,—See Censura Literaria, vols. i. ii. v. -vi. Brit. Bibliographer, No. VIII, Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii., and -Wood's Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. p. 445. He also wrote _The Holy Rood, or -Christ's Crosse_, 1609. - -[680:C] These poetical brothers published their poems with the above -title, in a valuable Collection of Metrical Miscellanies, called "A -Poetical Rapsodie," 1602, which will be noticed hereafter. They are -introduced in the Table as being the principal contributors, and as -distinguishing their pieces by a separate title or division. - -[681:A] This writer was the most popular ballad-maker of his day; he -was by trade a silk-weaver, and the compiler of various Garlands, under -the titles of "The Garland of Good Will;" "The Garland of Delight," -&c. &c. Nash, in his "Have with you to Saffron-Walden," 1596, says, -that "his muse from the first peeping forth, hath stood at livery at -an alehouse wispe, never exceeding a penny a quart day nor night; and -this deere yeare, together with the silencing of his looms, scarce -that; he being constrained to betake himself to carded ale: whence -it proceedeth, that since _Candlemas_, or his jigge of _John for the -King_, not one merrie dittie will come from him, but _The thunder-bolt -against swearers_, _Repent England repent_, and _The strange judgements -of God_." - -[681:B] Drant was a copious Latin Poet, having published two -miscellanies under the titles of _Sylva_, and _Poemata Varia_. - -[681:C] A quotation from one of the songs or ballads of this drunken -rhymer, is to be found in _Much Ado about Nothing_, (Reed's Shakspeare, -vol. vi. p. 196.) commencing - - "The god of love, - That sits above." - -[682:A] This poem, of which a prior edition is noticed in Censura -Literaria, vol. v. p. 349, as published in 4to. 1600, is conjectured -by Ritson, p. 201, to have been the production of William Evans, who -is well known to the lovers of old English poetry, by his eulogium -prefixed to the first edition of Spenser's "Faerie Queene," 1590. The -Thamesiades, which consists of three books or cantos, is written with -vigour, and exhibits some pleasing poetical pictures. - -[682:B] This thin volume of 22 leaves, consists of seven poetical -speeches "spoken before the King and Queens most excellent Majestie, -the Prince his highnesse, and the Lady Elizabeth's Grace." - -[682:C] He contributed also to the previous editions of 1559 and 1563. - -[682:D] The "Georgiks" were added to a new version of the "Bucolikes," -forming one volume, 4to. Both are in regular Alexandrines without rhyme. - -[683:A] This production consists of a pastoral and an elegy; the former -being a translation of the Aminta of Tasso. - -[683:B] Fraunce also published in a work of his, entitled "The -Lawyers Logicke," 1586, an hexameter version of Virgil's Alexis. His -affectation of Latin metres has condemned him to oblivion, for as -Phillips justly remarks, "they neither become the English, nor any -other modern language."—Edit. apud Brydges, p. 109. - -[683:C] Wood tells us (Ath. Oxon. vol. i. p. 398.), that Freeman was -held in esteem by Donne, Daniel, Chapman, and Shakspeare; and to -these poets, and to Spenser, he has addressed epigrams. For numerous -specimens of this poet, see Warton, vol. iv., Ellis, and Park in -Censura Lit. vol. iv. p. 129. - -[683:D] This poem was afterwards annexed to Greene's "History of -Arbasto," 1617, where it is termed "a lovely poem." It was reprinted in -1626. On Greene's authority, I have ranked it beyond mediocrity. - -[684:A] A collection which consists, observes Mr. Park, "of the saddest -trash that ever assumed the name of Epigrams; and which, with a very -slight alteration, well merits the sarcasm bestowed by Shenstone on the -poems of a Kidderminster bard:— - - "Thy verses, friend, are _linsey woolsey_ stuff, - And we must own—you've measur'd out enough." - Censura Lit. vol. v. p. 348. - -[684:B] The "Popish Kingdome" consists of four books, of which the last -contains a curious and interesting description of feasts, holidays, and -Christmas games; including, of course, many of the customs, and almost -all the amusements of the period in which it was written. - -[684:C] Besides these works, Googe published in 1563, "Eglogs, -Epitaphs, and Sonnets," 12mo. - -[685:A] "A Poem in manuscript, of considerable length, together with -some Sonnets, preserved amongst numerous treasures of a similar nature, -which belonged to the late Duke of Bridgewater, and now belong to the -Marquis of Stafford."—Todd's Spenser, vol. i. p. 87. Mr. Todd has -given us a specimen of Sir Arthur's talents, by the production of a -Sonnet from this manuscript treasure, which indicates no common genius, -and induces us to wish for the publication of the whole. - -[685:B] Sir Arthur was the intimate friend of Spenser, who lamented -the death of Lady Gorges in a beautiful elegy entitled "Daphnaida:" he -has recorded, likewise, the conjugal affection and the talents of her -husband, under the name of _Alcyon_, in the following elegant lines:— - - "And there is sad Alcyon, bent to mourne, - Though fit to frame an everlasting dittie, - Whose gentle spright for Daphne's death doth tourne - Sweet layes of love to endlesse plaints of pittie. - Ah pensive boy, pursue that brave conceipt, - In thy sweet eglantine of Meriflure, - Lift up thy notes unto their wonted height, - That may thy Muse and mates to mirth allure." - Todd's Spenser, vol. viii. p. 23. - -[685:C] This poem was printed, says Ritson, at the end of Kenton's -"Mirror of man's life," 1580. Gosson is introduced here in consequence -of the celebrity attributed to him by Wood, who declares, that "for his -admirable penning of pastorals, he was ranked with Sir P. Sidney, Tho. -Chaloner, Edm. Spenser, Abrah. Fraunce, and Rich. Bernfield." - -[685:D] This forms the second part of a work by the same writer, called -"The Golden Aphroditis," and consists of 19 pieces, four of which are -in prose. - -[686:A] Greepe's poem has been, through mistake, attributed by Mr. -Beloe to Thomas Greene; and Ritson, by a second error, charged with its -omission.—Vide Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 89. - -[686:B] These pieces, written before 1620, were collected in his Works, -folio, 1633, and in his "Remains," 1670. 8vo. - -[686:C] Vide Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 109. - -[687:A] Warton observes, that "this translation has no other merit than -that of being the first appearance of a part of the Iliad in an English -dress."—Vol. iii. p. 440. - -[687:B] Ritson appears to have confounded these two writers, Sir -William, and William Harbert, and classed them as one. The latter -speaks of his _unripened yeares_ in 1604.—Vide British Bibliographer, -No. IV. p. 300. - -[687:C] Beside these Sonnets, amounting to twenty-three, Harvey was the -introducer of the miserable attempts to imitate the Latin metres, and -boasts in this publication of being the first who exhibited English -hexameters. - -[687:D] The celebrated sister of Sir Philip Sydney. - -[687:E] All that are printed of these, appear in the Paradise of -Daintie Devises, of the date annexed. He had previously translated -three tragedies from Seneca, and died in 1598. - -[688:A] A writer known to greater advantage by his _Hierarchie of the -Blessed Angels_, folio, 1635; a work of singular curiosity and much -amusement. - -[688:B] Higgins termed this the _first part_, merely in reference to -the collection by Baldwin in 1559, which, commencing at a much later -period, was afterwards called "the last part." Higgins's publication, -in 1575, contains 17 Legends from Albanact to Irenglas; but in 1587 -he edited an edition of the Mirrour, including Baldwin's part, and -with the addition of 24 Legends of his own composition, which carries -forward his department to the death of Caracalla. - -[688:C] In the Dedication of this work, the fashionable reading of -the times is thus reprobated:—"Novelties in these days delight -dainty eares, and fine filed phrases to fit some fantasy's, that no -book except it abound with the one or the other, or both of these, is -brooked of them. Some read _Gascoyne_, some _Guevasia_, some praise the -_Palace of Pleasure_, and the like, whereon they bestow whole days, -yea, some whole months and years, that scarce bestow one minute on the -Bible, albeit the work of God." - -[688:D] For specimens of this volume, which is supposed to be unique, -see British Bibliographer, No. II. p. 105. - -[689:A] An edition of this "famous old ballad" was published by Thomas -Gent of York, about 1740, who tells us, that it was "taken from an -antient manuscript, which was transcribed by Mr. Richard Guy, late -schoolmaster at Ingleton, in Yorkshire." Subsequent editions have been -published by Lambe and Weber. - -[689:B] Printed in Ashmole's _Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum_. - -[690:A] Perhaps the only piece above mediocrity in Kendall's Epigrams -is the following which I consider as very happily rendered:— - -"MARTIAL. - -_To Himselfe._ - - MARTIAL, the thinges that do attaine - The hapy life be these I finde: - The riches left, not got with paine; - The fruitefull ground, the quiet minde. - - The egall frend; no grudge no strife; - No charge of rule, nor governaunce: - Without disease the healthfull life; - The household of continuance. - - The mean dyet, no delicate fare; - True wisdome joynd with simplenes; - The night discharged of all care, - Where wine the wit may not oppresse. - - The faithfull wife without debate; - Such sleepes as may beguile the night; - Content thyself with thine estate, - Ne wishe for death, nor feare his might." - Fol. 18, b. - -[691:A] This writer transcends mediocrity in consequence of the -singular purity and harmony of his diction and versification. The -subsequent lines, forming the prior part of a sonnet, have the air of -being written rather in the 19th than the 16th century:— - - "Hard is his hap who never finds content, - But still must dwell with heavy-thoughted sadnesse: - Harder that heart that never will relent, - That may, and will not turne these woes to gladnesse; - - Then joies adue, comfort and mirth, farewell; - For I must now exile me from all pleasure, - Seeking some uncouth cave where I may dwell, - Pensive and solitarie without measure." - -[691:B] For an account of this author, and of a poem of his printed in -1631, see Wood's Fasti, vol. i. col. 147; and Censura Literaria, vol. -i. p. 291. - -[691:C] A poem in Alexandrines, printed at the end of the first edition -of his "Pilgrimage of Princes." - -[692:A] The 200 Sonnets are followed by 100, entitled "Sundry -affectionate Sonets of a feeling conscience;" by 20, called "An -Introdution to peculiar prayers," and by 59, termed "Sonnets of the -Author to divers." In "The Return from Parnassus," Lok is thus, not -undeservedly, sentenced to oblivion:—"Locke and Hudson, sleep you, -quiet shavers, among the shavings of the press, and let your books lie -in some old nook amongst old boots and shoes: so, you may avoid my -censure."—Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 49. - -[692:B] This is attributed to Markham on the authority of Mr. -Haslewood. See British Bibliographer, No. IV. p. 381. - -[692:C] Mr. Park conceives this translation to be the production of -Robert Tofte, rather than of Markham.—Ritson's Bibliographia, p. 274, -note. - -[693:A] It is to be regretted that no complete edition of the Works of -Montgomery has hitherto been published. Those printed by Foulis and -Urie in 1751 and 1754, are very imperfect; but might soon be rendered -faithful by consulting the manuscript collection of Montgomery's -Poems, presented by Drummond to the University of Edinburgh. This -MS., extending to 158 pages 4to., contains, beside odes, psalms, and -epitaphs, 70 sonnets, written on the Petrarcan model; and, if we may -judge from the six published by Mr. Irving, exhibiting a considerable -portion of poetic vigour. _The Cherrie and the Slae_, which, as the -critic just mentioned observes, "has maintained its popularity for the -space of two hundred years," must be pronounced in some of its parts, -beautiful, and, as a whole, much above mediocrity. Sibbald has printed -ten of our author's poems in the third volume of his Chronicle of -Scottish Poetry. - -[694:A] The Sonnets of Murray appeared five years anterior to those -of Drummond, and though not equal to the effusions of the bard of -Hawthornden, are yet entitled to the praise of skilful construction and -frequently of poetic expression. A copy is now seldom to be met with; -but specimens may be found in Campbell's History of Poetry in Scotland, -and in Censura Literaria, vol. x. p. 374, 375. - -[694:B] This poet, who, in the former part of his life, practised as a -physician, at Butley, in Cheshire, was a Latin poet of some eminence, -and one of the translators of Seneca's Tragedies, published in 1581. - -[694:C] For a specimen of this poem, see Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. -104. - -[694:D] Though said to be the fourth edition, this copy is supposed by -Mr. Neve to be really the first impression. (See Cursory Remarks on -Ancient English Poets, 1789, p. 27.) Few poems have been more popular -than Overbury's "Wife;" owing partly to the good sense with which it -abounds, and partly to the interesting and tragic circumstances which -accompanied the author's fate. It was speedily and frequently imitated; -in 1614, appeared "_The Husband. A poeme expressed in a compleat man_," -by an anonymous writer; in 1616, "_A Select Second Husband for Sir -Thomas Overburie's Wife_," by John Davies of Hereford; in 1619, "_The -Description of a Good Wife_," by Richard Brathwaite; and in the same -year, "_A Happy Husband, or Directions for a Maid to chuse her Mate_," -by Patrick Hannay. These pieces are inferior to their prototype, which, -though not displaying much poetic inspiration, is written with elegance -and perspicuity. - -[695:A] This work is a composition of verse and prose. Mr. Douce -terms Parkes a "writer of great ability and poetical talents, though -undeservedly obscure." Vide Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 75. - -[695:B] Warton, in the Fragment of his fourth volume of the History of -English Poetry, remarks at p. 73, that many of Parrot's epigrams "are -worthy to be revived in modern collections." The _Laquei_ contain many -of the epigrams which he had previously published. - -[696:A] Peele, who will afterwards be noticed as a dramatic poet, -may be classed with Scoggan, Skelton, and Tarleton, as a buffoon and -jester. He died before 1598, and his "Merrie conceited Jests" were -published in 4to. in 1627. - -[696:B] An ample analysis of "The Historie of Lord Mandozze," has been -given in the British Bibliographer, No. X. p. 523.; and No. XI. p. 587. -Of the poetry of this very rare version, little laudatory can be said. - -[696:C] Of this scarce poem, unknown to Ritson, the reader will find a -description by Mr. Haslewood in the British Bibliographer, No. III. p. -214. - -[696:D] Mr. Beloe conjectures this "Commemoration," not noticed by -Ritson, to have been the production of a writer different from the -_John Phillip_ of the Bibliographia (p. 299.), and assigns for his -reason, the signature, at the conclusion, namely, _John Phyllips_; but -it is remarkable that the inscription, copied by Mr. Beloe, runs thus: -"To all Right Noble, Honorable, Godlye and Worshipfull Ladyes, _John -Phillip_ wisheth," &c. a variation in the orthography which warrants an -inference as to their identity. Vide Beloe, vol. ii. p. 111. et seq. - -[697:A] Mr. Haslewood supposes this poem to have been written by -William Phiston, of London, Student; who is considered by Herbert, p. -1012., as the same person mentioned by Warton, vol. iii. p. 308. under -the appellation of W. Phist.—See Brit. Bibliogr. vol. v. p. 569. - -[697:B] Ritson, in his Bibliographia, says, that no one except Warton -appears to have met with this publication; extracts from it, however, -may be found in the Monthly Mirror, vol. xiv. p. 17. - -[697:C] These Flowers are the production of one of the most celebrated -agriculturists of the 16th century, the author of the "Jewell House of -Art and Nature;" the "Paradise of Flora;" the "Garden of Eden," &c. -&c.; but, in his poetical capacity, they prove, as Mr. Park remarks, -that he "did not attain to 'a plat of rising ground in the territory of -Parnassus.'"—Censura Lit. vol. viii. p. 7. - -[697:D] These are printed in the latter part of the miscellany, -entitled "A Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions." - -[697:E] Beside these verses in honour of Elizabeth, Puttenham wrote -the "Isle of Great Britain," a little brief romance; "Elpine," an -eclogue; "Minerva," an hymn; and, throughout his "Arte of Poesie," -are interspersed a number of _verses_, _epigrams_, _epitaphs_, -_translations_, _imitations_, &c. Mr. Haslewood has prefixed a copy of -the _Partheniades_ to his reprint of "The Arte of English Poesie," 1811. - -[698:A] For specimens of this poem, the British Bibliographer, No. II. -p. 153., may be consulted. Why it was called Dolarny's Primerose does -not appear. Reynolds possesses some merit as a descriptive poet. - -[698:B] Of this work, not mentioned by Ritson, an account has been -given by Mr. Haslewood in Censura Literaria, vol. iv. p. 241. The -"Rewarde of Wickednesse" is written on the plan of the "Mirror for -Magistrates," and was composed during the author's night-watches as one -of the sentinels employed to guard the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots. -Robinson is supposed to be author of "The ruffull tragedy of Hemidos -and Thelay," licensed in 1570. - -[698:C] To Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, vol. iii. p. 287., -and to _Restituta_, No. III. p. 177., I refer the reader for the only -account which I can recollect of this obscure writer. Irving and -Pinkerton merely mention the titles of his poems. Mr. Gillies, in -a very interesting article in the Restituta, has given us an ample -specimen of his "Seven Sages." - -[699:A] Ritson says, that this is "a poem in 168 six-line stanzas, -of considerable merit, and with great defects: a 4to. MS. in the -possession of Francis Douce, Esq."—Vide Bibliographia Poetica, p. 315. - -[699:B] Several extracts from this work, consisting of seven satires, -have been given by Warton in his Fragment of Vol. IV. See also Censura -Literaria, vol. vi. p. 277.; and Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 125., -where further notices of this medley may be found. It went through -subsequent editions in 1607 and 1611. - -[699:C] This poem and the three succeeding are not recorded by Ritson. -See Censura Lit. vol. ii. p. 150., in an article by Mr. Gilchrist. - -[699:D] For a description of this copy see Brit. Bibliogr., No. V. p. -548. - -[699:E] Curious specimens from this publication have been given by Mr. -Haslewood in the Brit. Bibliographer, No. X. p. 549. - -[700:A] Of this voluminous pamphleteer, five more pieces are enumerated -by Ritson, published posterior to 1616. Though a rapid and careless -writer, he occasionally exhibits considerable vigour, and has often -satirized with spirit the manners and follies of his period. He may -be justly classed as surmounting mediocrity, and he is therefore -designated as such at the close of this article. - -[700:B] This poem, and the Fisherman's Tale, are written in blank -verse, a species of composition in which Sabie had been preceded by -Surrey, Gascoigne, Turberville, Riche, Peele, Higgins, Blenerhasset, -Aske, Vallans, Greene, Breton, Chapman, Marlowe, &c. A copious analysis -of these pieces has been given by Mr. Haslewood in No. V. of the -British Bibliographer, from p. 488. to 503.; but neither the genius -nor the versification of Sabie merit much notice: his _Pan_, however, -contains some beautiful rhymed lines. - -[700:C] Annexed, says Ritson, to his "Hours of Recreation or after -dinners," 1576, 8vo. - -[700:D] The "Four Paradoxes" occupy four portions, each consisting of -18 six-line stanzas, and the whole is terminated by three additional -ones, entitled his "Resolution." The specimens of this poem adduced by -Mr. Park in Censura Literaria, vol. iii. and iv., speak highly in its -favour, and seem to justify the following encomium:—"There is much -manly observation, forcible truth, apt simile, and moral pith in the -poem itself; and it leaves a lingering desire upon the mind, to obtain -some knowledge of a writer, whose meritorious production was unheralded -by any contemporary verse-man, and whose name remains unrecorded by any -poetical biographer."—Vol. iii. p. 376. - -[701:A] An accurate account of this volume, which was republished in -1622 and 1640, may be found in Censura Literaria, vol. iii, p. 381. -"From the great disparity of merit between this and the preceding -article," observes Mr. Park, "there is little reason to suppose them by -the same author, though they bear the same name." - -[701:B] A perfect copy of this miserable collection of poems, -consisting of sonnets, elegies, odes, odellets, &c. was purchased, -at a sale, by Mr. Triphook for twelve guineas. The only copy before -known was without a title, from which Ritson has given a full account, -though, at the same time, he terms the author an "arrogant and absurd -coxcomb," and condemns him for his "wretched style, profligate -plagiarism, ridiculous pedantry, and unnatural conceit."—Vide Bib. -Poetica, p. 337. et seq. - -[701:C] An ample and interesting description of Stanyhurst, and his -translation, will be found in Censura Literaria, vol. iv. pp. 225. -354., the production of Mr. Haslewood. Nash has not exaggerated when, -alluding to this poet, he says, "whose heroical poetry infired, I -should say inspired, with an hexameter furye, recalled to life whatever -hissed barbarism hath been buried this hundred yeare; and revived by -his ragged quill such carterly varietie, as no hedge plowman in a -countrie but would have held as the extremitie of clownerie: a patterne -whereof I will propound to your judgment, as near as I can, being part -of one of his descriptions of a tempest, which is thus:— - - "Then did he make heaven's vault to rebound - With rounce robble bobble, - Of ruffe raffe roaring, - With thicke thwacke thurly bouncing." - Nash's Preface to Greene's Arcadia. - -[702:A] Storer's Life of Wolsey, which is about to be reprinted, has -a claim upon our attention, both for its matter and manner: he was a -contributor also to "England's Helicon," and has been highly extolled -by his friend Fitzgeffrey, in Affanis, lib. i. - -[702:B] The most interesting part of this volume, from the nature -of its subject, is "Ane schort Treatise conteining some Reulis and -Cautelis to be observit and eschewit in Scottis Poesie," in which the -regal critic observes, that "sindrie hes written of it in English," an -assertion which would lead to the supposition that some of our earliest -critics had perished; for Gascoigne's "Certayne Notes of Instruction -concerning the making of Verse or Rhyme," 1575, appears now to be the -only piece of criticism on poetic composition which preceded James's -"Essayes." - -[702:C] The Poetical Exercises contain but two poems,—the "Furies," -translated from Du Bartas, and "The Lepanto," an original piece. -Several minor poems, introduced into his own works and those of others, -some sonnets and a translation of the psalms, were written by James -after his accession to the English throne. - -[702:D] Of this far-famed comedian and jester, Fuller says, that "when -Queen Elizabeth was serious (I dare not say sullen) and out of good -humour, he could undumpish her at his pleasure. Her highest favourites -would in some cases go to Tarlton before they would go to the Queen, -and he was their usher to prepare their advantageous accession to -her. In a word, he told the Queen more of her faults than most of her -chaplains, and cured her melancholy better than all her physicians." -Indeed, in the language of a contemporary, - - "Of all the jesters in the lande - He bare the praise awaie." - Vide Ritson Bibl. p. 359. - -[703:A] Of this voluminous scribbler, whose rhyming spirit, remarks -Granger, did not evaporate with his youth, who held the pen much longer -than he did the oar, and who was the poetaster of half a century, I -have only been able to insert two of his earliest productions, the -remainder being subsequent to 1616, and extending to 1653. He was -thirty-two when Shakspeare died; and "the waterman," observes Mr. -Chalmers, "must have often _sculled_ Shakspeare, who is said to have -lived on _The Bankside_."—Apology, p. 101. - -[703:B] _The Fruites of Jealousie_, a long poem in octave measure, may -be found at the close of _The Blazon of Jealousie_, translated from the -Italian of Varchi, of which an account is given in Censura Literaria, -vol. iv. p. 403. - -[704:A] Beside these anthems, which were licensed to her printer, -Christ. Barker, Nov. 15., her Majesty wrote a variety of small pieces, -some of which have been preserved by Hentzner, Puttenham, and Soothern, -and reprinted by Percy, Ellis, and Ritson. The fourteenth Psalm also, -and the Speech of the Chorus in the second Act of the Hercules Œtæus -of Seneca, have been published by Mr. Park, the latter poem being a -specimen of blank verse.—Vide Park's Royal and Noble Authors, vol. i. -p. 102. - -Of the execrable flattery which was systematically bestowed on -this monarch, the following eulogium upon her poetry, is a curious -instance. After enumerating the best poets of his age, Puttenham thus -proceeds:—"But last in recitall and first in degree is the Queene -our soveraigne Lady, whose learned, delicate, noble Muse, easily -surmounteth all the rest that have written before her time or since, -for sence, sweetnesse and subtillitie, be it Ode, Elegie, Epigram, or -any other kinde of poeme, Heroick, Lyricke, wherein it shall please -her Majestie to employ her penne, even by as much oddes as her owne -excellent estate and degree exceedeth all the rest of her most humble -vassalls."—The Arte of English Poesie, reprint, p. 51. - -[704:B] A Collection of Epigrams. - -[705:A] These poems were published in a tract entitled "The Right Way -to Heaven, and the true testimony of a faithfull and loyall subject," -1601. - -[705:B] This copy is without date, but a second edition was printed in -1617; it is a miserable paraphrase of Warner's exquisite episode. - -[705:C] Of this Collection Lord Hailes published a specimen in 1765; in -1801, Mr. J. Gr. Dalyell reprinted the whole, with the Scotish poems of -the 16th century. Edin. 2 vols. 12mo.; and Mr. Irving has given some -notices of the author in his Scotish poets, 2 vols. 8vo. 1804. - -[706:A] Wenman's Legend and Poems have lately been printed by Mr. -Fry, in an octavo volume, from a quarto manuscript of 52 leaves. The -Legend appears to have been intended for insertion in the _Mirror for -Magistrates_. - -[706:B] For a very full account of "The Rocke of Regard," by Mr. Park, -see Censura Lit. vol. v. p. 1. - -[706:C] This poem of 90 seven-line stanzas, is annexed to Bindley's -"Mirror of True Honour and Christian Nobility," &c. 1585. 4to. - -[706:D] Of Whitney's Emblemes, which, being printed at Leyden, is a -very rare book, a description will be found in Censura Lit. vol. v. p. -233. - -[706:E] Willet's Emblems were written before 1598, as Meres alludes to -them in his "Palladis Tamia." - -[707:A] These biographical poems were added to the author's "True -use of Armorie," 1592, 4to. Of the first poem an extract is given in -Censura Lit. vol. i. p. 149, 150. - -[707:B] A copy of these poems, apparently unique, is in the possession -of Mr. Park, who has communicated a description of it in Censura Lit. -vol. iii. p. 175. - -[707:C] This romance, which abounds with poetry, is of the pastoral -species; it is written on the plan of Sidney's Arcadia, and, like it, -exhibits many beautiful passages both in prose and verse: twenty-seven -of its poetical effusions have been inserted in "England's Helicon," -and several have been lately reprinted in "Restituta," No. VII. -accompanied by some interesting remarks from the pen of Sir Egerton -Brydges. - -[707:D] For a specimen of this poem, which "is a concise geographical -description of three-quarters of the world, Asia, Africa, and Europe, -in the manner of Dionysius," and which Mr. Beloe believes to be unique, -see his Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 74. - -[710:A] Sidney's Works, 7th edit., fol., 1629, p. 561. - -[711:A] May-Day; a wittie comedie. Divers times acted at "The Blacke -Fryers;" 4to. Act iii. fol. 39. - -[711:B] A copy of this Miscellany, of the edition of 1580, sold at the -Roxburghe Sale, for 55_l._ 13_s._! - -[713:A] Reprint by Sir Egerton Brydges, 1810. p. 44. - -[714:A] Reprint, p. 42. - -[714:B] Preface to his reprint, p. vi. - -[714:C] Reprint, p. 55. - -[714:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 222. Act iv. sc. 5. - -[715:A] Reprint, p. 57, 58. - -[715:B] Ibid. p. 66. - -[715:C] Ibid. p. 14. 37. 87. - -[716:A] Vide Heliconia, Part I. Advertisement. - -[717:A] For a notable instance of this figure, we refer the reader to -"The Lover in Bondage," at p. 50. of Mr. Park's reprint. Not Holofernes -himself could more "affect the letter." - -[717:B] Quoted by Mr. Park in the Advertisement to his reprint. - -[718:A] Heliconia, Part II. p. 85. - -[720:A] Heliconia, Part III. Advertisement. - -[723:A] England's Helicon, reprint of 1812, Introduction, p. xx. xxi. -xxii. - -[724:A] Preface, pp. 8, 9. This Collection of Hayward's had three -different titles; the last dated 1741. The second edition is called -"The Quintissence of English Poetry." - -[727:A] The curious Preface, from which we have given this long -extract, is only to be found in the first edition of the Belvedere; its -omission in the second is a singular defect, as it certainly forms the -most interesting part of the impression of 1600. - -[727:B] See Malone's Inquiry. - -[728:A] Supplement to Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 732. - -[730:A] See Censura Literaria, vol. i. p. 229. - -[732:A] Vide Morley's Plaine and easie Introduction to Practical Musick. - -[733:A] For specimens of these interesting collections, I refer my -reader to _Censura Literaria_, vol. ix. p. 1. et seq.; vol. x. pp. 179. -294.; and to the _British Bibliographer_, No. IV. p. 343.; No. V. p. -563.; No. VI. p. 59.; No. IX. p. 427.; No. XI. p. 652.; No. XII. p. -48.; and No. XV. p. 386. A well-chosen selection from the now scarce -volumes of these Professors of Vocal Music would be a valuable present -to the lovers of English poetry. - - -END OF THE FIRST VOLUME - - Printed by A. Strahan, - Printers-Street, London. - - - - -INDEX. - - -*.* _The Roman Numerals refer to the Volumes; the Figures to the Pages -of each Volume._ - - -A - - _Acheley_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 676. - - _Acting_, art of, consummately known to Shakspeare, i. 423. - Parts chiefly performed by him, 424, 425. - - _Actors_, companies of, when first licensed, ii. 202. - Placed under the superintendence of the masters of the revels, 203. - Their remuneration, 204. - Patronized by the court, 205, - and also by private individuals, whose names they bore, 205, 206. - Days and hours of their performance, 215, 216. - Their remuneration, 223, 224. - - _Admission_ to the theatre, in the time of Shakspeare, prices of, ii. - 216, 217. - - _Adonis_, beautiful address of Venus to, ii. 25, 26. - See _Venus and Adonis_. - - _Ægeon_, exquisite portrait of, in the Comedy of Errors, ii. 288. - - _Æschylus_, striking affinity between the celebrated trilogy of, and - Shakspeare's Macbeth, ii. 472, 473. - - _Affection_ (maternal), exquisite delineation of, ii. 421. - - _Affections_ (sympathetic), account of, i. 373, 374. - - _Agate_ stone, supposed virtue of, i. 368. - - _Agnus Dei_, a supposed charm against thunder, i. 364. - - _Air_, spirits of, introduced into the Tempest, ii. 524. - - _Akenside_'s "Pleasures of the Imagination" quoted, i. 321, 322. - - _Alchemistry_, a favourite pursuit of the age of Shakspeare, ii. 154. - - _Alderson_ (Dr.), opinion of, on the cause of spectral visitations, - ii. 405, 406. - His application of them to the character of Hamlet, 408. - - _Ale_, synonymous with merry making, i. 175. - Different kinds of Ales, 176. - Leet-ale, 176. - Clerk-ale, _ibid._ - Church-ales, 177-179. - - _Alehouses_, picture of, in Shakspeare's time, ii. 216-218. - - _Alfs_, or bright and swart elves of the Scandinavians, account of, - ii. 308, 309. - - _All-Hallow-Eve_, festival of, i. 341. - Fires kindled on that eve, _ibid._ - Prayers offered for the souls of the departed, 342. - Supposed influence of fairies, spirits, &c. 342-344. - Spells practised on that eve, 344-347. - - _Alliterations_, in the English language, satirised by Sir Philip - Sidney, i. 444. - - _All's Well that Ends Well_, probable date of, ii. 422. - Analysis of its characters,—the Countess of Rousillon, 423. - Helen, _ib._ 424, 425. - Remarks on the minor characters, 425. - - _Passages of this drama, which are illustrated in this work._ - - Act i. scene 3., ii. 424. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 108. 175. ii. 434. - scene 2., i. 143. 159. - scene 5., ii. 434. - scene 7., ii. 434. - Act iii. scene 2., ii. 107. 425. - Act iv. scene 10., i. 362. - scene 12., ii. 192. - - _All Saints' Day_, festival of, i. 341. - Superstitious observances on its vigil, 341-347. - - _Allot_ (Robert), "English Parnassus," i. 723. - List of contributors to this collection of poems, 724. - Critical remarks on the merits of his selection, _ibid._ 725. - - _Amadis of Gaul_ (Romance of), popularity of, i. 515. - Notice of English translations of it, 546, 547. - - _Amusements_ of the fairies, ii. 342-345. - - _Amusements_, national, in the age of Shakspeare, enumerated, i. 246, - 247. - Account of the itinerant stage, 247-252. - The Cotswold games, 252-254. - Hawking, 255. - Hunting, 272. - Fowling, 287. - Bird-batting, 289. - Fishing, 289. - Horse-racing, 297. - The Quintaine, 300. - Wild-goose chace, 304. - Hurling, 305. - Shovel-board, 306. - Shove-groat, 307. - Juvenile sports, 308-312. - Amusements of the metropolis and court, ii. 168. - Card playing, 169. - Tables and dice, 171. - Dancing, 172. - Bull-baiting and bear-baiting, 176. - Archery, 178. - Frequenting of Paul's Walk, 182. - Sagacious horses, 186. - Masques and pageants, 187. - Royal progresses, 193. - Dramatic performances, 201-226. - - _Anderson_ (James), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 676. - - _Andrewe_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 676. - - _Angels_, different orders of, i. 335. - Account of the doctrine of guardian angels prevalent in Shakspeare's - time, 336. - Supposed number of angels, 337-339. - Remarks on this doctrine by Bishop Horsley, 339, 340. - The supposed agency of angelic spirits, as believed in Shakspeare's - time, critically analysed, ii. 399-405. - And applied to the introduction of the spirit in Hamlet, 407-416. - Superiority of Shakspeare's angelic spirits over those of all other - dramatists, ancient or modern, 417, 418. - - _Angling_, notice of books on the art of, i. 290, 291. - Contemplations of an angler, 292, 293. - His qualifications described, 294-296. - Encomium on, by Sir Henry Wotton, 297. - Beautiful verses on, by Davors, 614. - - _Anglo-Norman_ romances, account of, i. 523-531. - - _Animals_, sagacious, in the time of Shakspeare, notice of, ii. 186, - 187. - - _Anneson_ (James), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 676. - - _Ante-suppers_, when introduced, ii. 128. - - _Anthropophagi_, supposed existence of, i. 385, 386. - Allusions to by Shakspeare, 385. - - _Antony and Cleopatra_, date of, ii. 492. - Character and conduct of this drama, 493. - - _Passages of this drama which are illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 4., i. 129. - Act ii. scene 3., i. 338. - Act iii. scene 9., i. 138. - Act iv. scene 10., i. 308. - - _Apemantus_, remarks on the character of, ii. 451, 452. - - _Apes_, kept as companions for the domestic fools, ii. 146. - - _Aphorisms_ of Shakspeare, character of, i. 517. - - _Apparitions_, probable causes of, ii. 406. - Application of them to the character of Hamlet, 406-408. - - _Arcadia_ of Sir Philip Sidney, critical notice of, i. 548-552. - Alluded to by Shakspeare, 573, 574. - - _Archery_, a favourite diversion in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 178. - The knights of Prince Arthur's round-table, a society of archers, - instituted by Henry VIII., 179. - Encouraged in the reign of Elizabeth, 179, 180. - Decline of archery, 181, 182. - - _Arden_ or _Ardern_ family, account of, i. 3. - Shakspeare probably descended from, by the female line, _ibid._ - - _Ardesoif_ (Mr.), terrific death of, i. 146. note. - - _Ariel_, analysis of the character of, ii. 506. 522, 523. - - _Ariosto_'s Orlando Furioso, as translated by Sir John Harington, - remarks on, i. 629. - His "Supposes," a comedy, translated by Gascoigne, ii. 233. - - _Armin_ (Thomas), complaint of, against the critics of his day, i. - 456. - - _Arms_, supposed grant of, to John Shakspeare, i. 1. - Real grant and confirmation of, to him, 2, 3. - - _Arras Hangings_, an article of furniture, in the age of Shakspeare, - ii. 114, 115. - - _Arthington_ (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 676. - - _Arthur_ and Hubert, beautiful scene between, in the play of King - John, ii. 422. - - _Arthur's Chase_, account of, i. 377, 378. - - _Arthur's Round Table_, a society of archers, account of, i. 562, 563. - - _Arval_, or Funeral Entertainment, account of, i. 238. - - _Ascham_ (Roger), complaint of, on the little reward of schoolmasters, - i. 27. _note_, 94. - Improved the English language, 439. - Remarks of, on the cultivation of classical literature in England, - 450.; - and of Italian literature, 452. - Notice of his "Scholemaster," 454. - His censure of the popularity of "La Morte d'Arthur," 524, 525. - Design of his "Toxophilus," ii. 181. - - _Aske_ (James), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 676. - - _Asses' Heads_, absurd recipe for fixing on the shoulders of man, ii. - 351, 352. - - _As You Like It_, date of, ii. 431. - Remarks on the general structure of its fable, 431, 432. - Analysis of the character of Jaques, 433, 434. - - _Passages of this drama which are illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 2., i. 301. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 367. 403. - scene 7., i. 55. ii. 102. - Act iii. scene 2., ii. 115. - scene 3., i. 580. - scene 4., i. 556. - Act iv. scene 1., i. 580. ii. 157. - Act v. scene 4., i. 288. ii. 159. - The Epilogue, i. 218. - - _Aubrey_, statement of, respecting Shakspeare's being a butcher, i. - 36. - Probability of his account that Shakspeare had been a schoolmaster, - 45. - His character of the poet, ii. 615. - - _Avale_ (Lemeke), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 676. - - _Autolycus_, remarks on the character of, ii. 500. - - -B - - _Bacon_ (Lord), character of his Henry VII., i. 476., - and of his "Essays," 512. 517. - - _Bag-Pipe_, the ancient accompaniment of the morris-dance and - May-games, i. 164, 165. - - _Baldwyne_'s "Myrrour for Magistrates," account of, i. 708, 709. - - _Ballads_, early English, notice of a collection of, i. 574-576. - Quotations from and allusions to them by Shakspeare, 577-593. - - _Balnevis_ (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 676. - - _Bandello_, principal novels of, translated by Paynter, i. 541. - His novels wholly translated by Warner or Webbe, 543. - - _Banquets_, where taken, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 144. - - _Barksted_ (William), encomiastic verses of, on Shakspeare's Venus and - Adonis, ii. 30. - - _Barley-Break_, verses on, i. 309. - How played, 310. - Poetical description of, 311. - Scottish mode of playing, 312. - - _Barnefielde_ (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, works - of, i. 676, 677. - Character of his affectionate shepherd, 677. _note_ [677:A]. - Verses of, on Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, and Lucrece, ii. 29. - - _Barnes_ (Barnabe), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 677. - Character of his Sonnets, _ibid._ _note_ [677:B]. - - —— (Juliana), the book of St. Alban's of, reprinted by Markham, i. - 70. _note_. - Dedication of it, _ibid._ - Account of the edition, with extracts, 71, 72. _notes_. - The treatyse of Fishing not written by her, 290. and _note_. - Different editions of this work, 291. - - _Baronets_, order of, when created, ii. 527. - Their arms, 528. - - _Barry's_ "Ram Alley," illustrated, i. 224. - - _Barson_ or Barston, village, allusion to by Shakspeare, i. 51. - - _Bastard_ (Thomas), notice of the epigrams of, i. 677. and _note_. - - _Batman_ (Stephen), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 677. - - _Batman_'s translation of "Bartholome de Proprietatibus Rerum," well - known to Shakspeare, i. 485. - - _Bear-baiting_, a fashionable amusement in the age of Elizabeth, ii. - 176. - Prices of entrance to the bear-gardens, 178. - - _Beards_, fashions of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 102, 103. - - "_Beards Wag all_," the proverb of, explained, i. 143, 144. - - _Beaufort_ (Cardinal), dying scene of, i. 390. - - _Beaumont_ (Sir John), critical notices of, as a poet, i. 601, 602. - His elegiac tribute to the memory of the Earl of Southampton, ii. - 17, 18. - How far he assisted Fletcher, 558. - - _Beaumont and Fletcher_, illustrations of the plays of, - Custom of the Country, i. 477. - Fair Maid of the Inn, i. 329. - Knight of the Burning Pestle, i. 477. ii. 282. _note_. - Playhouse to Let, ii. 282. _note_. - Scornful Lady, i. 224. - Woman Pleased, act iv. sc. 1. i. 172, 173. - - _Beauty_, exquisite taste for, discoverable in Shakspeare's works, ii. - 616-618. - - _Bedchambers_, furniture of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 117. - - _Belemnites_, or Hag-Stones, supposed virtues of, i. 367. - - _Belleforest_'s and _Boisteau_'s "Cent Histoires Tragiques," a - collection of tales, notice of, i. 544. - - _Bells_, why tolled at funerals, i. 232-234. - Worn by Hawks, 268. - - _Beltein_, or rural sacrifice of the Scotch Highlanders on May-day, i. - 152. - - "_Bel-vedere_, or the Garden of the Muses," a collection of poems, - critical notice of, i. 725, 726. - List of contributors to it, 726, 727. - - _Benefices_ bestowed in Elizabeth's time on menial servants, i. 92. - - _Betrothing_, ceremony of, i. 220-223. - - _Betterton_ (Mr.), visits Stratford, in quest of information - concerning Shakspeare, i. 34. - - _Beverley_ (Peter), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 677. - - _Bevis_ (Sir), of Southampton, notice of, i. 565. - Allusions by Shakspeare to the romance of, 565, 566. - - _Bezoar_ stones, supposed virtues of, i. 367. - - _Bibliography_, cultivated by Queen Elizabeth, i. 428. - Influence of her example, 433. - Account of eminent bibliographers and bibliophiles of her court, - 433-436. - - _Bidford Topers_, anecdote of them and Shakspeare, i. 48-50. - - _Bieston_ (Roger), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 677. - - _Biographical Writers_, during the age of Elizabeth, notice of, i. - 482. - - _Birds_, different modes of taking in the 16th century, i. 287. - By means of stalking-horses, 288. - Bird-batting described, 289. - - _Blackfriars_, theatre in, account of, ii. 209, 210. - - _Black Letter_ books, chiefly confined to the time of Elizabeth, i. - 438. - - _Blenerhasset_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. - 677. - Additions made by him to the "Mirrour for Magistrates," 709. - - _Boar's-head_, anciently the first dish brought to table, i. 76. - Ceremonies attending it, 201. - Verses on, _ibid._ 202. - - _Boccacio_, principal novels of, translated by Paynter, i. 541. - - _Bodenham's_ (John), "Garden of the Muses," a collection of poems, i. - 725. - Critical notice of, 726. - List of contributors to it, 726, 727. - - _Bodley_ (Sir Thomas), an eminent book collector, notice of, i. 433. - Observation of King James I. on quitting the Bodleian library, 434. - - _Bolton_ (Edward), critical notice of his "_Hypercritica_: or Rule of - Judgment for writing or reading our Historys," i. 465, 470-471. - - _Bond_ (Dr. John), an eminent Latin philologer, i. 454. - - _Booke of St. Albans_, curious title and dedication of Markham's - edition of, i. 70. _note_. - Rarity of the original edition, 71. _note_. - extract from, _ibid._, 72. _note_. - - _Book of Sports_, account of, i. 173, 174. - - _Books_, taste for, encouraged by Queen Elizabeth, i. 428. 433-435. - Were anciently placed with their leaves outwards, 436. - Were splendidly bound in the time of Elizabeth, 432. and _note_, - 436. - Hints on the best mode of keeping books, 436, 437. - Remarks on the style in which they were executed, 437, 438. - - _Boors_, or country clowns, character of, in the 16th century, i. - 120-122. - - _Boots_, preposterous fashions of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 106, - 107. - - _Bourcher_ (Arthur), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 677. - - _Bourman_ (Nicholas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 677. - - _Boys_ (Rev. John), an eminent Grecian, notice of, i. 454. - - _Bradshaw_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 677. - - _Brathwait_'s English Gentleman cited, i. 258, 259. - - _Brathwayte_ (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 677. - - _Brawls_, a fashionable dance in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 173. - Different sorts of, _ibid._ - - _Bread_, enumeration of different kinds of, in the age of Shakspeare, - ii. 127. - - _Breeches_, preposterous size of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 104. - and _note_. - - _Breton_ (Nicholas), critical notice of the poems of, i. 602, 603. - - _Brewer_'s "Lingua," illustration of, i. 477. - - _Brice_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 678. - - _Bridal Bed_, why blessed, i. 226. - - _Bride_, custom of kissing at the altar, i. 225. - Supposed visionary appearances of future brides and bridegrooms, on - Midsummer-Eve, 332-334. - and on All-Hallow-Eve, 344-347. - - _Bride Ale_ (Rustic), description of, i. 227-229. - - _Britton_ (Mr.), remarks of, on the monumental bust of Shakspeare, ii. - 619, 620. - - _Broke_ (Arthur), account of his "Tragicall Historye of Romeus and - Juliet," ii. 359. and _note_. - - _Brooke_ (Christopher), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 678. - - _Brooke_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 678. - - _Broughton_ (Rowland), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 678. - - _Browne_'s (William), Britannia's Pastorals, quotations from, - illustrative of ancient customs:—on May-day, i. 155. - Critical notice of his merits as a poet, 603, 604, 605. - Causes of his being neglected, 605. - - _Brownie_, a benevolent Scottish fairy, account of, ii. 330-336. - Resemblance between him and Shakspeare's Puck, 351. - - _Brutus_, character of, ii. 492. - - _Brydges_ (Sir Egerton), on the merits of Lodge, as a poet, i. - 633-635. - Estimate of the poetical character of Sir Walter Raleigh, 640-642. - Critical observations of, on the "Paradise of Daintie Devises," 714, - 715. - And on "England's Helicon," 721-723. - - _Bryskett_ (Lodowick), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, notice - of, i. 678. and _note_. [678:B] - - _Buck_ (Sir George), a minor poet in the time of Shakspeare, i. 678. - - _Buchanan_'s "Rerum Scoticarum Historia," character of, i. 477. - - _Bull-baiting_, a fashionable amusement in the age of Shakspeare, ii. - 176, 177. - - _Bullokar_'s "Bref Grammar for English," notice of, i. 455, 456. - His innovations in English spelling, satirised by Shakspeare, 472. - - _Burbadge_, the player, notice of, i. 417. - - _Burial_, ceremony of, i. 232. - Tolling the passing-bell, _ibid._ 233, 234. - Lake wakes, described, 234-236. - Vestiges of, in the north of England, 237. - Funeral entertainments, 238. - Garlands of flowers sometimes buried with the deceased, 240, 241. - Graves planted with flowers, 242-244. - - _Burns_, poetical description by, of the spells of All-Hallow-Eve, i. - 346. - - _Burton_ (William), critical notice of his "History of - Leicestershire," i. 481. - - _Burton_'s apology for May-games and sports, i. 174. - Invective against the extravagance at inns, 219. - His list of sports pursued in his time, 247. - Portrait of the illiterate country gentlemen of that age, 430, 431. - Eulogium on books and book collectors, 434, 435. - The popular song of "Fortune my Foe," cited by him, 577. - - _Burton on the Heath_, allusion to, by Shakspeare, i. 50. - - _Bust_ of Shakspeare, in Stratford church, originality of, proved, ii. - 620. - Its character and expression injured through Mr. Malone's - interference, 621. - - _Buttes_ (John), "Dyets Dry Dinner," curious extract from, ii. 218. - - _Byrd_'s (William), collection of "Tenor Psalmes, Sonets, and Songs, - of Pietie," &c. account of, i. 731. - - _Byron_'s (Lord), "Siege of Corinth" illustrated, ii. 411. - - -C - - _Cæsar_. See _Julius Cæsar_. - - _Caliban_, remarks on the character of, ii. 506. 523. 525. - - _Camden_ (William), character of his "Annals," i. 477. - - _Campbell_'s "Pleasures of Hope," character of, i. 599. - - _Campion_ (Thomas), critical notice of his "Observations on the Art of - English Poesie," i. 468, 469. - - _Canary Dance_, account of, ii. 175. - - _Candlemas-day_, origin of the festival, i. 138. - Why called "Wives' Feast Day," _ibid._ - Ceremonies for Candlemas-eve and day, 139, 140, 141. - - _Capel_ (Mr.), Erroneous notions of, concerning Shakspeare's marriage, - i. 62. - His text of Shakspeare, one of the purest extant, ii. 48. _note_. - - _Caps_ worn by the ladies, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 95. - - _Carbuncle_, imaginary virtues of, i. 396. - Allusions to it, _ibid._ 397-399. - - _Cards_, fashionable games of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 169, 170. - Were played in the theatre by the audience before the performance - commenced, 217. - - _Carew_ (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 679. - - _Carew_'s "Survey of Cornwall," notice of, i. 481. - - _Carols_ (Christmas), account of, i. 197-202. - - _Carpenter_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 679. - - _Castiglione_'s "Cortegiano" translated into English, i. 453. - - _Chair_ of Shakspeare, purchased by Princess Czartoryskya, i. 22, 23. - - _Chalkhill_ (John), critical notice of the poems of, i. 605. 607. - Singular beauty of his pastorals, 606. - - _Chalmers_ (Mr.), probable conjecture of, on the authenticity of - Shakspeare's will, i. 15, 16. - His hypothesis, concerning the person to whom Shakspeare addressed - his sonnets, disproved, ii. 61, 62. - Examination of his conjectures respecting the date of Romeo and - Juliet, 357, 358. - Of Richard III. 370, 371. - Of Richard II. 376. - Of Henry IV. Parts I. and II. 379. - Of the Merchant of Venice, 385. - Of Hamlet, 391. - Of King John, 419. - Of All's Well that Ends Well, 422, 423. - His opinion on the traditionary origin of the Merry Wives of Windsor - controverted, 435, 436. - His conjecture on the date of Troilus and Cressida, 438. - Of Henry VIII. 442. - Of Timon of Athens, 444. - Of Measure for Measure, 452. - Of King Lear, 457. - Of the Tempest, 500-503. - Of Othello, 528. - Of Twelfth Night, 532, 533. - - _Chapman_ (George), critical merits of as a poet, i. 607, 608. - His tribute to the memory of the Earl of Southampton, ii. 17. - Estimate of his merits as a dramatic poet, 569, 570. - - _Characters_, notice of writers of, in the age of Elizabeth, i. - 509-511. - Sketch of the public and private character of Queen Elizabeth, ii. - 146-151. - and of James I. 151, 152. - Of Shakspeare's drama, remarks on, ii. 545. - - _Charlcott-House_, the seat of Sir Thomas Lucy, notice of, i. 402. - - _Charms_ practised on Midsummer-Eve, i. 331-333. - On All-Hallow-Eve, 344-347. - Supposed influence of, 362-365. - - _Chaucer_, poetical description of May-day by, i. 153. - Illustration of his "Assemblie of Fooles," 379, 380, 381. - Description of the carbuncle, 396. - Alluded to, by Shakspeare, ii. 79. - Allusions by Chaucer to fairy mythology, 313. 317. - - _Chester_ (Robert), a minor poet, of the age of Shakspeare, i. 679. - Critical notice of his "Love's Martyr," 728. - - _Chettle_ (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 679. - - _Children_, absurdity of frightening by superstitious tales, i. 317. - Notice of legendary tales, of their being stolen or changed by - fairies, ii. 325-327. - - _Chivalric Amusements_ of Shakspeare's age, described, i. 553-556. - - _Chivalry_, influence of, on the poetry of the Elizabethan age, i. - 596. - Allusion to it, by Shakspeare, ii. 79. - - _Chopine_ or Venetian stilt, notice of, ii. 98. - - _Chrismale or Chrism-Cloth_, account of, i. 231. - - _Christenings_, description of, i. 230, 231. - - _Christian_ IV. (King of Denmark), drunken entertainment given to, ii. - 124, 125. - - _Christian Name_, the same frequently given to two successive children - in the age of Queen Elizabeth, i. 4. _note_. - - _Christmas Brand_, superstitious notion concerning, i. 140. - - _Christmas_, festival of, i. 193. - Of Pagan origin, 194. - Ceremony of bringing in the Christmas block, _ibid._ 195. - Houses decorated with ivy, &c. on Christmas-Eve, 195, 196. - Origin of this custom, 196. - Custom of singing carols in the morning, 197. - Gambols, anciently in use at this season, 202-205, 206. _note_. - Poetical description of, by Herrick, 206. - and by Mr. Walter Scott, 207, 208. - At present how celebrated, 208. _note_. - - _Church-Ales_, account of, i. 177, 178. - - _Churles_ and gentlemen, difference between, i. 71, 72. - - _Church-yard_ (Thomas), critical notice of the poems of, i. 608, 609. - - _Chute_ (Anthony), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 679. - - _Chronological list_ of Shakspeare's plays, ii. 261, 262. - - _Cinthio_ (Giraldi), principal novels of, translated in the time of - Shakspeare, i. 543. - - _Citizens_ of London, dress of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 110, - 111. - - _Clapham_ (Henoch), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 679. - - _Classical literature_, diffusion of, in the reign of Elizabeth, i. - 28. - Fashionable among country gentlemen, 82. - Cultivated generally, 449, 450, 451. - The knowlege of Greek literature greatly promoted by Sir Thomas - Smith, and Sir Henry Savile, 453.; - and Dr. Boys, 454. - Latin literature promoted by Ascham, Grant, Bond, Rider, and others, - 454, 455. - - _Claudio_, remarks on the character of, in Measure for Measure, ii. - 455. - - _Cleanliness_, attention of Shakspeare's fairies to, ii. 346, 347. - - _Cleaton_ (Ralph, a clergyman), character of, i. 92. - - _Cleopatra_, remarks on the character of, ii. 493. - - _Clergymen_, anciently styled _Sir_, i. 87-90. - Picture of country clergymen in the age of Elizabeth, 90, 91. - Their degraded state under James I. 92, 93. - The younger clergy, chiefly schoolmasters, 94. - Bishop Hall's picture of their depressed state, 95. - Prohibited from hawking, 259. _note_. - - _Clerk-ale_, notice of, i. 176. - - _Cloten_, remarks on the character of, in Cymbeline, ii. 468. - - _Clothes_, materials of, in the age of Elizabeth, ii. 91. - How preserved, _ibid._ 92. - - _Clown_ (country), character of in the 16th century, i. 120-122. - - _Coaches_, when first introduced into England, ii. 146. - Extravagant number of, used by the great, 147. - - "_Cock and Pye_," explanation of the phrase, i. 554. - - _Cockayn_ (Sir Aston), epigram of, on Wincot-ale, i. 48, 49. - - _Cock-fighting_, a favourite sport in Shakspeare's age, i. 145. - Awful death of a cock-fighter, 146. _note_. - - _Cocks_, throwing at, a barbarous sport on Shrove-Tuesday, i. 145. and - _note_. - Ridiculed by Hogarth, _ibid._; - and now completely put down, 146. - - _Colet_'s (Dean), Grammatical Institutes, notice of, i. 26. - - _Combe_ (Mr. John), satyrical epitaph on, by Shakspeare, ii. 605. - His character, _ibid._ - - _Combe_ (Mr. Thomas), notice of, ii. 629. _note_. - Bequest to him by Shakspeare, 629. - - _Comedy_, "_Gammer Gurton's Needle_," the first ever performed in - England, ii. 227. - - _Comedy of Errors_, probable date of, ii. 286. - Mr. Steevens' opinion that this drama was not wholly Shakspeare's, - controverted and disproved, 287, 288. - Superior to the Menæchmi of Plautus, whence its fable is borrowed, - 286-288. - Exquisite portrait of Ægeon, 288. - General observations on this drama, 288, 289. - - _Passages of this drama, which are cited and illustrated in the - present work._ - - Act i. scene 1., ii. 364. - Act ii. scene 2., i. 394. - Act iv. scene 2., i. 556. - - _Comic Painting_, exquisite, of Shakspeare's dramas, ii. 550. - - _Commentators_ in the age of Shakspeare, notice of, i. 470. - - _Compact_ of witches with the devil, account of, ii. 183-185. - - _Compliments_, extravagant, current in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 161, - 162. - - _Composition_ of the poetry of the Elizabethan age considered, i. 597, - 598. - - _Compton_ (Lady), moderate demands of, from her husband, ii. 145. - - _Conduct_ of Shakspeare's drama considered, ii. 541-544. - - _Conjurors_ and schoolmasters, frequently united in the same person in - the 16th century, i. 95, 96. - - _Constable_ (Henry), critical notice of the poems of, i. 609, 610. - Particularly of his sonnets, ii. 55. - - _Constance_, remarks on the character of, ii. 420, 421. - - _Cooks_, in Shakspeare's time, overlooked by their masters, i. 74. - Were better paid than clergymen, 93. - - _Cooper_'s Latin and English Dictionary, used by Shakspeare, i. 26. - The author preferred by Queen Elizabeth, 27. - - _Copley_ (Anthony), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 679. - - _Copyholder_, character of a poor one, in the time of Elizabeth, i. - 120. - - _Copyrights_ of plays, how disposed of in Shakspeare's time, ii. 224, - 225. - - _Cordelia_, beautiful character of, ii. 465. - - _Coriolanus_, date of the tragedy of, ii. 493. - Critical remarks on its conduct and the characters introduced, 494. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 4., i. 397. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 554. - - _Cornwall_, May-day how celebrated in, i. 153. - Observance of Midsummer-eve there, 334. - - _Corpse-Candles_, superstitious notions concerning, i. 358-360. - - _Coryate_'s "Crudities," critical notice of, i. 478. - - _Cotswold games_, account of, i. 252-254. - Revived by Dover, 253. - Similar sports in other places, 255. - - _Cottages_ of farmers or yeomen, in the time of Elizabeth, described, - i. 99, 100. - Their furniture and household accommodations, 102, 103. - - _Cottesford_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 679. - - _Cotton_ (Sir Robert), an eminent book collector, i. 438. - - _Cotton_ (Roger), a minor poet, of the age of Shakspeare, i. 680. - - _Country inns_, picture of, i. 216-218. - - _Country life_, manners and customs during the age of Shakspeare, i. - 68-122. - Description of its holidays and festivals, amusements, 123-313. - Superstitions, 314-400. - Literature but little cultivated, 430, 431. - - _Country squires_, rank of, in Shakspeare's age, i. 68. - Description of their mansion houses, 72, 73. - And halls, 74, 77-79. - Distinctions observed at their tables, 74, 75. - Their diet, 75, 76. - But little skilled in literature, 430, 431. - Portrait of a country squire in the reign of Queen Anne, 88. _note_ - [86:B]. - - _Courtiers_ of Elizabeth, sometimes wrote lyrics, for music, i. 731. - Instances of her rough treatment of them, ii. 150, 151. - - _Courting chair_ of Shakspeare, notice of, i. 61. - - _Courtship_, how anciently conducted, i. 220. - - _Cox_ (Captain), an eminent book collector, i. 434. - List of romances in his library, 518, 519. - Remarks on it by Mr. Dibdin, 520. - - _Crab-tree_, Shakspeare's, still remaining at Bidford, i. 49. - Roasted crabs and ale a favourite mess, 105, 106. - - _Credulity_ of the age of Shakspeare, instances of, i. 314-400. ii. - 154. - - _Criticism_, state of, in the age of Elizabeth and James I., i. 456. - Severity of controversial criticism, 457. - Lampooning critics, 459. - Notice of the critical labours of Gascoigne, 461. - Of James I. _ibid._ 462, 463. - Of Webbe, 463, 464. - Of Spenser, 464. - Of Fraunce, 464. - Of Hake, _ibid._ 465. - Of Puttenham, 465, 466. - Of Sir John Harrington, 466. - Of Sir Philip Sidney, 467. - Of Meres, 468. - Of Campion, _ibid._ - and of Bolton, 470. - - _Crocodiles_, legendary tales concerning, noticed, i. 389. - - _Cromek_ (Mr.), accounts by, of the fairy superstitions in Scotland, - ii. 325, 326. - - _Cross-bow_, chiefly used for killing game, ii. 182. - - _Culrose_ (Elizabeth), a minor poetess of the age of Shakspeare, i. - 680. - - _Curiosity_ of the age of Shakspeare, illustrations of, ii. 155. - - _Cutwode_ (T.), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 680. - - _Cymbeline_, probable date of, ii. 466. - Beauty of its fable, _ibid._ - Remarks on the character of Imogen, 467. - And of Cloten, 468. - - _Passages of this drama, illustrated in the present work._ - - Act ii. scene 2., ii. 115. 117. - scene 4., ii. 113. - Act iii. scene 2., i. 297. - scene 4., ii. 91. - Act iv. scene 1., i. 243. - scene 2., i. 214. 395. - Act v. scene 3., i. 308. - scene 5., i. 397. - - _Czartoryska_ (Princess), the purchaser of Shakspeare's chair, i. 22, - 23. - - -D - - "_Damon and Pythias_," illustration of, i. 106. - - _Dancing_, a favourite amusement in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 174. - Notice of different kinds of dances, The Brawl, 175. - The Pavin, _ibid._ 176. - Canary Dance, 177. - Corantoes, _ibid._ 178. - - _Dancing Horse_, in the time of Shakspeare, notice of, ii. 186. - - _Danes_, massacre of, i. 149, 150. - - _Danger_, supposed omens of, i. 351-354. - - _Daniel_ (Samuel), critical notice of his "Defence of Ryme," i. 169, - 470. - And of his poems, 611. - Causes of the unpopularity of his poem on the "Civil Wars between - the Houses of York and Lancaster," _ibid._ - General observations on his style and versification, 612. - Notice of his sonnets, ii. 55. - Was the prototype of Shakspeare's amatory verse, 57, 58. - - _Daniel_'s History of England, character of, i. 176, 477. - - _Darwin's_ (Dr.), poetical description of the night-mare, i. 348. - _note_. - - _Davenant_ (Sir William), anecdote of his attachment to Shakspeare, - ii. 589. - - _Davidstone_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Elizabeth, i. 680. - - _Davies_ (Sir John), notice of, i. 613. - Critical merits of his poem, entitled "Nosce Teipsum," _ibid._ - - _Davies_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, list of the - pieces of, i. 680. and _note_ [680:B]. - - _Davison_ (Francis and Walter), minor poets in the time of Shakspeare, - i. 680, 681. - Critical notice of their "Poetical Rapsodie," i. 728-730. - - _Davors_ (John), critical remarks on the poems of, i. 614. - - _Days_ (particular), superstitious notions concerning, i. 323. - St. Valentine's-Day, 324. - Midsummer-Eve, 329. - Michaelmas-Day, 334. - All-Hallow-Eve, 341. - - _Dead_, bodies, frequently rifled of their hair, ii. 92, 93. - - _Death_, account of supposed omens of, i. 351-362. - Delineation of, ii. 455, 456. - - _Decker_ (Thomas), character of as a miscellaneous writer, i. 486. - Notice of his "Gul's Horn Booke," 487. - Of his "Belman in London," _ibid._ - Of his "Lanthern and Candlelight," _ibid._ - His quarrel with Ben Jonson, _ibid._ - Probable time of his death, 488. - Estimate of his merits, as a dramatic poet, ii. 566, 567. - Extract from his "Gul's Horn Book," on the fashions of that age, ii. - 102. - - _Passages of his Plays, which are illustrated or explained._ - - The Honest Whore, i. 75. - More Dissemblers besides Women, ii. 147. - Seven Deadly Sinnes of London, i. 251. - Villanies Discovered by Lantorne and Candle-light, i. 273. 396. - - _Dedications_ of plays, customary reward for, ii. 225. - - _Dee_ (Dr. John), an eminent book-collector, i. 434. - And magician, ii. 510. - Account of his singular character, 510-513. - Catalogue of his library, 511, 512. _notes_. - - _Deer-stealing_, Shakspeare punished for, i. 404, 407, 408. - - _De la Casa_ (John), the "Galatea" of, translated into English, i. - 453. - - _Delone_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 681. - Notice of his "Ballads," _ibid._ _note_ [681:A]. - - _Demoniacal_ voices and shrieks, superstitious notions concerning, i. - 355. - The presence of demons supposed to be indicated by lights burning - blue, 358. - - _Dennys_, or Davors, (John), "Treatyse on Fishing," notice of, i. 291. - Beautiful quotation from, 292, 293. - His book translated into prose by Markham, 293, 294. - - _Derricke_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 681. - - _Descriptions_, exquisite, in Shakspeare's "Venus and Adonis," ii. - 21-26, 27. - - _Desdemona_, beautiful ditty quoted by, i. 592. - Remarks on her character, ii. 531. - - _Desserts_, where taken, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 144. - - _Devil_, supposed compact with, of witches, account of, ii. 483-485. - - _Dibdin_'s (Rev. T. F.), "Bibliomania," notice of, i. 432. - His character of "Stubbes's Anatomie of Abuses," 502. - Account of Dr. Dee's library, ii. 511, 512. _notes_. - - _Dicer's Oaths_, falsehood of, illustrated, ii. 171, 172. - - _Dictionaries_, list of, in use in Shakspeare's time, i. 25. _note_. - Cooper's Latin and English Dictionary used by him, 26. - - _Diet_ of country squires in the age of Shakspeare, i. 75, 76. - Of country gentlemen, 79, 80. - Of farmers or yeomen, on ordinary occasions, 103-108. - On festivals, 109. - Of the sovereigns and higher classes during the age of Shakspeare, - ii. 120-129. - - _Digby_ (Sir Kenelm), marvellous properties ascribed to his - sympathetic powder, i. 375, 376. - - _Dinner_, hour of, in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 125. - Account of the dinners of the higher classes, 126-129. - Hands, why always washed before dinner, 145. - - _Dionysius_'s angelic hierarchy, account of, i. 335. - - _Distaff's_ (Saint) _Day_, festival of, i. 135. - Verses on, _ibid._ 136. - - _Diversions_, in the age of Shakspeare, enumeration of, i. 246, 247. - Account of the itinerant stage, 247-252. - Cotswold games, 252-254. - Hawking, 255. - Hunting, 272. - Fowling, 287. - Bird-batting, 289. - Fishing, 289. - Horse-racing, 297. - The Quintaine, 300. - Wild-goose chace, 304. - Hurling, 305. - Shovel-board, 306. - Shove-groat, 307, 308. - Juvenile sports, 308. - Barley breake, 309. - Whipping a top, 312. - Diversions of the metropolis and court, ii. 168. - Card-playing, 169. - Tables and dice, 171. - Dancing, 172. - Bull-baiting and bear-baiting, 176. - Archery, 178. - Frequenting of Paul's Walk, 182. - Sagacious horses, 186. - Masques and Pageants, 187. - Royal Progresses, 193. - The stage, 201-226. - - _Dives_, or evil genii of the Persians, ii. 303. - - _Dogberry_, origin of the character of, ii. 589. - - _Donne_ (Dr.), critical notice of the poems of, i. 615. - - _Doublets_, fashion of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 104, 105. - - _Douce_ (Mr.), beautiful version of a Christmas carol by, i. 200. - On the source of Shakspeare's Merchant of Venice, ii. 385, 386. - His vindication of Shakspeare's love of music, against Mr. - Steevens's flippant censures, 390. - Conjectures on the probable date of Shakspeare's Tempest, 504. - His "Illustrations of Shakspeare" cited, _passim_. - - _Dowricke_ (Anne), a minor poetess of the age of Shakspeare, i. 681. - - _Dragon_, introduction of, into the May-games, i. 166. - - _Drake_ (Sir Francis), costly new year's gift of, to Queen Elizabeth, - ii. 99. _note_. - Tobacco first introduced into England by him, 135. - - _Drake_ (Lady), beautiful sonnet to, i. 621. - - _Drama_, patronized by Elizabeth and her ministers, ii. 202. 205. - By private individuals, whose names they bore, 205. - And by James I., 206. - - _Dramatic Poets_, remuneration of, in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 224, - 225. - - _Dramatic Poetry_, sketch of, from the birth of Shakspeare to the - period of his commencing a writer for the stage, i. 227. - Mysteries, moralities, and interludes, the first performances, - _ibid._ - Ferrex and Porrex, the first regular tragedy, _ibid._ - Gammar Gurton's Needle, the first regular comedy, _ibid._ - Dramatic Histories, 228. - Composite drama of Tarleton, 229. - Account of eminent dramatic poets during this period, 230-251. - Conjectures as to the extent of Shakspeare's obligation to his - predecessors, 253-255. - Brief view of dramatic poetry, and its principal cultivators, during - Shakspeare's connection with the stage, ii. 556. - Account of the dramatic works of Fletcher, 557. - Massinger, 561. - Ford, 563. - Webster, 564. - Middleton, 565. - Decker, 566. - Marston, 567. - Heywood, 568. - Chapman, 569. - Rowley, 570. - Other minor dramatic poets, 570, 571. - Ben Jonson, 572-580. - - _Drant_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 681. - - _Drayton_ (Michael), notice of, i. 615. - Critical remarks on his historical poetry, 615, 616. - On his topographical, epistolary, and pastoral poems, 616, 617. - And on his miscellaneous poetry, 617. - Poetical description by him of the dress, &c. of young women, i. 83, - 84. - Of Robin Hood, 159. - Of Tom the Piper, 164. - Sheep-shearing, 182. - Of the carbuncle, 397. - Encomium on Lilly's Euphues, 442. - Commendatory verses by, on Shakspeare's Rape of Lucrece, ii. 39. - His tragedies, totally lost, 571. - Character of his Sonnets, ii. 56. - - _Dreams_, considered as prognostics of good or evil, i. 354, 355. - - _Dress_ of country gentlemen, in Shakspeare's time, i. 82, 83. - Of farmers or yeomen, 110. - Wedding dress of a rustic, 229. - Proper for anglers, 293. _note_. - Of the inhabitants of London, during the age of Shakspeare, ii. - 87-89. - Of Queen Elizabeth, 89, 91. - Of the ladies of that time, 91, 92. 100. - Of the gentlemen, 87, 88, 89. 101-109. - Of the citizen, 110, 111. - Of servants, 138. - - _Drinking_ of healths, origin of, i. 127, 128. - - _Drummond_ (William), biographical notice of, i. 617. - His merits as a poet, considered, 618. - - _Drunkenness_, propensity of the English to, in the age of Shakspeare, - ii. 128, 129. - - _Dryden_'s testimony to the priority of Shakspeare's Pericles, - considered, ii. 280, 281. - - _Duelling_, prevalence of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 158. - - _Dunlop_ (Mr.), opinion of on the source of Shakspeare's Romeo and - Juliet, ii. 360-362. - And of Measure for Measure, 453. - - _Durham_, Easter gambols at, i. 148. _note_. - - _Dyer's_ "Fleece," illustration of, i. 183. - - _Dying_, form of prayers for, i. 233. - Superstitious notions concerning the last moments of persons dying, - i. 390, 391. - - -E - - _Earle_ (Bishop), character of his "Microcosmography," i. 511. - His portrait of an upstart country squire or knight, i. 84. - Of a country fellow, or clown, 120-122. - - _Earthquake_ of 1580, alluded to by Shakspeare, i. 52. - Account of, _ibid._ 53. - - _Easter-tide_, festival of, i. 146. - Early rising on Easter Sunday, _ibid._ - Amusements, _ibid._ - Handball, 147, 148. - Presenting of eggs, 148. - - _Edgar_, remarks on the assumed madness of, i. 588. - Contrast between his insanity and the madness of Lear, ii. 462. 464. - - _Education_, state of, during Shakspeare's youth, i. 25-28. - - _Edwardes_ (C.), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 681. - - _Edward_ (Richard), specimen of the poetical talents of, i. 713, 714. - Character of his dramatic compositions, ii. 231, 232. - - _Eggs_, custom of giving, at Easter, i. 148. - - _Elderton_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 681. - - _Elizabeth_ (Queen), school books commanded by, to be used, i. 26. - Visit of, to the Earl of Leicester, at Kenelworth Castle, 37, 38, - 39. ii. 191-199. - Account of presents made to her on New-Year's Day, i. 125, 126. - Magnificent reception of her, at Norwich, 192. _note_. - Her wisdom in establishing the Flemings in this country, 192. - _note_. - A keen huntress, 285, 286. - Touched persons for the evil, 371. - Cultivated bibliography, 428. - The ladies of her court skilled in Greek equally with herself, 429. - Classical literature encouraged at her court, _ibid._ 431, 432. - Notice of her Prayer-book, 432. - Influence of her example, 433. - Notice of her works, 451. - Deeply skilled in Italian literature, _ibid._ - Notice of her poetical pieces, 704. _note_. - Proof that Shakspeare's Sonnets were not, and could not be addressed - to her, ii. 61, 73. _note_. - Instances of her vanity and love of dress, 90, 91. - Description of her dress, 89, 90. - Amount of her wardrobe, 91, 92. - Silk stockings first worn by her, 98. - Costly New-Year's gifts made to her, 99. - Furniture of her palaces, 111, 112. - Description of the mode in which her table was served, 122, 123. - Her character as a sovereign, 145, 146. - Her industry, 146. - Instances of her vanity and coquetry, 147. - Affectation of youth, 148. - Artfulness, 149. - Extreme jealousy, 150. - Ill treatment of her courtiers, 150, 151. - Excelled in dancing, 172. - Delighted with bear-baiting, 176. - Account of her progresses, 193-199. - Passionately fond of dramatic performances, 202, 205. - Ordered Shakspeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor," 435. - And bestowed many marks of her favour upon him, 590. - - _Elfland_ or Fairy Land, description of, ii. 318, 319. - - _Elves_ or fairies of the Scandinavians, ii. 308. - Account of the Bright Elves, or benevolent fairies, 308, 309. - Of the Swart Elves, or malignant fairies, 309, 310. - And of the Scottish Elves, 314-336. - - _Elviden_ (Edmond), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 681. - - "_England's Helicon_," a collection of poems, critical notice of, i. - 721-723. - - _English Language_ but little cultivated prior to the time of Ascham, - i. 439. - Improved by the labours of Wilson, 440. - Corrupted by Lilly, in the reign of Elizabeth, 441. - And by the interlarding of Latin quotations in that of James I., - 442. - This affectation satyrised by Sir Philip Sidney, 444, 445. - And by Shakspeare, 445, 446. - The English language improved by Sir Walter Raleigh and his - contemporaries, 446, 447. - Remarks on the prose writers of the reign of James I., 447, 448. - Notice of Mulcaster's labours for improving it, 455. - And of Bullokar's, _ibid._ 456. - - _English Mercury_, the first newspaper ever published, i. 508. - Specimen of, _ibid._ - - _English nation_, character of, ii. 154. - - "_Epicedium_," a funeral song on the death of Lady Branch, ii. 38. - _note_. - Extract from, in commendation of Shakspeare's Rape of Lucrece, 39. - _note_. - - _Epilogue_, concluded with prayer in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 222, - 223. - - _Epitaph_ on Shakspeare, in Stratford church, ii. 619. - - _Epitaphs_ by Shakspeare:—a satirical one on Mr. Combe, ii. 605. - On Sir Thomas Stanley, 607. - And on Elias James, 607. _note_. - - _Erskine_ (Mr.) exquisite poetical allusions of, to fairy mythology, - ii. 327, 328, 336. - - _Espousals_, ceremony of, i. 220-223. - - _Essays_, critical account of the writers of, in the age of Elizabeth, - i. 511-517. - - _Evans_ (Lewes and William), minor poets of the age of Shakspeare, i. - 682. - - _Evergreens_, why carried at funerals, i. 239. - - _Evil spirits_, supposed to be driven away by the sound of the - passing-bell, i. 232, 233. - - -F - - _Facetiæ_, notice of writers of, during the age of Shakspeare, i. - 515-517. - - "_Faerie Queene_" of Spenser, critical remarks on, i. 646-649. - - _Fairefax_ (Edward), biographical notice of, i. 619. - Examination of his version of Tasso, _ibid._ - His original poetry lost, 620. - - _Fairies_, superstitious traditions concerning, i. 320. - Their supposed influence on All-Hallow-Eve, 333. - Supposed to haunt fountains and wells, 392. - Critical account of the fairy mythology of Shakspeare, ii. 302. - Oriental fairies, 302, 303. - The knowledge of the oriental fairy mythology introduced from the - Italians, 303. - Origin of the Gothic system of fairy mythology, 304. - Known in England in the eleventh century, 306. - Scandinavian system of fairy mythology, 308-312. - Scandinavian system current in England in the thirteenth century, - 313. - Scottish elves, _ibid._ 314. - Their dress and weapons, 315. - Lowland fairies, 316. - Allusions to fairy superstitions by Chaucer, 313. 317. - Description of Elf or Fairy-land, 318, 319. - Allusions to it by various poets, 319-321. - Fairy processions at Roodsmass, 322. - Fairies in Scotland supposed to appear most commonly by moonlight, - 323. - Their supposed influence on pregnant women, 324. - Children said to be stolen and changed by them, 325, 326. - Expedients for recovering them, 326, 327. - Their speech, food, and work, 328, 329. - Account of the malignant fairy called the _Wee Brown Man of the - Muirs_, 329, 330. - Traditions relative to the benevolent sprite, Brownie, 330-336. - The fairy mythology of Shakspeare, though partly founded on Scottish - tradition, yet, from its novelty and poetic beauty, meriting the - title of the _English System_, 337, 338. - Critical illustrations of his allusions to fairies and Fairy-land, - 337-353. - Scandinavia the parent of our popular fairy mythology, which has - undergone various modifications, 353-355. - - _Fairs_, how celebrated antiently, i. 214-216. - - _Falconer_, an important officer in the households of the great, i. - 265, 266. - His qualifications, 266. - - _Falconry_, when introduced into England, i. 255. - Universal among the nobility and gentry, _ibid._ 256. - Notices of books on, 257. _note_. - Falconry an expensive diversion, 257-259. - Prohibited to the clergy, 259. _note_. - Remarks on this sport, 260-262. - Poetical description of it by Massinger, 262, 263. - A favourite diversion of the ladies, 265. - - _Falcons_, different sorts of, i. 263, 264. - Account of their training, 266-271. - - _Falstaff_, analysis of the character of, as introduced in - Shakspeare's plays of Henry IV., Parts I. and II., ii. 381-384. - And in the Merry Wives of Windsor, 436. - - _Fans_, structure and fashion of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 98, - 99. - - _Fare_ of country squires in the age of Shakspeare, i. 73, 76. - Of country gentlemen, 79, 80. - And of the sovereign and higher classes, ii. 120-129. - - _Farmers_, character of, in the time of Edward VI., i. 100, 101. - In Queen Elizabeth's time, 98. - Description of their houses or cottages, 99, 100. - Their furniture and household accommodations, 101. 103. - Their ordinary diet, 103-108. - Diet on festivals, 109. - Dress, 110. - Qualifications of a good farmer's wife, 111, 112. - Occupations, &c. of their servants, 113. - Manners, &c. of Scottish farmers during the same period, 117, 118. - Progress of extravagance among this class of persons, 119. - - _Farmer_ (Dr.), conclusion of, as to the result of Shakspeare's school - education, i. 29, 30. - His conclusion controverted, 30, 31. - His opinion as to the extent of Shakspeare's knowledge of French and - Italian literature considered, 54-56, 57. - - _Faulconbridge_, analysis of the character of, ii. 120. - - _Feasts_ (ordinary), curious directions for, i. 80. _note_. - - _Felton_'s portrait of Shakspeare, authenticity of, ii. 623. - - _Fenner_ (Dudley), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 682. - - _Fenton_'s (Geffray), account of his "Certain Tragicall Discourses," a - popular collection of Italian novels, i. 542. - - _Fern-seed_, supposed to be visible on Midsummer-Eve, i. 329. - - "_Ferrex and Porrex_," the first regular tragedy ever performed in - England, i. 227. - - _Ferrers_ (George), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 682. - - _Ferriar_ (Dr.), theory of apparitions of, ii. 406. - Application of it to the character of Hamlet, 407. - His opinion of the merits of Massinger as a dramatic poet - controverted, 562. - - _Festivals_, account of those observed in Shakspeare's time, i. 123. - New-Year's Day, 123-126. - Twelfth Day, 127-134. - St. Distaff's Day, 135. - Plough Monday, 136-138. - Candlemas Day, 138-140. - Shrove Tide, 141-145. - Easter Tide, 146-148. - Hock Day, 149-151. - May Day, 152-174. - Whitsuntide, 175-180. - Sheep-shearing, 181-185. - Harvest-home, 185-190. - Martinmas, 192. - Christmas, 193-208. - Wakes or fairs, 209-249. - Weddings, 219-229. - Christenings, 230, 231. - Burials, 232-245. - - _Fete_, magnificent, at Kenelworth Castle, given to Queen Elizabeth, - i. 37-39. - - _Fetherstone_ (Christopher), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. - 682. - - _Fires_ kindled on Midsummer-Eve, of Pagan origin, i. 328, 329; - and on All-Hallow-Eve, 341. - - _Fire Spirits_, machinery of, introduced in the Tempest, ii. 521, 522. - - _Fishing_, pursued with avidity, in the 16th century, i. 289. - Account of books on this sport, 290, 291. - Poetical description of, 292, 293. - Qualifications requisite for, 294-297. - - _Fitzgeffrey_ (Charles), Biographical notice of, i. 620. - Specimen of his poetical talents, 621. - - _Fitzherbert_ (Sir Anthony), notice of his agricultural treatises, i. - 115. _note_. - His precepts to a good housewife, 116, 117. _notes_. - - _Fleming_ (Abraham), a miscellaneous writer, account of, i. 504. - Character of his style, 505. - Poems of, 682. - - _Fletcher_ (Robert), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 682. - - _Fletcher_ (Giles), critical remarks on the poetry of, i. 621, 622. - - _Fletcher_ (Phineas), notice of, i. 622. - Critical observations on his "Purple Island," 623.; - and on his "Piscatory Eclogues," _ib._ - - _Fletcher_ (John), the chief author of the plays extant under his - name, ii. 557. - How far he was assisted by Beaumont, 558. - Critical estimate of his character as a dramatic poet, 558-560. - His feeble attempts to emulate Shakspeare, 560, 561. - His Faithful Shepherdess (act v. sc. 1.) illustrated, i. 130. - See also _Beaumont_, in this index. - - _Floralia_ (Roman), perpetuated in May-Day, i. 152. - - _Florio_ (John), pedantry of, satyrised by Shakspeare, i. 415. - Appointed reader of the Italian language to the Queen of James I., - 451. - - _Flowers_, antiently scattered on streams at sheep-shearing time, i. - 185. - Garlands of flowers carried at funerals, and buried with the - deceased, 240-242. - Graves in Wales still decorated with flowers, 242-244. - Allusions to this custom by Shakspeare, 243. - - _Fools_ of Shakspeare's plays, &c. remarks on, i. 587. ii. 550. - Description of their apparel and condition, ii. 141, 142. - Apes or monkies kept as companions for them, 145, 146. - - _Ford_, merits of, as a dramatic poet, considered, ii. 563, 564. - - _Forks_, when introduced into England, ii. 126. - - _Fortescue_'s (Thomas), "Forest of Historyes," a popular collection of - novels, notice of, i. 543. - - "_Fortune my Foe_," a popular song, quoted by Shakspeare, i. 477. - - _Fountains_ and wells, why superstitiously visited, i. 391. - Supposed to be the haunts of fairies and spirits, 392. - Pilgrimages made to them, 393. - - _Fowling_, how pursued in the sixteenth century, i. 287-289. - - _Fox_'s "Acts and Monuments," character of, i. 482. - - _Fraunce_ (Abraham), notice of his "Arcadian Rhetoricke," i. 464. - List of his poetical works, 682, 683. - - _Freeman_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 683. - - _French Language_, Shakspeare's knowledge of, when acquired, i. 53, - 54. - Proofs that he had some acquaintance with it, 55, 56. - List of French grammars which he might have read, 57. - - "_Friar of Orders Grey_," a beautiful ballad, notice of, i. 579, 580. - Quoted by Shakspeare, 589, 590. - - _Friend_, absence from, exquisitely pourtrayed by Shakspeare, ii. 78. - - _Friendship_, beautiful delineation of, ii. 389. - - _Fulbeck_'s account of Roman factions, i. 476. - - _Fulbroke Park_, the scene of Shakspeare's deer-stealing, i. 402, 403. - - _Fuller_ (Thomas), character of Shakspeare, i. 29.; - and of Dr. Dee, and his assistant Kelly, ii. 512, 513. - - _Fullwell_ (Ulpian), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 683. - - _Funeral ceremonies_ described, i. 232-237. - Entertainments given on those occasions, 238. - - _Furniture_, splendid, of Queen Elizabeth's palaces, ii. 111, 112. - Of the inhabitants of London, 112-120. - Of the halls of country gentlemen, i. 77-79. - - _Fuseli_'s picture of the night-mare, description of, i. 348. _note_ - [348:B]. - - -G - - _Gale_ (Dunstan), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 683. - - _Gamage_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 684, - and _note_ [684:A]. - - _Games_ (Cotswold), account of, i. 252-254. - - _Gaming_, prevalence of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 157, 158. - - "_Gammer Gurton's Needle_," illustration of, i. 106. - The earliest comedy ever written or performed in England, ii. 227. - Critical remarks on, 233. - - _Garlands_, anciently used at funerals, and buried with the deceased, - i. 240-242. - - _Garnier_'s Henriade probably seen by Shakspeare, i. 54, 55. - - _Garter_ (Barnard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 684. - - _Garter_ (Thomas), a dramatic poet in the reign of Elizabeth, - character of, ii. 235. - - _Gascoigne_ (George), notice of the "Posies" of, i. 461. - Biographical sketch of, 623, 624. - Remarks on his poetry, 624, 625. - Character of, as a dramatic poet, ii. 233, 234. - - _Gastrell_ (Rev. Francis), purchases Shakspeare's house at Stratford, - ii. 584. _note_. - Cuts down his mulberry tree, _ibid._ - And destroys the house itself, 585. _note_. - - _Gay_'s Trivia, quotation from, on the influence of particular days, - i. 323. _note_. - Poetical description of spells, 332. - - _Genius_ of Shakspeare's drama considered, ii. 536-541. - - _Gentlemen_, different sorts of, in the age of Shakspeare, i. 69. - Their virtues and vices, _ibid._ 70. - Description of the mansion houses of country gentlemen, 72-74. - Their usual fare, 79, 80-82. - Employments and dress of their daughters, 83, 84. - Character of country gentlemen towards the commencement of the 17th - century, 84, 85. - When they began to desert their halls for the metropolis, 85. - Portraits of, in the close of the 17th, and at the beginning of the - 18th century, 86, 87. _notes_. - Dress of gentlemen in the metropolis, ii. 87, 88, 89. 101-109. - - _Gerbelius_ (Nicholas), rapturous declamation of, on the restoration - of some Greek authors, i. 435. - - _Gerguntum_, a fabulous Briton, notice of, i. 192. _note_. - - _Germans_, fairy mythology of, ii. 312. - - _Gesta Romanorum_, a popular romance in Shakspeare's time, i. 534. - Different translations of the _continental Gesta_, _ibid._ 535. - Critical account of the _English Gesta_, 535, 536. ii. 386. - Notice of its different editions, i. 537, 538. - Long continuance of its popularity, 538. - - _Ghosts_, superstitious notions concerning, prevalent in the age of - Shakspeare, i. 318, 319. - Remarks on the supposed agency of ghosts, as received at that time, - ii. 399-405. - Considerations on the introduction of the ghost in Hamlet, and its - strict consonance to the popular superstitions shewn, 411-417. - Its superiority over all other ghostly representations, ancient or - modern, 417, 418. - - _Gifford_ (Humphrey), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 684. - - _Gifford_ (Mr.), conjecture of, on the date of Shakspeare's Henry - VIII. ii. 442, 443. - Observations on the excellent plan of his notes on Massinger, 561. - _note_. - His estimate of the merits of Ben Jonson, as a dramatic poet, 575, - 576. - Vindicates Jonson from the cavils of Mr. Malone, 578. _note_. - - _Gilchrist_ (Mr.) on the character of Puttenham's "Arte of English - Poesie," i. 466. - - _Gleek_, a fashionable game at cards, notice of, ii. 170. - - _Glen Banchar_, anecdote of a peasant of, i. 233, 234. - - _Globe_ Theatre, license to Shakspeare for, ii. 207, 208. - Account of it, 208, 209. - Description of its interior, 210-214. - - _Gloves_, costly, presented to Elizabeth, ii. 99. - - _Goblins_ and spectres, superstitious notions concerning, i. 316, 317. - Machinery of goblins or spirits of earth, introduced into the - Tempest, ii. 523, 524. - - _Goder Norner_, or beneficent elves of the Goths, notice of, ii. 308. - - _Godwin_ (Mr.), remarks of, on Shakspeare's Troilus and Cressida, ii. - 440, 441. - His estimate of the merits of Ben Jonson, as a dramatic poet, - 574-579. - - _Golding_ (Arthur), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 684. - - _Googe_ (Barnaby), description of Midsummer-Eve superstitions, i. 328. - Notice of his poetical works, 684. - - _Gorboduc_, critical remarks on Sackville's tragedy of, ii. 230, 231. - - _Gordon_ (Patrick), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 684. - - "_Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions_," a collection of poems, - critical account of, i. 715-717. - - _Gorges_ (Sir Arthur), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 684, - 685. and _notes_. - - _Gossipping_, prevalence of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 159, 160. - - _Gosson_ (Stephen), a Puritanical wit, in Shakspeare's time, account - of, i. 500, 501. - Notice of his "_Speculum humanum_," 685. and _note_ [685:C]. - - _Gowns_, materials and fashions of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 97, - 98. - - _Grammars_ and dictionaries, list of, in use in Shakspeare's time, i. - 25. _note_. - Henry VII.'s grammar learned by Shakspeare, 26. - The English grammar but little cultivated, previous to the time of - Ascham, 439. - Improved by him, _ibid._; - and by Wilson, 440. - Notice of eminent Latin grammarians, 454, 455. - English grammar of Ben Jonson, 456. - - _Grange_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 685. - - _Grant_ (Edward), an eminent Latin philologer, notice of, i. 454. - - _Graves_, why planted with flowers, i. 242-244. and _note_. - Allusions to this custom by Shakspeare, 243. - - _Grave-digger_ in Hamlet, songs mis-quoted by, probably by design, i. - 591. - - _Greek_ literature, cultivated and encouraged at the court of Queen - Elizabeth, i. 429-431, 432. - Promoted essentially by the labours of Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Henry - Savile, and Dr. Boys, 453, 454. - List of Greek authors, translated into English in the time of - Shakspeare, 483. - - _Greene_ (Thomas), the barrister, an intimate friend of Shakspeare's, - ii. 600. - - _Greene_ (Thomas), the player, notice of, i. 417. - Character of, _ibid._ - Whether a townsman and relation of Shakspeare, 420. - - _Greene_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 685. - - _Greene_ (Robert), a miscellaneous writer in the time of Shakspeare, - biographical account of, i. 486. - Studies and dissipations of his early years, 486, 487. - His marriage, 487. - Pleasing sketch of his domestic life, 488. - Returns to the dissipations of the metropolis, 489. - Affectionate demeanour of his wife, 490. - His beautiful address, "By a Mother to her Infant," 492, 493. - Becomes a writer for bread, 494. - Character of Greene as a prose writer, 494. - List of his principal pieces, 495. - Poetical extract from his "Never Too Late," 496. - Extract entitled "The Farewell of a Friend," 497. - His death, _ibid._ - Miserable state of his latter days, 498. - Satirical sonnet addressed to him, 499. - Critical notice of his poetry, 627. - List of his dramatic productions, with remarks, ii. 249-251. - - "_Green Sleeves_," a popular song, quoted by Shakspeare, i. 477. - - _Greepe_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 686. - - _Greville_ (Sir Fulke), list of the poems of, i. 686. - - _Griffin_ (B.), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 686. - - _Griffith_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 686. - - _Grove_ (Matthew), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 686. - - _Grymeston_ (Elizabeth), a minor poetess of the age of Shakspeare, i. - 686. - - _Guardian angels_, superstitious notions concerning, i. 336-339. - Observations on, by Dr. Horsley, 339, 340. - - _Guests_, ranks of, how distinguished at table, i. 74. - - _Guteli_, or benevolent fairies of the Germans, notice of, ii. 312. - - _Guy of Warwick_, allusions by Shakspeare to the legend of, i. 566. - - -H - - _Haggard-Hawk_, notice of, i. 270. - - _Hair_, fashion of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 92. - The dead frequently plundered for, _ibid._ 93. - The hair thus obtained, dyed of a sandy colour, 93. - Hair of unmarried women, how worn, _ibid._ - Various coverings for, 94. - The fashions for dressing hair, imported from Venice and Paris, - _ibid._ 95. - - _Hake_ (Edward), notice of his "Touchstone of Wittes," i. 464, 465. - List of his poetical pieces, 686, 687. - - _Hakluyt_'s Collection of Voyages and Travels, critical notice of, i. - 477. - - _Hall_ (Arthur and John), minor poets of the age of Shakspeare, i. - 687. - - _Hall_ (Bishop), portraits by, of a domestic chaplain and tutor, i. - 95. - Of an extravagant farmer's heir, 119. - Of a poor copyholder, 120. - Of horse-racing, 298. - List of his poems, 627. - Critical remarks on his satires, ii. 6. - - _Hall_ (Dr.), marries Shakspeare's daughter Susanna, ii. 598, 599. - Birth of his daughter Elizabeth, 599. - Notice of her, 629. _note_. - The executorship of Shakspeare's will, why intrusted to Dr. Hall, - 613. - Epitaph on him, 631, 632. _notes_. - - _Halls_ of country squires and gentlemen, in Shakspeare's age, i. 73, - 74. - Of the nobility, how illuminated, ii. 116. - - _Hamlet, Prince of Denmark_, date of, ii. 391. - Analysis of the character of Hamlet, 392-398. - Remarks on the agency of spirits, as connected with the Ghost in - this play, 399-405. - On the nature of Hamlet's lunacy, 406-409. - The introduction of the Ghost critically considered, 411. - Its strict consistency with the superstition of the times, 412-417. - Superiority of Shakspeare's introduction of spirits over ancient and - modern dramatists, 417, 418. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in this work._ - - Act i. scene 1., i. 352. ii. 414. - scene 2., i. 238. - scene 4., i. 129. ii. 412, 413. - scene 5., i. 379. 394. ii. 414. 417. - Act ii. scene 2., i. 250. 397. 582. ii. 394. - Act iii. scene 1., i. 571. ii. 392. 395. - scene 2., i. 171. 583. ii. 106. 221. - scene 3., ii. 114. - scene 4., i. 424. ii. 409. - Act iv. scene 5., i. 224. 240. 326. 590, 591. - Act v. scene 1., i. 242, 243. ii. 395. - scene 2., i. 35, 36. - - _Hand-ball_, playing at, a favourite sport at Easter, i. 146, 147. - Tansy cakes the constant prize, 147. - - "_Handfull of Pleasant Delites_," a collection of poems, critical - notice of, i. 717, 718. - - _Hands_, why always washed before dinner, ii. 145. - - _Harbert_ (Sir William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. - 687. - - _Harbert_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 687. - - _Harington_ (Sir John), critical notice of his "Apologie of Poetry," - i. 466, 467. - His "New Discourse of a stale Subject," 515. - And of his "Metamorphosis," 516. - Remarks on his poetry, 629, 630. - Ludicrous account of a carousal given to the King of Denmark, ii. - 124, 125. - The inventor of water-closets, 135. _note_. - His "Orders for Household Servantes," 139, 140. - - _Harmony of the spheres_, doctrine of, a favourite source of - embellishment, i. 381. - Allusions to, by Shakspeare, 381, 382. - And Milton, 382. - - _Harrison_ (Rev. William), character of his "Description of England," - i. 475. - Picture of rural mansions in the time of Elizabeth, 73. - Delineation of country-clergymen, 90, 91. - Of farmers, 99, 100. - And of their cottages and furniture, 101-103. - Of country-inns and ale-houses, 216-218. - Of the fashionable mode of dress in the age of Shakspeare, ii. - 87-89. - Of the hospitality and style of eating and drinking in the higher - classes, 120-122. - - _Hart_ (Joan), Shakspeare's sister, bequest to, ii. 629. - - _Harte_ (William), Shakspeare's nephew, not the person to whom his - sonnets were addressed, ii. 60. - - _Harvest-Home_, festival of, how celebrated, i. 185. - Distinctions of society then abolished, 186. - The last load of corn accompanied home with music and dancing, 187. - Alluded to by Shakspeare, _ibid._ - Poetical description of, by Herricke, 188, 189. - Thanksgivings offered in Scotland for the safe in-gathering of the - harvest, 341. - - _Harvey_ (Gabriel), notice of, i. 457. - His quarrel with Nash, 458. - Rarity of his works, _ibid._ - His account of Greene's last days, 498. - Satirical sonnet, addressed by him to Greene, 499. - Notice of his sonnets, 687. _and note_ [687:C]. - - _Hastings_ (Henry), account of, i. 86, 87. _note_. - - _Hathaway_ family, account of, i. 60. - Their cottage still standing at Shottery, 61. - - _Hathaway_ (Anne), the mistress of Shakspeare, spurious sonnet - ascribed to, i. 58. _note_. - Married to Shakspeare with her parents' consent, 62, 63. - His bequest to her, ii. 631. - Remarks thereon, 613. - Her epitaph, 631. _note_. i. 60. _note_. - - _Hats_, fashion of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 102. - - _Hatton_ (Sir Christopher), promoted for his skill in dancing, ii. - 172. - - _Haunted houses_, superstitious notions concerning, in the sixteenth - century, i. 320, 321. - - _Hawking_, when introduced into England, i. 255. - Universal among the nobility and gentry, 255, 256. - Notice of books on Hawks and Hawking, 257. and _note_. - Expense attending this pursuit, 257-259. - Forbidden to the clergy, 259. _note_. - Observations on this sport, 260-262. - Poetical description of, 262, 263. - Land and water hawking, 264. - A favourite pursuit of the ladies, 265. - Allusions to hawking by Shakspeare, 270, 271. - - _Hawks_, different sorts of, i. 263, 264. - Penalties for destroying their eggs, 264. - Account of their training, 265-270. - - _Hazlewood_ (Mr.), character of, i. 71. _note_. - Notice of his edition of Puttenham's "Arte of English Poesie," 465. - His character of that work, 466. - And of Wright's Essays, 511-513. - Account of the "World's Folly," a collection of ballads, 574-576. - Bibliographical notice of "Polimanteia," ii. 39. _note_ [39:B]. - Account of Brokes' "Tragicall Historie of Romeus and Juliet," 359. - and _note_. - - _Hayward_ (Sir John), character of his Histories, i. 476. - - _Healths_, origin of drinking, i. 128. - - _Helen_, analysis of the character of, in All's Well that Ends Well, - ii. 423-425. - - _Hell_, legendary punishments of, i. 378-381. - The lower part of the stage so called in Shakspeare's time, ii. 214. - - _Heminge_, the player, notice of, and of his family, i. 417. - Probably a countryman of Shakspeare's, _ibid._ - - _Hemp-seed_, why sown on Midsummer Eve, i. 332. - - _Henry_ IV., Parts I. and II., probable date of, ii. 379. - Critical analysis of its principal characters, 380. - Contrast between Hotspur and Prince Henry, 380. - Analysis of the character of Falstaff, 381-384. - And of the general construction of the fable of these plays, 384, - 385. - - _Illustrations of King Henry IV. Part I. in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 2., i. 570. - Act ii. scene 3., i. 329. 556. - scene 4., ii. 105. 114. 131. - Act iii. scene 1., i. 354. ii. 117. - Act iv. scene 1., i. 298. - Act v. scene 3., i. 581. - scene 4., i. 406. - - _Illustrations of King Henry IV. Part II._ - - Act i. scene 1., i. 232. - scene 2., i. 338. - Act ii. scene 2., i. 193. - scene 4., i. 308. 338. 585. ii. 107. - Act iii. scene 2., i. 254. 562. - Act v. scene 1., i. 156. 201. 554. - scene 2., i. 74. - scene 3., i. 585, 586. - The epilogue, ii. 222, 223. - - _Henry_ V. Prince of Wales, character of, ii. 380. - Probable date of the play of, 425. - Analysis of the admirable character of the King, 426-428. - Remarks on the minor characters and general conduct of the play, - 429. - - _Passages of Henry V. illustrated in the present work._ - - Act ii. scene 2., ii. 426, 427. - scene 3., i. 231. - scene 4., i. 175. - Act iii. scene 1., ii. 428. - scene 3., ii. 428. - Act iv. scene 1., ii. 427. - scene 2., ii. 116. - Act v. scene 1., i. 567. - scene 2., i. 308. - - _Henry_ VI., Parts I., II., and III.—The First Part of Henry VI., - usually ascribed to Shakspeare, spurious, ii. 292. - Alterations probably made in it by him, 293. - Date of these two Parts, 294, 295. - Exquisite contrast between the characters of Henry VI. and Richard - of Gloucester, 296. - The spurious play fit only for an appendix to Shakspeare's works, - 297. - Illustrations of Henry VI. Part I. act i. scene 4., ii. 259. - - _Illustrations of Henry VI. Part II._ - - Act i. scene 2., ii. 183. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 389. - scene 3., i. 565. - Act iii. scene 1., i. 164. - scene 2., i. 374. - Act iv. scene 2., i. 406. - Act v. scene 3., i. 583. _note_. - - _Illustrations of Henry VI. Part III._ - - Act i. scene 1., ii. 374. - scene 2., i. 372. - Act iii. scene 5., i. 423. - Act v. scene 3., i. 363. - scene 6., i. 354. ii. 372. _note_. 373. - scene 7., ii. 372. _note_. - - _Henry_ VIII.'s Latin Grammar, exclusively taught in schools, i. 26. - - _Henry_ VIII., probable date of the play of, ii. 442-445. - Remarks on its characters, 445, 446. - - _Illustrations of this drama in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 1., i. 289. - scene 3., ii. 99. - Act ii. scene 3., i. 397. - Act iv. scene 1., i. 156. - Act v. scene 1., ii. 169. - scene 2., i. 74. - - _Hentzner_'s (Paul), description of the dress of Queen Elizabeth, ii. - 89, 90. - Of the manner in which her table was served, 122, 123. - And of the dress of servants, 138. - Character of the English nation, 154. - Description of an English bull-baiting and bear-whipping, 177. - - _Herbert_ (Mary), a minor poetess of the age of Shakspeare, i. 687. - - _Herrick_, verses of, on Twelfth Night, i. 133, 134. - On Rock or St. Distaff's Day, 135, 136. - On Candlemas Eve, 139-141. - And on Candlemas Day, 140. - On May Day, 156, 157. - On Harvest-home, 188, 189. - On Christmas, 195-206. - - _Hesiod_, beautiful passage of, on the ministry of spirits, ii. 400. - - _Heywood_ (Jasper), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 687. - - _Heywood_ (Thomas), complaint of, against the critics of his day, i. - 456. - Notice of his _Troia Britannica_, a poem, 688. ii. 44. - Vindicates Shakspeare from the charge of plagiarism, 44, 45. - Notice of his apology for actors, 44. - Estimate of his merits as a dramatic poet, ii. 568, 569. - Illustration of his "Woman killed with Kindness," i. 213. 269. - - _Higgins_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 688, and - _note_ [688:B]. - Additions made by him to the "Mirrour for Magistrates," 709. - - _Historical Writers_ of the age of Shakspeare, notice of, i. 475, 476. - - _Hobby horse_, when introduced into the May games, i. 166. 170. - _note_. - - _Hock Cart_, poem on, i. 188, 189. - - _Hock Day_, or _Hoke Day_, origin of, i. 149. - Amusements of this festival, _ibid._ - Derivation of the term _Hock_, _ibid._ 150. - Diversions of, continued at Coventry, till the end of the 17th - century, 150, 151. and _note_. - - _Holinshed_'s description of the earthquake of 1580, i. 52, 53. - Proof that Shakspeare was conversant with his history, 56. - Character of his "Chronicle", 475. - - _Holland_ (Robert), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 688. - - _Holme_ (Randal), list of sports by, i. 246. - - _Homer_, as translated by Chapman, critical observations on, i. 607, - 608. - - _Hooding_ of Hawks, i. 267, 268. - - _Hoppings_, or country dances at wakes, i. 213, 214. - - _Horse_, beautiful poetical description of, ii. 24. - - _Horsemanship_, directions for, i. 299, 300. - - _Horse-racing_, a fashionable sport in the age of Shakspeare, i. 297, - 298. - - _Horsley_ (Bishop), remarks of, on the ministry of angels, i. 339, - 340. ii. 399. - And on the resurrection, 403. - - _Hospitality_ of the English in the age of Elizabeth, ii. 120-122. - - _Hotspur_, contrast between the character of, and that of Henry V., - ii. 380. - - _Hounds_, different kinds of, in the 16th century, i. 283, 284. - Beautiful allusions to, by Shakspeare, 284. - - _House_, where Shakspeare was born, described, i. 21, 22. - - _Household Servants_, economy of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. - 138-140. - - _Housewife_, portrait and qualifications of a good English one, i. - 110, 111. - Precepts for the regulation of her conduct, 112, 113. 116. _note_, - 117. _note_. - - _Howard_ (Lady), rude treatment of, by Queen Elizabeth, ii. 91. - - _Howel_ (Mr.), marvellous cure of, by sympathetic powder, i. 375, 376. - - _Howell_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 688. - - _Hubbard_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 688. - - _Hudson_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 689. - - _Hughes_ (Thomas), a dramatic writer of the Elizabethan age, notice - of, ii. 242, 243. - - _Hughes_ (William), not the person to whom Shakspeare's sonnets were - addressed, ii. 60. - - _Hume_, (Alexander), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 689. - - _Hundred Merry Tales_, a popular collection of Italian novels, - translated in the reign of Elizabeth, i. 539. - Alluded to by Shakspeare, 540. - - _Hunnis_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 689. - Specimen of his contribution to the "Paradise of Daintie Devises," - 714, 715. - - _Hunting_, account of, in the time of Elizabeth and James I., i. 272, - 273. - Description of hunting in inclosures, 274-276. - Stag-hunting, 278, 279. - Frequently attended with danger, 280. - Explanation of hunting-terms, 278. _note_, 279. _note_. - Frequently practised after dinner, 285. - - _Huntsman_, character and qualifications of, in the 16th century, i. - 281, 282. - - _Huon of Bourdeaux_, allusions by Shakspeare to the romance of, i. - 564. - - _Hurling_, a rural sport, account of, i. 305. - - _Husbands_, supposed visionary appearance of future, on Midsummer Eve, - i. 331-333. - And on All Hallow Eve, 344-347. - Advice to them, 513. - - -I - - _Iago_, remarks on the character of, ii. 531. - - _Illar Norner_, or malignant elves of the Goths, ii. 308. - - _Imagination_, brilliant, displayed in Shakspeare's dramas, ii. 551. - - _Imogen_, analysis of the character of, ii. 467. - - _Incubus_, or night-mare, poetical description of, i. 348. _note_. - Supposed influence of Saint Withold against, 347-349. - - _Indians_, exhibited in England as monsters, i. 387. - - _Inns_ (country), picture of, in Shakspeare's time, i. 216-218. - - _Inns of Court_, account of a splendid masque given by the gentlemen - of, ii. 190. - - _Interest_, exorbitant, given for money in the age of Shakspeare, ii. - 156. - - _Ireland_ (Mr. Samuel), his description of the birth-place of - Shakspeare, i. 21, 22. - Anecdote of Shakspeare's toping, preserved by him, 48-50. - - _Isabella_, remarks on the character of, in Measure for Measure, ii. - 454, 455. - - _Italian_ language and literature, considerations on Shakspeare's - knowledge of, i. 53, 54. - List of Italian grammars and dictionaries, which he might have read, - 57. - Greatly encouraged in the age of Elizabeth and James I., 451-453. - Account of Italian Romances, 538-544. - The Italian Sonnet, the parent of English Sonnets, ii. 53. - - _Itinerant Stage_, and players, account of, i. 247-252. - - _Ivory Coffers_, an article of furniture, in the age of Shakspeare, - ii. 118. - - -J - - _Jack o'Lantern_, superstitious notions concerning, i. 399. - Probable causes of, 400. - - _Jackson_ (Richard), notice of his battle of Flodden, i. 689. and - _note_ [689:A]. - - _Jaggard_'s editions of the "Passionate Pilgrim," published without - Shakspeare's privity or consent, ii. 43. 45. - Vindication of the poet from the charge of imposing on the public in - these editions, 46-48. - - _James_ I., book of sports, issued by, i. 173. - Partiality of, for hunting, 287. - Exclamation of, on quitting the Bodleian library, 434. - Account of his treatise on "Scottish Poesie," 461, 462. - Notice of his Poetical Works, i. 702. and _notes_ [702:B], [702:C]. - Expense in dress, encouraged by him, though niggardly in his own, - ii. 101, 102. - Drunken excesses of the King, and his courtiers, 124, 125. - His philippic against tobacco, 135. 137. - Sketch of his character, 151, 152. - Cruel act passed by him against witchcraft, 477. - His description of the feats of supposed witches, 483. 485. - Wrote a letter of acknowledgement to Shakspeare, 595. - - _James_ (Dr.), an eminent bibliographer, notice of, i. 433, 434. - - _James_ (Elias), epitaph on, by Shakspeare, ii. 607, _note_. - - _Jaques_, analysis of the character of, in As You Like It, ii. 433, - 434. - - _Jeney_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 689. - - _Jenynges_ (Edward), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 689. - - _Jerome_ (St.), doctrine of, concerning angels, i. 336. - - _Jestours_, or minstrels, in the age of Elizabeth, account of, i. - 556-560. - Deemed rogues and vagabonds by act of parliament, 561. - - _Jewels_, fashions of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 103. - - _Job_, beautiful passage from, on the agency and ministry of spirits, - ii. 400. - - _John_ (King), probable date of, ii. 419. - Its general character, _ibid._ - Analysis of the particular characters of Faulconbridge, 420. - Of Arthur, 420. 422. - Of Constance, 421. - Exquisitely pathetic scene of Hubert and the executioners, 422. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 1., i. 566. ii. 161. - Act ii. scene 2., i. 222. - Act iii. scene 1., i. 351. ii. 420. - scene 2., ii. 421. - Act iv. scene 1., ii. 414. - scene 2., i. 384. - - _John's Eve_ (St.), superstitious observances on, i. 328. - Fires lighted then, of Pagan origin, 328, 329. - Fern seed supposed to be visible only on that eve, 329. - Spirits visible, of persons who are to die in the following year, - 330, 331. - Visionary appearances of future husbands and wives on that eve, 332. - - _Johnson_ (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 689. - - _Johnson_ (Dr.), his unjust censure of Cymbeline, ii. 466. - - _Jones_ (Rev. William), sermon of, on the death of the Earl of - Southampton, i. 19. _note_. - - _Jonson_ (Ben), notice of the Latin Grammar of, i. 456. - Critical remarks on his minor poems, 631. - His account of a splendid masque, ii. 188. - Began to write for the stage in conjunction with other dramatic - poets, 572. - Enumeration of his pieces, 573. - Critical estimate of his merits as a dramatic poet, by Mr. Godwin, - 574. - By Mr. Gifford, 575, 576. - Causes of Jonson's failure in tragedy, 577. - Unrivalled excellence of his masques, 578. - Jonson, the favourite model, studied by Milton, 579, 580. - Repartees ascribed to Jonson and Shakspeare, 593, 594. _notes_. - The story of their quarrel, disproved, 595-598. - Verses of Jonson on Shakspeare's engraved portrait, 623. - - _Passages of Ben Jonson's works illustrated or explained._ - - Bartholomew Fayre, i. 173. 252. - Christmas, a masque, i. 130. 203. - Cynthia's Revells, Act i. sc. 2., i. 75. - —— Act ii. sc. 5., ii. 120. - Devil is an Ass, ii. 126. - Entertainment of the Queen and Prince at Althorpe, i. 172. - Epigrammes, i. 130. ii. 186. - Every Man in his Humour, Act i. sc. 1., i. 82. 256. 308. - Every Man out of his Humour, Act v. sc. 10., i. 441. - —— Act ii. sc. 3., ii. 156. - Masque of Queens, i. 179. - New Inn, i. 329. - Poetaster, i. 250. - Sad Shepherd, i. 281. - Staple of Newes, i. 96. 508, 509. - Sejanus, i. 366. - Silent Woman, ii. 126. - Tale of a Tub, i. 229. - - _Julia_, remarks on the character of, in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, - ii. 368, 369. - - _Julio Romano_, Shakspeare's eulogium on, ii. 617. - - _Julius Cæsar_, date of, ii. 491. - Remarks on the character of Cæsar, 491. - And of Brutus, 492. - General conduct of this drama, 492. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act ii. scene 2., i. 352. - Act v. scene 2., i. 230. - scene 3., i. 230. - scene 5., ii. 492. - - _Justices_ of the peace, venality of, in the time of Elizabeth, ii. - 166. - - -K - - _Kelly_, the magical associate of Dr. Dee, account of, ii. 512, 513. - His death, 513. - And character, 514, and _note_. - - _Kellye_ (Edmund), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 689. - - _Kempe_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 689. - - _Kendal_ (Timothy), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 690, and - _note_. - - _Kenelworth Castle_, visit of Queen Elizabeth to, i. 37. - Account of her magnificent reception there, 38, 39. ii. 195-197. - Quaint description of the castle and grounds, i. 40-42, _notes_. - Observation of Bishop Hurd on, ii. 200. - - _King and Queen_, origin of chusing, on Twelfth Night, i. 127. - Still retained, 134, _note_. - Anciently chosen at sheep-shearing, 184, _note_. - - _Kings_, supposed omens of the death or fall of, i. 353, 354. - - _King's Evil_, supposed to be cured by royal touch, i. 370, 371. - - _Kirk_ (Mr.), notice of his "Nature, &c. of fairies," ii. 314. and - _note_. - Extracts from it, relative to the fairy superstitions of Scotland, - 315, 316. 322. 324. - - _Kirke White_ (Henry), poetical description of a Winter's Evening - Conversation, i. 322. - - _Kiss_, beautiful sonnet on one, ii. 54, 55. - - _Knell_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 690. - - _Knights_, tournaments of, in the 16th century, i. 553. - Their vows how made, 554. - Tilting at the ring, 555. - - _Knights of Prince Arthur's Round Table_, a society of archers, - account of, ii. 178-180. - - _Knives_, when introduced into England, ii. 126. - - _Knolles_'s History of the Turks, character of, i. 476. - - _Kyd_ (Thomas), a dramatic writer, in the reign of Elizabeth, notice - of, ii. 243, 244. - - _Kyffin_ (Maurice), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 690. - - -L - - _Ladies_, dress of, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, ii. 92-100. - Their accomplishments, 153. - Manually corrected their servants, _ibid._ - - _Lake Wakes_, derivation of, i. 234. - Description of, 235, 236. - Vestiges of, in the North of England, 237. - - _Lamb Ale_, account of, i. 181. - Poetical description of, by Tusser, _ibid._ - By Drayton, _ibid._ - Allusions to it by Shakspeare, 183-185. - - _Lambarde_'s "Archaionomia," critical notice of, i. 480. - - _Lane_ (John), a poet of the Elizabethan age, critical notice of, i. - 673. - - _Laneham_'s description of Kenelworth castle and grounds, i. 40-42. - _notes_. - Cited, 371. - Description of the shews exhibited to Queen Elizabeth, 518, 519. ii. - 195, 196. - Account of his mode of spending his time, 198, 199. - - _Latin literature_, promoted in the age of Elizabeth, by the labours - of Ascham and others, i. 454, 455. - List of Latin writers translated into English in the time of - Shakspeare, 483. - - _Lavaterus_, remarks of, on the absurdity of terrifying children, i. - 317, 318. - On the ministry of angels, 336, 337. - On corpse candles, 358. - And sudden noises, as forerunners of death, 361. - - _Law terms_, collection of, found in Shakspeare's plays, i. 43, 44. - _notes_. - - _Lear_ (King), probable date of, ii. 457-459. - And sources, 459. - Observations on the general conduct of the play, 460, 461. - Analysis of the character of Lear, 461-463. - Of Edgar, 462, 464. - And of Cordelia, 465. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 2., i. 384. - scene 5., ii. 462. - Act ii. scene 4., ii. 462. - Act iii. scene 1., ii. 462. - scene 2., ii. 464. - scene 4., i. 347. 566. 588. ii. 463, 464. - scene 6., i. 588, 589. - Act iv. scene 3., i. 592. - scene 6., i. 308. - scene 7., ii. 465, 466. - - _Leet Ale_, account of, i. 176. - - _Legge_ (Thomas), a dramatic writer in the Elizabethan age, character - of, ii. 251. - - _Leicester_ (Robert Dudley, Earl of), his magnificent reception of - Queen Elizabeth, i. 37-39. ii. 195-199. - - _Leighton_ (Sir William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. - 691. - - _Lever_ (Christopher), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 691. - - _Lexicographers_, but little rewarded, i. 27. _note_. - - _Leyden_ (Dr.), beautiful poetical allusions of, to Scottish - traditions concerning fairies, ii. 320, 321. 323. - Fine apostrophe to Mr. Scott, 321. _note_. - - _Lhuyd_ (Humphry), notice of his topographical labours, i. 479, 480. - - _Libel_ of Shakspeare on Sir Thomas Lucy, i. 405, 406. - - _Library_, hints for the best situation of, i. 437. - Notice of Captain Cox's library of romances, 518, 519, 520. - And of Dr. Dee's library of magical and other books, ii. 511, 512. - _notes_. - - _Lights_, burning blue, a supposed indication of the presence of - spirits, i. 358. - - _Lilly_ (John), notice of his "_Euphues_," a romance, i. 441, 442. - Encomiums on it, 442. - Estimate of its real character, 443. - His style corrupted the English language, _ibid._ - Satirised by Shakspeare, 445, 446. - Character of his dramatic pieces, ii. 240-242. - - _Lilye_, a dextrous repairer of old books, i. 433. - - _Linche_ (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 691. - Specimen of his verses, _ibid._ _note_. - - _Lisle_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 691. - - _Literature_ (polite), outline of, during the age of Shakspeare, i. - 428. - Encouraged by Queen Elizabeth, 428-432. - Influence of her example, 433-437. - State of philological or grammatical literature, 439. - Innovations in the English language by Lilly, 442-445. - Improvements in the language, by the great writers in the reigns of - Elizabeth and James, 446-448. - Classical literature greatly encouraged, 449. 453-455. - Modern languages then cultivated, 451, 452. - State of criticism, 456-460. - Of history, 475. - Voyages and travels, 477-479. - Topography and antiquities, 479-481. - Biography, 481, 482. - Translations of classical authors extant in this period, 483. - Natural history, 484, 485. - Miscellaneous literature:—of the wits of that age, 485-499. - Of the Puritans, 500-502. - Sober writers, 503-507. - Origin of newspapers, 508. - Writers of characters, 509-511. - Essayists, 511-514. - Writers of facetiæ, 515-517. - State of romantic literature, 518-593. - Of poetry in general, 461-474. 594-675. - Table of miscellaneous minor poets during the age of Shakspeare, - 676-707. - Collections of poetry and poetical miscellanies, 708-731. - State of literature in the Elizabethan age highly favourable to the - culture of poetic genius, 596. - - _Literature_ (juvenile), state of, during Shakspeare's youth, i. - 25-28. - - _Lithgow_ (William), critical notice of his "Travels," i. 478. - - _Littlecote House_, description of, and of its ancient furniture, i. - 77-79. - - _Little John_, the companion of Robin Hood, account of, i. 163. - - _Lloyd_ (Lodowick), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 691. - - _Lobeira_ (Vasco), the author of "Amadis of Gaul," i. 545. - Popularity of his romance, 545, 546. - - _Lodge_ (Dr. Thomas), a miscellaneous and dramatic writer, account of, - i. 503. - His principal works, _ibid._ - Defects in his literary character, _ibid._ 504. - Remarks of, on the quarrelsome temper of Nash, 459, 460. - Remarks on his poetry, 632-635. - Character of his dramatic productions, ii. 249. - - _Lofft_ (Mr. Capel), opinion of, on the sources of Shakspeare's - wisdom, i. 32. _note_. - On the extent of his knowledge of Italian literature, 54. _note_. - Notice of his edition of Shakspeare's "Aphorisms," 517. - - _Lok_ (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 691, 692, and - _note_ [692:A]. - - _London_, when first resorted to by country-gentlemen, i. 85, 86. - Dress of the inhabitants of the metropolis, ii. 87-111. - Their houses, how furnished, 111-120. - Food and drinking, 120-137. - Servants, 138-142. - Miscellaneous household arrangements, 143-145. - Peculiarities in their manners, 145-162. - Police of London during the age of Shakspeare, 162-167. - Their manners, 153. - Credulity and superstition, 154. - Curiosity for seeing strange sights, 155. - Passion for travelling, 156. - Love of gaming, 157. - Duelling, 158. - Love of quarrelling, _ibid._ 159. - Lying, 159. - Gossipping, _ibid._ - Swearing, 160. - Complimentary language, 160, 161. - Ceremonies of inaugurating the Lord Mayor, 162-164. - Regulation of the police of the city, 164-166. - Diversions of the court and city, 168-200. - Account of a splendid masque given by the citizens, 189, 190. - - _Lord Mayor_, ceremony of inaugurating described, ii. 162-164. - - _Lovell_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 692. - - _Lovelocks_ worn by gentlemen in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 103. - - "_Lover's Complaint_," a minor poem of Shakspeare, critical analysis - of, ii. 82-84. - - _Love's Labour's Lost_, date of this drama of Shakspeare's, ii. 289. - Proofs that it is one of Shakspeare's earliest compositions, 290, - 291. - The first edition of it lost, 290. - Critical remarks on it, 291, 292. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 2., ii. 186. - Act iii. scene 1., i. 171. 580. ii. 173. 175. - Act iv. scene 1., i. 580, ii. 182. - scene 2., i. 27. _note_. 445, 446. - Act v. scene 1., i. 96. 308. - scene 2., i. 105. 130. 515. 556. ii. 171. - - _Lucrece_, beautiful picture of, ii. 36, 37. - See _Rape of Lucrece_. - - _Lucy_ (Sir Thomas), biographical notice of, i. 402. - His deer stolen by Shakspeare, 403. - Whom he reprimands and exposes, 404. - Is libelled by Shakspeare, 404-407. - Prosecutes him, 407, 408. - Ridiculous portrait of Sir Thomas, 409. - - _Luders_ (Mr.), notice of his essay on the character of Henry V., ii. - 381. - - _Luigi da Porta_, the Giuletta of, the source of Shakspeare's Romeo - and Juliet, ii. 360-362. - - _Lunacy_ (latent), philosophical and medical remarks on, ii. 406, 407. - Application of them to the character of Hamlet, 407, 408. - - _Lupton_ (Thomas), a dramatic writer in the time of Elizabeth, notice - of, ii. 237. - - _Luring_ of Hawks, i. 266, 267. _note_. - - -M - - _Mab_, queen of the fairies, exquisite picture of, ii. 341, 342. - - _Macbeth_, date of, ii. 469. - Analysis of the character of Macbeth, 469-471. - Remarks on the management of the fable, 471. - Its striking affinity to the tragedy of Æschylus, 472-474. - Critical remarks on the supernatural machinery of this play, 474. - Account of the popular superstitions concerning witchcraft, current - in Shakspeare's time, 475-486. - Instances of his admirable adaptation of them to dramatic - representation in Macbeth, 487, 488. - - _Passages of this drama, illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 3., ii. 299. 488. - scene 7., i. 129. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 82. - scene 2., ii. 470. - scene 3., i. 354. - Act iii. scene 1., i. 388. - scene 5., i. 386. - Act iv. scene 3., i. 371. - - _Machin_ (Lewis), "The Dumb Knight" of, illustrated, ii. 31. _note_. - - _Madmen_, in Shakspeare's plays, remarks on, i. 587. - Characteristic madness of Edgar, in the play of Lear, 588. - Affecting madness of Ophelia in Hamlet, 589-591. - Contrast between the madness of Lear and Ophelia, ii. 396. - The madness of Edgar and Lear considered, 462-464. - - _Madrigals_, collections of, in the time of Shakspeare, i. 730-733. - - _Magic_, state of the art of, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, ii. 509, - 510. - Notice of eminent magicians at that time, 511-514. - Different classes of magicians, 515. - Prospero, one of the higher class, _ibid._ - Description of his dress and spells, 515-517. - Mode of conjuring up the spirits of the dead, 518-520. - Different orders of spirits under magical power, 521-526. - - _Maid Marian_, origin of, i. 161. - One of Robin Hood's associates in the May-games, _ibid._ 162. - - _Malone_ (Mr.), opinion of, on the authenticity of John Shakspeare's - will, i. 15. - On the probability of William Shakspeare's being placed with an - attorney, 43-45. - His conjecture as to the person to whom Shakspeare's sonnets were - addressed, ii. 61. - Refuted, 62-73. - Strictures on his inadequate defence of Shakspeare's sonnets, - against Mr. Steevens's censure, 74, 75. - Conjecture of, as to the amount of Shakspeare's income, 225. - Ascribes Pericles to him, 265. - His opinion on the date of Love's Labour's Lost, 289. - On the spuriousness of Henry VI. Part I., 293. - His able discrimination of genuine from the spurious passages, 295. - On the probable date of Romeo and Juliet, 357, 358. - Of the Taming of the Shrew, 364. - Of Richard III. 370. - Of Henry IV. Parts I. and II., 379. - Of Hamlet, 391. - Of King John, 419. - Of All's Well That Ends Well, 422, 423. - On the date of Troilus and Cressida, 438. - Of Henry VIII. 442-445. - Of Timon of Athens, 446, 447. - Of Measure for Measure, 452. - Of King Lear, 457-459. - Of The Tempest, 500-503. - Of Othello, 527, 528. - Of Twelfth Night, 535. - Strictures on his splenetic censure of Ben Jonson, 578. _note_. - Remarks of, on the epitaphs ascribed to Shakspeare, 607. and _note_. - Character and expression of the poet's bust injured through his - interference, 621. - His illustrations of Shakspeare cited, _passim_. - - _Malory_ (Sir Thomas), account of his translation of the romance of - "La Morte D'Arthur," i. 524. - - _Mandrake_, fable concerning, i. 374. - - _Manners_ of the metropolis during the age of Shakspeare, ii. 149. - Influence of Elizabeth and James I. upon them, 153, 154. - Credulity and superstition, 154. - Love of strange sights, 155. - Passion for travelling, 156. - Love of Gaming, 157. - Duelling and quarrelling, 158, 159. - Lying and gossipping, 159, 160. - Complimentary language, 160-162. - - _Manning_ of hawks, i. 266, 267. _note_. - - _Manningtree_, celebrated for its fairs and stage plays, i. 251. - - _Mansions_ of country squires and gentlemen, in Shakspeare's age, - description of, i. 72-74. - - _Mantuanus_, Eclogues of, probably one of Shakspeare's school books, - i. 27. _note_. - Quoted and praised by him, _ibid._ - Translations of them noticed, 28. _note_. - - _Marbeck_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 692. - - _Marlow_ (Christopher), character of, as a poet, i. 635, 636. - And as a dramatic writer, with specimens, ii. 245-248. - His wretched death, 249, and _note_. - His "Passionate Shepherd," cited by Shakspeare, i. 578. - - _Marston_ (John), biographical notice of, i. 636. - Character of his satires, 637. - Estimate of his merits as a dramatic poet, ii. 567, 568. - His "Scourge of Villanie," cited and illustrated, ii. 160. - - _Mark's Day_ (St.), supposed influence of, on life and death, i. 323. - - _Markham_ (Gervase), a miscellaneous writer in the time of Shakspeare, - biographical account of, i. 505. - List of his works, 506, 507. _notes_. - Their great popularity, 506, 507. - Notice of his "Gentleman's Academie, or Book of St. Alban's," i. 70. - _note_. 257. _note_. - Dedication to, 70. - His difference between churles and gentlemen, 71, 72. _note_. - His edition seen by Shakspeare, 71. _note_. - Directions of, for an _ordinary_ feast, 80. _note_. - His explanation of terms in hawking, 267-269. _note_. - On different sorts of hounds, 283, 284. - Description of the qualifications of an angler, 294-296. - Notice of his "Discource of Horsemanshippe," 299. _note_. - Precepts for learning to ride, 299, 300. - List of his poems, 692, 693. - His address to the Earl of Southampton, ii. 17. _note_. - - _Marriage_, ceremony of, in Shakspeare's time, i. 223. - Procession, _ibid._ 224. - Rosemary strewed before the bride, 224. - Ceremonies in the church, 225. - Drinking out of the bride cup, _ibid._ 226. - Blessing the bridal bed, _ib._ - Description of a rustic marriage, 227-229. - How celebrated in the North of England in the 18th century, 229. - _note_. - - _Martial_, epigram of, happily translated, i. 690. _note_. - - _Martinmas_, or the festival of St. Martin, i. 190. - Winter provision then laid in, _ibid._ - Poetical description of, 191-193. - Universally observed throughout Europe, 191. - Allusion to this day, by Shakspeare, 193. - - _Martin Mar-Prelate_, notice of, i. 457. - - _Mascall_'s (Leonard), "Booke of Fishing," notice of, i. 291, and - _note_. - - _Masks_ generally used in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 95. - - _Masques_, splendid, in the age of Shakspeare, account of, ii. - 187-190. - Allusions to them by Shakspeare, 191-193. - Unrivalled excellence of Ben Jonson's masques, 578. - - _Massinger_ (Philip), merits of, as a dramatic poet, considered, ii. - 561, 562. - - Illustrations of several of his plays, viz. - - City Madam, i. 75. - ——, Act ii. scene 1., i. 180. - Guardian, i. 262, 263. - Virgin Martyr, i. 310. - - _Master of the Revels_, office of, when instituted, ii. 202. - The superintendance of the stage and of actors, committed to them, - 203. - Players sometimes termed children of the revels, 204. - - _Maxwell_ (James), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 693. - - _May-Day_, anciently observed throughout the kingdom, i. 152. - A relic of the Roman Floralia, _ibid._ - Poetical description of, in Henry VIII.'s time, 153. - Cornish mode of celebrating, _ibid._ - How celebrated in the age of Shakspeare, 154, 155. - Allusions to it by the poet, 155, 156. - Verses on, by Herrick, 156, 157. - Morris-dances, the invariable accompaniment of May-day, 157, 158. - Robin Hood and his associates, when introduced, 159-163. - Music accompanying May-games, 164, 165. - Introduction of the hobby-horse and dragon, 156. - Description of the May-games, as celebrated in Shakspeare's time, - 167-171. - Opposition made to them by the Puritans, and their consequent - decline, 171-173. - Revived by King James's "Book of Sports," 173, 174. - Their gradual disuse, 174, and _note_. - - _Maying_, custom of going a Maying, i. 155. - Verses on, 156, 157. - - _Mayne_'s "City Match," illustration of, i. 388. - - _Maypole_, ceremony of setting up described, i. 154. - - _Measure for Measure_, probable date of, ii. 452. - Its primary source, 453. - Analysis of its characters, 454-456. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act ii. scene 1., ii. 125. - Act iii. scene 1., i. 378. ii. 455, 456. - Act v. scene 1., i. 222. - - _Menæchmi_ of Plautus, the basis of Shakspeare's Comedy of Errors, ii. - 286-288. - - _Merchant of Venice_, date of, ii. 385. - Probable source of its fable, 385, 386. - Analysis of it, 387, 388. - And of its characters, 388-390. - Particularly that of Shylock, 388, 389. - - _Illustrations of this drama._ - - Act ii. scene 8., ii. 389. - Act iii. scene 2., ii. 93. - Act iv. scene 1., i. 374. - Act v. scene 1., i. 187. 381. ii. 390. - - _Meres_ (Francis), critical notice of his "Comparative Discourse of - our English Poets, with the Greeke, Latine, and Italian Poets," i. - 468. - His censure of the popularity of "La Morte D'Arthur," 525. - Encomium on Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, ii. 29. - And on several of his dramas, 287. - - _Merry Pin_, explanation of the term, i. 131. _note_. - - _Merry Wives of Windsor_, tradition respecting the origin of, ii. 435, - 436. - Analysis of its characters, 436, 437. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 1., i. 252. 307. 409, ii. 178. - scene 4., i. 82. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 577. - scene 2., ii. 134. - Act iii. scene 3., i. 271. 577. ii. 94. 114. - scene 5., ii. 132. - Act iv. scene 2., i. 362. - scene 5., ii. 117. 169. - Act v. scene 5., i. 82. ii. 340. 341. 343. 347. - - _Metrical Romances_, origin of, i. 522, 523. - - _Michael_ (St.) _and All Angels_, festival of, i. 334. - Superstitious doctrine of the ministry of angels, 334-340. - Michaelmas-geese, 340, 341. - - _Middleton_ (Christopher), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. - 693. - - _Middleton_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 693. - Wrote several pieces for the stage, in conjunction with other - dramatic poets, ii. 565. - Estimate of his merits as a dramatist, 565, 566. - Illustrations of his "Fair Quarrel," i. 224. - And "No Wit, No Help like a Woman's," i. 226. - - _Midsummer-Eve_, superstitious observances on, i. 328. - Midsummer-Eve fire, of Pagan origin, _ibid._ 329. - Fern-seed only visible on that eve, 329. - Spirits visible of persons, who are to die in the following year, - 330, 331. - Recent observance of Midsummer-Eve in Cornwall, 331. - Visionary appearance of future husbands and wives supposed to take - place on this Eve, 332, 333. - Plays and masques performed then, 333, 334. - - _Midsummer-Night's Dream_, composed for Midsummer-Eve, i. 333, 334. - Its probable date, ii. 298, 299. - One of Shakspeare's earlier pieces, 299. - Critical remarks on some of its characters, 300-302. - And on the fairy mythology of this play, 302. 337-355. - (_See also the article "Fairies," in this Index._) - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in this work._ - - Act i. scene 1., i. 155. - scene 2., ii. 221. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 106. ii. 341. 343, 344. 349. - scene 2., i. 308. 384. ii. 337, 338. 341, 342. 344. 354, - 355. - scene 3., ii. 341. 355. - Act iii. scene 1., ii. 170. 341. 346. - scene 2., i. 158. ii. 301. 354. - Act iv. scene 1., i. 156. 284. 324. ii. 339. 352. - scene 2., ii. 353. - Act v. scene 2., i. 226. ii. 329. 346. - - _Milan Bells_ for hawks, notice of, i. 268, 269. - - _Milk Maids_, procession of, on May-day, i. 155. _note_ [155:A]. - - _Milton_'s "Comus," illustration of, i. 131. - Illustrations of "Paradise Lost," i. 339, 381. - Proof that he imitated Shakspeare's Pericles, ii. 279, 280. _note_ - [279:C]. - Exquisite passage from his "Paradise Lost," on the ministry of - angels, 401. - Ben Jonson the favourite model studied by Milton, 578, 579. - Whether he and Shakspeare were acquainted with each other, 672. - - _Ministry of Angels_, superstitious notions concerning, i. 334-339. - Remarks of Bishop Horsley on, 339, 340. - - _Minstrels_ better paid than clergymen, i. 93. - Their condition in the age of Elizabeth, 557. - Their costume described, 558, 559. - Dissolute morals of, 559, 560. - Allusions to them by Shakspeare, 560, 561. - Their profession annihilated by act of parliament, 561. - Allusions to their poetry by Shakspeare, 574-593. - - _Miranda_, remarks on the character of, ii. 506. - - "_Mirrour for Magistrates_," a collection of poetical legends, planned - by Sackville, i. 708. - Account of its various editions, 709, 710. - Its character, 710. - Influence on our national poetry, _ibid._ - - _Monkies_, kept as the companions of the domestic fool, ii. 145, 146. - - _Monsters_, supposed existence of, i. 384-389. - - _Montgomery_ (Alexander), notice of the poems of, i. 693, and _note_. - - _Monument_ of Shakspeare, in Stratford church, described, ii. 618. - Remarks on the bust erected on it, 619-622. - - _Moon_, supposed influence of, i. 382-384. - Exquisite picture of moonlight scenery, ii. 390. - - _Morality_ of Shakspeare's dramas, ii. 552. - - _Morgan_ (Mr.), vindicates Shakspeare from the calumnies of Voltaire, - ii. 553, 554. - - _Morley_'s (Thomas), Collection of Madrigals, quotations from, - illustrative of May-games, i. 165, 166. - Account of his "Collections," 731-733. - - _Morris-dance_, origin of, i. 157. - Dress of the Morris-dancers, 158. - Morris dances performed at Easter, i. 147. _note_. - And especially at May-day, 158, 159. - Music by which these dances were accompanied, 164, 165. - Morris-dances introduced also at Whitsuntide, 175. - - "_Morte D'Arthur_," a celebrated romance, account of, i. 524. - Its popularity censured by Ascham and Meres, 524, 525. - Notice of its principal editions, 526, 527. - Specimen of its style, 528. - Furnished Spenser with many incidents, 528, 529. - Allusions to it by Shakspeare, 562. - - _Moseley_ (Mr.), discovers John Shakspeare's will, i. 9. - - _Moryson_ (Fynes), critical notice of his "Itinerary," i. 479. - His character of "Amadis of Gaul," 546. - - _Much Ado about Nothing_, date of, ii. 430. - Strictures on its general character, and on the conduct of its - fable, _ibid._ 431. - Original of the character of Dogberry in this play, 589. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 1., i. 308. - scene 3., ii. 114. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 540. 564. ii. 175. - scene 3., i. 288. 472. ii. 92. - Act iii. scene 1., i. 296. - scene 2., i. 573. - Act v. scene 2., i. 580. - - _Mufflers_, an article of female dress in the age of Shakspeare, ii. - 95. - - _Mulberry-tree_, when planted by Shakspeare, ii. 599, 600. - Cut down, ii. 584. _note_. - - _Mulcaster_ (Richard), notice of the grammatical labours of, i. 455. - - _Muncaster_ (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 693. - - _Munday_ (Anthony), notice of his Versions of "Palmerin of England," - i. 547. - "Palmerin d'Oliva," and "Historie of Palmendo," 548. - List of his poems, 693, 694. - - _Murdered_ persons, blood of, supposed to flow on the touch or - approach of the murderer, i. 372, 373. - - _Murray_ (David), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 694, and - _note_. - - _Music_ of the Morris-dance and May-games, i. 164, 165. - Description of the music of the fairies, ii. 342, and _note_. - Shakspeare passionately fond of music, 390. - - "_Myrrour of Knighthood_," a popular romance, alluded to by - Shakspeare, i. 570. - - _Mythology_ of the ancients, a favourite study in the time of - Elizabeth and James I., i. 419. - Critical account of the fairy mythology of Shakspeare, ii. 302-337. - - -N - - _Name_ of Shakspeare, orthography of, ascertained, i. 17-20. - - _Nash_ (Thomas), "Quarternio" of, cited, i. 260-262. - His quarrel with Harvey, 458. - His books, why scarce, _ibid._ - Character of him, 459. 486. - - _Nashe_'s "Choosing of Valentines" cited, i. 251. - - _Natural History_, works on, translated in the time of Shakspeare, i. - 485. - - _Needlework_, admirable, of the ladies, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. - 146. and _note_, 153. - - _Newcastle_, Easter amusements at, i. 149. - - _Newspapers_, origin of, i. 506. - - _Newton_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 694. - - _Newton_'s "History of the Saracens," notice of, i. 476. - - _New-Year's Day_, ceremonies observed on, i. 123. - Presents usually made then, 124. - Account of those made to Queen Elizabeth, 125, 126. - - _Nicholson_ (Samuel), a minor poet in the time of Shakspeare, i. 694. - - _Niccols_ (Richard), critical notice of the poetical works of, i. 637, - 638. - Additions to the "Mirrour for Magistrates," 709, 710. - - _Nightmare_, poetical description of, i. 348, _note_. - Supposed influence of St. Withold, against it, 347-349. - - _Nixon_ (Anthony), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 694. - - _Noises_, sudden and fearful, supposed to be forerunners of death, i. - 361. - - _Norden_ (John), notice of the topographical works of, i. 480, 481. - And of his poetical productions, 694. - - _Novels_ (Italian), account of, translated in Shakspeare's time, i. - 538-544. - List of those most esteemed in the 15th and 16th centuries, 544, - _note_. - - _Nutcrack Night_, i. 341. - - -O - - _Oberon_, the fairy king of Shakspeare, derivation of his name, ii. - 337, _note_. - Analysis of his character, 337-340. - - _Ockland_'s ΕΙΡΗΝΑΡΧΙΑ _sive Elizabetha_, a school-book in - Shakspeare's time, account of, i. 26. - - _Omens_, prevalence of, in Shakspeare's time, i. 349-351. - Warnings of danger or death, 349-354. - Dreams, 354. - Demoniacal voices, 355. - Corpse-candles, and tomb-fires, 358. - Fiery and meteorous exhalations, 360. - Sudden noises, 361, 362. - - _Ophelia_, remarks on the affecting madness of, i. 589-591. - And also on Hamlet's passion for her, ii. 394-396. - - _Ordinaries_, account of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 134, 135. - - _Oriental_ romances, account of, i. 531-538. - Allusions to them by Shakspeare, 568, 569. - - _Orthography_ of Shakspeare's name, i. 17-20. - Instances of want of uniformity in, 19. _note_. - - _Othello_, probable date of, ii. 527, 528. - General remarks on this drama, 529. - Vindication of it from the extraordinary criticism of Mr. Steevens, - 529, 530. - On the execution of the character of Othello, 530. - Iago, 531. - And Desdemona, _ibid._ - - _Passages of this tragedy illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 3., i. 385. ii. 155. - Act ii. scene 3., i. 583. ii. 128. - Act iii. scene 3., i. 270. - scene 4., ii. 527. - Act iv. scene 1., i. 389. - Act v. scene 2., i. 384. - - _Overbury_ (Sir Thomas), the first writer of "Characters," i. 509. - Character of his productions, _ibid._ - Especially his poem on the choice of a wife, 510. - Imitation of it, _ibid._ - Notice of editions of it, 694, and _note_ [694:D]. - Mrs. Turner executed for his murder, ii. 96. - - _Owls_, superstitious notions concerning, i. 393, 394. - - -P - - _Pageants_, splendid, in the age of Shakspeare, account of, ii. - 187-190. - Allusions to them by the poet, 191-193. - - _Paint_, used by the ladies in Shakspeare's time, ii. 95. - - _Palaces_ of Queen Elizabeth, account of the furniture of, ii. 111, - 112. - - "_Palmerin d'Oliva_," romance of, translated by Munday, i. 548. - Alluded to by Shakspeare, 571. - - "_Palmerin of England_," a popular romance, critical notice of, i. - 547. - - _Palmistry_, allusions to by Shakspeare, i. 363. - - _Pancake Bell_, account of, i. 143. _note_. - - _Pancakes_, the invariable accompaniment of Shrove-Tuesday, i. 141, - 142. - - "_Paradyse of Daynty Devises_," account of the different editions of, - i. 711, 712. - And of the different contributors to this collection of poems, - 713-715. - - _Paris_, fashions of, imported into England, in the age of Shakspeare, - ii. 94. - - _Park_ (Mr.), remarks of, on the style of our elder poetry, i. 719, - 720. - - _Parish Tops_, notice of, i. 312. - - _Parker_ (Archbishop), a collector of curious books, i. 433. - - _Parkes_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 695. - - _Parnassus_—"The Great Assizes holden in Parnassus," &c. cited, i. - 19. _note_. - - _Parrot_ (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 695. - - _Partridge_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 695. - - _Pasche Eggs_, given at Easter, i. 148. - - _Pasquinade_ of Shakspeare, on Sir Thomas Lucy, i. 405, 406. - - _Passing Bell_, supposed benefit of tolling, i. 232, 233, 234. - - _Passions_, exquisite delineations of, in Shakspeare's dramas, ii. - 546-549. - - "_Passionate Pilgrim_," a collection of Shakspeare's minor pieces, - when first printed, ii. 41. - Probable date of its composition, 42. - An edition of this work published by Jaggard, without the poet's - knowledge or consent, 43-45. - Shakspeare vindicated from the charge of imposing on the public, in - this edition, 45-48. - Critical remarks on the Passionate Pilgrim, 49. - - _Pastoral_ romances, account of, i. 548-552. - - _Paul's_ (St.) Day, supposed influence of, on the weather, i. 323. and - _note_. - - _Paul's Walk_, a fashionable lounge in St. Paul's Cathedral, during - the age of Shakspeare, ii. 182-185. - - _Pavin_ or _Pavan_, a fashionable dance in the time of Shakspeare, - account of, ii. 173, 174. - - _Payne_ (Christopher), "Christmas Carrolles" of, i. 695. - - _Paynter_'s (William), "Pallace of Pleasure," a popular collection of - romances, i. 541. - Probable cause of its being discontinued, _ibid._ 542. - Constantly referred to by Shakspeare, 542. - - _Peacham_ (Henry), a minor poet in the time of Shakspeare, i. 695. - - _Peacham_'s description of country-schoolmasters, i. 97, 98. - Instruction on the best mode of keeping books, and on the best scite - for a library, 436, 437. - And on the choice of style, 447, 448. - - _Peacock Pies_, anciently eaten at Christmas, i. 200. - - _Pearson_ (Alison), executed for supposed intercourse with fairies, - ii. 318, 319. - - _Peasantry_, or Boors, character of, in the age of Elizabeth, i. - 120-122. - - _Peele_ (George), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 695, 696. - Character of his dramatic productions, ii. 239, 240. - - _Peend_ (Thomas de la), a minor poet in the age of Shakspeare, i. 696. - - _Peg Tankard_, origin of, i. 131. _note_. - Explanation of terms borrowed from it, _ibid._ - - _Percy_ (Bishop), notice of his "Friar of Orders Grey," i. 579, 580. - Ascribes Pericles to Shakspeare, ii. 265. - - _Percy_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 696. - - _Perdita_, remarks on the character of, in the Winter's Tale, ii. 499, - 500. - - _Peri_, or benevolent fairies of the Persians, notice of, ii. 302. - - _Periapts_, a sort of spell, supposed influence of, i. 364. - - _Pericles_, the first of Shakspeare's plays, ii. 262. - Proofs, that the greater part, if not the whole of it, was his - composition, 262, 263. 265, 266. - Its omission in the first edition of his works, accounted for, 264. - Its inequalities considered, 265-267. - In what parts his genius may be traced, 268. - Examination of the minor characters, 270, 271. - Of the personage of Pericles, 272, 273. - Admirable scene of his recognition of Marina, 274. - And of his wife Thaisa, 275. - Character of Marina, examined, 276-279. - Strict justice of the moral, 279. - This play imitated by Milton, _ibid._ _note_. - Dryden's testimony to the genuineness and priority of Pericles, 281. - Internal evidences to the same effect, 282. - This play probably written in the year 1590, 282, 283. - Objections to its priority considered and refuted, 285, 286. - Probability of Mr. Steevens's conjecture that the hero of this drama - was originally named Pyrocles, after the hero of Sidney's - Arcadia, 283, 284. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 2., ii. 272. - Act ii. scene 1., ii. 273. - scene 5., ii. 268, 269. _notes_. - Act iii. scene 2., ii. 270, 271. - scene 4., ii. 276. - Act iv. scene 1., ii. 276, 277. - scene 3., ii. 278. _note_. - scene 6., ii. 278. - Act v. scene 1., ii. 273, 274. 279. - scene 3., ii. 275. - - _Periwigs_, when introduced into England, ii. 93. - - _Petowe_ (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 696. - - _Pett_ (Peter), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 696. - - _Pewter_, a costly article in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 118. - - _Phillip_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 696. - - _Phiston_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 697. - - "_Phœnix Nest_," a collection of poems, in the time of Elizabeth, - critical notice of, i. 718-720. - - _Pictures_, an article of furniture in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 119. - - _Pilgrimages_ made to wells, i. 393. - - _Pilpay_, notice of the fables of, i. 533, 534. - - _Pipe and Tabor_, the ancient accompaniment of the Morris-dance and - May-games, i. 164, 165. - - _Plautus_, the Menæchmi of, the basis of Shakspeare's Comedy of - Errors, ii. 286-288. - - _Pits_ (John), the biographer, character of, i. 482. - - _Plague_, ravages of, at Stratford, i. 24. - - _Plantain roots_, why dug up on Midsummer Eve, i. 333. - - _Plat_ (Hugh), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 697. - - _Players_ (strolling), state of, in the sixteenth century, i. 248-250. - Difference between them and licensed performers, 250. - Exhibited at country fairs, 251. - Companies of players, when first licensed, ii. 202. - Placed under the direction of the Master of the Revels, 203. - Patronized by the court, and also by private individuals, 205, 206. - The amount of their remuneration, 204. - Days and hours of their performance, 215. - Concluded their performances always with prayers, 222, 223. - How remunerated, 223, 224. - - _Play-bills_, notice of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 214, 215. - - _Plays_, number of, performed in one day, ii. 217. - Amusements of the audience, prior to their commencement, 217-219. - Disapprobation of them, how testified, 221, 222. - Authors of, how rewarded, 224, 225. - List of anonymous plays extant previously to the time of Shakspeare, - 252, 253. - Chronological list of his genuine plays, 261, 262. - Observations on each, 263-534. - (_And see their respective titles in this Index._) - Humorous remark of Mr. Steevens on the value and high price of the - first edition of Shakspeare's plays, 535. _note_. - Remarks on the spurious plays attributed to him, 536, 537. - - _Plough Monday_, festival of, i. 136. - Sports and customs usual at that season, 137. - - "_Poetical Rapsodie_," a collection of poems of the age of Shakspeare, - account of, i. 728-730. - - _Poets_, list of, who were rewarded by English sovereigns, i. 514, - 515. - Table of English poets, classed according to the subjects of their - muses, 734. - - _Poetry_ (English), notice of treatises on, during the age of - Shakspeare, i. 461-470. - Allusions to or quotations from the poetry of the minstrels, with - remarks, 574-593. - State of poetry (with the exception of the drama) during the time of - Shakspeare, 594, _et seq._ - Influence of superstition, literature, and romance on poetical - genius, 595, 596. - Versification, economy, and sentiment of the Elizabethan poetry, - 597-599. - Defects in the larger poems of this period, 599-601. - Biographical and critical notices of the more eminent poets, - 601-674. - Table of miscellaneous minor poets, exhibiting their respective - degrees of excellence, mediocrity, or worthlessness, 676-707. - Critical notices of the collections of poetry, and poetical - miscellanies, published during this period, 708-731. - Brief view of dramatic poetry from the birth of Shakspeare to the - year 1590, ii. 227-255. - - _Police_ of London, neglected in the time of Elizabeth, ii. 165. - Regulations for it, 166. - - "_Polimanteia_," or the means to judge of the fall of a commonwealth, - bibliographical notice of, ii. 39. _note_ [39:B]. - - _Porta_ (Luigi da), the "Giuletta" of, the source of Romeo and Juliet, - ii. 360-362. - - _Portuguese_ romances, account of, i. 545-548. - - _Possessed_, charm for, i. 364. - - _Possets_, prevalence of, in Shakspeare's time, i. 82. - - _Powder_ (sympathetic), marvellous effects ascribed to, i. 375, 376. - - _Powell_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 697. - - _Prayer Book_ of Queen Elizabeth, i. 432. - - _Pregnant women_, supposed influence of fairies on, ii. 324. - - _Presents_, anciently made on New-Year's Day, i. 124. - Account of those made to Queen Elizabeth, 125, 126. - - _Preston_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 697. - Character of his dramatic pieces, ii. 236, 237. - - _Prices_ of admission to the theatre, ii. 216, 217. - - _Pricket_ (Robert), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 697. - - _Primero_, a fashionable game of cards in Shakspeare's time, how - played, ii. 169. - - _Printing_, observations on the style of, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, - i. 437, 438. - - _Proctor_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 697. - Notice of his "Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions," 715-717. - - _Prologues_, how delivered in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 219. - - _Prose writers_ of the age of Shakspeare, observations on, i. 439-447. - Causes of their defects, 448. - - _Prospero_, analysis of the character of, ii. 505. 515. - - _Provisions_, annual stock of, anciently laid in at fairs, i. 215. - - _Prudentius_, passage of, supposed to have been imitated by - Shakspeare, ii. 415. - - _Puck_, or Robin Goodfellow, analysis of the character of, ii. 347. - Probable source of it, 348-350. - Description of his functions, 349, 350. - Resemblance between Puck and the Cobali or benevolent elves of the - Germans, 350. - And to the Brownie of the Scotch, 351. - Other functions of Puck, 352, 353. - - _Puppet-shows_, origin of, i. 253. - - _Purchas_'s "Pilgrimage," critical notice of, i. 477. - - _Purgatory_, Popish doctrine of, ii. 415, 416. - Seized and employed by Shakspeare with admirable success, 416, 417. - 455, 456. - - _Puritans_ opposition to May-games, ridiculed by Shakspeare, i. 171. - By Ben Jonson, 172, 173. _note_. - And Beaumont and Fletcher, 172. - - _Puttenham_ (George), remarks of, on the corruptions of the English - language, i. 441. - Critical notice of his "Arte of English Poesie," 465, 466. - And of his smaller poems, 697. and _note_. - - -Q - - _Quarrelling_ reduced to a system in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 159. - - _Quiney_ (Mr. Thomas), married to Shakspeare's daughter Judith, ii. - 609. - Their issue, 610. - - _Quintaine_, a rural sport in the sixteenth century, i. 300. - Its origin, 301. - Description of, 301-304. - - "_Quippes for upstart newfangled Gentlewomen_," cited and illustrated, - ii. 95, 98. - - -R - - _Race-horses_, breeds of, highly esteemed, i. 298. - - _Raleigh_ (Sir Walter), improved the English language, i. 416, 417. - Character of his "History of the World," 476. - His "Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," cited by Shakspeare, 578. - Notice of his poetical pieces, 639. - Remarks on them, _ibid._ 640. - Estimate of his poetical character, 640-642. - - _Ramsey_ (Laurence), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 698. - - _Rankins_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 698. - - _Rape of Lucrece_, a poem of Shakspeare's, when first printed, ii. 32. - Dedicated to the Earl of Southampton, 3. - Construction of its versification, 33. - Probable sources whence Shakspeare derived his fable, _ibid._ - Exquisite specimens of this poem, for their versification, - descriptive, pathetic, and sublime excellences, 34-38. - Complimentary notices of this poem by contemporaries of the poet, - 38-40. - Notice of its principal editions, 41. - - _Rapiers_, extraordinary length of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 108, - 109. - - _Ravenscroft_ (Thomas), hunting song preserved by, i. 277. - - _Reynolds_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 698. - - _Reed_ (Mr.), his Illustrations of Shakspeare cited, _passim_. - - _Register_ (parochial), of Stratford-upon-Avon, extracts from, i. 4. - Births, marriages, and deaths of Shakspeare's children recorded - there, 414, 415. _note_. - - _Remuneration_ of actors and dramatic poets in the time of Shakspeare, - ii. 223-225. - - _Repartees_ of Shakspeare and Tarleton the comedian, i. 66. - Ascribed to Shakspeare and Ben Jonson, ii. 593. _note_. - - _Rice_ (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 698. - - _Richard_ I. (King), why surnamed _Cœur de Lion_, i. 566, 567. - - _Richard_ II., probable date of, ii. 375, 376. - Analysis of his character, 377, 378. - Remarks on the secondary characters of this play, 378. - Performed before the Earl of Southampton in 1601, ii. 10, 11. - Illustration of act ii. scene 4. of this drama, i. 384. - - _Richard_ of Gloucester, exquisite portrait of, in Shakspeare's Henry - VI. Part II., ii. 297. - - _Richard_ III., date of, ii. 370-372. - Analysis of Richard's character, 373-375. - - _Illustrations of passages of this drama in the present work._ - - Act iii. scene 2., ii. 377. - scene 3., ii. 377. - Act v. scene 2., ii. 378. - scene 3., i. 358. - - _Rickets_, singular cures of, i. 371, 372. - - _Rider_ (Bishop), an eminent philologer, notice of, i. 455. - - _Riding_, art of, highly cultivated in the sixteenth century, i. 298. - Instructions for, 299, 300. - - _Rings_, fairy, allusions to, by Shakspeare, ii. 342, 343. - - _Robin Hood_ and his associates, when introduced in the gambols of - May Day, i. 159. - Account of them and their dresses, &c., 160-164. - - _Robin_, why a favourite bird, i. 394, 395. - - _Robinson_ (Clement), critical notice of his "Handefull of Pleasant - Delites," i. 717, 718. - - _Robinson_'s (Richard), "Auncient Order, &c. of the Round Table," - account of, i. 562, 563., ii. 178-180. - Notice of his poems, i. 698. and _note_ [698:B]. - - _Rock Day_ festival, account of, i. 135. - Verses on, _ibid._, 136. - - _Rolland_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 698. - - _Roman literature_, progress of, during the reign of Elizabeth, i. - 454, 455. - List of Roman classic authors translated into English in - Shakspeare's time, 483. - - _Romances_, list of popular ones in the age of Shakspeare, i. 519-522. - Origin of the metrical romance, 522, 523. - Anglo-Norman romances, 523-531. - Oriental romances, 531-538. - Italian romances, 538-544. - Spanish and Portuguese romances, 545-548. - Pastoral romances, 548-552. - Influence of romance on the poetry of the Elizabethan age, 596. - Observations on the romantic drama, ii. 539-541. - - _Romeo and Juliet_, probable date of, ii. 356-358. - Source whence Shakspeare derived his plot, considered, 359-361. - Analysis of the characters of this drama, 362, 363. - Eulogium on it by Schlegel, 363, 364. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 3., i. 52. 436. ii. 356. - scene 4., i. 368. ii. 118. 342. 347. 358. - scene 5., ii. 116. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 583. - scene 2., i. 271. - scene 4., i. 304. 583. _note_. ii. 116. - Act iii. scene 1., i. 556. - scene 2., i. 272. - Act iv. scene 3., i. 374. - scene 5., i. 240. 243. 583. _note_. ii. 170. - Act v. scene 1., i. 355. - scene 2., ii. 581. - scene 3., ii. 107. - - _Roodsmass_, procession of fairies at the festival of, ii. 322. - - _Rosemary_ strewed before the bride at marriages, i. 224. - - _Rosse_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 698. - - _Rous_ (Francis), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 699. - - _Rousillon_ (Countess), exquisite character of, ii. 423. - - _Rowe_ (Mr.), mistake of, concerning the priority of Shakspeare's - birth, corrected, i. 4, 5. - His conjecture concerning the trade of Shakspeare's father, 7. - Disproved, _ibid._, _note_. - - _Rowena_ and Vortigern, anecdote of, i. 127, 128. - - _Rowland_ (Samuel), list of the poems of, i. 699, 700. and _note_ - [700:A]. - - _Rowley_ (William), wrote several pieces in conjunction with Massinger - and other dramatists, ii. 570. - Estimate of his merits as a dramatic poet, _ibid._ - - _Ruddock_, or red-breast, popular superstitions in favour of, i. 395. - - _Ruffs_ worn in the age of Elizabeth, account of, ii. 90. 95-97. 103. - - _Ruptures_, singular remedies for, i. 371, 372. - - _Rushes_, anciently strewed on floors, ii. 119, 120. - - -S - - _Sabie_ (Francis), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 700. and - _note_ [700:B]. - - _Sack_, a species of wine much used in the time of Shakspeare, ii. - 130. - Different kinds of, 131. - The sack of Falstaff, what, _ibid._ 132. - Sack and sugar much used, 132. - And frequently adulterated, _ibid._ - - _Sackville_ (Thomas), Lord Buckhurst, character of the poetical works - of, i. 642, 643. - The model adopted by Spenser, 643. - The "Myrrour for Magistrates," planned by him, 708. - Character of his dramatic performances, ii. 230, 231. - - _Saker_ (Aug.), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 700. - - _Sampson_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 700. - - _Sandabar_, an oriental philosopher, i. 531. - Account of his "Book of the Seven Counsellors," _ibid._ - Numerous versions of it, _ibid._, 532. - English version exceedingly popular, 531. - Scottish version, 532, 533. - - _Sandford_ (James), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 700. - - _Satires_ of Bishop Hall, remarks on, i. 628, 629. - - _Savile_ (Sir Henry), greatly promoted Greek literature, i. 453. - Notice of his works, _ibid._, 454. - - _Scandinavian_ mythology of fairies, account of, ii. 308-312. - - _Schlegel_ (M.), eulogium of, on Shakspeare's Romeo and Juliet, ii. - 363, 364. - On his Cymbeline, 466, 467. - Macbeth, 471-473. - On the romantic drama of Shakspeare, 539, 540. - And on his moral character, 614. - - _School-books_, list of, in use in Shakspeare's time, i. 25. _note_. - Account of those most probably used by him, 26-28. - French and Italian grammars and dictionaries, 57. - - _Schoolmasters_ but little rewarded in Shakspeare's time, i. 27. _note_ [27:A]. - 94. - In the sixteenth century were frequently conjurors, 95, 96. - Picture of, by Shakspeare, 96. - Their degraded character and ignorance in his time, 97. - - _Scoloker_ (Anthony), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 700. - - _Scot_ (Reginald), account of the doctrine of angelic hierarchy and - ministry, i. 337, 338. - On the prevalence of omens, 349, 350. - Recipe for fixing an ass's head on human shoulders, ii. 351. _note_. - His account of the supposed prevalency of witchcraft in the time of - Shakspeare, 475. - And of the persons who were supposed to be witches, 478-480. - And of their wonderful feats, 481, 482. - - _Scot_ (Gregory), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 700. - - _Scott_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 700. and - _note_ [700:D]. 701. and _note_ [701:A]. - - _Scott_ (Mr. Walter), beautiful picture of Christmas festivities, i. - 207, 208. - Picture of rustic superstition, 322, 323. - Illustrations of his Lady of the Lake, i. 356-358. - Causes of his poetical excellence, 600, 601. - - _Scottish_ farmers, state of, in the sixteenth century, i. 118. - Late wakes of the Highlanders described, 234-236. - Thanksgivings offered by them on getting in the harvest, 341. - Account of the Scottish system of fairy mythology, ii. 314-336. - - _Sculpture_ highly valued by Shakspeare, ii. 617, 618. - - _Seed-cake_, a rural feast-day in the time of Elizabeth, i. 190. - - _Selden_ (John), notice of his Commentary on Drayton, i. 471. - - _Sentiment_ of the Elizabethan poetry considered, i. 598, 599. - - _Servants_, pursuits, diet, &c. of, in the time of Shakspeare, i. - 113-115. - Benefices bestowed on them in the reign of Elizabeth, 92. - Their dress, ii. 138. - Regulations for, 139, 140. - Prohibited from entering the kitchen till summoned by the cook, 143. - Were corrected by their mistresses, 153. - - "_Seven Champions of Christendome_," a popular romance in Shakspeare's - time, account of, i. 529, 530. - - "_Seven Wise Masters_," a popular romance of Indian origin, i. 531. - Notice of its different translations, _ibid._, 532. - Translated into Scottish rhyme, 533. - - _Sewell_ (Dr.), conjecture of, respecting Shakspeare's sonnets, ii. - 59. - - _Shakspeare Family_, account of, i. 1. - Supposed grant of arms to, _ibid._ - Examination of the orthography of their name, 17-20. - - _Shakspeare_ (Edmund), a brother of the poet, buried in St. Saviour's - Church, i. 416. ii. 598. - - _Shakspeare_ (Mrs.), wife of the poet, epitaph on, ii. 631. _note_. - His bequests to her, 631. - Remarks on it, 613. - - _Shakspeare_ (John), father of the poet, supposed grant of property - and arms to, i. 1. - Account of, 2. - Arms confirmed to him, _ibid._ - His marriage, 3. - List of children ascribed to him in the baptismal register of - Stratford-upon-Avon, 4. - Correction of Mr. Rowe's mistakes on this point, 5. - Declines in his circumstances and is dismissed from the corporation, - 6, 7. - Supposed to have been a wool-stapler, 7. 34. - But not a butcher, 36. - Discovery of his confession of faith or will, 8. - Copy of his will, 9-14. - Its authenticity doubted by Mr. Malone, 15. - Supported by Mr. Chalmers, _ibid._ - Circumstances in favour of its authenticity, 16. - John Shakspeare probably a Roman Catholic, _ibid._ - His death, _ibid._ ii. 590. - - _Shakspeare_ (William), birth of, i. 1. - Description of the house where he was born, 21, 22. - His chair purchased by the Princess Czartoryska, 22, 23. - Escapes the plague, 24. - Educated for a short time at the free-school of Stratford, 25. - Account of school-books probably used by him, 26, 27. - Taken from school, in consequence of his father's poverty, 28. - Probable extent of his acquirements as a scholar, 29-33. - On leaving school, followed his father's trade as a wool-stapler, - and probably also as a butcher, 34. - Proofs of this, 35, 36. - Probably present, in his twelfth-year, at Kenelworth Castle, at the - time of Queen Elizabeth's visit there, 37, 38. - Probably employed in some attorney's office, 43-47. and _notes_, 48. - Whether he ever was a school-master, 45. - Anecdote of him at Bidford, 48, 49. - Whether and when he acquired his knowledge of French and Italian, - 53, 54. - Probable that he was acquainted with French, 55, 56. - And Italian, 56, 57. - Probable estimate of his real literary acquirements, 57, 58. - His courting-chair, still in existence, 61. - Marries Anne Hathaway, 59. 62, 63. - Birth of his eldest daughter, 64. - And of twins, 65. - Repartee of Shakspeare, _ibid._ 66. - He becomes acquainted with dissipated young men, 401. - Caught in the act of deer-stealing, 402. - Confined in Daisy Park, 403. - Pasquinades Sir Thomas Lucy, 404-406. 409. - By whom he is prosecuted, 407, 408. - Is obliged to quit Stratford, 410. - And departs for London, 411, 412. - Visits his family occasionally, 414. - Was known to Heminge, Burbadge, and Greene, 417. - Introduced to the stage, 419. - Though with reluctance, ii. 582. - Was not employed as a waiter or horse-keeper at the play-house door, - i. 519. - Esteemed as an actor, 421, 422. - Proofs of his skill in the histrionic art, 423. - Performed the character of Adam in his own play of As You Like It, - 424. - Appeared also in kingly parts, 425. - Excelled in second rate characters, _ibid._ - Struggles of Shakspeare with adversity, ii. 583. - Loses his only son, 584. - Purchases a house in Stratford, _ibid._ - History of its fate, 584, _note_. - His acquaintance with Ben Jonson, 585-587. - Improbability of his ever having visited Scotland, 587, 588. - Annually visited Stratford, 589. - Receives many marks of favour from Queen Elizabeth, 590. - Obtains a licence for his theatre, 591. - Purchases lands in Stratford, 591. - And quits the stage as an actor, 591. - Forms a club of wits with Ben Jonson and others, 592. - Flatters James I. who honoured him with a letter of acknowledgement, - 593. - The story of Shakspeare's quarrel with Ben Jonson, disproved, - 595-598. and _notes_. - Birth of his grand-daughter Elizabeth, 599. - Planted the celebrated Mulberry Tree in 1609, 599, 600. - Purchases a tenement in Blackfriars, 601. - And prepares to retire from London, 601, 602. - - Account of Shakspeare in retirement, ii. 603. - Origin of his satirical epitaph on Mr. Combe, ii. 604-606. - His epitaph on Sir Thomas Stanley, 606, 607. - And on Elias James, 607, _note_. - Negociations between Shakspeare and some of his townsmen relative to - the inclosure of some land in the vicinity of Stratford, 608, - 609. - Marries his youngest daughter to Mr. Thomas Quincey, 609. - Makes his will, 610. - His death, 611. - Funeral, 612. - Copy of his will, 627-632. - Observations on it, 612-614. - And on the disposition and moral character of Shakspeare, 614. - Universally beloved, 615. - His exquisite taste for all the forms of beauty, 616, 617. - Remarks on the monument erected to his memory, 618-620. - And on the engraving of him prefixed to the folio edition of his - plays, 622-624. - - Account of Shakspeare's commencement of poetry, i. 426. - Probable date of his Venus and Adonis, 426, 427. - Proofs of his acquaintance with the grammatical and rhetorical - writers of his age, 472-474. - With the historical writers then extant, 484. - With Batman's "Bartholome de Proprietatibus Rerum," 485. - With the Facetiæ published in his time, 516, 517. - And with all the eminent romances then in print, 562-573. - And with the minstrel-poetry of his age, 574-593. - Dedicates his Venus and Adonis, and Rape of Lucrece, to the Earl of - Southampton, ii. 3. - Analysis of this poem, with remarks, 21-32. - Analysis of the Rape of Lucrece, 33-37. - Intimate knowledge of the human heart displayed by Shakspeare, 38. - Account of his "Passionate Pilgrim," 41-49. - Elegant allusions of Shakspeare to his own age, in his Sonnets, - 50-52. - Critical account of his Sonnets, 53-82. 84-86. - And of his Lover's Complaint, 82-84. - Licence to Shakspeare for the Globe Theatre, 207. - Probable amount of his income, 225. - And of his obligations to his dramatic predecessors, 253-255. - - The commencement of Shakspeare's dramatic career, considered and - ascertained, ii. 256-260. - Chronological Table of the order of his genuine plays, 261. - Observations on them. 262-534. - (_And see their respective Titles in this Index._) - Remarks on the spurious pieces attributed to Shakspeare, 536, 537. - Whether he assisted other poets in their dramatic composition, 537, - 538. - Considerations on the genius of Shakspeare's drama, 538-541. - On its conduct, 541-544. - Characters, 545. - Passions, 546-549. - Comic painting, 550. - And imaginative powers, 551. - Morality, 552. - Vindication of his character from the calumnies of Voltaire, - 552-554. - Popularity of Shakspeare's dramas in Germany, 554. - Reprinted in America, 555. - - _Shakspeare_ (Judith), youngest daughter of the poet, birth of, i. 65. - Her marriage, ii. 609. - And issue, 610. - His bequests to her, and her children, 627-629. - - _Shakspeare_ (Susannah), eldest child of the poet, birth of, i. 64. - Marriage of, to Dr. Hall, ii. 598, 599. - Her father's bequests to her, 630, 631. - Why her father's favourite, 613. - Probable cause of his leaving her the larger portion of his - property, 614. - - _Sheep-shearing Feast_, how celebrated, i. 181. - Description of, by Tusser, 182. - By Drayton, _ibid._ - Allusions to, by Shakspeare, 183-185. - - _Shepherd King_, elected at sheep-shearing, i. 181. 184. _note_. - - _Shepherd_ (S.), commendatory verses of, on Shakspeare's Rape of - Lucrece, ii. 40. - On his Pericles, 263. - - _Ship-tire_, an article of head-dress, notice of, ii. 91. - - _Shirley's_ Play, the "Lady of Pleasure," illustrated, Act i., i. 179. - - _Shivering_ (sudden), superstitious notion concerning, i. 375. - - _Shoes_, fashion of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 98. 105, 106. - - _Shot-proof_ waistcoat, charm for, i. 364. - - _Shottery_, cottage of the Hathaways at, still in existence, i. 61. - - _Shovel-board_, or Shuffle-board, account of, i. 306. - Mode of playing at, 306, 307. - Its origin and date, 307. - - _Shove-Groat_, a game, notice of, i. 307, 308. - - _Shrewsbury_ (Countess of), termagant conduct of, ii. 153. - - _Shrove Tuesday_ or _Shrove Tide_, origin of the term, i. 141. - Observances on that festival, 142. - Threshing the hen, _ibid._ - Throwing at cocks, 144, 145. - - _Shylock_, analysis of the character of, ii. 384, 385. - - _Sidney_ or _Sydney_ (Sir Philip), biographical notice of, i. 652. - Satire of, on the affected style of some of his contemporaries, i. - 444, 445. - Notice of his "Defence of Poesie," 467. - Critical account of his "Arcadia," 548-552. - Alluded to by Shakspeare, 573, 574. - Remarks on his poetical pieces, 652, 653. - Particularly on his Sonnets, ii. 54. - The Pyrocles of his Arcadia, probably the original name of - Shakspeare's Pericles, 283. - - _Sign-posts_, costly, of ancient inns, i. 217. - - _Silk-Manufactures_, encouraged by James I., ii. 600. - - _Silk Stockings_, first worn by Queen Elizabeth, ii. 98. - - _Similes_, exquisite, in Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, ii. 26. - - _Sir_, title of, anciently given to clergymen, i. 88-90. - - _Sly_, remarks on the character of, in the Taming of the Shrew, ii. - 365. - - _Smith_ (Sir Thomas), greatly promoted Greek and English literature, - i. 453. - - _Snuff-taking_ and _Snuff-boxes_, when introduced into England, ii. - 137. - - _Sommers_ (Sir George), shipwreck of, ii. 503, 504. - - _Songs_ (early English), notice of a curious collection of, i. - 574-576. - Quotations from, and allusions to the most popular of them, by - Shakspeare, with illustrative remarks, 577-593. - - _Sonnet_, introduced into England from Italy, ii. 53. - Brief notice of the sonnets of Wyat, _ibid._ - Elegant specimen from those of the Earl of Surrey, _ibid._ - Notice of the Sonnets of Watson, i. 66. ii. 54. - Of Sir Philip Sidney, _ibid._ - Of Daniel, 55. - Of Constable, _ibid._ - Of Spencer, _ibid._ - Of Drayton, 56. - And of other minor poets, _ibid._ - Beautiful sonnet, addressed to Lady Drake, i. 621. - An exquisite one from Shakspeare's Passionate Pilgrim, ii. 49. - On a kiss, by Sidney, 54. - - _Sonnets of Shakspeare_, when first published, ii. 50. - Probable dates of their composition, _ibid._ 51. - Daniel's manner chiefly copied by Shakspeare, in the structure of - his sonnets, 57, 58. 77. - Discussion of the question to whom they were addressed, 58-60. - Proofs that they were principally addressed to the Earl of - Southampton, 62-73. - Vindication of Shakspeare's sonnets from the charge of affectation - or pedantry, 75. 80. - Circumlocutory they are to a certain extent, 76. - But this less the fault of Shakspeare than of his subject, _ibid._ - 77. - Specimens, illustrating the structure and versification of - Shakspeare's sonnets, with remarks, 77-82. - Vindication of them from the hyper-criticism of Mr. Steevens, 60. - 74. 84-86. - - _Soothern_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 701. _and - note_ [701:B]. - - _Southampton_, (Earl of), See _Wriothesly_. - - _Southey_'s (Mr.), translation of "Amadis of Gaul," notice of, i. 546. - - _Southwell_ (Robert), biographical notice of, i. 643, 644. - List of his poetical works, with critical remarks, 644, 645. - - _Spanish_ romances, account of, i. 545-548. - Allusions to them by Shakspeare, 570, 571. - - _Spectral Impressions_, probable causes of, philosophically - considered, ii. 406-408. - Singular instance of a supposed spectral impression, 407. _note_. - See _Spirits_. - - _Speed_'s "History of Great Britain," character of, i. 476. - - _Spells_, account of, on Midsummer-Eve, i. 331-333. - On All-Hallows-Eve, 344-347. - Supposed influence of, 362-365. - - _Spenser_'s "English Poet," notice of, i. 463. - Critical notice of, commentary on his "Shepheards Calender," 471. - Many incidents of his "Faerie Queene" borrowed from the romance of - "La Morte d'Arthur," 529. - And from "The Seven Champions of Christendom," _ibid._ - Sackville's "Induction" the model of his allegorical pictures, 643. - Critical remarks on his "Shepheard's Calendar," 644. - And on his "Faerie Queene," 644-647. - The portrait prefixed to his works, probably spurious, 649. _note_. - Critical notice of his, "Amoretti," a collection of sonnets, ii. 55, - 56. - Beautiful quotation from his "Faerie Queene" on the agency of - Spirits, 400, 401. - Admirable description of a witch's abode, 480. - - _Spirits_, different orders of, introduced into the Tempest, ii. - 521-526. - Critical analysis of the received doctrine in Shakspeare's time, - respecting the supposed agency of angelic spirits, 399-405. - And of its application to the introduction of the ghost in Hamlet, - 407-416. - Superiority of Shakspeare's spirits over those introduced by all - other dramatists, ancient or modern, 417, 418. - - _Spoons_, anciently given by godfathers to their godchildren, ii. 230, - 231. - - _Sports_ (Rural), in the age of Shakspeare, Enumeration of, i. 246, - 247. - Cotswold Games, 252-254. - Hawking, 255. - Hunting, 272. - Fowling, 287. - Bird-batting, 289. - Horse-racing, 297. - The Quintaine, 300. - Wild Goose Chace, 304. - Hurling, 305. - Shovel-board, 306. - Shove-groat, 307, 308. - Juvenile sports, 308. - Barley-Breake, 309. - Parish Whipping-top, 312. - - _Spurs_, prohibited in St. Paul's Cathedral, during divine service, - ii. 185. - - "_Squire of Low Degree_," allusions to the romance of, i. 567. - - _Stag-hunting_, description of, in the time of Shakspeare, i. 276-280. - Ceremony of cutting up, 280, 281. - Part of, given to the ravens, 281. - Beautiful picture of a hunted stag, 403. - - _Stage_, state of, in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 201-206. - Resorted to by him, on his coming to London, i. 419. - Employed in what capacity there, _ibid._ 420. - Esteemed there as an actor, 421, 422. - Proofs of his skill in the management of the stage, 423. - Excelled in second-rate parts, 425. - Divisions of the stage, in Shakspeare's time, ii. 214-215. - Was generally strewed with rushes, 217. - Its decorations, 218. - - _Stalking-horses_, account of, and of their uses, i. 287, 288. - - _Stanyhurst_'s (Richard), translation of Virgil, i. 701. - Strictures on, _ibid._ _note_ [701:C]. - - _Starch_, use of, when introduced into England, ii. 96. - Dyed of various colours, _ib._ - - _Steevens_ (Mr.), his "Illustrations of Shakspeare," cited, _passim_. - Remarks of, on Shakspeare's Sonnets, ii. 60. 74-76. 84-86. - Ascribes Pericles to Shakspeare, 265. - Probability of his conjecture, that Pericles was originally named - Pyrocles, after the hero of Sidney's "Arcadia," 283, 284. - His opinion that the Comedy of Errors was not wholly Shakspeare's, - controverted and disproved, 287, 288. - Remarks on his flippant censure of Shakspeare's love of music, 390. - His opinion on the date of Timon of Athens, 446. - Humorous remarks of, on the value and price of the first edition of - Shakspeare, 535. _note_. - - _Still_ (Bishop), character of, as a dramatic writer, ii. 232, 233. - - _Stirling_ (William Alexander, Earl of), biographical notice of, i. - 649. - Critical notice of his "Aurora," a collection of sonnets, 650. - Of his "Dooms-day," 651. - And of his other poems, _ib._ - - _Stockings_, fashions of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 105. - Silk stockings first worn by Queen Elizabeth, 98. - - _Stomacher_, an article of female dress, notice of, ii. 90. - - _Stones_, extraordinary virtues ascribed to, i. 366. 369, 370. - Particularly the Turquoise stone, 366, 367. - Belemnites, 367. - Bezoar, _ibid._ - Agate, 368. - - _Storer_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 702. - - _Stowe_'s "History of London," notice of, i. 480. - - _Stratford-upon-Avon_, the native place of William Shakspeare, i. 1. - His father a member and officer of the corporation of, 2. - Dismissed from it, 6. - Probable causes of such dismission, _ibid._ 7. - Extract from the baptismal register of the parish, 4. - Description of the house there, where Shakspeare was born, 21, 22. - Ravages of the plague there, 24. - Visited by Mr. Betterton, for information concerning Shakspeare, 34. - Allusions to scenery, and places in its vicinity, 50, 51. - Quitted by Shakspeare, 410-416. - Whose family continued there, 412. - New Place, purchased there by Shakspeare, ii. 584. - History of its demolition, _ib._ _note_. - Additional land purchased there by the poet, 591. - And also tithes, 594. - Proceedings relative to the inclosure of land there, by Shakspeare, - 608, 609. - Description of his monument and epitaph, in Stratford church, 618, - 619. - Remarks on his monumental bust, 619-622. - - _Strolling Players_, condition of, in the age of Shakspeare, i. - 247-252. - - _Strutt_ (Mr.), accurate description by, of May-day and its amusements - i. 167-171. - Of Midsummer-eve superstitions, 332. - - _Stubbes_ (Philip), account of his "Anatomie of Abuses," i. 501. - Extreme rarity of his book, _ibid._ - Quotations from, against Whitsun and other ales, i. 179. - On the neglect of "Fox's Book of Martyrs," 502. - General character of his book, _ibid._ - His "View of Vanitie," 702. - Philippic against masques, ii. 95. - And ruffs, 96, 97. - - _Sturbridge Fair_, account of, i. 215, 216. - - _Summer_'s "Last Will and Testament," illustration of, i. 106. - - _Sun_, beautiful description of, in its course, ii. 77. - - _Superstitions_ of the 16th century, remarks on, i. 314, 315. - Sprites and goblins, 316. 321, 322. - Ghosts and apparitions, 320. - Prognostications of the weather from particular days, 323. - Rites of lovers on St. Valentine's Day, 324. - On Midsummer-Eve, 329. - Michaelmas, 334. - All-Hallow-Eve, 341. - Superstitious cures for the night-mare, 347. - Omens and prodigies, 351. - Demoniacal voices and shrieks, 355. - Fiery and meteorous exhalations, 360. - Sudden noises, 361. - Charms and spells, 362. - Cures, preventatives and sympathies, 366. - Stroking for the king's evil, 370. - Sympathetic powders, 375. - Miscellaneous superstitions, 377-400. - Influence of superstition on the poetry of the Elizabethan age, 595, - 596. - Account of the fairy superstitions of the East, ii. 302, 303. - Of the Gothic and Scandinavian fairy superstitions, 304-312. - And of the fairy superstition prevalent in Scotland, 314-336. - The fairy superstition of Shakspeare, of Scottish origin, 336, 337. - Account of the superstitious notions then current respecting witches - and witchcraft, 474-489. - - _Suppers_ of country gentlemen, in Shakspeare's time, i. 81. - - _Suppertasse_, a species of female dress, notice of, ii. 96. - - _Surrey_ (Earl of), quoted and illustrated, i. 380. - Character of his "Sonnets," with an exquisite specimen, ii. 53. - - _Svegder_ (King of Sweden), fabulous anecdotes of, ii. 305. - - _Swart-Elves_, or malignant fairies of the Scandinavians, account of, - ii. 309, 310. - Their supposed residence, 311, 312. - - _Swearing_, prevalence of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 160. - - "_Sweet Swan of Avon_," an appellation given to Shakspeare by his - contemporaries, i. 415. - - _Swithin_ (St.), supposed influence of, on the weather, i. 328. - And on the night-mare, 349. - - _Sword-dance_ on Plough-Monday, notice of, i. 137. - - _Sydney_. See _Sidney_ (Sir Philip). - - _Sylvester_ (Joshua), furnished Milton with the _prima stamina_ of his - "Paradise Lost," i. 653. - Poetical works of, 653. - Specimen of them, with remarks, 654. - - _Sympathies_, extraordinary, accounts of, i. 372-376. - - -T - - _Tables_, a species of gambling in Shakspeare's time, notice of, ii. - 171. - - _Tables_, form of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 118. - - _Tales_, relation of, a favourite amusement, i. 107. - - _Taming of the Shrew_, probable date of, ii. 364. - Source of its fable, 364, 365. - Remarks on the character of Sly, 365. - And on the general character of the play, 366. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - The Induction, scene 1., i. 248, 249. - Act i. scene 1., i. 556. - scene 2., i. 50, 176. - scene 3., i. 581. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 69. ii. 117, 118. - scene 2., i. 225. - Act iv. scene 1., i. 271. 581. ii. 118. 138. 143. - - _Tansy Cakes_, why given at Easter, i. 147. - - _Tapestry Hangings_, allusions to, by Shakspeare, ii. 114, 115. - - _Tarlton_ (Richard), the comedian, repartee of, i. 66. - His influence over Queen Elizabeth, 702. _note_ [702:D]. - Notice of his poems, 702. - Plan of his "Seven Deadlie Sins," a composite drama, ii. 229. - - _Tarquin_, beautiful soliloquy of, ii. 35. - - _Tasso_'s "Jerusalem Delivered," translated by Fairefax, notice of, i. - 619. - - _Tatham_'s (J.), censure of Shakspeare's Pericles, ii. 263. - - _Taverner_'s (John), "Certain Experiments concerning Fish and Fruit," - notice of, i. 291. and _note_. - - _Taverns_, description of, in Shakspeare's time, i. 218. - List of the most eminent taverns, ii. 133. - Account of their accommodations, 134, 135. - - _Taylor_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 703. - - _Tempest_, conjectures on the probable date of, ii. 500. 502. 504. - Sources whence Shakspeare drew his materials for this drama, 503. - Critical analysis of its characters: Prospero, 505. 515. - Miranda, 506. - Ariel, 506, 522, 525. - Caliban, 506. 523. 525. - Remarks on the notions prevalent in Shakspeare's time respecting - magic, 507-514. - Application of magical machinery to the Tempest, 515-526. - Superior skill of Shakspeare in this adaptation, 527. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 1., ii. 525. - scene 2., i. 358. 386. ii. 506. 516. 522, 523. 525. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 576. - scene 2., i. 383. ii. 155. 524. - Act iii. scene 1., ii. 517. - scene 2., ii. 517. 524. - scene 3., i. 252. 385. ii. 156. - scene 4., ii. 526. - Act iv. scene 1., i. 377, 378. 400. ii. 192, 193. 517. 524. - Act v. scene 1., ii. 341, 342. 344. 505. 516. 525, 526. - - _Theatre_, the first, when erected, ii. 203. - List of the principal play-houses during the age of Shakspeare, 206. - Licence to him for the Globe Theatre, from James I., 207. - Account of it, 208. - And of the theatre in Blackfriars, 209. - Interior economy of the theatre in Shakspeare's time, 210. - Divisions of the stage, 211-214. - Hours and days of acting, 215, 216. - Prices of admission, 216. - Number of plays performed in one day, 217. - Amusements of the audience previously to the commencement of plays, - 217-219. - Tragedies, how performed, 220. - Wardrobe of the theatres, _ibid._ - Female characters personated by men or boys, 221. - Plays, how censured, _ibid._ 222. - - _Thomson_'s "Winter," quoted, i. 321. - - _Threshing the Hen_, custom of, explained, i. 142. - - _Tilting at the Ring_, and in the water, description of, i. 555. - Allusions to this sport by Shakspeare, 556. - - _Time_, effects of, exquisitely portrayed by Shakspeare, ii. 78. - - _Timon of Athens_, probable date of, ii. 446, 447. - Analysis of his character, 448-452. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in this work._ - - Act ii. scene 2., i. 285. - Act iii. scene 3., ii. 451. - Act v. scene 1., ii. 449. - - _Tire-valiant_, an article of female head-dress, account of, ii. 94. - - _Titania_, the fairy queen of Midsummer-Night's Dream, analysis of the - character of, ii. 337-345. - - "_Titus Andronicus_," illustration of, act 2., scene iv., i. 397. - This play evidently not Shakspeare's, ii. 536. - - _Tobacco_, the taking of, when first introduced into England, ii. 135. - Philippic of James I. against it, _ibid._ 138. - Prejudices against it, 136, 137. - - _Tofte_ (Robert), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, list of the - pieces of, i. 703. - - _Tolling_ the passing-bell, supposed benefit of, i. 232-234. - - _Tombfires_, superstitious notions concerning, i. 360. - - _Tompson_ (Agnis), a supposed witch, confessions of, ii. 476. 485. - - _Topographers_ (English), account of, during the age of Shakspeare, i. - 479-481. - - _Torments_ of hell, legendary accounts of, i. 378-381. - - _Tottel_'s "Poems of Uncertaine Auctors," i. 708. - - _Touch_ (royal), a supposed cure for the king's evil, i. 370, 371. - - _Tournaments_ in the reign of Elizabeth, account of, i. 553. - Allusions to by Shakspeare, 554. - - _Tragedy_, how performed in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 220. - "Ferrex and Porrex," the first tragedy ever acted in England, 227. - - "_Tragique History of the Fair Valeria of London_," cited and - illustrated, i. 238. - - _Translations_ into English from Greek and Roman authors in the time - of Shakspeare, list of, i. 483. - - _Travelling_, passion for, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 156, 157. - - _Treego_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Elizabeth, i. 704. - - _Troilus and Cressida_, probable date of, ii. 437, 438. - Source of its fable, 439, 440. - Analysis of its characters, 440, 441. - Its defects, 441. - - _Illustrations of this drama in the present work._ - - Act ii. scene 3., ii. 162. - Act iii. scene 2., ii. 117. - Act iv. scene 3., i. 582. - scene 4., i. 355. - Act v. scene 3., i. 355. - - _Trulli_, or benevolent fairies of the Germans, notice of, ii. 312. - - _Trump_, a fashionable game of cards in Shakspeare's time, i. 270. - - _Tuck_ (Friar), the chaplain of Robin Hood, account of, i. 162, 163. - - _Tumours_, cured by stroking with a dead man's hand, i. 370. - - _Turberville_ (George), biographical sketch of, i. 655. - Notice of his "Booke of Faulconrie," i. 257. _note_. - His description of hunting in inclosures, 275, 276. - List of his poetical works, 655. - Critical estimate of his poetical character, 656. - - _Turner_ (Mrs.), executed for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, ii. - 96. - The inventress of yellow starch, _ibid._ - - _Turner_ (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 704. - - _Turquoise Stone_, supposed virtues of, i. 366, 367. - - _Tusser_ (Thomas), biographical notice of, i. 656. - Critical remarks on his "Five Hundreth Good Points of Husbandry," - 657. - His character as a poet, 657, 658. - Quotations from Tusser, illustrative of old English manners and - customs, i. 100. 108. 110. 112-115. 136. 142. 182. 188. 190. - 202. 215. - - _Twelfth-Day_, festival of, i. 127. - Its supposed origin, _ibid._ - The twelfth-cake accompanied by wassail-bowls, _ibid._ 128-130. - Meals and amusements on this day, 132, 133. - - _Twelfth-Night_ observed with great ceremony in the reigns of - Elizabeth and James I., i. 131, 132. - Verses on, by Herrick, 133, 134. - - _Twelfth-Night_, the last of Shakspeare's dramas, probable date of, - ii. 531-533. - Its general character, and conduct of the fable, 534. - - _Illustrations of this drama in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 4., i. 436. - scene 5., ii. 117. - Act ii. scene 3., i. 578. - scene 4., i. 574. ii. 534. - scene 5., ii. 533. - Act iii. scene 1., i. 270. - scene 4., i. 334. ii. 118. 532, 533. - Act iv. scene 3., i. 221. - Act v. scene 1., i. 221. - - _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, date of, ii. 367. - Probable source of its fable, _ibid._ 368. - Remarks on the delineation of its characters, particularly that of - Julia, 368, 369. - - _Illustrations of this drama in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 2., ii. 360. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 341. ii. 581. - scene 2., i. 220. - scene 6., i. 175. - scene 7., ii. 370. - Act iii. scene 1., ii. 97. - Act iv. scene 1., i. 163. ii. 369. - scene 4., ii. 93. - - _Twyne_ (John), the topographer, notice of, i. 480. - - _Twyne_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 704. - - _Tye_ (Christopher), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 704. - - _Typography_, remarks on the style of, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, i. - 437. - Beautiful specimens of decorative printing, 438. - - _Tyrwhitt_ (Mr.), conjecture of, respecting the date of Shakspeare's - Romeo and Juliet, ii. 356, 357. - And of Twelfth-Night, 531, 532. - - -U - - _Underdonne_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 704. - - _Upstart_ country-squire or knight, character of, i. 81. - - -V - - "_Valentine and Orson_," romance of, cited by Shakspeare, i. 572. - Notice of a curious edition of, 571, 572. - Its extensive popularity, 572. - - _Valentine's Day_, origin of the superstitions concerning, i. 324. - Custom of choosing lovers ascribed to Madame Royale, 324, 325. - Supposed to be of pagan origin, 325. - Modes of ascertaining Valentines for the current year, 326. - The poor feasted on this day, 327. - - _Vallans_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 705. - - _Vaughan_'s (W.) "Golden Grove," a collection of essays, i. 513. - Character of, with specimens of his style, 514. - - _Vaux_ (Lord), specimen of the poems of, i. 713. - - _Vennard_ (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 705. - - _Venice_ one of the sources of English fashions in the age of - Shakspeare, ii. 94. - - _Venus and Adonis_, a poem of Shakspeare, probable date of, i. 426, - 427. - Notice of the "Editio Princeps," ii. 20, 21. - Dedicated to the Earl of Southampton, 3. - Proofs of its melody and beauty of versification, 21-23. - Singular force and beauty of its descriptions, 24-26. - Similes, 26. - And astonishing powers of Shakspeare's mind, 27. - This poem inferior to its classical prototypes, _ibid._ - Complimentary verses on this poem, addressed to Shakspeare, 28-30. - Its meretricious tendency censured by contemporary writers, 31. - Popularity of this poem, 31. _note_ [31:A]. - Notice of its principal editions, 32. - - _Versification_ of the poetry of the Elizabethan age examined, i. 597. - Remarks on the versification of Sir John Beaumont, 601. - Of Browne, 603. - Of Chalkhill, 606. - Of Chapman, 608. - Of Daniel, 612. - Of Davies, 613. - Of Davors, 614. - Of Donne, 615. - Of Drayton, 616, 617. - Of Drummond, 618. - Of Fairefax, 619. - Of the two Fletchers, 620, 621. - Of Gascoigne, 626. - Of Bishop Hall, 628, 629. - Of Dr. Lodge, 632-635. - Of Marston, 637. - Of Spenser, 648. - Of the Earl of Stirling, 651. - Of Sylvester, 653. - Of Watson, 661. - Of Willobie, 665, 666. - Of Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, ii. 21-23. - Of his Rape of Lucrece, 33-36. - Of Spenser's sonnets, 55. - Of Shakspeare's sonnets, 77-82. - Of Peele, 240. _note_. - Of the Two Gentlemen of Verona, 369. - - _Verstegan_ (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 705. - - _Vincent_ (St.), supposed influence of his day, i. 350. - - _Virtue_ loved and cherished by Shakspeare's fairies, ii. 339, 340. - - _Virtus post funera vivit_, whimsical translation of, i. 238, 239. - - _Voltaire_'s calumnies on Shakspeare refuted, ii. 553, 554. - - _Volumnia_, remarks on the character of, ii. 494, 495. - - _Vortigern and Rowena_, anecdote of, i. 127, 128. - - _Vows_, how made by knights in the age of chivalry, i. 552. - - _Voyages and Travels_, collections of, published in the time of - Shakspeare, i. 477-479. - - -W - - _Wager_ (Lewis), a dramatic poet, notice of, ii. 234. - - _Waists_ of great length, fashionable in the age of Shakspeare, ii. - 97. - - _Wakes_, origin of, i. 209. - Degenerate into licentiousness, 210. - Verses on, by Tusser, _ibid._ - And by Herrick, 211, 212. - Frequented by pedlars, 212. - Village-wakes still kept up in the North, 213. - - _Walton_'s "Complete Angler," errata in, i. 293. _note_. - Encomium on, 297. _note_. - - _Wapul_ (George), a dramatic writer in the time of Elizabeth, ii. 237. - - _Wardrobes_ (ancient), account of, ii. 91, 92. - Notice of theatrical wardrobes, in the time of Shakspeare, 220, 221. - - _Warner_ (William), biographical notice of, i. 658. - Critical remarks on his "Albion's England," 659, 660. - Quotations from that poem illustrative of old English manners and - customs, i. 104, 105. 118, 119. 135. 143. _note_. 147. _note_. - - _Warnings_ (preternatural) of death or danger, i. 351-354. - - _Warren_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 705. - - _Warton_ (Dr.), observations of, on the "Gesta Romanorum," i. 536, - 537. - On Fenton's collection of Italian novels, 542. - On the satires of Bishop Hall, 628, 629. - On the merits of Harington, 629. - On the satires of Marston, 637. - - _Washing_ of hands, why necessary before dinner in the age of - Elizabeth, ii. 145. - - _Wassail_, origin of the term, i. 127. - Synonymous with feasting, 129. - - _Wassail-bowl_, ingredients in, i. 127. - Description of an ancient one, 128. - Allusions to, in Shakspeare, 129, 130. - And by Milton, 131. - The peg-tankard, a species of wassail-bowl, 131. _note_. - - _Watch-lights_, an article of furniture in Shakspeare's time, ii. 117. - - _Water-closets_, by whom invented, ii. 135. _note_. - - _Water-spirits_, different classes of, ii. 522, 523. - - _Watson_ (Thomas), a poet of the Elizabethan age, critical notice of - his works, particularly of his sonnets, i. 660-662., ii. 54. - Said by Mr. Steevens to be superior to Shakspeare as a writer of - sonnets, i. 663. - List of his other poems, _ibid._ - - _Weather_, prognostications of, from particular days, i. 323. - - _Webbe_ (William), account of his "Discourse of English Poetrie," i. - 463, 464. - Its extreme rarity and high price, 463. _note_. - First and second Eclogues of Virgil, 705. - - _Webster_ (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 705. - - _Webster_ (John), estimate of the merits of, as a dramatic poet, ii. - 564, 565. - Illustrations of his plays, viz.: - Vittoria Corombona, i. 233, 234. 237, 238. 396. - Dutchess of Malfy, i. 351. - - _Wedderburn_, a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 705. - - _Weddings_, how celebrated, i. 223-226. - Description of a rustic wedding, 227-229. - - _Weever_ (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 705. - Bibliographical notice of his "Epigrammes," ii. 371. - Verses of, on Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, ii. 28. - Epigram of, on Shakspeare's poems and plays, 372. - - _Wells_, superstitious notions concerning, i. 391-393. - - _Wenman_ (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 706. - - _Wharton_'s "Dreame," a poem, i. 706. - - _Whetstone_'s (George), collection of tales, notice of, i. 543. - His "Rocke of Regard," and other poems, 706. - Account of the prevalence of gaming in his time, ii. 157, 158. - Notice of his dramatic productions, 238. - His "Promos and Cassandra," the immediate source of Shakspeare's - Measure for Measure, 453. - - _Whipping-tops_ anciently kept for public use, i. 312. - - _Whitney_ (George), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 706. - - _Whitsuntide_, festival of, how celebrated, i. 175-180. - Morris-dance, its accompaniment, _ibid._ - With Maid Marian, 179. - Whitsun plays, 181. - - _Wieland_'s "Oberon," character of, i. 564. _note_. - - _Wild-goose-chace_, a kind of horse race, notice of, i. 304, 305. - - _Wilkinson_ (Edward), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. 706. - - _Will_ of John Shakspeare, account of the discovery of, i. 8, 9. - Copy of it, 9-14. - First published by Mr. Malone, _ibid._ - Its authenticity subsequently doubted by him, 15. - Confirmed by Mr. Chalmers, _ibid._ - Additional reasons for its authenticity, 16. - Its probable date, _ibid._ - - _Will_ of William Shakspeare, ii. 627-632. - Observations on it, 612-614. - - _Willet_ (Andrew), "Emblems" of, i. 706. - - _Willobie_ (Henry), a poet of the Elizabethan age, critical notice of, - i. 663, 664. - Origin of his "Avisa," 665. - Character of that work, 665, 666. - Commendatory verses in, on Shakspeare's Rape of Lucrece, ii. 40. - - _Will-o'-wisp_, superstitious notions concerning, i. 399, 400. - - _Willymat_'s (William) "Prince's Looking Glass," i. 706. - - _Wilmot_ (Robert), a dramatic poet in the reign of Elizabeth, - character of, ii. 234, 235. - - _Wilson_ (Thomas), observations of, on the corruptions of the - English language, in the time of James I., i. 440, 441. - Proofs that his "Rhetoricke" had been studied by Shakspeare, - 472-474. - - _Wincot_ ale celebrated for its strength, i. 48. - Epigram on, 48, 49. - Allusions to this place in Shakspeare's plays, 50. - - _Wine_, enormous consumption of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 129. - Foreign wines then drunk, 130-132. - Presents of, usually sent from one room in a tavern to another, 134. - - _Winter evening's conversations_ of the sixteenth century, - superstitious subjects of, i. 316-322. - - _Winter's Tale_, probable date of, ii. 495-497. - Its general character, 497-500. - And probable source, 498. - - _Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work._ - - Act i. scene 2., i. 223. ii. 171. 495. - Act ii. scene 1., i. 107. 316. - Act iv. scene 2., i. 35. 183. 582. - scene 3., i. 165. 181. 184. 212. 213. 582-584. ii. 499, - 500. - Act v. scene 2., i. 584. ii. 499. - scene 3., ii. 99. - - _Wit-combats_ of Shakspeare and Jonson, and their associates, notice - of, ii. 592, 593. - - _Witchcraft_ made felony by Henry VIII., ii. 474. - Supposed increase of witches in the time of Queen Elizabeth, ii. - 474, 475. - General prevalence of this infatuation, 475. - Increased under the reign of James I., 476. - Cruel act of parliament against witches, 477. - Description of the wretched persons who were ordinarily supposed to - be witches, 478-480. - Exquisite description of a witch's abode by Spenser, 480. - Enumeration of the feats witches were supposed to be capable of - performing, 481-483. - Nature of their supposed compact with the devil, 483-485. - Application of this superstition by Shakspeare to dramatic purposes - in his Macbeth, 487-489. - - _Wither_ (George), biographical notice of, i. 666. - Critical observations on his satires, 667. - And on his "Juvenilia," 668, 669. - List of his other pieces, with remarks, 669-671. - Verses of, on Hock-Day, i. 151. _note_. - - _Withold_ (St.), supposed influence of, against the nightmare, i. - 347-349. - - _Wives_, supposed appearance of future, on Midsummer-Eve, i. 332-334. - And on All-Hallow-Eve, 344-347. - - _Wives' Feast Day_, Candlemas Day, why so called, i. 138. - - _Wolsey_'s (Cardinal) _Rudimenta Grammatices_, notice of, i. 26. - - _Women_, employments and dress of the younger part of, in Shakspeare's - time, i. 83, 84. - Characters of women, personated by men and boys, 221. - - _Wood_ (Nathaniel), a dramatic writer in the reign of Elizabeth, - notice of, ii. 238. - - _Wool-trade_, allusions to, i. 35. - Promoted by Queen Elizabeth, 192. _note_. - - "_World's Folly_," a collection of old ballads, notice of, i. 474-476. - - _Wotton_ (Sir Henry), encomium of, on angling, i. 297. - Character of his poetical productions, 672, 673. - - _Wright_ (John), character of his "Passions of the Minde," a - collection of essays, i. 511. - - _Wright_ (Leonard), character of his "Display of Dutie," i. 512, 513. - - _Wriothesly_ (Thomas), Earl of Southampton, biographical notice of, - ii. 1, 2. - A passionate lover of the drama, 2. - Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, and Rape of Lucrece, dedicated to - him, 3. - His liberality to the poet, 4. - Joins the expedition to the Azores, 5. - In disgrace with Queen Elizabeth, 6. - Goes to Paris, and is introduced to King Henry IV., 7. - Marries Elizabeth Vernon without consulting the Queen, 7, 8. - Who imprisons them both, 8. - Goes to Ireland with the Earl of Essex, who promotes him, _ibid._ - Is recalled and disgraced, 8, 9. - Quarrels with Lord Gray, 9, 10. - Joins Essex in his conspiracy against the Queen, 10. - And is sentenced to imprisonment, _ibid._ - Released by James I., 11. - Who promotes him, 12, 13. - Birth of his son, 12. - Embarks in a colonising speculation, 13. - Patronises literature, 14. - Opposes the court, 15. - Dies in Holland, 16. - Review of his character, _ibid._ - Tributes to his memory by the poets and literary men of his time, - 17-19. - Shakspeare's sonnets principally addressed to him, 62-73. - - _Wyat_ (Sir Thomas), character of his sonnets, ii. 53. - - _Wyrley_ (William), notice of the biographical poems of, i. 707. - - -Y - - _Yates_ (James), "Castle of Courtesie," i. 707. - - _Yeomen_. See _Farmers_. - - _Yong_ (Bartholomew), notice of his "Version of Montemayer's Romance - of Diana," i. 707. and _note_ [707:C]. - - _Yule-clog_, or Christmas-block, i. 194. - - -Z - - _Zouche_ (Richard), notice of his "Dove," a geographical poem, i. 707. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: - -The index was printed at the end of Vol. II. It has been included with -this volume for reference purposes. - -The following corrections have been made to the text: - - Page xi: St. Valentine's Day—Midsummer-Eve— - Michaelmas[original has "Michaelas"] - - Page 30: into the mouth of Sir Hugh Evans:"[quotation mark - missing in original] - - Page 38: pleasure and mirth made it seem very short,'[quotation - mark missing in original] - - Page 39: and Sir Thomas[original has "Tnomas"] Tresham - - Page 47: That these books were read by Shakspeare[original has - "Shakespeare"] - - Page 49: Haunted Hillbro',[original has "Hillbro,'"] Hungry - - Page 56: which he has thus so wittily imitated."[quotation mark - missing in original] - - Page 61: told me there was an["an" missing in original] old oak - chair - - Page 74: in his _Dietarie[original has "Dictarie"] of Health_ - - Page 82: but still an intimacy with heraldry[original has - "heraldy"] - - Page 106: coughing o'er a warmed pot of ale."[quotation mark - missing in original] - - Page 106: whether it be newe or olde."[quotation mark missing - in original] - - Page 113: that the huswife[original has "huswise"] herself was - the carver - - Page 119: Stood us in steede of glas."[quotation mark missing - in original] - - Page 129: and on the other =drincheile=."[quotation mark missing - in original] - - Page 130: And in their cups their cares are drown'd:"[quotation - mark missing in original] - - Page 140: And let all sports with Christmas dye."[quotation mark - missing in original] - - Page 144: day of extraordinary sport and feasting."[quotation - mark missing in original] - - Page 157: locks pickt, yet[original has "ye"] w'are not a Maying - - Page 189: But for to make it spring againe."[quotation mark - missing in original] - - Page 255: Mr. Robert Dover's Olympic Games, upon Cotswold - Hills,"[quotation mark missing in original] - - Page 276: Then comes the captaine _Cooke_"—[quotation mark - missing in original] - - Page 291: By J. D. Esquire. 8vo.[original has "8o."] Lond. 1613. - - Page 356: and Tullock Gorms by _Maug-Moulach_[original has - "Maug-Monlach"] - - Page 367: "geven to the pacyent to drinke in warme - wine."[quotation mark missing in original] - - Page 384: the beginning[original has "begining"] of the - seventeenth century - - Page 396: Gower, in his Confessio[original has "Confesssio"] - Amantis - - Page 397: like a taper in some monument;"[quotation mark - missing in original] - - Page 401: admonition, have successfully[original has - "succesfully"] borne - - Page 408: intellect far from contemptible[original has - "contempible"] - - Page 428: in their respective[original has "repective"] - departments - - Page 438: carried to a higher state of perfection.[original has - a comma] - - Page 444: works of Bishop Andrews afford the most[original has - "mort"] flagrant - - Page 445: _O Tempori, O Moribus!_"[quotation mark missing in - original] - - Page 456: calls this, 'the first grammar for Englishe that ever - waz, except my _grammar at large_.'"[original has double quotes - instead of single quotes and missing double quote] - - Page 459: [quotation mark missing in original]"Titiique vultus - inter - - Page 459: [quotation mark missing in original]"The mischiefe - is, that by grave demeanour - - Page 460: But[original has "Bu"] if besotted with foolish vain - glory - - Page 483: _Diodorus Siculus_, by Thomas Stocker[original has - "Hocker"] - - Page 501: _Anatomie of Abuses_:[original has extraneous - quotation mark] contayning a discoverie - - Page 522: Was physick'd from the new-found paradise!"[quotation - mark missing in original] - - Page 523: chiefly to the consideration[original has - "considertion"] of the _prose_ romance - - Page 525: Guy of Warwicke, _Arthur of the Round Table_,"[quotation - mark missing in original] &c. - - Page 531: appellation of _Historia Septem Sapientum_.[original - has extraneous quotation mark] - - Page 537: Gower, or Occleve,[original has two commas] as the - English Gesta - - Page 541: Decameron of Boccacio was executed[original has - "excuted"] before 1620 - - Page 546: his life is granted him.'"[single quote is missing in - original] - - Page 558: fayrz and woorshipfull menz houzez;"[quotation mark - missing in original] - - Page 570: immortales hechos de CAVALLERO DEL FEBO,"[quotation - mark missing in original] - - Page 580: Leave me not behinde thee,"[quotation mark missing in - original] - - Page 589: "[quotation mark missing in original]He is dead and - gone, lady - - Page 590: "Good morrow, 'tis Saint Valentine's day,"[quotation - mark missing in original] - - Page 591: Do use to _chaunt_ it,"[quotation mark missing in - original] - - Page 591: festivity of our ancestors by an evening - fire;"[quotation mark missing in original] - - Page 599: be found incapable of[original has "of of"] coalescing - - Page 607: acquaintant and friend of Edmund Spenser;[original - has extraneous quotation mark] - - Page 609: years ago, is entitled to preservation[original has - "preservarion"] - - Page 626: in smoothness and harmony of versification{626:C}," - [quotation mark missing in original] - - Page 627: _Arcadia, or Menaphon_[original has "Menaphor"], 1589 - - Page 630: classed him among those "[quotation mark is missing - in original]excellent poets - - Page 631: "Epistles" and "[quotation mark missing in - original]Miscellaneous Pieces," there - - Page 632: in Cambridge, the author of Pigmalion's - Image,"[quotation mark missing in original] &c. - - Page 664: voluntary engagement, civil or military[original has - "miltary"] - - Page 665: his Preface from his chamber in Oxford;[original has - extraneous quotation mark] - - Page 665: "[quotation mark missing in original]That is, in - effect, A loving wife that never violated - - Page 666: makes a close approximation to modern usage[original - has "usuage"] - - Page 666: and verse, have been[original has "beeen"] enumerated - - Page 668: first two quatorzains[original has "quartuorzains"] - of the latter - - Page 685: _Lucan's Pharsalia_:[original has a period] - containing the Civill Warres - - Page 689: HUNNIS, WILLIAM. _A Hyve full of Hunnye_[original has - "Hunuye"] - - Page 708: by Tottel "The Poems of Uncertaine[original has - "Uucertaine"] Auctors," and - - Page 727: Henry[original has "Heny"] Constable, Esq. - - Page 729: London. 12mo."[original has a single quote] - - [9:A] Reed's Shakspeare[original has "Shakespeare"], vol. iii. p. - 197, 198. - - [16:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p.[original has "p. iii."] - 198. - - [22:A] Down David doth him bring."[quotation mark missing in - original] - - [25:A] pro tyrunculis, Ricardo Huloeto exscriptore[original has - "Huloets excriptore"] - - [46:B] - - "Why should calamity be full of words? - Windy _attorneys_ to their _client_ woes." - - Quotation mark moved from end of first line to end of second - line. - - [68:A] Holinshed's Chronicles, edit. of 1807, in six vols.[original - has "vol."] - - [86:B] large casemented bow windows[original has "widows"] - - [86:B] "Alas! these men and these houses are no - more!"[quotation mark missing in original] - - [144:C] varia contexta per Guil. Haukinuum[original has - "Haukiuum"] - - [151:B] Sure, very ill."[quotation mark missing in original] - - [163:C] Fordun's Scotichronicon, 1759, folio, tom.[period - missing in original] ii. p. 104. - - [171:C] Act iii. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare[original has "Shakespeare"] - - [172:B] The Metamorphosed[original has "Metamophosed"] Gipsies - - [206:B] proverb, 'Merry in the hall when beards wag - all.'"[double quote missing in original] - - [269:A] These technical[original has "techical"] terms may - admit of some explanation, from the following - - [286:B] whom his Majestie honoured with Knighthood."[quotation - mark missing in original] - - [291:A] made by L. M. 4to.[original has "4o."] Lond. 1590 - - [291:A] Secrets belonging thereunto. 4to.[original has "4o."] - Lond. 1614 - - [307:B] Reed's Shakspeare[original has "Shakespeare"], vol. v. p. - 22. - - [354:C] Third Part of King Henry["Henry" is missing in original] - VI. act v. sc. 6. - - [363:A] Discoverie[original has "Dicoverie"] of Witchcraft - - [458:A] he terms it, is entitled[original has "entiled"] - - [506:A] translated from the Latin of Conr. Heresbachius[original - has "Conr Heresbachiso"] - - [506:A] 16.[original has a comma] Country Contentments; or the - Husbandman's Recreations, 4to. 1615. - - [536:B] [original has extraneous quotation mark]MSS. Harl. - 3861, and in many other libraries. - - [584:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. pp. 353-355. Act iv. sc. - 3.[period missing in original] - -On page 519, the text reads "_Adam Bel_, _Clim_ of the _Clough_ and -_William_ of _Clondsley_". It should be "_William_ of _Cloudsley_". -Because there is no way to know if the error was in the original -quotation or was caused by the author or printer of this book, the -correction has not been made to this text. - -On page 527, quoted text reads "That whane they were hoole togyder, -there was ever an C. and XI." The original source, Dibdin's "Typographical -Antiquities," has "c. and xl." This text has been corrected to follow -the original source document. - -On page 571, quoted text reads "before he took his journey wherein no -creature returneth agaie." The text should read "again" or "againe". -Because there is no way to know if the error was in the original -quotation or was caused by the author or printer of this book, no -correction has been made to this text. - -On page 663, quoted text reads "Ad Olandum de Eulogiis serenissimæ -nostræ Elizabethæ post Anglorum prœlia cantatis, Decastichon". The text -should read "Oclandum". Because there is no way to know if the error -was in the original quotation or was caused by the author or printer of -this book, no correction has been made to this text. - -[494:D] has an incomplete reference. In other editions of this book, -the "p." has been removed. - -[547:A] has an incomplete reference. In other editions of this book, -the footnote has been removed. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. I. of -II.], by Nathan Drake - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHAKSPEARE AND HIS TIMES *** - -***** This file should be named 53625-0.txt or 53625-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/6/2/53625/ - -Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Lisa Reigel, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. 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- } - -.notebox /* makes box around Transcriber's Notes */ - { margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - margin-top: 5%; - margin-bottom: 5%; - padding: 1em; - border: solid black 1px; - } - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. I. of II.], by -Nathan Drake - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. I. of II.] - Including the Biography of the Poet; criticisms on his - genius and writings; a new chronology of his plays; a - disquisition on the on the object of his sonnets; and a - history of _the manners, customs, and amusements, - superstitions, poetry, and elegant literature of his age - -Author: Nathan Drake - -Release Date: November 28, 2016 [EBook #53625] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHAKSPEARE AND HIS TIMES *** - - - - -Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Lisa Reigel, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<div class="notebox"> -<p class="noindent">Transcriber's Notes: In footnotes and attributions, commas and periods -seem to be used interchangeably. They remain as printed. Variations in -spelling, hyphenation, and accents remain as in the original unless -noted. A complete <a href="#i_TN">list</a> of corrections as well as other -notes follows the text.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="330" height="400" alt="Bust of Shakspeare by W. T. Fry." /> -<p class="center">SHAKSPEARE.</p> - -<p class="center">Engraved by W. T. Fry after a Cast made by M<sup>r</sup>. George Bullock from<br /> -the Monumental Bust at Stratford-upon-Avon.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<div class="title"> -<h1 title="Shakspeare and his Times (Vol. I. of II.)"><span class="big">SHAKSPEARE</span><br /> - -<small>AND</small><br /> - -<span class="big">HIS TIMES:</span><br /> - -<small>INCLUDING</small><br /> -<span class="size3">THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE POET;</span><br /> -<span class="size4">CRITICISMS ON HIS GENIUS AND WRITINGS; A NEW CHRONOLOGY OF HIS PLAYS;</span><br /> -<span class="size4">A DISQUISITION ON THE OBJECT OF HIS SONNETS;</span><br /> -<small>AND</small><br /> -<small>A HISTORY OF</small><br /> -<span class="size4"><i>THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND AMUSEMENTS, SUPERSTITIONS,</i></span><br /> -<span class="size4"><i>POETRY, AND ELEGANT LITERATURE OF HIS AGE</i>.</span></h1> -</div> - - -<p class="tpauthor"><span class="smcap">By</span> NATHAN DRAKE, M.D.<br /> -<small>AUTHOR OF "LITERARY HOURS," AND OF "ESSAYS ON PERIODICAL LITERATURE."</small></p> - - -<div class="tppoem-container"> - <div class="tppoem"> - <div class="tpstanza"> - <div class="line">Triumph my Britain! thou hast one to show,</div> - <div class="line">To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe.—</div> - <div class="line i5">————— Soul of the age,</div> - <div class="line">The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage,</div> - <div class="line">My Shakspeare, rise!</div> - </div> - <div class="authorsc">Ben Jonson.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="tppoem-container"> - <div class="tppoem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">The very age and body of the time, his form and pressure.</div> - </div> - <div class="authorsc">Shakspeare.</div> - </div> -</div> - - -<p class="tpvolume"><small><i>IN TWO VOLUMES.</i></small><br /> - -VOL. I.</p> - - -<p class="tppublisher">LONDON:<br /> -<small>PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, IN THE STRAND.</small><br /> -1817.</p> - - - - -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p class="tppublisher"> -Printed by A. Strahan,<br /> -Printers-Street, London.</p> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page iii --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_iii" id="i_Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="i_PREFACE" id="i_PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> -</div> - - -<p>Though two centuries have now elapsed, since the death of Shakspeare, no -attempt has hitherto been made to render him the medium for a -comprehensive and connected view of the Times in which he lived.</p> - -<p>Yet, if any man be allowed to fill a station thus conspicuous and -important, Shakspeare has undoubtedly the best claim to the distinction; -not only from his pre-eminence as a dramatic poet, but from the intimate -relation which his works bear to the manners, customs, superstitions, -and amusements of his age.</p> - -<p>Struck with the interest which a work of this kind, if properly -executed, might possess, the author was induced, several years ago, to -commence the undertaking, with the express intention of blending with -the detail of manners, &c. such a portion of criticism, biography, and -literary history, as should render the whole still more attractive and -complete.</p> - -<p>In attempting this, it has been his aim to place Shakspeare in the -fore-ground of the picture, and to throw around him, in groups more or -<!-- Page iv --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_iv" id="i_Page_iv">[iv]</a></span>less distinct and full, the various objects of his design; giving them -prominency and light, according to their greater or smaller connection -with the principal figure.</p> - -<p>More especially has it been his wish, to infuse throughout the whole -plan, whether considered in respect to its entire scope, or to the parts -of which it is composed, that degree of unity and integrity, of relative -proportion and just bearing, without which neither harmony, simplicity, -nor effect, can be expected, or produced.</p> - -<p>With a view, also, to distinctness and perspicuity of elucidation, the -whole has been distributed into three parts or pictures, -entitled,—"<span class="smcap">Shakspeare in Stratford</span>;"—"<span class="smcap">Shakspeare in -London</span>;"—"<span class="smcap">Shakspeare in Retirement</span>;"—which, though inseparably united, -as forming but portions of the same story, and harmonized by the same -means, have yet, both in subject and execution, a peculiar character to -support.</p> - -<p>The <i>first</i> represents our Poet in the days of his youth, on the banks -of his native Avon, in the midst of rural imagery, occupations, and -amusements; in the <i>second</i>, we behold him in the capital of his -country, in the centre of rivalry and competition, in the active pursuit -of reputation and glory; and in the <i>third</i>, we accompany the venerated -bard to the shades of retirement, to the bosom of domestic peace, to the -enjoyment of unsullied fame.</p> - -<p>It has, therefore, been the business of the author, in accordancy with -his plan, to connect these delineations<!-- Page v --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_v" id="i_Page_v">[v]</a></span> with their relative -accompaniments; to incorporate, for instance, with the first, what he -had to relate of the <i>country</i>, as it existed in the age of Shakspeare; -its manners, customs, and characters; its festivals, diversions, and -many of its superstitions; opening and closing the subject with the -biography of the poet, and binding the intermediate parts, not only by a -perpetual reference to his drama, but by their own constant and direct -tendency towards the developement of the one object in view.</p> - -<p>With the <i>second</i>, which commences with Shakspeare's introduction to the -stage as an actor, is combined the poetic, dramatic, and general -literature of the times, together with an account of <i>metropolitan</i> -manners and diversions, and a full and continued criticism on the poems -and plays of our bard.</p> - -<p>After a survey, therefore, of the Literary world, under the heads of -Bibliography, Philology, Criticism, History, Romantic, and Miscellaneous -Literature, follows a View of the Poetry of the same period, succeeded -by a critique on the juvenile productions of Shakspeare, and including a -biographical sketch of Lord Southampton, and a new hypothesis on the -origin and object of the Sonnets.</p> - -<p>Of the immediately subsequent description of diversions, &c. the Economy -of the Stage forms a leading feature, as preparatory to a History of -Dramatic Poetry, previous to the year 1590; and this is again -introductory to a discussion concerning the Period when Shakspeare<!-- Page vi --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_vi" id="i_Page_vi">[vi]</a></span> -commenced a writer for the theatre; to a new chronology of his plays, -and to a criticism on each drama; a department which is interspersed -with dissertations on the <i>fairy mythology</i>, the <i>apparitions</i>, the -<i>witchcraft</i>, and the <i>magic</i> of Shakspeare; portions of popular -credulity which had been, in reference to this distribution, omitted in -detailing the superstitions of the country.</p> - -<p>This second part is then terminated by a summary of Shakspeare's -dramatic character, by a brief view of dramatic poetry during his -connection with the stage, and by the biography of the poet to the close -of his residence in London.</p> - -<p>The <i>third</i> and last of these delineations is, unfortunately, but too -short, being altogether occupied with the few circumstances which -distinguish the last three years of the life of our bard, with a review -of his disposition and moral character, and with some notice of the -first tributes paid to his memory.</p> - -<p>It will readily be admitted, that the materials for the greater part of -this arduous task are abundant; but it must also be granted, that they -are dispersed through a vast variety of distant and unconnected -departments of literature; and that to draw forth, arrange, and give a -luminous disposition to, these masses of scattered intelligence, is an -achievement of no slight magnitude, especially when it is considered, -that no step in the progress of such an undertaking can be made, -independent of a constant recurrence to authorities.<!-- Page vii --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_vii" id="i_Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> - -<p>How far the author is qualified for the due execution of his design, -remains for the public to decide; but it may, without ostentation, be -told, that his leisure, for the last thirty years, has been, in a great -decree, devoted to a line of study immediately associated with the -subject; and that his attachment to old English literature has led him -to a familiarity with the only sources from which, on such a topic, -authentic illustration is to be derived.</p> - -<p>He will likewise venture to observe, that, in the style of criticism -which he has pursued, it has been his object, an ambitious one it is -true, to unfold, in a manner more distinct than has hitherto been -effected, the peculiar character of the poet's drama; and, lastly, to -produce a work, which, while it may satisfy the poetical antiquary, -shall, from the variety, interest, and integrity of its component parts, -be equally gratifying to the general reader.</p> - -<p class="datelineit">Hadleigh, Suffolk,<br /> -<span class="indentline2">April 7th, 1817.</span></p> - -<p><!-- Page viii --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_viii" id="i_Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page ix --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_ix" id="i_Page_ix">[ix]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="i_CONTENTS" id="i_CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS<br /> - -<small>OF</small><br /> - -<i>THE FIRST VOLUME</i>.</h2> -</div> - - -<table summary="Table of Contents" border="0"> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">PART I.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad" colspan="2">SHAKSPEARE IN STRATFORD.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">CHAP. I.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">Birth of Shakspeare—Account of his Family—Orthography of his Name.</td> - <td class="tdnobreak tdpad"><i>Page</i> <a href="#Page_i_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">CHAP. II.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">The House in which Shakspeare was born—Plague at Stratford, June 1564—Shakspeare -educated at the Free-school of Stratford—State of Education, -and of Juvenile Literature in the Country at this period—Extent of Shakspeare's -acquirements as a Scholar.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_21">21</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">CHAP. III.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">Shakspeare, after leaving School, follows his Father's Trade—Statement of -Aubrey—Probably present in his Twelfth Year at Kenelworth, when -Elizabeth visited the Earl of Leicester—Tradition of Aubrey concerning -him—Whether there is reason to suppose that, after leaving his Father, he -was placed in an Attorney's Office, who was likewise Seneschal or Steward -of some Manor—Anecdotes of Shakspeare—Allusions in his Works to -Barton, Wilnecotte, and Barston, Villages in Warwickshire—Earthquake -in 1580 alluded to—Whether, after leaving School, he acquired any -Knowledge of the French and Italian languages.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_34">34</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2"><!-- Page x --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_x" id="i_Page_x">[x]</a></span>CHAP. IV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">Shakspeare married to Anne Hathaway—Account of the Hathaways—Cottage -at Shottery—Birth of his eldest Child, Susanna—Hamnet and -Judith baptized—Anecdote of Shakspeare—Shakspeare apparently settled -in the Country.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_59">59</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">CHAP. V.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare—Its <i>Manners and -Customs</i>—Rural Characters; the Country-Gentleman—the Country-Coxcomb—the -Country-Clergyman—the Country-Schoolmaster—the -Farmer or Yeoman, his Mode of Living—the Huswife, her Domestic -Economy—the Farmer's Heir—the Poor Copyholder—the Downright -Clown, or Plain Country-Boor.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_68">68</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">CHAP. VI.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare—<i>Manners and Customs -continued</i>—Rural Holidays and Festivals; New-Year's Day—Twelfth -Day—Rock-Day—Plough-Monday—Shrove-tide—Easter-tide—Hock-tide—May-Day—Whitsuntide—Ales; -Leet-ale—Lamb-ale—Bride-ale—Clerk-ale—Church-ale—Whitsun-ale—Sheep-shearing -Feast—Candlemas-Day—Harvest-Home—Seed-cake -Feast—Martinmas—Christmas.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_123">123</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">CHAP. VII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare—<i>Manners and Customs</i>, -continued—Wakes—Fairs—Weddings—Christenings—Burials.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_209">209</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">CHAP. VIII.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare, continued—<i>Diversions</i>—The -Itinerant Stage—Cotswold Games—Hawking—Hunting—Fowling—Fishing—Horse-racing—The -Quintaine—The Wild-goose Chase—Hurling—Shovel-board—Juvenile -Sports—Barley-breake—Parish-Top.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_246">246</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2"><!-- Page xi --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_xi" id="i_Page_xi">[xi]</a></span>CHAP. IX.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare, continued—An Account -of some of its <i>Superstitions</i>; Winter-Night's Conversation—Peculiar -Periods devoted to Superstition—St. Paul's Day—St. Swithen's Day—St. -Mark's Day—Childermas—St. Valentine's Day—Midsummer-Eve—Michaelmas—All -Hallow-Eve—St. Withold—Omens—Charms—Sympathies—Superstitious -Cures—Miscellaneous Superstitions.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_314">314</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">CHAP. X.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">Biography of Shakspeare resumed—His Irregularities—Deer-stealing in -Sir Thomas Lucy's Park—Account of the Lucy family—Daisy-hill, the -Keeper's Lodge, where Shakspeare was confined, on the Charge of stealing -Deer—Shakspeare's Revenge—Ballad on Lucy—Severe Prosecution by -Sir Thomas—never forgotten by Shakspeare—this Cause, and probably -also Debt, as his Father was now in reduced Circumstances, induced him -to leave the Country for London about 1586—Remarks on this Removal.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_401">401</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">PART II.</td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad" colspan="2">SHAKSPEARE IN LONDON.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">CHAP. I.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">Shakspeare's Arrival in London about the Year 1586, when twenty-two -Years of Age—Leaves his Family at Stratford, visiting them occasionally—His -Introduction to the Stage—His Merits as an Actor.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_413">413</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">CHAP. II.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">Shakspeare commences a Writer of Poetry, probably about the year 1587, by -the composition of his Venus and Adonis—Historical Outline of Polite -Literature, during the Age of Shakspeare—General passion for Letters—Bibliography—Shakspeare's -Attachment to Books—Philology—Criticism—Shakspeare's -Progress in both—History, general, local, and personal, -Shakspeare's Acquaintance with—Miscellaneous Literature.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_426">426</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2"><!-- Page xii --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_xii" id="i_Page_xii">[xii]</a></span>CHAP. III.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">View of Romantic Literature during the Age of Shakspeare—Shakspeare's -Attachment to, and Use of, Romances, Tales, and Ballads.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_518">518</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdchapter" colspan="2">CHAP. IV.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang">View of Miscellaneous Poetry during the same period.</td> - <td class="tdpage tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_594">594</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p><!-- Page xiii --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_xiii" id="i_Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page xiv --><span class="pagenum"><a name="i_Page_xiv" id="i_Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/autographs.jpg" width="526" height="800" alt="Five genuine Shakspeare signatures" /> -<p class="center"><i>Five genuine Autographs of Shakspeare</i></p> - -<p class="center"><i>N<sup>o</sup>. 1 is from Shakspeare's Mortgage 1612-13.</i></p> - -<p class="center"><i>2 is from M<sup>r</sup>. Malone's plate II. N<sup>o</sup>. X.</i></p> - -<p class="center"><i>3 is from the first brief of Shakspeare's Will.</i></p> - -<p class="center"><i>4 is from the second brief of the Will.</i></p> - -<p class="center"><i>5 is from the third brief of the Will.</i></p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 1 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_1" id="Page_i_1">[1]</a></span></p> -<p class="firsttitle">SHAKSPEARE AND HIS TIMES.</p> - - - - -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_I" id="i_PART_I"></a>PART I.<br /> - -<small><i>SHAKSPEARE IN STRATFORD.</i></small></h2> -</div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_I" id="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">BIRTH OF SHAKSPEARE—HIS FAMILY—THE ORTHOGRAPHY OF HIS NAME.</p> -</div> - - -<p>William Shakspeare, the object almost of our idolatry as a dramatic -poet, was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, on the 23d of -April, 1564, and he was baptized on the 26th of the same month.</p> - -<p>Of his family, not much that is certain can be recorded; but it would -appear, from an instrument in the College of Heralds, confirming the -grant of a coat of arms to John Shakspeare in 1599, that his great -grandfather had been rewarded by Henry the Seventh, "for his faithefull -and approved service, with lands and tenements given to him in those -parts of Warwickshire, where," proceeds this document, "they have -continued by some descents in good reputation and credit." -Notwithstanding this assertion, however, no such grant, after a minute -examination, made by Mr. Malone in the chapel of the Rolls, has been -discovered; whence we have reason to infer, that the heralds have been -mistaken in their statement, and that the bounty of the monarch was -directed through a different channel. From the language, indeed, of two -rough draughts of a prior grant of<!-- Page 2 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_2" id="Page_i_2">[2]</a></span> arms to John Shakspeare in 1596, it -is probable that the service alluded to was of a military cast, for it -is there expressly said, that he was rewarded "for his faithful and -<i>valiant</i> service," a term, perhaps, implying the heroism of our poet's -ancestor in the field of Bosworth.</p> - -<p>That the property, thus bestowed upon the family of Shakspeare, -descended to John, the father of the poet, and contributed to his -influence and respectability, there is no reason to doubt. From the -register, indeed, and public writings relating to Stratford, Mr. Rowe -has justly inferred, that the Shakspeares were of good figure and -fashion there, and were considered as gentlemen. We may presume, -however, that the patrimony of Mr. John Shakspeare, the parent of our -great dramatist, was not very considerable, as he found the profits of -business necessary to his support. He was, in fact, a wool-stapler, and, -there is reason to suppose, in a large way; for he was early chosen a -member of the corporation of his town, a situation usually connected -with respectable circumstances, and soon after, he filled the office of -high bailiff or chief magistrate of that body. The record of these -promotions has been thus given from the books of the corporation.</p> - -<p>"Jan. 10, in the 6th year of the reign of our sovereign lady Queen -Elizabeth, John Shakspeare passed his Chamberlain's accounts."</p> - -<p>"At the Hall holden the eleventh day of September, in the eleventh year -of the reign of our sovereign lady Elizabeth, 1569, were present Mr. -John Shakspeare, High Bailiff."<a name="FNanchor_i_2:A_1" id="FNanchor_i_2:A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_2:A_1" class="fnanchor">[2:A]</a></p> - -<p>It was during the period of his filling this important office, that he -first obtained a grant of arms; and, in a note annexed to the subsequent -patent of 1596, now in the College of Arms<a name="FNanchor_i_2:B_2" id="FNanchor_i_2:B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_2:B_2" class="fnanchor">[2:B]</a>, it is stated that he -was likewise a justice of the peace, and possessed of lands and -tenements to the amount of 500<i>l.</i> The final confirmation of this grant -took place in 1599, in which his shield and coat are described to be, -<i>In a field of gould upon a bend sable, a speare of the first, the -<!-- Page 3 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_3" id="Page_i_3">[3]</a></span>poynt upward, hedded argent</i>; and for his crest or cognisance, <i>A -falcon with his wyngs displayed, standing on a wrethe of his coullers, -supporting a speare armed hedded, or steeled sylver</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_3:A_3" id="FNanchor_i_3:A_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_3:A_3" class="fnanchor">[3:A]</a></p> - -<p>Mr. John Shakspeare married, though in what year is not accurately -known, the daughter and heir of Robert Arden, of Wellingcote, in the -county of Warwick, who is termed, in the Grant of Arms of 1596, "a -gentleman of worship." The Arden, or Ardern family, appears to have been -of considerable antiquity; for, in Fuller's Worthies, Rob. Arden de -Bromwich, ar. is among the names of the gentry of this county returned -by the commissioners in the twelfth year of King Henry the Sixth, 1433; -and in the eleventh and sixteenth years of Elizabeth, A. D. 1562 and -1568, Sim. Ardern, ar. and Edw. Ardrn, ar. are enumerated, by the same -author, among the sheriffs of Warwickshire.<a name="FNanchor_i_3:B_4" id="FNanchor_i_3:B_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_3:B_4" class="fnanchor">[3:B]</a> It is well known that -the woodland part of this county was formerly denominated Ardern, -though, for the sake of euphony, frequently softened towards the close -of the sixteenth century, into the smoother appellation of Arden; hence -it is not improbable, that the supposition of Mr. Jacob, who reprinted, -in 1770, the Tragedy of Arden of Feversham, a play which was originally -published in 1592, may be correct; namely that Shakspeare, the poet, was -<i>descended by the female line</i> from the unfortunate individual whose -tragical death is the subject of this drama; for though the name of this -gentleman was originally Ardern, he seems early to have experienced the -fate of the county district, and to have had his surname harmonized by a -similar omission. In consequence of this marriage, Mr. John Shakspeare -and his posterity were allowed, by the College of Heralds, to impale -their arms with the ancient arms of the Ardrns of Wellingcote.<a name="FNanchor_i_3:C_5" id="FNanchor_i_3:C_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_3:C_5" class="fnanchor">[3:C]</a></p> - -<p>Of the issue of John Shakspeare by this connection, the accounts are -contradictory and perplexed; nor is it absolutely ascertained, <!-- Page 4 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_4" id="Page_i_4">[4]</a></span>whether -he had only one wife, or whether he might not have had two, or even -three. Mr. Rowe, whose narrative has been usually followed, has given -him <i>ten</i> children, among whom he considers <i>William</i> the poet, as the -<i>eldest</i> son.<a name="FNanchor_i_4:A_6" id="FNanchor_i_4:A_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_4:A_6" class="fnanchor">[4:A]</a> The Register, however, of the parish of -Stratford-upon-Avon, which commences in 1558, is incompatible with this -statement; for, we there find <i>eleven</i> children ascribed to John -Shakspeare, <i>ten</i> baptized, and <i>one</i>, the baptism of which had taken -place before the commencement of the Register, buried.<a name="FNanchor_i_4:B_7" id="FNanchor_i_4:B_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_4:B_7" class="fnanchor">[4:B]</a> The dates of -these baptisms, and of two or three other events, recorded in this -Register, it will be necessary, for the sake of elucidation, to -transcribe:</p> - -<ul class="list"> -<li>"<i>Jone</i>, daughter of John Shakspere, was baptized Sept. 15, -1558.</li> - -<li>"<i>Margaret</i>, daughter of John Shakspere, was buried April 30, -1563.</li> - -<li>"<span class="smcap">William</span>, son of John Shakspere, was baptized April 26, 1564.</li> - -<li>"<i>Gilbert</i>, son of John Shakspere, was baptized Oct. 3, 1566.</li> - -<li>"<i>Jone</i><a name="FNanchor_i_4:C_8" id="FNanchor_i_4:C_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_4:C_8" class="fnanchor">[4:C]</a>, daughter of John Shakspere, was baptized April -15, 1569.</li> - -<li>"<i>Anne</i>, daughter of Mr. John Shakspere, was baptized Sept. -28, 1571.</li> - -<li>"<i>Richard</i>, son of Mr. John Shakspere, was baptized March 11, -1573-4.</li> - -<li>"<i>Edmund</i>, son of Mr. John Shakspere, was baptized May 3, -1580.</li> - -<li>"<i>John Shakspere</i> and Margery Roberts were married Nov. 25, -1584.</li> - -<li>"<i>Margery</i>, wife of John Shakspere, was buried Oct. 29, 1587.</li> - -<li>"<i>Ursula</i>, daughter of John Shakspere, was baptized March 11, -1588.</li> - -<li>"<i>Humphrey</i>, son of John Shakspere, was baptized May 24, 1590.</li> - -<li>"<i>Philip</i>, son of John Shakspere, was baptized Sept. 21, 1591.</li> - -<li>"Mr. <i>John Shakspere</i> was buried Sept. 8, 1601.</li> - -<li>"<i>Mary Shakspere</i>, widow, was buried Sept. 9, 1608."</li> -</ul> - -<p><!-- Page 5 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_5" id="Page_i_5">[5]</a></span>Now it is evident, that if the ten children which were baptized, -according to this Register, between the years 1558 and 1591, are to be -ascribed to the father of our poet, he must necessarily have had -<i>eleven</i>, in consequence of the record of the decease of his daughter -Margaret. He must also have had three wives, for we find his second -wife, Margery, died in 1587, and the death of a third, Mary, a widow, is -noticed in 1608.</p> - -<p>It was suggested to Mr. Malone<a name="FNanchor_i_5:A_9" id="FNanchor_i_5:A_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_5:A_9" class="fnanchor">[5:A]</a>, that very probably, Mr. John -Shakspeare had a son born to him, as well as a daughter, before the -commencement of the Register, and that this his eldest son, was, as is -customary, named after his father, John; a supposition which, (as no -other child was baptized by the Christian name of the old gentleman,) -carries some credibility with it, and was subsequently acquiesced in by -Mr. Malone himself.</p> - -<p>In this case, therefore, the marriage recorded in the Register, is that -of John Shakspeare the <i>younger</i> with Margery Roberts, and the three -children born between 1588 and 1591, Ursula, Humphrey, and Philip, the -issue of this John, not by the first, but by a second marriage; for as -Margery Shakspeare died in 1587, and Ursula was baptized in 1588-9, -these children must have been by the Mary Shakspeare, whose death is -mentioned as occurring in 1608, and as she is there denominated a -<i>widow</i>; the younger John must consequently have died before that date.</p> - -<p>The result of <i>this</i> arrangement will be, that the father of our poet -had only <i>nine</i> children, and that <span class="smcap">William</span> was not the eldest, but the -<i>second</i> son.</p> - -<p>On either plan, however, the account of Mr. Rowe is equally inaccurate; -and as the introduction of an elder son involves a variety of -suppositions, and at the same time nothing improbable is attached to the -consideration of this part of the Register in the light in which it -usually appears, that is, as allusive solely to the father, it will, we -think, be the better and the safer mode, to rely upon it, according <!-- Page 6 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_6" id="Page_i_6">[6]</a></span>to -its more direct and literal import. This determination will be greatly -strengthened by reflecting, that old Mr. Shakspeare was, on the -authority of the last instrument granting him a coat of arms, living in -1599; that on the testimony of the Register, taken in the common -acceptation, he was not buried until September 1601; and that in no part -of the same document is the epithet <i>younger</i> annexed to the name of -John Shakspeare, a mark of distinction which there is every reason to -suppose would have been introduced, had the father and a son of the same -Christian name been not only living at the same time in the same town, -but the latter likewise a parent.</p> - -<p>That the circumstances of Mr. John Shakspeare were, at the period of his -marriage, and for several years afterwards, if not affluent, yet easy -and respectable, there is every reason to suppose, from his having -filled offices of the first trust and importance in his native town; -but, from the same authority which has induced us to draw this -inference, another of a very different kind, with regard to a subsequent -portion of his life, may with equal confidence be taken. In the books of -the corporation of Stratford it is stated, that—</p> - -<p>"At the hall holden Nov. 19th, in the 21st year of the reign of our -sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth, it is ordained, that every Alderman -shall be taxed to pay weekly 4<i>d.</i>, saving <i>John Shakspeare</i> and Robert -Bruce, who shall not be taxed to pay any thing; and every burgess to pay -2<i>d.</i>" Again,</p> - -<p>"At the hall holden on the 6th day of September, in the 28th year of our -sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth:</p> - -<p>"At this hall William Smith and Richard Courte are chosen to be Aldermen -in the places of John Wheler and John Shakspeare, for that Mr. Wheler -doth desire to be put out of the company, and Mr. Shakspeare doth not -come to the halls, when they be warned, nor hath not done of long -time."<a name="FNanchor_i_6:A_10" id="FNanchor_i_6:A_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_6:A_10" class="fnanchor">[6:A]</a></p> - -<p>The conclusion to be drawn from these memoranda must unavoidably be, -that, in 1579, ten years after he had served the office <!-- Page 7 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_7" id="Page_i_7">[7]</a></span>of High -Bailiff, his situation, in a pecuniary light, was so much reduced, that, -on this account, he was excused the weekly payment of 4<i>d.</i>; and that, -in 1586, the same distress still subsisting, and perhaps in an -aggravated degree, he was, on the plea of non-attendance, dismissed the -corporation.</p> - -<p>The causes of this unhappy change in his circumstances cannot now, with -the exception of the burthen of a large and increasing family, be -ascertained; but it is probable, that to this period is to be referred, -if there be any truth in the tradition, the report of Aubrey, that -"William Shakspeare's father was a butcher." This anecdote, he affirms, -was received from the neighbours of the bard, and, on this account, -merits some consideration.<a name="FNanchor_i_7:A_11" id="FNanchor_i_7:A_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_7:A_11" class="fnanchor">[7:A]</a></p> - -<p>We are indebted to Mr. Howe for the first intimation concerning the -trade of John Shakspeare; his declaration, derived also from tradition, -that he was a "considerable dealer in wool," appears confirmed by -subsequent research. From a window in a room of the premises which -originally formed part of the house at Stratford, in which Shakspeare -the poet was born, and a part of which premises has for many years been -occupied as a public-house, with the sign of the Swan and Maidenhead, a -pane of glass was taken, about five and forty years ago, by Mr. Peyton, -the then master of the adjoining Inn called The White Lion. This pane, -now in the possession of his son, is nearly six inches in diameter, and -perfect, and on it are painted the arms of the merchants of the -wool-staple—<i>Nebule on a chief gules, a lion passant or</i>. It appears, -from the style in which it is finished, to have been executed about the -time of Shakspeare, the father, and is undoubtedly a strong -corroborative proof of the authenticity of Mr. Rowe's relation.<a name="FNanchor_i_7:B_12" id="FNanchor_i_7:B_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_7:B_12" class="fnanchor">[7:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 8 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_8" id="Page_i_8">[8]</a></span>These traditionary anecdotes, though apparently contradictory, may -easily admit of reconcilement, if we consider, that between the -employment of a wool-dealer, and a butcher, there is no small affinity; -"few occupations," observes Mr. Malone, "can be named which are more -naturally connected with each other."<a name="FNanchor_i_8:A_13" id="FNanchor_i_8:A_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_8:A_13" class="fnanchor">[8:A]</a> It is highly probable, -therefore, that during the period of John Shakspeare's distress, which -we know to have existed in 1579, when our poet was but fifteen years of -age, he might have had recourse to this more humble trade, as in many -circumstances connected with his customary business, and as a great -additional means of supporting a very numerous family.</p> - -<p>That the necessity for this union, however, did not exist towards the -latter part of his life, there is much reason to imagine, both from the -increasing reputation and affluence of his son William, and from the -fact of his applying to the College of Heralds, in 1596 and 1599, for a -grant of arms; events, of which the first, considering the character of -the poet, must almost necessarily have led to, and the second directly -pre-supposes, the possession of comparative competence and -respectability.</p> - -<p>The only remaining circumstance which time has spared us, relative to -the personal conduct of John Shakspeare, is, that there appears some -foundation to believe that, a short time previous to his death, he made -a confession of his faith, or spiritual will; a document still in -existence, the discovery and history of which, together with the -declaration itself, will not improperly find a place at the close of -this commencing chapter of our work.</p> - -<p>About the year 1770, a master-bricklayer, of the name of Mosely, being -employed by Mr. Thomas Hart, the fifth in descent, in a <!-- Page 9 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_9" id="Page_i_9">[9]</a></span>direct line, -from the poet's sister, Joan Hart, to new-tile the house in which he -then lived, and which is supposed to be that under whose roof the bard -was born, found hidden between the rafters and the tiling of the house, -a manuscript, consisting of six leaves, stitched together, in the form -of a small book. This manuscript Mosely, who bore the character of an -honest and industrious man, gave (without asking or receiving any -recompense) to Mr. Peyton, an alderman of Stratford; and this gentleman -very kindly sent it to Mr. Malone, through the medium of the Rev. Mr. -Davenport, vicar of Stratford. It had, however, previous to this -transmission, unfortunately been deprived of the first leaf, a -deficiency which was afterwards supplied by the discovery, that Mosely, -who had now been dead about two years, had copied a great portion of it, -and from his transcription the introductory parts were supplied.<a name="FNanchor_i_9:A_14" id="FNanchor_i_9:A_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_9:A_14" class="fnanchor">[9:A]</a> -The daughter of Mosely and Mr. Hart, who were both living in the year -1790, agreed in a perfect recollection of the circumstances attending -the discovery of this curious document, which consists of the following -fourteen articles.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">1.</p> - -<p>"In the name of God, the Father, Sonne and Holy Ghost, the most holy and -blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, the holy host of archangels, angels, -patriarchs, prophets, evangelists, apostles, saints, martyrs, and all -the celestial court and company of heaven: I John Shakspear, an unworthy -member of the holy Catholic religion, being at this my present writing -in perfect health of body, and sound mind, memory, and understanding, -but calling to mind the uncertainty of life and certainty of death, and -that I may be possibly cut off in the blossome of my sins, and called to -render an account of all my transgressions externally and internally, -and that I may be unprepared for the dreadful trial either by sacrament, -pennance, fasting, or prayer, or any other purgation whatever, do in the -holy presence above specified, of my own free and voluntary accord, make -<!-- Page 10 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_10" id="Page_i_10">[10]</a></span>and ordaine this my last spiritual will, testament, confession, -protestation, and confession of faith, hopinge hereby to receive pardon -for all my sinnes and offences, and thereby to be made partaker of life -everlasting, through the only merits of Jesus Christ my saviour and -redeemer, who took upon himself the likeness of man, suffered death, and -was crucified upon the crosse, for the redemption of sinners.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">2.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, I John Shakspear doe by this present protest, acknowledge, and -confess, that in my past life I have been a most abominable and grievous -sinner, and therefore unworthy to be forgiven without a true and sincere -repentance for the same. But trusting in the manifold mercies of my -blessed Saviour and Redeemer, I am encouraged by relying on his sacred -word, to hope for salvation, and be made partaker of his heavenly -kingdom, as a member of the celestial company of angels, saints, and -martyrs, there to reside for ever and ever in the court of my God.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">3.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, I John Shakspear doe by this present protest and declare, that -as I am certain I must passe out of this transitory life into another -that will last to eternity, I do hereby most humbly implore and intreat -my good and guardian angell to instruct me in this my solemn -preparation, protestation, and confession of faith, at least -spiritually, in will adoring and most humbly beseeching my Saviour, that -he will be pleased to assist me in so dangerous a voyage, to defend me -from the snares and deceites of my infernal enemies, and to conduct me -to the secure haven of his eternal blisse.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">4.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, I John Shakspear doe protest that I will also passe out of this -life, armed with the last sacrament of extreme unction: the which if -through any let or hindrance I should not then be able to have, I doe -now also for that time demand and crave the same;<!-- Page 11 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_11" id="Page_i_11">[11]</a></span> beseeching his Divine -Majesty that he will be pleased to anoynt my senses both internall and -externall with the sacred oyle of his infinite mercy, and to pardon me -all my sins committed by seeing, speaking, feeling, smelling, hearing, -touching, or by any other way whatsoever.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">5.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, I John Shakspear doe by this present protest, that I will never -through any temptation whatsoever despaire of the divine goodness, for -the multitude and greatness of my sinnes; for which, although I confesse -that I have deserved hell, yet will I steadfastly hope in God's infinite -mercy, knowing that he hath heretofore pardoned many as great sinners as -myself, whereof I have good warrant sealed with his sacred mouth, in -holy writ, whereby he pronounceth that he is not come to call the just, -but sinners.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">6.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, I John Shakspear do protest, that I do not know that I have -ever done any good worke meritorious of life everlasting: and if I have -done any, I do acknowledge that I have done it with a great deale of -negligence and imperfection; neither should I have been able to have -done the least without the assistance of his divine grace. Wherefore let -the devill remain confounded: for I doe in no wise presume to merit -heaven by such good workes alone, but through the merits and bloud of my -Lord and Saviour Jesus, shed upon the cross for me most miserable -sinner.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">7.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, I John Shakspear do protest by this present writing, that I -will patiently endure and suffer all kind of infirmity, sickness, yea, -and the paine of death itself: wherein if it should happen, which God -forbid, that through violence of paine and agony, or by subtilty of the -devill, I should fall into any impatience or temptation of blasphemy, or -murmuration against God, or the Catholic faith, or give<!-- Page 12 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_12" id="Page_i_12">[12]</a></span> any signe of -bad example, I do henceforth, and for that present, repent me, and am -most heartily sorry for the same: and I do renounce all the evill -whatsoever, which I might have then done or said; beseeching his divine -clemency that he will not forsake me in that grievous and paignefull -agony.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">8.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, I John Shakspear, by virtue of this present testament, I do -pardon all the injuries and offences that any one hath ever done unto -me, either in my reputation, life, goods, or any other way whatsoever; -beseeching sweet Jesus to pardon them for the same; and I do desire that -they will doe the like by me whome I have offended or injured in any -sort howsoever.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">9.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, I John Shakspear do here protest, that I do render infinite -thanks to his Divine Majesty for all the benefits that I have received, -as well secret as manifest, and in particular for the benefit of my -creation, redemption, sanctification, conservation, and vocation to the -holy knowledge of him and his true Catholic faith: but above all for his -so great expectation of me to pennance, when he might most justly have -taken me out of this life, when I least thought of it, yea, even then, -when I was plunged in the durty puddle of my sinnes. Blessed be -therefore and praised, for ever and ever, his infinite patience and -charity.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">10.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, I John Shakspear do protest, that I am willing, yea, I do -infinitely desire and humbly crave, that of this my last will and -testament the glorious and ever Virgin Mary, mother of God, refuge and -advocate of sinners, (whom I honour specially above all saints,) may be -the chiefe executresse, togeather with these other saints, my patrons, -(Saint Winefride,) all whome I invoke and beseech to be present at the -hour of my death, that she and they comfort me with<!-- Page 13 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_13" id="Page_i_13">[13]</a></span> their desired -presence, and crave of sweet Jesus that he will receive my soul into -peace.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">11.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, In virtue of this present writing, I John Shakspear do likewise -most willingly and with all humility constitute and ordaine my good -angell for defender and protector of my soul in the dreadfull day of -judgment, when the finall sentence of eternall life or death shall be -discussed and given: beseeching him that, as my soule was appointed to -his custody and protection when I lived, even so he will vouchsafe to -defend the same at that houre, and conduct it to eternall bliss.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">12.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, I John Shakspear do in like manner pray and beseech all my dear -friends, parents, and kinsfolks, by the bowells of our Saviour Jesus -Christ, that since it is uncertain what lot will befall me, for fear -notwithstanding least by reason of my sinnes I be to pass and stay a -long while in purgatory, they will vouchsafe to assist and succour me -with their holy prayers and satisfactory workes, especially with the -holy sacrifice of the masse, as being the most effectual means to -deliver soules from their torments and paines; from the which, if I -shall by God's gracious goodnesse, and by their vertuous workes, be -delivered, I do promise that I will not be ungratefull unto them for so -great a benefitt.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">13.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, I John Shakspear doe by this my last will and testament -bequeath my soul, as soon as it shall be delivered and loosened from the -prison of this my body, to be entombed in the sweet and amorous coffin -of the side of Jesus Christ; and that in this life-giving sepulcher it -may rest and live, perpetually enclosed in that eternall habitation of -repose, there to blesse for ever and ever that direful iron of the -launce, which, like a charge in a censore, formes so sweet<!-- Page 14 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_14" id="Page_i_14">[14]</a></span> and pleasant -a monument within the sacred breast of my Lord and Saviour.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">14.</p> - -<p>"<i>Item</i>, Lastly I John Shakspear doe protest, that I will willingly -accept of death in what manner soever it may befall me, conforming my -will unto the will of God; accepting of the same in satisfaction for my -sinnes, and giving thanks unto his Divine Majesty for the life he hath -bestowed upon me. And if it please him to prolong or shorten the same, -blessed be he also a thousand thousand times; into whose most holy hands -I commend my soul and body, my life and death: and I beseech him above -all things, that he never permit any change to be made by me John -Shakspear of this my aforesaid will and testament. Amen.</p> - -<p>"I John Shakspeare have made this present writing of protestation, -confession, and charter, in presence of the blessed Virgin Mary, my -angell guardian, and all the celestial court, as witnesses hereunto: the -which my meaning is, that it be of full value now presently and for -ever, with the force and vertue of testament, codicill, and donation in -course of death; confirming it anew, being in perfect health of soul and -body, and signed with mine own hand; carrying also the same about me, -and for the better declaration hereof, my will and intention is that it -be finally buried with me after my death.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Pater noster, Ave maria, Credo.</div> - <div class="line">"Jesu, son of David, have mercy on me.—Amen."<a name="FNanchor_i_14:A_15" id="FNanchor_i_14:A_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_14:A_15" class="fnanchor">[14:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>If the intention of the testator, as expressed in the close of this -will, were carried into effect, then, of course, the manuscript which -Mosely found, must necessarily have been a copy of that which was buried -in the grave of John Shakspeare.</p> - -<p>Mr. Malone, to whom, in his edition of Shakspeare, printed in 1790, we -are indebted for this singular paper, and for the history <!-- Page 15 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_15" id="Page_i_15">[15]</a></span>attached to -it, observes, that he is unable to ascertain, whether it was drawn up by -John Shakspeare the father, or by John his <i>supposed</i> eldest son; but he -says, "I have taken some pains to ascertain the authenticity of this -manuscript, and, after a very careful inquiry, am perfectly satisfied -that it is genuine."<a name="FNanchor_i_15:A_16" id="FNanchor_i_15:A_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_15:A_16" class="fnanchor">[15:A]</a> In the "Inquiry," however, which he published -in 1796, relative to the Ireland papers, he has given us, though without -assigning any reasons for his change of opinion, a very different -result: "In my conjecture," he remarks, "concerning the writer of that -paper, I certainly was mistaken; for I have since obtained documents -that clearly prove it could not have been the composition of any one of -our poet's family."<a name="FNanchor_i_15:B_17" id="FNanchor_i_15:B_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_15:B_17" class="fnanchor">[15:B]</a></p> - -<p>In the "Apology" of Mr. George Chalmers "for the Believers in the -Shakspeare-Papers," which appeared in the year subsequent to Mr. -Malone's "Inquiry," a new light is thrown upon the origin of this -confession. "From the sentiment, and the language, this confession -appears to be," says this gentleman, "the effusion of a Roman Catholic -mind, and was probably drawn up by some Roman Catholic priest.<a name="FNanchor_i_15:C_18" id="FNanchor_i_15:C_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_15:C_18" class="fnanchor">[15:C]</a> If -these premises be granted, it will follow, as a fair deduction, that the -family of Shakspeare were Roman Catholics; a circumstance this, which is -wholly consistent with what Mr. Malone is now studious to inculcate, -viz. "that this confession could not have been the composition of any of -our poet's family." The thoughts, the language, the orthography, all -demonstrate the truth of my conjecture, though Mr. Malone did not -perceive this truth, when he first published this paper in 1790. But, it -was the performance of a <i>clerke</i>, the undoubted work of the -family-priest. The conjecture, that Shakspeare's family were Roman -Catholics, is strengthened by the fact, that his father declined to -attend the <!-- Page 16 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_16" id="Page_i_16">[16]</a></span>corporation meetings, and was at last removed from the -corporate body."<a name="FNanchor_i_16:A_19" id="FNanchor_i_16:A_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_16:A_19" class="fnanchor">[16:A]</a></p> - -<p>This conjecture of Mr. Chalmers appears to us in its leading points very -plausible; for that the father of our poet might be a Roman Catholic is, -if we consider the very unsettled state of his times with regard to -religion, not only a possible but a probable supposition: in which case, -it would undoubtedly have been the office of the spiritual director of -the family to have drawn up such a paper as that which we have been -perusing. It was the fashion also of the period, as Mr. Chalmers has -subsequently observed, to draw up confessions of religious faith, a -fashion honoured in the observance by the great names of Lord Bacon, -Lord Burghley, and Archbishop Parker<a name="FNanchor_i_16:B_20" id="FNanchor_i_16:B_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_16:B_20" class="fnanchor">[16:B]</a>. That he declined, however, -attending the corporation-meetings of Stratford from religious motives, -and that his removal from that body was the result of non-attendance -from <i>such a cause</i>, cannot readily be admitted; for we have clearly -seen that his defection was owing to pecuniary difficulties; nor is it, -in the least degree, probable that, after having honourably filled the -highest offices in the corporation without scruple, he should at length, -and in a reign too popularly protestant, incur expulsion from an avowed -motive of this kind; especially as we have reason to suppose, from the -mode in which this profession was concealed, that the tenets of the -person whose faith it declares, were cherished in secret.</p> - -<p>From an accurate inspection of the hand-writing of this will, Mr. Malone -infers that it cannot be attributed to an earlier period than the year -1600<a name="FNanchor_i_16:C_21" id="FNanchor_i_16:C_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_16:C_21" class="fnanchor">[16:C]</a>, whence it follows that, if dictated by, or drawn up at the -desire of, John Shakspeare, his death soon sealed the confession of his -faith; for, according to the register, he was buried on September 8th, -1601.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 17 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_17" id="Page_i_17">[17]</a></span>Such are the very few circumstances which reiterated research has -hitherto gleaned relative to the father of our poet; circumstances -which, as being intimately connected with the history and character of -his son, have acquired an interest of no common nature. Scanty as they -must be pronounced, they lead to the conclusion that he was a moral and -industrious man; that when fortune favoured him, he was not indolent, -but performed the duties of a magistrate with respectability and effect, -and that in the hour of adversity he exerted every nerve to support with -decency a numerous family.</p> - -<p>Before we close this chapter, it may be necessary to state, that the -very orthography of the name of Shakspeare has occasioned much dispute. -Of Shakspeare the father, no autograph exists; but the <i>poet</i> has left -us several, and from these, and from the monumental inscriptions of his -family, must the question be decided; the latter, as being of the least -authority, we shall briefly mention, as exhibiting, in Dugdale, three -varieties,—<i>Shakespeare</i>; <i>Shakespere</i>, and <i>Shakspeare</i>. The former -present us with <i>five</i> specimens which, singular as it may appear, all -vary, either in the mode of writing, or mode of spelling. The first is -annexed to a mortgage executed by the poet in 1613, and appears thus, -<i>W<sup>m</sup> Shakspe<sup>a</sup></i>: the second is from a deed of bargain and sale, -relative to the same transaction, and of the same period, and signed, -<i>William Shaksper̄</i>: the third, fourth, and fifth are taken from the -<i>Will</i> of Shakspeare executed in March 1616, consisting of three -<i>briefs</i> or sheets, to each of which his name is subscribed. These -signatures, it is remarkable, differ considerably, especially in the -surnames; for in the first brief we find <i>William Shackspere</i>; in the -second, <i>Willm Shakspe re</i>, and in the third, <i>William Shakspeare</i>. It -has been supposed, however, that, according to the practice in -Shakspeare's time, the name in the first sheet was written by the -scrivener who drew the will.</p> - -<p>In the year 1790, Mr. Malone, from an inspection of the mortgage, -pronounced the genuine orthography to be <i>Shakspeare</i><a name="FNanchor_i_17:A_22" id="FNanchor_i_17:A_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_17:A_22" class="fnanchor">[17:A]</a>; in 1796, -<!-- Page 18 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_18" id="Page_i_18">[18]</a></span>from consulting the deed of sale, he altered his opinion, and declared -that the poet's own mode of spelling his name was, beyond a possibility -of doubt, that of <i>Shakspere</i>, though for reasons which he should assign -in a subsequent publication, he should still continue to write the name -<i>Shakspeare</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_18:A_23" id="FNanchor_i_18:A_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_18:A_23" class="fnanchor">[18:A]</a></p> - -<p>To this decision, relative to the genuine orthography, Mr. Chalmers -cannot accede; and for this reason, that, "when the testator subscribed -his name, for the <i>last time</i>, he <i>plainly</i> wrote Shakspe<i>a</i>re."<a name="FNanchor_i_18:B_24" id="FNanchor_i_18:B_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_18:B_24" class="fnanchor">[18:B]</a></p> - -<p>It is obvious, therefore, that the controversy turns upon, whether there -be, or be not, an <i>a</i> introduced in the second syllable of the last -signature of the poet. Mr. Malone, on the suggestion of an anonymous -correspondent, thinks that there is not, this gentleman having clearly -shown him, "that though there was a superfluous stroke when the poet -came to write the letter <i>r</i> in his last signature, probably from the -tremor of his hand, there was no <i>a</i> discoverable in that syllable; and -that this name, like both the other, was written <i>Shakspere</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_18:C_25" id="FNanchor_i_18:C_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_18:C_25" class="fnanchor">[18:C]</a></p> - -<p>From the annexed plate of autographs, which is copied from Mr. -Chalmers's Apology, and presents us with very perfect fac-similes of the -signatures, it is at once evident, that the assertion of the anonymous -correspondent, that the last signature, "<i>like both the other</i>, was -written Shakspere," cannot be correct; for the surname in the first -brief is written Sha<i>c</i>kspere, and, in the second, Shakspe re. Now the -<i>hiatus</i> in this second signature is unaccounted for in the fac-simile -given by Mr. Malone<a name="FNanchor_i_18:D_26" id="FNanchor_i_18:D_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_18:D_26" class="fnanchor">[18:D]</a>; but in the plate of Mr. Chalmers it is found -to have been occasioned by the intrusion of the word <i>the</i> of the -<i>preceding line</i>, a circumstance which, very probably, might prevent the -introduction of the controverted letter. It is likewise, we think, very -evident that something more than <i>a superfluous stroke</i> exists between -the <i>e</i> and <i>r</i> of the last signature, and that the variation <!-- Page 19 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_19" id="Page_i_19">[19]</a></span>is, -indeed, too material to have originated from any supposed tremor of the -hand.</p> - -<p>Upon the whole, it may, we imagine, be safely reposed on as a fact, that -Shakspeare was not uniform in the orthography of his own name; that he -sometimes spelt it <i>Shakspere</i> and sometimes <i>Shakspeare</i>; but that no -other variation is extant which can claim a similar authority.<a name="FNanchor_i_19:A_27" id="FNanchor_i_19:A_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_19:A_27" class="fnanchor">[19:A]</a> It -is, therefore, nearly a matter of indifference which of <i>these two</i> -modes <!-- Page 20 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_20" id="Page_i_20">[20]</a></span>of spelling we adopt; yet, as his last signature appears to have -included the letter <i>a</i>, it may, for the sake of consistency, be proper -silently to acquiesce in its admission.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_2:A_1" id="Footnote_i_2:A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_2:A_1"><span class="label">[2:A]</span></a> Communicated to Mr. Malone by the Rev. Mr. Davenport, -vicar of Stratford-upon-Avon.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_2:B_2" id="Footnote_i_2:B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_2:B_2"><span class="label">[2:B]</span></a> Vincent, vol. clvii. p. 24.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_3:A_3" id="Footnote_i_3:A_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_3:A_3"><span class="label">[3:A]</span></a> See the instrument, at full length, Reed's Shakspeare, -vol. i. p. 146, edit. of 1803.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_3:B_4" id="Footnote_i_3:B_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_3:B_4"><span class="label">[3:B]</span></a> The History of the Worthies of England, part iii. fol. -131, 132.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_3:C_5" id="Footnote_i_3:C_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_3:C_5"><span class="label">[3:C]</span></a> See Shakspeare's coat of arms, Reed's Shaksp. vol. i. p. -146.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_4:A_6" id="Footnote_i_4:A_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_4:A_6"><span class="label">[4:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 58, 59.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_4:B_7" id="Footnote_i_4:B_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_4:B_7"><span class="label">[4:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 133.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_4:C_8" id="Footnote_i_4:C_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_4:C_8"><span class="label">[4:C]</span></a> "It was common in the age of Queen Elizabeth to give the -same Christian name to two children successively. This was undoubtedly -done in the present instance. The former Jone having probably died, -(though I can find no entry of her burial in the Register, nor indeed of -many of the other children of John Shakspeare) the name of Jone, a very -favourite one in those days, was transferred to another new-born -child."—Malone from Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 134.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_5:A_9" id="Footnote_i_5:A_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_5:A_9"><span class="label">[5:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 136.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_6:A_10" id="Footnote_i_6:A_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_6:A_10"><span class="label">[6:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 58.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_7:A_11" id="Footnote_i_7:A_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_7:A_11"><span class="label">[7:A]</span></a> MS. Aubrey, Mus. Ashmol. Oxon. Lives, p. 1. fol. 78, a. -(Inter Cod. Dugdal.) Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 213.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_7:B_12" id="Footnote_i_7:B_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_7:B_12"><span class="label">[7:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 214. and Ireland's -Picturesque Views on the Upper or Warwickshire Avon, p. 190, 191. Since -this passage was written, however, the proof which it was supposed to -contain, has been completely annihilated. "If John Shakspeare's -occupation in life," observes Mr. Wheeler, "want confirmation, this -circumstance will unfortunately not answer such a purpose; for old -Thomas Hart constantly declared that his great uncle, Shakspeare Hart, a -glazier of this town, who had the new glazing of the chapel windows, -where it is known, from Dugdale, that such a shield existed, brought it -from thence, and introduced it into his own window."—Wheeler's Guide to -Stratford, pp. 13, 14.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_8:A_13" id="Footnote_i_8:A_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_8:A_13"><span class="label">[8:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 214.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_9:A_14" id="Footnote_i_9:A_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_9:A_14"><span class="label">[9:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 197, 198.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_14:A_15" id="Footnote_i_14:A_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_14:A_15"><span class="label">[14:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 199. et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_15:A_16" id="Footnote_i_15:A_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_15:A_16"><span class="label">[15:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 197.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_15:B_17" id="Footnote_i_15:B_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_15:B_17"><span class="label">[15:B]</span></a> Malone's Inquiry, p. 198, 199.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_15:C_18" id="Footnote_i_15:C_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_15:C_18"><span class="label">[15:C]</span></a> As a specimen, let us take the beginning of this -declaration of faith, and see still stronger terms in the conclusion of -this protestation, <i>confession</i>, and charter.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_16:A_19" id="Footnote_i_16:A_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_16:A_19"><span class="label">[16:A]</span></a> "The place too, the roof of the house where this -confession was found, proves, that it had been therein concealed, during -times of persecution, for the holy Catholick religion." Apology, p. 198, -199.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_16:B_20" id="Footnote_i_16:B_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_16:B_20"><span class="label">[16:B]</span></a> Chalmers's Apology, p. 200.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_16:C_21" id="Footnote_i_16:C_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_16:C_21"><span class="label">[16:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 198.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_17:A_22" id="Footnote_i_17:A_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_17:A_22"><span class="label">[17:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 149.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_18:A_23" id="Footnote_i_18:A_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_18:A_23"><span class="label">[18:A]</span></a> Malone's Inquiry, p. 120</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_18:B_24" id="Footnote_i_18:B_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_18:B_24"><span class="label">[18:B]</span></a> Chalmers's Apology, p. 235.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_18:C_25" id="Footnote_i_18:C_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_18:C_25"><span class="label">[18:C]</span></a> Malone's Inquiry, p. 117, 118.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_18:D_26" id="Footnote_i_18:D_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_18:D_26"><span class="label">[18:D]</span></a> Inquiry, Plate II. No. 12.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_19:A_27" id="Footnote_i_19:A_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_19:A_27"><span class="label">[19:A]</span></a> A want of uniformity in the spelling of names, was a -species of negligence very common in the time of Shakspeare, and may be -observed, remarks Mr. Chalmers, "with regard to the principal poets of -that age; as we may see in <i>England's Parnassus</i>, a collection of poetry -which was published in 1600: thus,</p> - -<table summary="Spelling variations in proper names" border="0"> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">S<i>y</i>dney</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">S<i>i</i>dney.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Spen<i>s</i>er</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Spen<i>c</i>er.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Jonson</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Johnson</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Jhonson.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Dekker</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Dekkar.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Markeham</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Markham.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Sylv<i>i</i>ster</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Sylv<i>e</i>ster</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">S<i>i</i>lvester.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Sackwill</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad" colspan="3">Sackuil.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Fitz Geffrey</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Fitzjeffry</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Fitz Jeffr<i>a</i>y.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">France</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad" colspan="3">Fraunce.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Mid<i>l</i>eton</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad" colspan="3">Mid<i>d</i>leton.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">G<i>u</i>ilpin</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad" colspan="3">G<i>i</i>lpin.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Achelly</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Achely</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Achilly</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Achillye.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Dra<i>y</i>ton</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Dra<i>i</i>ton.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Danie<i>l</i></td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Daniel<i>l</i>.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Dav<i>i</i>s</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Davi<i>e</i>s.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Marlo<i>w</i></td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Marlo<i>we</i>.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">M<i>a</i>rston</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">M<i>u</i>rston.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Fair<i>e</i>fax</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Fa<i>ir</i>fax.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">K<i>i</i>d</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">K<i>y</i>d.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="noindent">Yet, it is remarkable, that in this collection of diversities, our -dramatist's name is uniformly spelt Shakespeare: in whatever manner this -celebrated name may have been pronounced in Warwickshire, it certainly -was spoken in London, with the <i>e</i> soft, thus, Shak<i>e</i>speare: in the -registers of the Stationers' Company, it is written, Shakes<i>pere</i>, and -Shakes<i>peare</i>." Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. 129, 130.</p> - -<p>A curious proof of the uncertain orthography of the poet's surname among -his contemporaries and immediate successors, may be drawn from a -pamphlet, entitled, "The great Assizes holden in Parnassus by Apollo and -his Assessours: at which Sessions are arraigned, Mercurius Britannicus, -&c. &c. London: Printed by Richard Cotes for Edward Husbands, and are to -be sold at his shop in the Middle Temple. 1645. qto. 25 leaves."</p> - -<p>In this rare tract, among the list of the jurors is found the name of -our bard, written William <i>Shakespeere</i>; and in the body of the poem, it -is given <i>Shakespeare</i>, and <i>Shakespear</i>. <i>Vide</i> British Bibliographer, -vol. i. p. 513.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 21 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_21" id="Page_i_21">[21]</a></span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_II" id="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">THE HOUSE IN WHICH SHAKSPEARE WAS BORN—PLAGUE AT STRATFORD, -JUNE 1564—SHAKSPEARE EDUCATED AT THE FREE-SCHOOL OF -STRATFORD—STATE OF EDUCATION, AND OF JUVENILE LITERATURE IN -THE COUNTRY AT THIS PERIOD—EXTENT OF SHAKSPEARE'S -ACQUIREMENTS AS A SCHOLAR.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The experience of the last half century has fully proved, that every -thing relative to the history of our immortal dramatist has been -received, and received justly too, by the public with an avidity -proportional to his increasing fame. What, if recorded of a less -celebrated character, might be deemed very uninteresting, immediately -acquires, when attached to the mighty name of Shakspeare, an importance -nearly unparalleled. No apology, therefore, can be necessary for the -introduction of any fact or circumstance, however minute, which is, in -the slightest degree, connected with his biography; tradition, indeed, -has been so sparing of her communications on this subject, that every -addition to her little store has been hitherto welcomed with the most -lively sensation of pleasure, nor will the attempt to collect and embody -these scattered fragments be unattended with its reward.</p> - -<p>The birth-place of our poet, the spot where he drew the first breath of -life, where Fancy</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—— "fed the little prattler, and with songs</div> - <div class="line">Oft sooth'd his wond'ring ears,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">has been the object of laudable curiosity to thousands, and happily the -very roof that sheltered his infant innocence can still be pointed out. -It stands in Henley-street, and, though at present forming two separate -tenements, was originally but one house.<a name="FNanchor_i_21:A_28" id="FNanchor_i_21:A_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_21:A_28" class="fnanchor">[21:A]</a> The premises <!-- Page 22 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_22" id="Page_i_22">[22]</a></span>are still -in possession of the Hart family, <i>now</i> the <i>seventh</i> descendants, in a -direct line, from Jone the sister of the poet. From the plate in Reed's -Shakspeare, which is a correct representation of the existing state of -this humble but interesting dwelling, it will appear, that one portion -of it is occupied by the Swan and Maidenhead public-house, and the other -by a butcher's shop, in which the son of old Mr. Thomas Hart, mentioned -in the last chapter, still carries on his father's trade.<a name="FNanchor_i_22:A_29" id="FNanchor_i_22:A_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_22:A_29" class="fnanchor">[22:A]</a> "The -kitchen of this house," says Mr. Samuel Ireland, "has an appearance -sufficiently interesting, abstracted from its claim to notice as -relative to the Bard. It is a subject very similar to those that so -frequently employed the rare talents of Ostade, and therefore cannot be -deemed unworthy the pencil of an inferior artist. In the corner of the -chimney stood an old oak-chair, which had for a number of years received -nearly as many adorers as the celebrated shrine of the Lady of Loretto. -This relic was purchased, in July 1790, by the Princess Czartoryska, who -made a journey to this place, in order to <!-- Page 23 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_23" id="Page_i_23">[23]</a></span>obtain intelligence relative -to Shakspeare; and being told he had often sat in this chair, she placed -herself in it, and expressed an ardent wish to become a purchaser; but -being informed that it was not to be sold at any price, she left a -handsome gratuity to old Mrs. Hart, and left the place with apparent -regret. About four months after, the anxiety of the Princess could no -longer be withheld, and her secretary was dispatched express, as the fit -agent, to purchase this treasure at any rate: the sum of twenty guineas -was the price fixed on, and the secretary and chair, with a proper -certificate of its authenticity on stamped paper, set off in a chaise -for London."<a name="FNanchor_i_23:A_30" id="FNanchor_i_23:A_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_23:A_30" class="fnanchor">[23:A]</a> The elder Mr. Hart, who died about the year 1794, -aged sixty-seven, informed Mr. Samuel Ireland, that he well remembered, -when a boy, having dressed himself, with some of his playfellows, as -Scaramouches (such was his phrase), in the wearing-apparel of -Shakspeare; an anecdote of which, if we consider the lapse of time, it -may be allowed us to doubt the credibility, and to conclude that the -recollection of Mr. Hart had deceived him.</p> - -<p>Little more than two months had passed over the head of the infant -Shakspeare, when he became exposed to danger of such an imminent kind, -that we have reason to rejoice he was not snatched from <!-- Page 24 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_24" id="Page_i_24">[24]</a></span>us even while -he lay in the cradle. He was born, as we have already recorded, on the -23d of April, 1564; and on the 30th of the June following, the plague -broke out at Stratford, the ravages of which dreadful disease were so -violent, that between this last date and the close of December, not less -than two hundred and thirty-eight persons perished; "of which number," -remarks Mr. Malone, "probably two hundred and sixteen died of that -malignant distemper; and one only of the whole number resided, not in -Stratford, but in the neighbouring town of Welcombe. From the two -hundred and thirty-seven inhabitants of Stratford, whose names appear in -the Register, twenty-one are to be subducted, who, it may be presumed, -would have died in six months, in the ordinary course of nature; for in -the five preceding years, reckoning, according to the style of that -time, from March 25. 1559, to March 25. 1564, two hundred and twenty-one -persons were buried at Stratford, of whom two hundred and ten were -townsmen: that is, of these latter, forty-two died each year at an -average. Supposing one in thirty-five to have died annually, the total -number of the inhabitants of Stratford at that period was one thousand -four hundred and seventy; and consequently the plague, in the last six -months of the year 1564, carried off more than a seventh part of them. -Fortunately for mankind it did not reach the house in which the infant -Shakspeare lay; for not one of that name appears in the dead list. May -we suppose, that, like Horace, he lay secure and fearless in the midst -of contagion and death, protected by the Muses, to whom his future life -was to be devoted, and covered over:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">—————— "<i>sacrâ</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Lauroque, collataque myrto,</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Non sine Diis animosus infans</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_24:A_31" id="FNanchor_i_24:A_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_24:A_31" class="fnanchor">[24:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It is now impossible to ascertain with any degree of certainty the mode -which was adopted in the education of this aspiring genius; all that -time has left us on the subject is, that he was sent, though but <!-- Page 25 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_25" id="Page_i_25">[25]</a></span>for a -short period, to the free-school of Stratford, a seminary founded in the -reign of Henry the Sixth, by the Rev. —— Jolepe, M. A., a native of -the town; and which, after sharing, at the general dissolution of -chantries, religious houses, &c. the usual fate, was restored and -patronised by Edward the Sixth, a short time previous to his death. Here -it was, that he acquired the <i>small Latin and less Greek</i>, which Jonson -has attributed to him, a mode of phraseology from which it must be -inferred, that he was at <i>least acquainted</i> with <i>both</i> languages; and, -perhaps, we may add, that he who has obtained some knowledge of Greek, -however slight, may, with little hesitation, be supposed to have -proceeded considerably beyond the limits of mere elementary instruction -in Latin.</p> - -<p>At the period when Shakspeare was sent to school, the study of the -classical languages had made, since the era of the revival of -literature, a very rapid progress. Grammars and Dictionaries, by various -authors, had been published<a name="FNanchor_i_25:A_32" id="FNanchor_i_25:A_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_25:A_32" class="fnanchor">[25:A]</a>; but the grammatical institute then in -general use, both in town and country, was the Grammar of Henry <!-- Page 26 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_26" id="Page_i_26">[26]</a></span>the -Eighth, which, by the order of Queen Elizabeth, in her Injunctions of -1559, was admitted, to the exclusion of all others: "Every -schoolmaster," says the thirty-ninth Injunction, "shall teach the -grammar set forth by King Henrie the Eighth, of noble memorie, and -continued in the time of Edward the Sixth, and <i>none other</i>;" and in the -Booke of certain Cannons, 1571, it is again directed, "that no other -grammar shall be taught, but only that which the Queen's Majestie hath -commanded to be read in all schooles, through the whole realm."</p> - -<p>With the exception of Wolsey's <i>Rudimenta Grammatices</i>, printed in 1536, -and taught in his school at Ipswich, and a similar work of Collet's, -established in his seminary in St. Paul's churchyard, this was the -grammar publicly and universally adopted, and without doubt the -instructor of Shakspeare in the language of Rome.</p> - -<p>Another initiatory work, which we may almost confidently affirm him to -have studied under the tuition of the master of the free-school at -Stratford, was the production of one Ockland, and entitled ΕΙΡΗΝΑΡΧΙΑ, -<i>sive</i> <span class="smcap">Elizabetha</span>. The object of this book, which is written in Latin -verse, is to panegyrise the characters and government of Elizabeth and -her ministers, and it was, therefore, enjoined by authority to be read -as a classic in every grammar-school, and to be indelibly impressed upon -the memory of every young scholar in the kingdom; "a matchless -contrivance," remarks Bishop Hurd, "to imprint a sense of loyalty on the -minds of the people."<a name="FNanchor_i_26:A_33" id="FNanchor_i_26:A_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_26:A_33" class="fnanchor">[26:A]</a></p> - -<p>To these school-books, to which, being introduced by compulsory edicts, -there is no doubt Shakspeare was indebted for some learning and much -loyalty, may be added, as another resource to which he was directed by -his master, the Dictionary of Syr Thomas Elliot, declaring Latin by -English, as greatly improved and enriched by Thomas Cooper in 1552. This -lexicon, the most copious and celebrated of its day, was received into -almost every school, and underwent numerous editions, namely, in 1559, -and in 1565, under the title of <i>Thesaurus Linguæ Romanæ et Britannicæ</i>, -and again in 1573, 1578, and <!-- Page 27 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_27" id="Page_i_27">[27]</a></span>1584. Elizabeth not only recommended the -lexicon of Cooper, and professed the highest esteem for him, in -consequence of the great utility of his work toward the promotion of -classical literature, but she more substantially expressed her opinion -of his worth by promoting him to the deanery of Gloucester in 1569, and -to the bishoprics of Lincoln and Winchester in 1570 and 1584, at which -latter see he died on the 29th of April, 1594.<a name="FNanchor_i_27:A_34" id="FNanchor_i_27:A_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_27:A_34" class="fnanchor">[27:A]</a></p> - -<p>Thus far we may be allowed, on good grounds, to trace the very books -which were placed in the hands of Shakspeare, during his short noviciate -in classical learning; to proceed farther, would be to indulge in mere -conjecture, but we may add, and with every just reason for the -inference, that from these productions, and from the few minor classics -which he had time to study at this seminary, all that the most -precocious genius, at such a period of life, and under so transient a -direction of the mind to classic lore, could acquire, was -obtained.<a name="FNanchor_i_27:B_35" id="FNanchor_i_27:B_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_27:B_35" class="fnanchor">[27:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 28 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_28" id="Page_i_28">[28]</a></span>The universality of classical education about the era of 1575, when, it -is probable, Shakspeare had not long entered on the acquisitions of the -Latin elements, was such that no person of rank or property could be -deemed accomplished who had not been thoroughly imbued with the learning -and mythology of Greece and Rome. The knowledge which had been -previously confined to the clergy or professed scholars, became now -diffused among the nobility and gentry, and even influenced, in a -considerable degree, the minds and manners of the softer sex. Elizabeth -herself led the way in this career of erudition, and she was soon -followed by the ladies of her court, who were taught, as Warton -observes, not only to distil strong waters, but to construe Greek.<a name="FNanchor_i_28:A_36" id="FNanchor_i_28:A_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_28:A_36" class="fnanchor">[28:A]</a></p> - -<p>The fashion of the court speedily became, to a certain extent, the -fashion of the country, and every individual possessed of a decent -competency, was solicitous that his children should acquire the -literature in vogue. Had the father of our poet continued in prosperous -circumstances, there is every reason to conclude that his son would have -had the opportunity of acquiring the customary erudition of the times; -but we have already seen, that in 1579 he was so reduced in fortune, as -to be excused a weekly payment of 4<i>d.</i>, a state of depression which had -no doubt existed some time before it attracted the notice of the -corporation of Stratford.</p> - -<p>One result therefore of these pecuniary difficulties was the removal of -young Shakspeare from the free-school, an event which has occasioned, -among his biographers and numerous commentators, much controversy and -conjecture as to the extent of his classical attainments.</p> - -<p>From the short period which tradition allows us to suppose that our poet -continued under the instruction of a master, we have a right <!-- Page 29 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_29" id="Page_i_29">[29]</a></span>to -conclude that, notwithstanding his genius and industry, he must -necessarily have made a very superficial acquaintance with the learned -languages. That he was called home to assist his father, we are told by -Mr. Rowe; and consequently, as the family was numerous and under the -pressure of poverty, it is not likely that he found much time to -prosecute what he had commenced at school. The accounts, therefore, -which have descended to us, on the authority of Ben Jonson, Drayton, -Suckling, &c. that he had not much learning, that he depended almost -exclusively on his <i>native</i> genius, (<i>that his Latin was small and his -Greek less</i>,) ought to have been, without scruple, admitted. Fuller, who -was a diligent and accurate enquirer, has given us in his Worthies, -printed in 1662, the most full and express opinion on the subject. "He -was an eminent instance," he remarks, "of the truth of that rule, <i>Poeta -non fit, sed nascitur</i>; one is not <i>made</i> but <i>born</i> a poet. Indeed his -learning was <i>very little</i>, so that as <i>Cornish diamonds</i> are not -polished by any lapidary, but are pointed and smoothed even as they are -taken out of the earth, so <i>nature</i> itself was all the <i>art</i> which was -used upon him."<a name="FNanchor_i_29:A_37" id="FNanchor_i_29:A_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_29:A_37" class="fnanchor">[29:A]</a></p> - -<p>Notwithstanding this uniform assertion of the contemporaries and -immediate successors of Shakspeare, relative to his very imperfect -knowledge of the languages of Greece and Rome, many of his modern -commentators have strenuously insisted upon his intimacy with both, -among whom may be enumerated, as the most zealous and decided on this -point, the names of Gildon, Sewell, Pope, Upton, Grey, and Whalley. The -dispute, however, has been nearly, if not altogether terminated, by the -<i>Essay</i> of Dr. Farmer <i>on the Learning of Shakspeare</i>, who has, by a -mode of research equally ingenious and convincing, clearly proved that -all the passages which had been triumphantly brought forward as -instances of the classical literature of Shakspeare, were taken from -translations, or from original, and once popular, productions in his -native tongue. Yet the <i>conclusion</i> drawn from this essay, so far as it -respects the portion of latinity which our poet had <!-- Page 30 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_30" id="Page_i_30">[30]</a></span>acquired and -preserved, as the result of his school-education, appears to us greatly -too restricted. "<i>He remembered</i>," says the Doctor, "<i>perhaps enough of -his school-boy learning to put the Hig, hag, hog, into the mouth of Sir -Hugh Evans</i>:" and might pick up in the writers of the time, or the -course of his conversation, a familiar phrase or two of French or -Italian: but his studies were most demonstratively confined to nature -and his own language.<a name="FNanchor_i_30:A_38" id="FNanchor_i_30:A_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_30:A_38" class="fnanchor">[30:A]</a></p> - -<p>A very late writer, in combating this part of the <i>conclusion</i> of Dr. -Farmer, has advanced an opinion in several respects so similar to our -own, that it will be necessary, in justice to him and previous to any -further expansion of the idea which we have embraced, to quote his -words. "Notwithstanding," says he, "Dr. Farmer's essay on the deficiency -of Shakspeare in learning, I must acknowledge myself to be one who does -not conceive that his proofs of that fact sufficiently warrant his -conclusions from them: 'that his <i>studies</i> were demonstrably confined to -nature and his own language' is, as Dr. Farmer concludes, true enough; -but when it is added, 'that he only picked up in conversation a familiar -phrase or two of French, or remembered enough of his school-boy's -learning to put <i>hig, hag, hog</i>, in the mouths of others:' he seems to -me to go beyond any evidence produced by him of so little knowledge of -languages in Shakspeare. He proves indeed sufficiently, that Shakspeare -chiefly read English books, by his copying sometimes minutely the very -errors made in them, many of which he might have corrected, if he had -consulted the original Latin books made use of by those writers: but -this does not prove that he was not able to read Latin well enough to -examine those originals if he chose; it only proves his indolence and -indifference about accuracy in minute articles of no importance to the -chief object in view of supplying himself with subjects for dramatic -compositions. Do we not every day meet with numberless instances of -similar and much greater oversights by persons well skilled in Greek as -well as Latin, and professed critics also of the writings and abilities -<!-- Page 31 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_31" id="Page_i_31">[31]</a></span>of others? If Shakspeare made an ignorant man pronounce the French word -<i>bras</i> like the English <i>brass</i>, and evidently on purpose, as being a -probable mistake by such an unlearned speaker; has not one learned -modern in writing Latin made <i>Paginibus</i> of <i>Paginis</i>, and another -mentioned a person as being born in the reign of Charles the First, and -yet as dying in 1600, full twenty-five years before the accession of -that king? Such mistakes arise not from ignorance, but a heedless -inattention, while their thoughts are better occupied with more -important subjects; as those of Shakspeare were with forming his plots -and his characters, instead of examining critically a great Greek volume -to see whether he ought to write <i>on this side of Tiber or on that side -of Tiber</i>; which however very possibly he might not be able to read; but -Latin was more universally learnt in that age, and even by women, many -of whom could both write and speak it; therefore it is not likely that -he should be so very deficient in that language, as some would persuade -us, by evidence which does not amount to sufficient proofs of the fact. -Nay, even although he had a sufficiency of Latin to understand any Latin -book, if he chose to do it, yet how many in modern times, under the same -circumstances, are led by mere indolence to prefer translations of them, -in case they cannot read Latin with such perfect ease, as never to be at -a loss for the meaning of a word, so as to be forced to read some -sentences twice over before they can understand them rightly. That -Shakspeare was not an eminent Latin scholar may be very true, but that -he was so totally ignorant as to know nothing more than <i>hic, hæc, hoc</i>, -must have better proofs before I can be convinced."<a name="FNanchor_i_31:A_39" id="FNanchor_i_31:A_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_31:A_39" class="fnanchor">[31:A]</a></p> - -<p>The truth seems to be, that Shakspeare, like most boys who have spent -but two or three years at a grammar-school, acquired just as much Latin -as would enable him, with the assistance of a lexicon, and no little -share of assiduity, to construe a minor classic; a degree of acquisition -which we every day see, unless forwarded by much leisure and much -private industry, immediately becomes stationary, and <!-- Page 32 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_32" id="Page_i_32">[32]</a></span>soon retrograde. -Our poet, when taken from the free-school of Stratford, had not only to -direct his attention to business, in order to assist in warding off from -his father's family the menacing approach of poverty; but it is likewise -probable that his leisure, as we shall notice more at large in the next -chapter, was engaged in other acquisitions; and when at a subsequent -period, and after he had become a married man, his efforts were thrown -into a channel perfectly congenial to his taste and talents, still to -procure subsistence for the day was the immediate stimulus to exertion. -Under these circumstances, and when we likewise recollect that <i>popular</i> -favour and applause were essential to his success, and that nearly to -the last period of his life he was a prolific caterer for the public in -a species of poetry which called for no recondite or learned resources, -it is not probable, nay, it is, indeed, scarcely possible, that he -should have had time to cultivate and increase his classical -attainments, originally and necessarily superficial. To translations, -therefore, and to popular and legendary lore, he was alike directed by -policy, by inclination, and by want of leisure; yet must we still agree, -that, had a proficiency in the learned languages been necessary to his -career, the means resided within himself, and that, on the basis merely -of his school-education, although limited as we have seen it, he might, -had he early and steadily directed his attention to the subject, have -built the reputation of a scholar.</p> - -<p>That the powers, however, of his vast and capacious mind, especially if -we consider the shortness of his life, were not expended on such an -attempt, we have reason to rejoice; for though his attainments, as a -linguist, were truly trifling, yet his <i>knowledge</i> was great, and his -<i>learning</i>, in the best sense of the term, that is, as distinct from the -mere acquisition of language, multifarious, and extensive beyond that of -most of his contemporaries.<a name="FNanchor_i_32:A_40" id="FNanchor_i_32:A_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_32:A_40" class="fnanchor">[32:A]</a> <!-- Page 33 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_33" id="Page_i_33">[33]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is, therefore, to his <i>English</i> studies that we must have recourse -for a due estimate of his reading and research; a subject which will be -treated of in a future portion of the work.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_21:A_28" id="Footnote_i_21:A_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_21:A_28"><span class="label">[21:A]</span></a> It is with some apprehension of imposition that I quote -the following passage from Mr. Samuel Ireland's Picturesque Views on the -River Avon. This gentleman, the father of the youth who endeavoured so -grossly to deceive the public by the fabrication of a large mass of MSS. -which he attributed to Shakspeare, was undoubtedly, at the time he wrote -this book, the complete dupe of his son; and though, as a man of -veracity and integrity, to be depended upon with regard to what -originated from himself, it is possible, that the settlement which he -quotes may have been derived from the same ample store-house of forgery -which produced the folio volume of miscellaneous papers, &c. This -settlement, in the possession of Mr. Ireland, is brought forward as a -proof that the premises in Henley-street were certainly in the -occupation of John Shakspeare, the father of the poet; it is dated -August 14th, thirty-third of Elizabeth, 1591, and Mr. Ireland professes -to give the substance of it in the subsequent terms:—"'That George -Badger, senior, of Stratford upon Avon, conveys to John and William -Courte, yeomen, and their heirs, in trust, &c. a messuage or tenement, -with the appurtenances, in Stratford upon Avon, in a certain streete -called Henley-streete, between the house of Robert Johnson on the one -part, and the house of <i>John Shakspeare</i> on the other; and also two -selions (<i>i. e.</i> ridges, or ground between furrows) of land lying -between the land of <i>Thomas Combe</i>, Gent. on the one hand, and Thomas -Reynolde, Gent. on the other.' It is regularly executed, and livery of -seisin on the 29th of the same month and year indorsed." <i>P.</i> 195, 196.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_22:A_29" id="Footnote_i_22:A_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_22:A_29"><span class="label">[22:A]</span></a> "In a lower room of this public house," says Mr. Samuel -Ireland, "which is part of the premises wherein Shakspeare was born, is -a curious antient ornament over the chimney, relieved in plaister, -which, from the date, 1606, that was originally marked on it, was -probably put up at the time, and possibly by the poet himself: although -a rude attempt at historic representation, I have yet thought it worth -copying, as it has, I believe, passed unnoticed by the multitude of -visitors that have been on this spot, or at least has never been made -public: and to me it was enough that it held a conspicuous place in the -dwelling-house of one who is himself the ornament and pride of the -island he inhabited. In 1759, it was repaired and painted in a variety -of colours by the old Mr. Thomas Harte before-mentioned, who assured me -the motto then round it had been in the old black letter, and dated -1606. The motto runs thus:</p> - -<div class="poem blackletter"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Golith comes with sword and spear,</div> - <div class="line i1">And David with a sling:</div> - <div class="line">Although Golith rage and sweare,</div> - <div class="line i1">Down David doth him bring."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Picturesque Views, p. 192, 193.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_23:A_30" id="Footnote_i_23:A_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_23:A_30"><span class="label">[23:A]</span></a> Picturesque Views, p. 189, 190. It is probable that Mr. -Ireland, though, it appears, unconnected with the forgeries of his son, -might, during his tour, be too eager in crediting the tales which were -told him. One Jordan, a native of Alverton near Stratford, was for many -years the usual <i>cicerone</i> to enquirers after Shakspeare, and was -esteemed not very accurate in weighing the authenticity of the anecdotes -which he related.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_24:A_31" id="Footnote_i_24:A_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_24:A_31"><span class="label">[24:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 84, 85.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_25:A_32" id="Footnote_i_25:A_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_25:A_32"><span class="label">[25:A]</span></a> It is possible also that the following grammars and -dictionaries, independent of those mentioned in the text, may have -contributed to the school-education of Shakspeare:—</p> - -<p>1. Certain brief Rules of the Regiment or Construction of the Eight -Partes of Speche, in English and Latin, 1537.</p> - -<p>2. A short Introduction of Grammar, generallie to be used: compiled and -set forth, for the bringyng up of all those that intend to attaine the -knowledge of the Latin tongue, 1557.</p> - -<p>3. The Scholemaster; or, Plaine and perfite Way of teaching Children to -understand, write, and speak, the Latin Tong. By Roger Ascham. 1571.</p> - -<p>4. Abecedarium Anglico-Latinum, pro tyrunculis, Ricardo Huloeto -exscriptore, 1552.</p> - -<p>5. The Short Dictionary, 1558.</p> - -<p>6. A little Dictionary; compiled by J. Withals, 1559. Afterwards -reprinted in 1568, 1572, 1579, and 1599; and entitled, A Shorte -Dictionarie most profitable for young Beginners: and subsequently, A -Shorte Dictionarie in Lat. and English.</p> - -<p>7. The brefe Dyxcyonary, 1562.</p> - -<p>8. Huloets Dictionary; newlye corrected, amended, and enlarged, by John -Higgins, 1572.</p> - -<p>9. Veron's Dictionary; Latin and English, 1575.</p> - -<p>10. An Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionarie; containing foure sundrie -Tongues: namelie, English, Latine, Greeke, and Frenche. Newlie enriched -with varietie of wordes, phrases, proverbs, and divers lightsome -observations of grammar. By John Baret, 1580.</p> - -<p>11. Rider's Dictionary, Latine, and English, 1589.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_26:A_33" id="Footnote_i_26:A_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_26:A_33"><span class="label">[26:A]</span></a> Moral and Political Dialogues, vol. ii. p. 28. edit. -1788.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_27:A_34" id="Footnote_i_27:A_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_27:A_34"><span class="label">[27:A]</span></a> That school-masters and lexicographers were not usually -so well rewarded, notwithstanding the high value placed on classical -literature at this period, may be drawn from the complaint of Ascham: -"It is pitie," says he, "that commonlie more care is had, yea, and that -amonge verie wise men, to find out rather a cunnynge man for their -horse, than a cunnynge man for their children. They say nay in worde, -but they do so in deede. For, to the one they will gladlie give a -stipend of 200 crownes by yeare, and loth to offer to the other 200 -shillings. God, that sitteth in heaven, laugheth their choice to skorne, -and rewardeth their liberalitie as it should; for he suffereth them to -have tame, and well ordered horse, but wilde and unfortunate children; -and therefore, in the ende, they finde more pleasure in their horse than -comforte in their children."—Ascham's Works, Bennet's edition, p. 212.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_27:B_35" id="Footnote_i_27:B_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_27:B_35"><span class="label">[27:B]</span></a> It is more than possible that the Eclogues of Mantuanus -the Carmelite may have been one of the school-books of Shakspeare. He is -familiarly quoted and praised in the following passage from Love's -Labour's Lost:—</p> - -<p>"Hol. <i>Fauste, precor gelidâ quando pecus omne sub umbrâ Ruminat</i>,—and -so forth. Ah, good old Mantua! I may speak of thee as the traveller doth -of Venice:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——— <i>Vinegia, Vinegia,</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Chi non te rede, ci non te pregia.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Old Mantuan! old Mantuan! who understandeth thee not, loves thee not." -Act iv. sc. 2. And his Eclogues, be it remembered, were translated and -printed, together with the Latin on the opposite page, for the use of -schools, before the commencement of our author's education; and from a -passage quoted by Mr. Malone, from Nashe's <i>Apologie of Pierce -Penniless</i>, 1593, appear to have continued in use long after its -termination. "With the first and second leafe, he plaies very prettilie, -and, in ordinarie terms of extenuating, verdits Pierce Pennilesse for a -grammar-school wit; saies, his margine is as deeply learned as, <i>Fauste, -precor gelidâ</i>." Mantuanus was translated by George Turberville in 1567, -and reprinted in 1591.—<i>Vide</i> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 95.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_28:A_36" id="Footnote_i_28:A_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_28:A_36"><span class="label">[28:A]</span></a> Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 491.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_29:A_37" id="Footnote_i_29:A_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_29:A_37"><span class="label">[29:A]</span></a> Worthies, p. iii. p. 126.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_30:A_38" id="Footnote_i_30:A_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_30:A_38"><span class="label">[30:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 85.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_31:A_39" id="Footnote_i_31:A_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_31:A_39"><span class="label">[31:A]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 285.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_32:A_40" id="Footnote_i_32:A_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_32:A_40"><span class="label">[32:A]</span></a> "If it were asked from what sources," observes Mr. Capel -Lofft, "<i>Shakspeare</i> drew these abundant streams of wisdom, carrying -with their current the fairest and most unfading flowers of poetry, I -should be tempted to say, he had what would be now considered a very -reasonable portion of Latin; he was not wholly ignorant of Greek; he had -a knowledge of the French, so as to read it with ease; and I believe not -less of the Italian. He was habitually conversant in the chronicles of -his country. He lived with wise and highly cultivated men; with Jonson, -Essex, and Southampton, in familiar friendship. He had deeply imbibed -the Scriptures. And his own most acute, profound, active, and original -genius (for there never was a truly great poet, nor an aphoristic writer -of excellence without these accompanying qualities) must take the lead -in the solution." Aphorisms from Shakspeare: Introduction, pp. xii. and -xiii.</p> - -<p>Again, in speaking of his poems, he remarks—"Transcendent as his -original and singular genius was, I think it is not easy, with due -attention to <i>these</i> poems, to doubt of his having acquired, when a boy, -no ordinary facility in the <i>classic</i> language of Rome; though his -knowledge of it might be small, comparatively, to the knowledge of that -great and indefatigable scholar, Ben Jonson. And when Jonson says he had -'less Greek,' had it been true that he had none, it would have been as -easy for the verse as for the sentiment to have said 'no -Greek.'"—Introduction, p. xxiv.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 34 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_34" id="Page_i_34">[34]</a></span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_III" id="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">SHAKSPEARE, AFTER LEAVING SCHOOL, FOLLOWS HIS FATHER'S -TRADE—STATEMENT OF AUBREY—PROBABLY PRESENT IN HIS TWELFTH -YEAR, AT KENELWORTH, WHEN ELIZABETH VISITED THE EARL OF -LEICESTER—TRADITION OF AUBREY CONCERNING HIM—WHETHER THERE -IS REASON TO SUPPOSE THAT, AFTER LEAVING HIS FATHER, HE WAS -PLACED IN AN ATTORNEY'S OFFICE WHO WAS LIKEWISE SENESCHAL OR -STEWARD OF SOME MANOR—ANECDOTES OF SHAKSPEARE—ALLUSIONS IN -HIS WORKS TO BARTON, WILNECOTTE AND BARSTON, VILLAGES IN -WARWICKSHIRE—EARTHQUAKE IN 1580 ALLUDED TO—WHETHER, AFTER -LEAVING SCHOOL, HE ACQUIRED ANY KNOWLEDGE OF THE FRENCH AND -ITALIAN LANGUAGES.</p> -</div> - - -<p>That Shakspeare, when taken from the free-school of Stratford, became an -assistant to his father in the wool-trade, has been the general opinion -of his biographers from the period of Mr. Rowe, who first published the -tradition in 1709, to the present day. The anecdote was probably -collected by Mr. Betterton the player, who visited Stratford in order to -procure intelligence relative to his favourite poet, and from whom Mr. -Rowe professes to have derived the greater part of his -information.<a name="FNanchor_i_34:A_41" id="FNanchor_i_34:A_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_34:A_41" class="fnanchor">[34:A]</a> A few incidental circumstances tend also to -strengthen the account that both father and son were engaged in this -employment, and, for a time, together: in the first place, we may -mention the discovery already noticed of the arms of the merchants of -the wool-staple on a window of the house in which the poet was -born<a name="FNanchor_i_34:B_42" id="FNanchor_i_34:B_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_34:B_42" class="fnanchor">[34:B]</a>; secondly, the almost certain conclusion that the poverty of -John Shakspeare, which we know to have been considerable in 1579, <!-- Page 35 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_35" id="Page_i_35">[35]</a></span>would -naturally incline him to require the assistance of his son, in the only -way in which, at that time, he could be serviceable to him; and thirdly, -we may adduce the following passages from the works of our Dramatist, -which seem to imply a more than theoretic intimacy with his father's -business. In the Winter's Tale, the Clown exclaims,</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"Let me see:—Every 'leven wether—tods; every tod -yields—pound and odd shilling: fifteen hundred shorn,—What -comes the wool to?"</p> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Act IV. Scene 2.</i></p> - -<p>Upon this passage Dr. Farmer remarks, "that to <i>tod</i> is used as a verb -by dealers in wool; thus, they say, 'Twenty sheep ought to <i>tod</i> fifty -pounds of wool,' &c. The meaning, therefore, of the Clown's words is, -'Every eleven wether <i>tods</i>; i. e. <i>will produce a tod</i>, or twenty-eight -pounds of wool; every <i>tod</i> yields a pound and some odd shillings; what -then will the wool of fifteen hundred yield?'"</p> - -<p>"The occupation of his father," subjoins Mr. Malone, "furnished our poet -with accurate knowledge on this subject; for two pounds and a half of -wool is, I am told, a very good produce from a sheep at the time of -shearing."</p> - -<p>"<i>Every 'leven wether—tods</i>," adds Mr. Ritson, "has been rightly -expounded to mean that the wool of <i>eleven sheep</i> would weigh a <i>tod</i>, -or 28lb. Each fleece would, therefore, be 2lb. 8oz. 11-1/2dr., and the -whole produce of <i>fifteen hundred shorn 136 tod</i>, 1 clove, 2lb. 6oz. -2dr. which <i>at pound and odd shilling per tod</i>, would yield 143<i>l.</i> -3<i>s.</i> 0<i>d.</i> Our author was too familiar with the subject to be suspected -of inaccuracy.</p> - -<p>"Indeed it appears from Stafford's <i>Breefe Conceipte of English -Pollicye</i>, 1581, p. 16, that the price of a tod of wool was at that -period <i>twenty</i> or <i>two</i> and <i>twenty shillings</i>: so that the medium -price was exactly '<i>pound and odd shilling</i>.'"<a name="FNanchor_i_35:A_43" id="FNanchor_i_35:A_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_35:A_43" class="fnanchor">[35:A]</a></p> - -<p>In Hamlet, the prince justly observes,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">There's a divinity that <i>shapes our ends</i>,</div> - <div class="line"><i>Rough-hew</i> them how we will.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Act V. Scene 2.</i></p> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 36 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_36" id="Page_i_36">[36]</a></span> -Lines, of which the words in italics were considered by Dr. Farmer as -merely technical. "A woolman, butcher, and dealer in <i>skewers</i>," says -Mr. Stevens, "lately observed to him (Dr. F.), that his nephew, an idle -lad, could only <i>assist</i> him in making them; '—he could <i>rough-hew</i> -them, but I was obliged to <i>shape their ends</i>.' To shape the ends of -<i>wool-skewers</i>, i. e. to <i>point</i> them, requires a degree of skill; any -one can <i>rough-hew</i> them. Whoever recollects the profession of -Shakspeare's father, will admit that his son might be no stranger to -such terms. I have frequently seen packages of wool pinned up with -<i>skewers</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_36:A_44" id="FNanchor_i_36:A_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_36:A_44" class="fnanchor">[36:A]</a></p> - -<p>We may, therefore, after duly considering all the evidence that can now -be obtained, pretty confidently acquiesce in the traditional account -that Shakspeare was, for a time, and that immediately on his being taken -from the free-school, the assistant of his father in the wool-trade; but -it will be necessary here to mention, that Aubrey, on whose authority it -has been related that John Shakspeare was, at one period of his life, a -butcher, adds, with regard to our poet, that "when he was a boy, he -exercised his father's trade;" and that "when he killed a calfe, he -would do it in a <i>high style</i>, and make a speech."<a name="FNanchor_i_36:B_45" id="FNanchor_i_36:B_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_36:B_45" class="fnanchor">[36:B]</a> That John -Shakspeare, when under the pressure of adversity, might combine the two -employments, which are, in a certain degree, connected with each other, -we have already recorded as probable; it is very possible, also, that -the following similes may have been suggested to the son, by what he had -occasionally observed at home:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">And as the butcher takes away the calf,</div> - <div class="line">And binds the wretch, and beats it when it strays,</div> - <div class="line">Bearing it to the bloody slaughter-house;</div> - <div class="line">Even so, remorseless, have they borne him hence.</div> - <div class="line">And as the dam runs lowing up and down,</div> - <div class="line">Looking the way her harmless young one went,</div> - <div class="line">And can do nought but wail her darling's loss;</div> - <div class="line">Even so, &c. &c.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Henry VI. Part II. Act III. Scene 1.</i></p> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 37 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_37" id="Page_i_37">[37]</a></span>but that the father of our poet, the former bailiff of Stratford, -should employ his children, instead of servants, in the slaughter of his -cattle, is a position so revolting, so unnecessarily degrading on the -part of the father, and, at the same time, must have been so discordant -with the well-known humane and gentle cast of the poet's disposition, -that we cannot, for a moment, allow ourselves to conceive that any -credibility can be attached to such a report.</p> - -<p>At what age he began to assist his father in the wool-trade, cannot now -be positively ascertained; but as he was early taken from school, for -this purpose, we shall probably not err far, if we suppose this change -to have taken place when he was <i>twelve</i> years old; a computation which -includes a period of scholastic education sufficiently long to have -imbued him with just such a portion of classical lore, as an impartial -enquirer into his life and works would be willing to admit.</p> - -<p>A short time previous to this, when our poet was in his twelfth year, -and in the summer of 1575, an event occurred which must have made a -great impression on his mind; the visit of Queen Elizabeth to the -magnificent Earl of Leicester, at Kenelworth Castle. That young -Shakspeare was a spectator of the festivities on this occasion, was -first suggested by Bishop Percy<a name="FNanchor_i_37:A_46" id="FNanchor_i_37:A_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_37:A_46" class="fnanchor">[37:A]</a>, who, in his Essay on the Origin -of the English Stage, speaking of the old Coventry play of Hock Tuesday, -which was performed before Her Majesty during her residence at the -castle, observes,—"Whatever this old play, or 'storial show,' was at -the time it was exhibited to Queen Elizabeth, it had probably our young -Shakspeare for a spectator, who was then in his twelfth year, and -doubtless attended with all the inhabitants of the surrounding country -at these 'Princely Pleasures of Kenelworth,'<a name="FNanchor_i_37:B_47" id="FNanchor_i_37:B_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_37:B_47" class="fnanchor">[37:B]</a> <i>whence Stratford is -only a few miles distant</i>. And as the Queen was <!-- Page 38 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_38" id="Page_i_38">[38]</a></span>much diverted with the -Coventry play, 'whereat Her Majestie laught well,' and rewarded the -performers with two bucks, and five marks in money: who, 'what rejoicing -upon their ample reward, and what triumphing upon the good acceptance, -vaunted their play was never so dignified, nor ever any players before -so beatified:' but especially if our young Bard afterwards gained -admittance into the castle to see a play, which the same evening, after -supper, was there 'presented of a very good theme, but so set forth by -the actors' well-handling, that pleasure and mirth made it seem very -short,' though it lasted two good hours and more, we may imagine what an -impression was made on his infant mind. Indeed the dramatic cast of many -parts of that superb entertainment, which continued nineteen days, and -was the most splendid of the kind ever attempted in this kingdom, must -have had a very great effect on a young imagination, whose dramatic -powers were hereafter to astonish the world."<a name="FNanchor_i_38:A_48" id="FNanchor_i_38:A_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_38:A_48" class="fnanchor">[38:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of the gorgeous splendour, and elaborate pageantry which were displayed -during this princely fete at Kenelworth, some idea may be formed from -the following summary. The Earl met the Queen on Saturday the 9th of -July 1575, at Long Ichington, a town seven miles from Kenelworth, where -His Lordship had erected a tent, for the purpose of banqueting Her -Majesty, upon such a magnificent scale, "that justly for dignity," says -Laneham, "may be comparable with a beautiful palace; and for greatness -and quantity, with a proper town, or rather a citadel;" and to give his -readers an adequate conception of its vast magnitude, he adds that "it -had seven cart load of pins pertaining to it."<a name="FNanchor_i_38:B_49" id="FNanchor_i_38:B_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_38:B_49" class="fnanchor">[38:B]</a> At the first -entrance of the Queen into His Lordship's castle a floating island was -discerned upon the pool, glittering with torches, on which sat the Lady -of the Lake, attended by two nymphs, who addressed Her Majesty in verse, -with an historical account of the antiquity and owners of the castle; -and the speech <!-- Page 39 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_39" id="Page_i_39">[39]</a></span>was closed with the sound of cornets, and other -instruments of loud music. Within the base-court was erected a stately -bridge, twenty feet wide, and seventy feet long, over which the Queen -was to pass; and on each side stood columns, with presents upon them to -Her Majesty from the gods. Silvanus offered a cage of wild-fowl, and -Pomona various sorts of fruits; Ceres gave corn, and Bacchus wine; -Neptune presented sea-fish; Mars the habiliments of war; and Phœbus all -kinds of musical instruments. During the rest of her stay, varieties of -sports and shows were daily exhibited. In the chase was a savage-man -clad in ivy accompanied by satyrs; there were bear-baitings and -fire-works, Italian tumblers, and a country brideale, running at the -Quintain, and Morrice-dancing. And, that no sort of diversion might be -omitted, hither came the Coventry-men and acted the old play already -mentioned, called Hock Tuesday, a kind of tilting match, representing, -in dumb show, the defeat of the Danes by the English, in the reign of -King Ethelred. There were besides on the pool, a Triton riding on a -Mermaid eighteen feet long, and Arion upon a Dolphin. To grace the -entertainment, the Queen here knighted Sir Thomas Cecil, eldest son to -the lord treasurer; Sir Henry Cobham, brother to the Lord Cobham; Sir -Francis Stanhope, and Sir Thomas Tresham. An estimate may be formed of -the expense from the quantity of ordinary beer, that was drank upon this -occasion, which amounted to three hundred and twenty hogsheads.<a name="FNanchor_i_39:A_50" id="FNanchor_i_39:A_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_39:A_50" class="fnanchor">[39:A]</a></p> - -<p>To the ardent and opening mind of our youthful Bard what exquisite -delight must this grand festival have imparted, the splendour of which, -as Bishop Hurd remarks, "claims a remembrance even in the annals of our -country."<a name="FNanchor_i_39:B_51" id="FNanchor_i_39:B_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_39:B_51" class="fnanchor">[39:B]</a> A considerable portion of the very mythology which he -had just been studying at school, was here brought before his eyes, of -which the costume and language were under the direction of the first -poets of the age; and the dramatic cast of the <!-- Page 40 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_40" id="Page_i_40">[40]</a></span>whole pageantry, whether -classical or Gothic, was such, as probably to impress his glowing -imagination with that bias for theatrical amusements, which afterwards -proved the basis of his own glory, and of his country's poetic fame.</p> - -<p>Here, could he revisit the glimpses of the day, how justly might he -deplore, in his own inimitable language, the havoc of time, and the -mutability of human grandeur; of this princely castle, once the seat of -feudal hospitality, of revelry and song, and of which Laneham, in his -quaint style and orthography, has observed,—"Who that considerz untoo -the stately seat of <i>Kenelworth Castl</i>, the rare beauty of bilding that -His Honor hath avaunced; all of the hard quarry-stone: every room so -spacious, so well belighted, and so hy roofed within; so seemly too -sight by du proportion without; a day tyme, on every side so glittering -by glasse; a night, by continuall brightnesse of candel, fyre, and -torch-light, transparent thro the lyghtsome wyndow, as it wear the -<i>Egiptian Pharos</i> relucent untoo all the <i>Alexandrian</i> coast: or els -(too talke merily with my mery freend) thus radiant, as thoogh <i>Phœbus</i> -for hiz eaz woold rest him in the <i>Castl</i>, and not every night so to -travel doown untoo the <i>Antipodes</i>; heertoo so fully furnisht of rich -apparell and utensilez apted in all points to the best;"<a name="FNanchor_i_40:A_52" id="FNanchor_i_40:A_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_40:A_52" class="fnanchor">[40:A]</a> of this -vast pile the very ruins are now so reduced, that the grand gateway, and -the banquetting hall, eighty-six feet in length, and forty-five in -width, are the only important remains.<a name="FNanchor_i_40:B_53" id="FNanchor_i_40:B_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_40:B_53" class="fnanchor">[40:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 41 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_41" id="Page_i_41">[41]</a></span>If Shakspeare were taken as early from school as we have supposed, and -his slender attainments in latinity strongly warrant the supposition, it -is more than probable, building on the traditional hint in Rowe, of<!-- Page 42 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_42" id="Page_i_42">[42]</a></span> his -aid being <i>wanted at home</i><a name="FNanchor_i_42:A_54" id="FNanchor_i_42:A_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_42:A_54" class="fnanchor">[42:A]</a>, that he continued to assist his father -in the wool-trade for some years; that is, in all likelihood, until his -sixteenth or eighteenth year. Mr. Malone, however, not adverting <!-- Page 43 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_43" id="Page_i_43">[43]</a></span>to -this tradition, has, in a note to Rowe's Life, declared his belief, -"that, <i>on leaving school</i>, Shakspeare was placed in the office of some -country attorney, or the seneschal of some manor court<a name="FNanchor_i_43:A_55" id="FNanchor_i_43:A_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_43:A_55" class="fnanchor">[43:A]</a>:" a -position which we think improbable only in <i>point of time</i>; and, in -justice to Mr. Malone, it must be added, that in other places he has -given a much wider latitude to the period of this engagement.</p> - -<p>The circumstances on which this conjecture has been founded, are -these:—that, in the first place, throughout the dramas of Shakspeare, -there is interspersed such a vast variety of legal phrases and -allusions, expressed with such <i>technical</i> accuracy, as to force upon -the mind a conviction, that the person who had used them must have been -intimately acquainted with the profession of the law; and, secondly, -that at the close of Aubrey's manuscript anecdotes of Shakspeare, which -are said to have been collected, at an early period, from the -information of the neighbours of the poet, it is positively asserted, -that our bard "understood Latin pretty well, for he had been in his -younger years a schoolmaster in the country."<a name="FNanchor_i_43:B_56" id="FNanchor_i_43:B_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_43:B_56" class="fnanchor">[43:B]</a></p> - -<p>On the first of these data, it has been observed by Mr. Malone, in his -"Attempt to ascertain the Order in which the Plays of Shakspeare were -written," that the poet's "knowledge of legal terms is not merely such -as might be acquired by the casual observation of even his -all-comprehending mind; it has the appearance of <i>technical</i> skill; and -he is so fond of displaying it on all occasions, that I suspect he was -early initiated in at least the forms of law, and was employed, <i>while -he yet remained at Stratford</i>, in the office of some country-attorney, -who was at the same time a petty conveyancer, and perhaps also the -seneschal of some manor-court."<a name="FNanchor_i_43:C_57" id="FNanchor_i_43:C_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_43:C_57" class="fnanchor">[43:C]</a> In confirmation of this opinion, -various instances are given of his legal phraseology, which we have -copied in the note below<a name="FNanchor_i_43:D_58" id="FNanchor_i_43:D_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_43:D_58" class="fnanchor">[43:D]</a>; and here we must remark that the -expression, <!-- Page 44 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_44" id="Page_i_44">[44]</a></span><i>while he yet remained at Stratford</i>, leaves the period of -his first application to the law, from the time at which he left school -to the era<!-- Page 45 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_45" id="Page_i_45">[45]</a></span> of his visiting London, unfixed; a portion of time which we -may fairly estimate as including the lapse of <i>ten</i> years.</p> - -<p>With regard to the affirmation of Aubrey, that Shakspeare had been in -his younger years a schoolmaster in the country, the same ingenious -critic very justly remarks, that "many traditional anecdotes, though not -perfectly accurate, contain an adumbration of the truth;" and then adds, -"I am strongly inclined to think that the assertion contains, though not -the truth, yet something like it: I mean that Shakspeare had been -employed for some time in his younger years as a <i>teacher</i> in the -country; though Dr. Farmer has incontestably proved, that he could not -have been a teacher of <i>Latin</i>. I have already suggested my opinion, -that before his coming to London he had acquired some share of legal -knowledge in the office of a petty country-conveyancer, or in that of -the steward of some manorial court. <i>If he began to apply to this study -at the age of eighteen</i>, two years afterwards<!-- Page 46 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_46" id="Page_i_46">[46]</a></span> he might have been -sufficiently conversant with conveyances to have <i>taught others</i> the -form of such legal assurances as are usually prepared by -country-attorneys; and perhaps spent two or three years in this -employment before he removed from Stratford to London. Some uncertain -rumour of this kind might have continued to the middle of the last -century, and by the time it reached Mr. Aubrey, our poet's original -occupation was changed from a scrivener to that of a -schoolmaster."<a name="FNanchor_i_46:A_59" id="FNanchor_i_46:A_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_46:A_59" class="fnanchor">[46:A]</a></p> - -<p>In this quotation it will be immediately perceived that the period of -our author's application to the study of the law, is now supposed to -have occurred <i>at the age of eighteen</i>, when he must have been long -removed from school, and that he is also conceived to have been a -<i>teacher</i> of what he had acquired in the profession.</p> - -<p>These conjectures of Mr. Malone, which, in their latter and modified -state, appear to me singularly happy, have met with a warm advocate in -Mr. Whiter: "The anecdotes," he remarks, "which have been delivered down -to us respecting our poet, appear to me neither improbable nor, when -duly examined, inconsistent with each other: even those which seem least -allied to probability, contain in my opinion the <i>adumbrata</i>, if not -<i>expressa signa veritatis</i>. Mr. Malone has admirably sifted the accounts -of <i>Aubrey</i>; and there is no truth, that is obtained by a train of -reasoning not reducible to demonstration, of which I am more convinced -than the conjecture of Mr. Malone, who supposes that Shakspeare, before -he quitted Stratford, was employed in such matters of business as -belonged to the office of a country-attorney, or the steward of a -manor-court. I have stated his conjecture in general terms, that the -<i>fact</i>, as it relates to our poet's <i>legal allusions</i>, might be -separated from any accidental circumstances of <i>historical truth</i>. I am -astonished, however, that Mr. Malone has confirmed his conjecture by so -few examples. I can supply him with a very large accession."<a name="FNanchor_i_46:B_60" id="FNanchor_i_46:B_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_46:B_60" class="fnanchor">[46:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 47 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_47" id="Page_i_47">[47]</a></span>Mr. Chalmers, however, refuses his aid in the structure of this -conjectural fabric, and asserts that Shakspeare might have derived all -his technical knowledge of the law from a very few books. "From Totell's -Presidents, 1572; from Pulton's Statutes, 1578; and from the Lawier's -Logike, 1588."<a name="FNanchor_i_47:A_61" id="FNanchor_i_47:A_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_47:A_61" class="fnanchor">[47:A]</a></p> - -<p>That these books were read by Shakspeare, there can, we think, be -little doubt; but this concession by no means militates against the idea -of his having been employed for a short period in some profitable branch -of the law. After weighing all the evidence which can <i>now</i> be adduced, -either for or against the hypothesis, we shall probably make the nearest -approximation to the truth in concluding, that the object of our -research, having assisted his father for some years in the wool-trade, -for which express purpose he had been early taken from school, might -deem it necessary, on the prospect of approaching marriage, to acquire -some additional means of supporting a domestic establishment, and, -accordingly, annexed to his former occupation, or superseded it, by a -knowledge of an useful branch of <!-- Page 48 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_48" id="Page_i_48">[48]</a></span>the law, which, by being taught to -others, might prove to himself a source of revenue. Thus combining the -record of Rowe with the tradition of Aubrey, and with the evidence -derived from our author's own works, an inference has been drawn which, -though not amounting to certainty, approaches the confine of it with no -small pretensions.</p> - -<p>Of the events and circumstances which must have occurred to Shakspeare -in the interval between his leaving the free-school of Stratford, and -his marriage, scarcely any thing has transpired; the following anecdote, -however, which is still preserved at Stratford and the neighbouring -village of Bidford, may be ascribed with greater propriety to this than -to any subsequent period of his life. We shall give it in the words of -the author of the "Picturesque Views on the Avon," who professes to have -received it on the spot, as one of the traditional treasures of the -place. Speaking of Bidford, which is still equally notorious for the -excellence of its ale, and the thirsty clay of its inhabitants, he adds, -"there were antiently two societies of village-yeomanry in this place, -who frequently met under the appellation of Bidford Topers. It was a -custom with these heroes to challenge any of their neighbours, famed for -the love of good ale, to a drunken combat: among others the people of -Stratford were called out to a trial of strength, and in the number of -their champions, as the traditional story runs, our Shakspeare, who -forswore all thin potations, and addicted himself to ale as lustily as -Falstaff to his sack, is said to have entered the lists. In confirmation -of this tradition we find an epigram written by Sir Asten Cockayn, and -published in his poems in 1658, p. 124: it runs thus—</p> - - -<p class="center">TO MR. CLEMENT FISHER, OF WINCOT.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line"><i><span class="smcap">Shakspeare</span></i>, your <i>Wincot</i> ale hath much renown'd,</div> - <div class="line">That fox'd a beggar so (by chance was found</div> - <div class="line">Sleeping) that there needed not many a word</div> - <div class="line">To make him to believe he was a lord:<!-- Page 49 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_49" id="Page_i_49">[49]</a></span></div> - <div class="line">But you affirm (and in it seems most eager)</div> - <div class="line">'Twill make a lord as drunk as any beggar.</div> - <div class="line">Bid <i>Norton</i> brew such ale as Shakspeare fancies</div> - <div class="line">Did put Kit Sly into such lordly trances:</div> - <div class="line">And let us meet there (for a fit of gladness)</div> - <div class="line">And drink ourselves merry in sober sadness.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"When the Stratford lads went over to Bidford, they found the topers -were gone to Evesham fair; but were told, if they wished to try their -strength with the sippers, they were ready for the contest. This being -acceded to, our bard and his companions were staggered at the first -outset, when they thought it adviseable to sound a retreat, while the -means of retreat were practicable; and then had scarce marched half a -mile, before they were all forced to lay down more than their arms, and -encamp in a very disorderly and unmilitary form, under no better -covering than a large crab-tree; and there they rested till morning:</p> - -<p>"This tree is yet standing by the side of the road. If, as it has been -observed by the late Mr. T. Warton, the meanest hovel to which -Shakspeare has an allusion interests curiosity, and acquires an -importance, surely the tree that has spread its shade over him, and -sheltered him from the dews of the night, has a claim to our attention.</p> - -<p>"In the morning, when the company awakened our bard, the story says they -intreated him to return to Bidford, and renew the charge; but this he -declined, and looking round upon the adjoining villages, exclaimed, 'No! -I have had enough; I have drank with</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Piping Pebworth, Dancing Marston,</div> - <div class="line">Haunted Hillbro', Hungry Grafton,</div> - <div class="line">Dudging Exhall, Papist Wicksford,</div> - <div class="line">Beggarly Broom, and Drunken Bidford.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"Of the truth of this story I have very little doubt: it is certain that -the crab-tree is known all round the country by the name of Shakspeare's -crab; and that the villages to which the allusion is made, all bear the -epithets here given them: the people of Pebworth are still famed for -their skill on the pipe and tabor: Hillborough <!-- Page 50 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_50" id="Page_i_50">[50]</a></span>is now called Haunted -Hillborough; and Grafton is notorious for the poverty of its -soil."<a name="FNanchor_i_50:A_62" id="FNanchor_i_50:A_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_50:A_62" class="fnanchor">[50:A]</a></p> - -<p>To the immediate neighbourhood indeed of Stratford, and to the adjacent -country, with which, at this early period of his life, our poet seems to -have been familiarised by frequent excursions either of pleasure or -business, are to be found some allusions in his dramatic works. In the -<i>Taming of the Shrew</i>, Christopher Sly, being treated with great -ceremony and state, on waking in the bed-chamber of the nobleman, -exclaims—"What, would you make me mad? Am not I Christopher Sly, old -Sly's son of <i>Burton-Heath</i>; by birth a pedlar, by education a -card-maker, by transmutation a bear-herd, and now by present profession -a tinker? Ask Marian Hacket, the fat ale-wife of <i>Wincot</i>, if she know -me not: if she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale, -score me up for the lyingest knave in Christendom. What, I am not -bestraught!"<a name="FNanchor_i_50:B_63" id="FNanchor_i_50:B_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_50:B_63" class="fnanchor">[50:B]</a></p> - -<p>There are two villages in Warwickshire called <i>Burton Dorset</i> and -<i>Burton Hastings</i>; but that which was the residence of old Sly, is, in -all probability, <i>Burton on the Heath</i>, on the south side of the Avon, -opposite to Bidford, and about eighteen miles from Stratford. The first -scene of the play is described as <i>Before an Alehouse on a Heath</i>, and -it is remarkable that on Burton-heath there still remains a tenement, -which was formerly a public-house, under the name of Woncott or Onecott: -yet there is much reason to conclude, from the mode in which Wincot is -spoken of, both in this place, and in the following passage, that -Burton-heath and Wincot were considerably distant: in the Second Part of -King Henry IV. Davy says to Justice Shallow, "I beseech you, Sir, to -countenance William Visor <i>of Wincot</i> against Clemont Perkes of the -hill<a name="FNanchor_i_50:C_64" id="FNanchor_i_50:C_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_50:C_64" class="fnanchor">[50:C]</a>," a phraseology which seems to imply, not an insulated house, -but a village, an inference which is strongly supported by the fact that -<i>near</i> Stratford there is actually a village with the closely resembling -name of <i>Wilnecotte</i>, which, in the pronunciation and orthography of the -common people, would almost <!-- Page 51 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_51" id="Page_i_51">[51]</a></span>necessarily become <i>Wincot</i>. It should -likewise be mentioned that Mr. Warton is of opinion that this is the -place to which Shakspeare alludes, and he adds, "the house kept by our -genial hostess still remains, but is at present a mill."<a name="FNanchor_i_51:A_65" id="FNanchor_i_51:A_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_51:A_65" class="fnanchor">[51:A]</a></p> - -<p>We are indebted also to the Second Part of King Henry IV. for another -local allusion of a similar kind: Silence, addressing Pistol, nicknames -him "goodman Puff of <i>Barson</i><a name="FNanchor_i_51:B_66" id="FNanchor_i_51:B_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_51:B_66" class="fnanchor">[51:B]</a>," a village which, under this -appellation, and that of <i>Barston</i>, is situated between Coventry and -Solyhall. It may indeed excite some surprise that we have not more -allusions of this nature to commemorate; that the scenery which occurred -to him early in life, and especially at this period, when the imagery -drawn from nature must have been impressed on his mind in a manner -peculiarly vivid and defined, when he was free from care, unshackled by -a family, and at liberty to roam where fancy led him, has not been -delineated in some portion of his works, with such accuracy as -immediately to designate its origin. For, if we consider the excursive -powers of his imagination, and the desultory and unsettled habits which -tradition has ascribed to him during his youthful residence at -Stratford, we may assert, without fear of contradiction, and as an -undoubted truth, that his rambles into the country, and for a poet's -purpose, were both frequent and extensive, and that not a stream, a -wood, or hamlet, within many miles of his native town, was unvisited by -him at various times and under various circumstances.</p> - -<p>Yet, if we can seldom point out in his works any distinct reference to -the actual scenery of Stratford and its neighbourhood, we may observe, -that few of the remarkable events of his own time appear to have escaped -his notice; and among these may be found one which occurred at this -juvenile period of his life, and to which we have an allusion in Romeo -and Juliet; for though the personages of the <!-- Page 52 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_52" id="Page_i_52">[52]</a></span>drama exist and act in a -foreign clime, yet in this, and in many similar instances, he hesitates -not to describe the events of his native country as occurring wherever -he has chosen to lay the scene. Thus the nurse, describing to Lady -Capulet the age at which Juliet was weaned, says</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"'Tis since the <i>earthquake</i> now eleven years,"—</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">a line, which, as Mr. Tyrwhitt and Mr. Malone have observed<a name="FNanchor_i_52:A_67" id="FNanchor_i_52:A_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_52:A_67" class="fnanchor">[52:A]</a>, -manifestly alludes to a phenomenon of this kind that had been felt -throughout England in the year 1580, and of which Holinshed, the -favourite historian of our bard, has given the following striking -account:—"On the sixt of April (1580), being Wednesdaie in Easter -weeke, about six of the clocke toward evening, a sudden earthquake -happening in London, and almost generallie throughout all England, -caused such an amazednesse among the people as was wonderfull for the -time, and caused them to make their earnest praiers to Almighty God! The -great clocke bell in the palace at Westminster strake of it selfe -against the hammer with the shaking of the earth, as diverse other -clocks and bels in the steeples of the cities of London and els-where -did the like. The gentlemen of the Temple being then at supper, ran from -the tables, and out of their hall with their knives in their hands. The -people assembled at the plaie-houses in the fields, as at the Whoreater -(the Theater I would saie) were so amazed, that doubting the ruine of -the galleries, they made hast to be gone. A péece of the Temple church -fell downe, some stones fell from Saint Paule's church in London: and at -Christ's church neere to Newgate-market, in the sermon while, a stone -fell from the top of the same church, which stone killed out of hand one -Thomas Greie an apprentice, and another stone fell on his fellow-servant -named Mabell Eueret, and so brused hir that she lived but four daies -after. Diverse other at that time in that place were sore hurt, with -running out of the church one over an other for feare. The tops of -diverse chimnies in the citie fell <!-- Page 53 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_53" id="Page_i_53">[53]</a></span>downe, the houses were so shaken: a -part of the castell at Bishops Stratford in Essex fell downe. This -earthquake indured in or about London not passing one minute of an -houre, and was no more felt. But afterward in Kent, and on the sea coast -it was felt three times; and at Sandwich at six of the clocke the land -not onelie quaked, but the sea also fomed, so that the ships tottered. -At Dover also the same houre was the like, so that a péece of the cliffe -fell into the sea, with also a péece of the castell wall there: a piece -of Saltwood castell in Kent fell downe: and in the church of Hide the -bels were heard to sound. A peece of Sutton church in Kent fell downe, -the earthquake being there not onlie felt, but also heard. And in all -these places and others in east Kent, the same earthquake was felt three -times to move, to wit, at six, at nine, and at eleven of the -clocke."<a name="FNanchor_i_53:A_68" id="FNanchor_i_53:A_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_53:A_68" class="fnanchor">[53:A]</a> In this passage, to which we shall again have occasion to -revert, the violence and universality of the event described, are such -as would almost necessarily form an era for reference in the poet's -mind; and the date, indeed, of the <i>prima stamina</i> of the play in which -the line above-mentioned is found, may be nearly ascertained by this -allusion.</p> - -<p>If, as some of his commentators have supposed, Shakspeare possessed any -grammatical knowledge of the French and Italian languages, it is highly -probable that the acquisition must have been obtained in the interval -which took place between his quitting the grammar-school of Stratford -and his marriage, a period, if our arrangement be admitted, of about six -years; and consequently, any consideration of the subject will almost -necessarily claim a place at the close of this chapter.</p> - -<p>That the dramas of our great poet exhibit numerous instances in which -both these languages are introduced, and especially the former, of which -we have an entire scene in Henry V., will not be denied by any reader of -his works; nor will any person, acquainted with the literature of his -times, venture to affirm, that he might not have acquired by his own -industry, and through the medium of the introductory <!-- Page 54 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_54" id="Page_i_54">[54]</a></span>books then in -circulation, a sufficient knowledge of French and Italian for all the -purposes which he had in view. We cannot therefore agree with Dr. -Farmer, when he asserts, that Shakspeare's acquaintance with these -languages consisted only of <i>a familiar phrase or two</i> picked up <i>in the -writers of the time, or the course of his conversation</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_54:A_69" id="FNanchor_i_54:A_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_54:A_69" class="fnanchor">[54:A]</a></p> - -<p>The corrupted state of the French and Italian passages, as found in the -early editions of our poet's plays, can be no argument that he was -totally ignorant of these languages; as it would apply with nearly equal -force to prove that he was similarly situated with regard to his -vernacular tongue, which in almost every scene of these very editions -has undergone various and gross corruptions. Nor will greater conviction -result, when it is affirmed that this foreign phraseology might be the -interpolation of the players; for it remains to be ascertained, that -they possessed a larger portion of exotic literature than Shakspeare -himself.</p> - -<p>The author of an essay on Shakspeare's learning in the <i>Censura -Literaria</i>, from which we have already quoted a passage in favour of his -having made some progress in latinity, is likewise of opinion that his -knowledge of the French was greater than Dr. Farmer is willing to allow.</p> - -<p>"I have been confirmed in this opinion," he observes, "by a casual -discovery of Shakspeare having imitated a whole French line and -description in a long French epic poem, written by Garnier, called the -<i>Henriade</i>, like Voltaire's, and on the same subject, first published in -1594.</p> - -<p>"In <i>As You Like It</i>, Shakspeare gives an affecting description of the -different manners of men in the different ages of life, which closes -with these lines:</p> - -<div class="poem"><!-- Page 55 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_55" id="Page_i_55">[55]</a></span> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"What ends this strange eventful history</div> - <div class="line indentq">Is second childishness and mere oblivion,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"Now—why have recourse for an insipid preposition to a language of -which he is said to have been totally ignorant? I always supposed -therefore that there must have been some peculiar circumstance well -known in those times, which must have induced him to give this motley -garb to his language:—but what that circumstance was I could not -discover until I accidentally in a foreign literary journal, met with a -review of a republication of that poem of Garnier at Paris, in which -were inserted, as a specimen of the poem, a description of the -appearance of the ghost of Admiral Coligny on the night after his murder -at the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and in the following lines:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Sans pieds, sans mains, sans nez, sans oreilles, sans yeux,</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Meurtri de toutes parts; la barbe et les cheveux</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Poudreux, ensanglantez, chose presque incredible!</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Tant cette vision etoit triste et horrible!</i>"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"Here it immediately appeared to what author Shakspeare had gone for the -archetype of his own description of the last stage of old age, which, by -a parody on the above lines, he meant to represent like to that -mutilated ghost; and this seems to indicate that he had read that poem -in the original; for we even find the <i>meurtri de toutes parts</i> imitated -by <i>sans every thing</i>. A friend of mine formerly mentioned this to Mr. -Steevens, and he has briefly noticed this parody, if I recollect -rightly, in his joint edition along with Johnson<a name="FNanchor_i_55:A_70" id="FNanchor_i_55:A_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_55:A_70" class="fnanchor">[55:A]</a>, but he did not -copy the original lines of Garnier; nor so far as I know any editor -since; which however are too remarkable to be altogether consigned to -oblivion; and it is not very likely, that any Englishman will ever read -through that long dull poem; neither should I myself have known of -<!-- Page 56 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_56" id="Page_i_56">[56]</a></span>those lines, if they had not been quoted as a specimen. Steevens's note -is so very brief as to be quite obscure in regard to what consequence he -thought deducible from the imitation: he seems to suggest as if there -might have been some English translation of the poem published, though -now unknown; this is the constant refuge for Shakspeare's knowledge of -any thing written originally in another language. But even if the fact -were true, yet no translator would have preserved the repetition of that -word <i>sans</i>; for this he must have gone to the French poem itself, -therefore must at least have been able to read that line in French, if -not also the whole description of the ghost; and if that, why not able -also to read other French books? It may indeed, be <i>supposed</i>, that some -friend may have shown him the above description, and explained to him -the meaning of the French lines, but this is only to make a second -supposition in order to support a former one made without sufficient -foundation: we may just as well make a single supposition at once, that -he was himself able to read and understand it, since he has evidently -derived from it his own description of the decrepitude of old age. Upon -the whole, if his copy of a single word from Holinshed, viz. 'on <i>this</i> -side Tiber,' is a proof of his having read that historian, why also is -not his copy of the repetition of <i>sans</i>, and his parody of Coligny's -ghost, an equally good proof of his having read the poem of Garnier in -the original French language? To reason otherwise is to say, that when -he gives us bad French, this proves him not to understand it; and that -when he gives us good French, applied with propriety and even with -ingenuity, yet this again equally proves that he neither understood what -he wrote, nor was so much as able to read the French lines, which he has -thus so wittily imitated."<a name="FNanchor_i_56:A_71" id="FNanchor_i_56:A_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_56:A_71" class="fnanchor">[56:A]</a></p> - -<p>Dr. Farmer has himself granted that Shakspeare <i>began</i> to learn Latin: -why then not allow, from premises still more copious and convincing, -that he began likewise to learn French and Italian? <!-- Page 57 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_57" id="Page_i_57">[57]</a></span>That he wanted not -inclination for the attempt, the frequent use of these languages in his -works will sufficiently evince; that he had some leisure at the period -which we have appropriated to these acquisitions, namely, between the -years 1576 and 1582, few will be disposed to deny; and that he had books -which might enable him to make some progress in these studies, the -following list will ascertain:—</p> - -<p>1. A Treatyse English and French right necessarye and profitable for all -young Children. 1560.</p> - -<p>2. Principal Rules of the Italian Grammar, &c. Newly corrected and -imprinted by Wykes: 1560, reprinted 1567.</p> - -<p>3. The Italian Grammar and Dictionary: By W. Thomas. 1561.</p> - -<p>4. Lentulo's Italian Grammar, put into English: By Henry Grenthem. 1578.</p> - -<p>5. Ploiche, Peter, Introduction to the French Tongue. 1578.</p> - -<p>6. An Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionarie, containing foure sundrie -tongues: namelie, English, Latine, Greeke, and French: By I. Baret. -1580.<a name="FNanchor_i_57:A_72" id="FNanchor_i_57:A_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_57:A_72" class="fnanchor">[57:A]</a></p> - -<p>In short, with regard to the literature of Shakspeare, the nearest -approximation to the truth will be found to arise from taking a medium -course between the conclusions of Dr. Farmer, and of those who have gone -into a contrary extreme. That he had made some and that the usual -progress in the Latin language during the short period of his -school-education, it is, we think, in vain to deny; but that he ever -attained the power of reading a Roman classic with facility, cannot with -any probability be affirmed: it will be likewise, we are disposed to -believe, equally rational and correct, if we conclude, from the evidence -which his genius and his works afford, that his acquaintance with the -French and Italian languages was not merely confined to the picking up -<i>a familiar phrase or two</i> from the conversation or writings of others, -but that he had actually commenced, and at an early period too, the -study of these languages, though, from his <!-- Page 58 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_58" id="Page_i_58">[58]</a></span>situation, and the -circumstances of his life, he had neither the means nor the opportunity -of cultivating them to any considerable extent.<a name="FNanchor_i_58:A_73" id="FNanchor_i_58:A_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_58:A_73" class="fnanchor">[58:A]</a></p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_34:A_41" id="Footnote_i_34:A_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_34:A_41"><span class="label">[34:A]</span></a> "Mr. Betterton," observes Mr. Malone, "was born in 1635, -and had many opportunities of collecting information relative to -Shakspeare, but unfortunately the age in which he lived was not an age -of curiosity. Had either he or Dryden or Sir William d'Avenant taken the -trouble to visit our poet's youngest daughter, who lived till 1662, or -his grand-daughter, who did not die till 1670, many particulars might -have been preserved which are now irrecoverably lost. Shakspeare's -sister, Joan Hart, who was only five years younger than him, died at -Stratford in Nov. 1646, at the age of seventy-six; and from her -undoubtedly his two daughters, and his grand-daughter Lady Bernard, had -learned several circumstances of his early history antecedent to the -year 1600." Reed's Shakspeare, p. 119, 120.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_34:B_42" id="Footnote_i_34:B_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_34:B_42"><span class="label">[34:B]</span></a> It has already been observed, in a note written some -years after the composition of the text, that this supposed -corroboration is no longer to be depended upon.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_35:A_43" id="Footnote_i_35:A_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_35:A_43"><span class="label">[35:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 322, 323.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_36:A_44" id="Footnote_i_36:A_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_36:A_44"><span class="label">[36:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 346, 347.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_36:B_45" id="Footnote_i_36:B_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_36:B_45"><span class="label">[36:B]</span></a> Aubrey MS.—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 213.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_37:A_46" id="Footnote_i_37:A_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_37:A_46"><span class="label">[37:A]</span></a> Mr. Malone is also of opinion that Shakspeare was -present at this magnificent reception of Elizabeth. Vide "Inquiry," p. -150. note 82.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_37:B_47" id="Footnote_i_37:B_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_37:B_47"><span class="label">[37:B]</span></a> So denominated from a tract, written by <i>George -Gascoigne</i> Esq., entitled "The Princely Pleasures of Kenelworth Castle." -It is inserted in Nichols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_38:A_48" id="Footnote_i_38:A_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_38:A_48"><span class="label">[38:A]</span></a> Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. i. p. 143. 4th -edition.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_38:B_49" id="Footnote_i_38:B_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_38:B_49"><span class="label">[38:B]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses and Public Processions of Queen -Elizabeth, vol. i. Laneham's Account of the Queen's Entertainment at -Killingworth Castle, 1575, p. 50. or 78. of the original pamphlet.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_39:A_50" id="Footnote_i_39:A_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_39:A_50"><span class="label">[39:A]</span></a> Life of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 1727. 8vo. p. -92.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_39:B_51" id="Footnote_i_39:B_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_39:B_51"><span class="label">[39:B]</span></a> Hurd's Moral and Political Dialogues, vol. i. p. 148. -Edit. of 1788.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_40:A_52" id="Footnote_i_40:A_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_40:A_52"><span class="label">[40:A]</span></a> Laneham's Account, p. 65. of the Original.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_40:B_53" id="Footnote_i_40:B_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_40:B_53"><span class="label">[40:B]</span></a> The following extract from Laneham's Letter, which -immediately follows the passage given in the text, and in which I have -dropped the author's singular orthography, will afford the reader a -curious and very entertaining description of the costly and magnificent -gardens of Kenelworth Castle, gardens in which it is probable the -youthful Shakpeare had more than once wandered with delight:—</p> - -<p>"Unto this, His Honour's exquisite appointment of a beautiful garden, an -acre or more of quantity, that lieth on the north there: wherein hard -all along the castle-wall is reared a pleasant terrace of a ten foot -high, and a twelve broad: even under foot, and fresh of fine grass; as -is also the side thereof toward the garden, in which, by sundry equal -distances, with obelisks, spheres, and white bears, all of stone, upon -their curious bases, by goodly shew were set: to these two fine arbours -redolent by sweet trees and flowers, at each end one, the garden plot -under that, with fair allies green by grass, even voided from the -borders a both sides, and some (for change) with sand, not light or too -soft or soily by dust, but smooth and firm, pleasant to walk on, as a -sea-shore when the water is availd: then, much gracified by due -proportion of four even quarters: in the midst of each, upon a base a -two foot square, and high, seemly bordered of itself, a square pilaster -rising pyramidally of a fifteen foot high: simmetrically pierced through -from a foot beneath, until a two foot of the top: whereupon for a -capital, an orb of a ten inches thick: every of these (with his base) -from the ground to the top, of one whole piece; hewn out of hard -porphery, and with great art and heed (thinks me) thither conveyed and -there erected. Where, further also, by great cast and cost, the -sweetness of savour on all sides, made so repirant from the redolent -plants and fragrant herbs and flowers, in form, colour, and quantity so -deliriously variant; and fruit-trees bedecked with apples, pears, and -ripe cherries.</p> - -<p>"And unto these, in the midst against the terrace, a square cage, -sumptuous and beautiful, joined hard to the north wall (that a that side -gards the garden as the garden the castle), of a rare form and -excellency, was raised: in height a twenty foot, thirty long, and a -fourteen broad. From the ground strong and close, reared breast high, -whereat a soil of a fair moulding was couched all about: from that -upward, four great windows a front, and two at each end, every one a -five foot wide, as many more even above them, divided on all parts by a -transome and architrave, so likewise ranging about the cage. Each window -arched in the top, and parted from other in even distance by flat fair -bolted columns, all in form and beauty like, that supported a comely -cornish couched all along upon the bole square; which with a wire net, -finely knit, of mashes six square, an inch wide (as it were for a flat -roof) and likewise the space of every window with great cunning and -comeliness, even and tight was all over-strained. Under the cornish -again, every part beautified with great diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and -sapphires; pointed, tabled, rok and round; garnished with their gold, by -skilful head and hand, and by toil and pencil so lively expressed, as it -mought be great marvel and pleasure to consider how near excellency of -art could approach unto perfection of nature.</p> - -<p>"Holes were there also and caverns in orderly distance and fashion, -voided into the wall, as well for heat, for coolness, for roost a nights -and refuge in weather, as also for breeding when time is. More, fair -even and fresh holly-trees for pearching and proining, set within, -toward each end one.</p> - -<p>"Hereto, their diversity of meats, their fine several vessels for their -water and sundry grains; and a man skilful and diligent to look to them -and tend them.</p> - -<p>"But (shall I tell you) the silver sounded lute, without the sweet touch -of hand; the glorious golden cup, without the fresh fragrant wine; or -the rich ring with gem, without the fair featured finger; is nothing -indeed in his proper grace and use: even so His Honour accounted of this -mansion, till he had placed their tenants according. Had it therefore -replenished with lively birds, <i>English</i>, <i>French</i>, <i>Spanish</i>, -<i>Canarian</i>, and (I am deceived if I saw not some) <i>African</i>. Whereby, -whether it became more delightsome in change of tunes, and harmony to -the ear; or else in difference of colours, kinds, and properties to the -eye, I'll tell you if I can, when I have better bethought me.</p> - -<p>"In the centre (as it were) of this goodly garden, was there placed a -very fair fountain, cast into an eight-square, reared a four foot high; -from the midst whereof a column up set in shape of two Athlants joined -together a back half; the one looking east, tother west, with their -hands upholding a fair formed bowl of a three foot over; from whence -sundry fine pipes did lively distill continual streams into the receipt -of the fountain, maintained still two foot deep by the same fresh -falling water: wherein pleasantly playing to and fro, and round about, -carp, tench, bream, and for variety, perch, and eel, fish fair-liking -all, and large: In the top, the <i>ragged staff</i>; which with the bowl, the -pillar, and eight sides beneath, were all hewn out of rich and hard -white marble. A one side <i>Neptune</i> with his tridental fuskin triumphing -in his throne, trailed into the deep by his marine horses. On another, -<i>Thetis</i> in her chariot drawn by her dolphins. Then <i>Triton</i> by his -fishes. Here <i>Proteus</i> herding his sea-bulls. There <i>Doris</i> and her -daughters solacing a sea and sands. The waves scourging with froth and -foam, intermingled in place, with whales, whirlpools, sturgeons, -tunnies, conchs, and wealks, all engraven by exquisite device and skill, -so as I may think this not much inferior unto <i>Phœbus</i> gates, which -(Ovid says) and peradventure a pattern to this, that <i>Vulcan</i> himself -did cut: whereof such was the excellency of art, that the work in value -surmounted the stuff, and yet were the gates all of clean massy silver.</p> - -<p>"Here were things, ye see, mought inflame any mind to long after -looking: but whoso was found so hot in desire, with the wreast of a cok -was sure of a cooler: water spurting upward with such vehemency, as they -should by and by be moistened from top to toe; the he's to some -laughing, but the she's to more sport. This some time was occupied to -very good pastime.</p> - -<p>"A garden then so appointed, as wherein aloft upon sweet shawdowed walk -of terrace, in heat of summer, to feel the pleasant whisking wind above, -or delectable coolness of the fountain spring beneath: to taste of -delicious strawberries, cherries and other fruits, even from their -stalks: to smell such fragrancy of sweet odours, breathing from the -plants, herbs, and flowers: to hear such natural melodious musick and -tunes of birds: to have in eye, for mirth, some time these under -springing streams; then, the woods, the waters (for both pool and chase -were hard at hand in sight,) the deer, the people (that out of the east -arbour in the base court also at hand in view,) the fruits trees, the -plants, the herbs, the flowers, the change in colours, the birds -flittering, the fountain streaming, the fish swimming, all in such -delectable variety, order, dignity; whereby, at one moment, in one -place, at hand, without travel, to have so full fruition of so many -God's blessings, by entire delight unto all senses (if all can take) at -once: for <i>etymon</i> of the word worthy to be called <i>Paradise</i>: and -though not so goodly as <i>Paradise</i> for want of the fair rivers, yet -better a great deal by the lack of so unhappy a tree." Pages 66-72.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_42:A_54" id="Footnote_i_42:A_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_42:A_54"><span class="label">[42:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 59.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_43:A_55" id="Footnote_i_43:A_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_43:A_55"><span class="label">[43:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 60. note 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_43:B_56" id="Footnote_i_43:B_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_43:B_56"><span class="label">[43:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 214.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_43:C_57" id="Footnote_i_43:C_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_43:C_57"><span class="label">[43:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 276.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_43:D_58" id="Footnote_i_43:D_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_43:D_58"><span class="label">[43:D]</span></a></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"'——— For what in me was <i>purchased</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Falls upon thee in a much fairer sort.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>K. Hen. IV. P. II.</i></p> - -<p class="noindent">"<i>Purchase</i> is here used in its strict legal sense, in contradistinction -to an acquisition by <i>descent</i>.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'Unless the devil have him in <i>fee-simple, with fine and recovery</i>.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Merry Wives of Windsor.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'He is 'rested <i>on the case</i>.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Comedy of Errors.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'——— with <i>bills</i> on their necks, Be it known unto all men by these presents,' &c.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>As you like it.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'——— who writes himself armigero, in any <i>bill, warrant, quittance, or obligation</i>.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Merry Wives of Windsor.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'Go with me to a notary, seal me there</div> - <div class="line indents">Your <i>single bond</i>.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Merchant of Venice.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'Say, for non-payment that the debt should double.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Venus and Adonis.</i></p> - -<p class="noindent">"On a conditional bond's becoming forfeited for non-payment of money -borrowed, the whole penalty, which is usually the double of the -principal sum lent by the obligee, was formerly recoverable at law. To -this our poet here alludes.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'But the defendant doth that plea deny;</div> - <div class="line indents">To 'cide his title, is impanell'd</div> - <div class="line indents">A quest of thoughts.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Sonnet 46.</i></p> - -<p>"In <i>Much Ado about Nothing</i>, Dogberry charges the watch to keep their -<i>fellow's counsel and their own</i>. This Shakspeare transferred from the -oath of a grand juryman.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'And let my officers of such a nature</div> - <div class="line indents">Make an <i>extent</i> upon his house and lands.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>As you like it.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'He was taken <i>with the manner</i>.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Love's Labour's lost.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'<i>Enfeof'd</i> himself to popularity.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>K. Hen. IV. P. I.</i></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>'He will seal the fee-simple of his salvation, and cut the -entail from all remainders, and a perpetual succession for it -perpetually.'</p> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>All's Well that ends Well.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'Why, let her <i>accept before excepted</i>.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Twelfth Night.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'——— which is four terms or two actions;—and he shall laugh without <i>intervallums</i>.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>K. Hen. IV. P. II.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'——— keeps leets and <i>law-days</i>.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>K. Richard II.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'<i>Pray in aid</i> for kindness.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Anthony and Cleopatra.</i></p> - -<p>"No writer but one who had been conversant with the technical language -of leases and other conveyances, would have used <i>determination</i> as -synonymous to <i>end</i>. Shakspeare frequently uses the word in that sense. -See vol. xii. (Reed's Shakspeare,) p. 202. n. 2.; vol. xiii. p. 127. n. -4.; and (Mr. Malone's edit.) vol. x. p. 202. n. 8. 'From and after the -<i>determination</i> of such a term,' is the regular language of -conveyancers.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'Humbly complaining to Your Highness.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>K. Richard III.</i></p> - -<p class="noindent">'Humbly complaining to Your Lordship, your orator,' &c. are the first -words of every bill in chancery.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>'A kiss in fee farm! In witness whereof these parties -interchangeably have set their hands and seals.'</p> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Troilus and Cressida.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'Art thou a <i>feodary</i> for this act?'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Cymbeline.</i></p> - -<p class="noindent">"See the note on that passage, vol. xviii. p. 507, 508. n. 3. Reed's -edit.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>'Are those <i>precepts</i> served?' says Shallow to Davy, in <i>K. -Henry IV.</i></p> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">"<i>Precept</i> in this sense is a word only known in the office of a justice -of peace.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'Tell me what state, what dignity, what honour,</div> - <div class="line indents">Can'st thou <i>demise</i> to any child of mine?'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>K. Richard III.</i></p> - -<p class="noindent">'——— hath <i>demised</i>, granted, and to farm let,' is the constant -language of leases. What <i>poet</i> but Shakspeare has used the word -<i>demised</i> in this sense?</p> - -<p>"Perhaps it may be said, that our author in the same manner may be -proved to have been equally conversant with the terms of divinity or -physic. Whenever as large a number of instances of his ecclesiastical or -medicinal knowledge shall be produced, what has now been stated will -certainly not be entitled to any weight." Malone, Reed's Shakspeare, -vol. ii. p. 276. n. 9.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_46:A_59" id="Footnote_i_46:A_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_46:A_59"><span class="label">[46:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 222, 223.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_46:B_60" id="Footnote_i_46:B_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_46:B_60"><span class="label">[46:B]</span></a> Whiter's Specimen of a Commentary, p. 95. note. As Mr. -Whiter has not chosen to append these additional examples, I have -thought it would be satisfactory to give the few which more immediately -occur to my memory.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Immediately provided in that case."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Midsummer Night's Dream.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Royally attornied."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Winter's Tale.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"That doth <i>utter</i> all men's ware-a."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Winter's Tale.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Thy title is <i>affeer'd</i>." (This is a law-term for confirmed.)</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Keep leets, and law-days, and in sessions sit."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Othello.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Why should calamity be full of words?</div> - <div class="line indentq">Windy <i>attorneys</i> to their <i>client</i> woes."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Richard III.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"But when the heart's <i>attorney</i> once is mute,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The <i>client</i> breaks, as desperate in his suit."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Venus and Adonis.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"So now I have confessed that he is thine,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And I myself am <i>mortgaged to thy Will</i>."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Sonnet 134.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"He learn'd but, <i>surety-like</i>, to write for me,</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Under that bond that him as fast doth bind</i>.</div> - <div class="line indentq">The <i>statute</i> of thy beauty, &c."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Sonnet 134.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_47:A_61" id="Footnote_i_47:A_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_47:A_61"><span class="label">[47:A]</span></a> Chalmers's Apology, p. 554. The "Lawiers Logike" was -written by Abraham Fraunce.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_50:A_62" id="Footnote_i_50:A_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_50:A_62"><span class="label">[50:A]</span></a> Ireland's Picturesque Views, p. 229-233.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_50:B_63" id="Footnote_i_50:B_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_50:B_63"><span class="label">[50:B]</span></a> Act i. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_50:C_64" id="Footnote_i_50:C_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_50:C_64"><span class="label">[50:C]</span></a> Act v. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_51:A_65" id="Footnote_i_51:A_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_51:A_65"><span class="label">[51:A]</span></a> Mr. Edwards and Mr. Steevens have conjectured that -<i>Barton</i> and <i>Woodmancot</i>, vulgarly pronounced <i>Woncot</i>, in -Gloucestershire, might be the places meant by Shakspeare; and Mr. Tollet -remarks, that <i>Woncot</i>, may be put for <i>Wolphmancote</i>, vulgarly -<i>Ovencote</i>, in Warwickshire. Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 30., -and vol. xii. p. 240.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_51:B_66" id="Footnote_i_51:B_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_51:B_66"><span class="label">[51:B]</span></a> Act v. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_52:A_67" id="Footnote_i_52:A_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_52:A_67"><span class="label">[52:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 38. n. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_53:A_68" id="Footnote_i_53:A_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_53:A_68"><span class="label">[53:A]</span></a> Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. iv. p. 126. edit. of 1808.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_54:A_69" id="Footnote_i_54:A_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_54:A_69"><span class="label">[54:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 85. Mr. Capel Lofft's -opinion of the Italian literature of Shakspeare is somewhat more -extended than my own. "My impression," says he, "is, that Shakspeare was -not unacquainted with the most popular authors in <i>Italian prose</i>: and -that his ear had listened to the enchanting tones of <i>Petrarca</i> and some -others of their great poets." Preface to his Laura, p. cxcii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_55:A_70" id="Footnote_i_55:A_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_55:A_70"><span class="label">[55:A]</span></a> This notice does not appear in the Variorum edition of -1803.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_56:A_71" id="Footnote_i_56:A_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_56:A_71"><span class="label">[56:A]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 287. et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_57:A_72" id="Footnote_i_57:A_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_57:A_72"><span class="label">[57:A]</span></a> Vide Chalmers's Apology, p. 549. and Bibliotheca -Reediana, p. 9.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_58:A_73" id="Footnote_i_58:A_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_58:A_73"><span class="label">[58:A]</span></a> Since these observations were written, a work has fallen -into my hands under the title of "A Tour in Quest of Genealogy, through -several parts of Wales, Somersetshire, and Wiltshire, in a Series of -Letters to a Friend in Dublin; interspersed with a description of -Stourhead and Stonehenge; together with various Anecdotes and curious -Fragments from a Manuscript Collection ascribed to Shakespeare. By a -Barrister." London, 1811.</p> - -<p>These manuscripts ascribed to Shakspeare, which, from the language and -sentiment of almost every line, are manifestly a mere fiction, are said -to have been purchased at an auction at Carmarthen, consisting of verses -and letters that passed between Shakspeare and his mistress Anne -Hatheway, together with letters to and from him and others, a journal of -Shakspeare, an account of many of his plays, memoirs of his life by -himself, &c. I have mentioned the publication in this place, as it is -worthy of remark, that the fabricator of these MSS., whoever he is, -appears to have entertained an idea similar to my own, with regard to -the period when our poet attempted the acquisition of the modern -languages; for of the supposed memoirs said to be written by Shakspeare -himself, the following, among others, is given as a specimen:—</p> - -<p>"Having an ernest desier to lerne forraine tonges, it was mie good happ -to have in mie fathere's howse an Italian, one Girolama Albergi, tho he -went bye the name of Francesco Manzini, a dier of woole; but he was not -what he wished to passe for; he had the breedinge of a gentilman, and -was a righte sounde scholer. It was he taught me the littel Italian I -know, and rubbed up my Latten; we redd Bandello's Novells together, from -the which I gatherid some delliceous flowres to stick in mie dramattick -poseys. He was nevew to Battisto Tibaldi, who made a translacion of the -Greek poete, Homar, into Italian; he showed me a coppy of it given him -by hys kinsman, Ercole Tibaldi." P. 202.</p> - -<p>I must do the author of this literary forgery, however, the justice to -say, that in taste and genius he is immeasurably beyond his youthful -predecessor, and that some of the verses ascribed to <i>Anna</i> Hatheway, as -he terms her, possess no inconsiderable beauties. It is most -extraordinary, however, that any individual should venture to bring -forward the following lines, which are exquisitely modern in their -structure, as the production of a cottage girl of the sixteenth century.</p> - -<p class="sectctr">TO THE BELOVYD OF THE MUSES AND MEE.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Sweete</span> swanne of Avon, thou whoose art</div> - <div class="line">Can mould at will the human hart,</div> - <div class="line">Can drawe from all who reade or heare,</div> - <div class="line">The unresisted smile and teare:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">By thee a vyllege maiden found,</div> - <div class="line">No care had I for measured sounde;</div> - <div class="line">To dresse the fleese that Willie wrought</div> - <div class="line">Was all I knewe, was all I sought.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">At thie softe lure too quicke I flewe,</div> - <div class="line">Enamored of thie songe I grew;</div> - <div class="line">The distaffe soone was layd aside,</div> - <div class="line">And all mie woork thie straynes supply'd.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Thou gavest at first th' inchanting quill,</div> - <div class="line">And everie kiss convay'd thie skill;</div> - <div class="line">Unfelt, ye maides, ye cannot tell</div> - <div class="line">The wondrous force of suche a spell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Nor marvell if thie breath transfuse</div> - <div class="line">A charme repleate with everie muse;</div> - <div class="line">They cluster rounde thie lippes, and thyne</div> - <div class="line">Distill theire sweetes improv'd on myne.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><span class="smcap">Anna Hatheway.</span></p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 59 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_59" id="Page_i_59">[59]</a></span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_IV" id="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">SHAKSPEARE MARRIED TO ANNE HATHAWAY—ACCOUNT OF THE -HATHAWAYS—COTTAGE AT SHOTTERY—BIRTH OF HIS ELDEST CHILD, -SUSANNA—HAMNET AND JUDITH BAPTIZED—ANECDOTE OF -SHAKSPEARE—APPARENTLY SETTLED IN THE COUNTRY.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Shakspeare married and became the father of a family at a very early -period; at a period, indeed, when most young men, even in his own days, -had only completed their school-education. He had probably been attached -also to the object of his affections, who resided very near to him, for -a year or two previous to the nuptial connection, which took place in -1582; and Mr. Malone is inclined to believe that the ceremony was -performed either at Hampton-Lacy, or at Billesley, in the August of that -year<a name="FNanchor_i_59:A_74" id="FNanchor_i_59:A_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_59:A_74" class="fnanchor">[59:A]</a>, when consequently the poet had not attained the age of -eighteen and a half!</p> - -<p>The maiden name of the lady who had induced her lover to enter thus -early on the world, with little more than his passion to console, and -his genius to support them, was <i>Anne Hathaway</i>, the daughter of -<!-- Page 60 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_60" id="Page_i_60">[60]</a></span>Richard Hathaway, a substantial yeoman, residing at Shottery, a village -about a mile distant from Stratford. It appears also from the tomb-stone -of his mistress<a name="FNanchor_i_60:A_75" id="FNanchor_i_60:A_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_60:A_75" class="fnanchor">[60:A]</a> in the church of Stratford, that she must have -been born in 1556, and was therefore eight years older than himself.</p> - -<p>Of the family of the Hathaways little now, except the record of a few -deaths and baptisms, can be ascertained with precision: in the -register-books of the parish of Stratford, the following entry, in all -probability, refers to the father of the poet's wife:—</p> - -<p>"Johanna, daughter of <i>Richard Hathaway</i>, otherwise Gardiner, of -Shottery, was baptized May 9, 1566."<a name="FNanchor_i_60:B_76" id="FNanchor_i_60:B_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_60:B_76" class="fnanchor">[60:B]</a></p> - -<p>As the register does not commence before 1558, the baptism of <i>Anne</i> -could not of course be included; but it appears that the family of this -Richard was pretty numerous, for Thomas his son was baptized at -Stratford, April 12. 1569; John, another son, Feb. 3. 1574; and William, -another son, Nov. 30. 1578.<a name="FNanchor_i_60:C_77" id="FNanchor_i_60:C_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_60:C_77" class="fnanchor">[60:C]</a> Thomas died at Stratford in 1654-5, at -the advanced age of eighty-five.<a name="FNanchor_i_60:D_78" id="FNanchor_i_60:D_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_60:D_78" class="fnanchor">[60:D]</a> That the Hathaways have continued -resident at Shottery and the neighbourhood, down to the present age, -will be evident from the note below, which records their deaths to the -year 1785, as inscribed on the floor, in the nave and aisle of Stratford -church.<a name="FNanchor_i_60:E_79" id="FNanchor_i_60:E_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_60:E_79" class="fnanchor">[60:E]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 61 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_61" id="Page_i_61">[61]</a></span>The cottage at Shottery, in which Anne and her parents dwelt, is said -to be yet standing, and is still pointed out to strangers as a subject -of curiosity. It is now impossible to substantiate the truth of the -tradition; but Mr. Ireland, who has given a sketch of this cottage in -his Picturesque Views on the Avon, observes, "it is still occupied -by the descendants of her family, who are poor and numerous. To this -same humble cottage I was referred when pursuing the same inquiry, by -the late Mr. Harte, of Stratford, before-mentioned. He told me there -was an old oak chair, that had always in his remembrance been called -Shakspeare's courting chair, with a purse that had been likewise his, -and handed down from him to his grand-daughter Lady Bernard, and from -her through the Hathaway family to those of the present day. From the -best information I was able to collect at the time, I was induced to -consider this account as authentic, and from a wish to obtain the -smallest trifle appertaining to our Shakspeare, I became a purchaser of -these relics. Of the chair I have here given a sketch: it is of a date -sufficiently ancient to justify the credibility of its history; and -as to farther proof, it must rest on the traditional opinion and the -character of this poor family. The purse is about four inches square, -and is curiously wrought with small black and white bugles and beads; -the tassels are of the same materials. The bed and other furniture -in the room where the chair stood, have the appearance of so high -antiquity, as to leave no doubt but that they might all have been the -furniture of this house long before the time of Shakspeare.</p> - -<p>"The proprietor of this furniture, an old woman upwards of seventy, had -slept in the bed from her childhood, and was always told it had been -there since the house was built. Her absolute refusal to part with this -bed at any price was one of the circumstances which led to a persuasion -that I had not listened with too easy credulity to the tale she told me -respecting the articles I had purchased. By the same person I was -informed, that at the time of the Jubilee, the late George Garrick -obtained from her a small inkstand, and a pair of fringed gloves, said -to have been worn by Shakspeare."<a name="FNanchor_i_61:A_80" id="FNanchor_i_61:A_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_61:A_80" class="fnanchor">[61:A]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 62 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_62" id="Page_i_62">[62]</a></span>Of the personal charms of the poet's mistress nothing has been -transmitted to us by which we can form the smallest estimate, nor can we -positively ascertain whether convenience, or the attraction of a -beautiful form, was the chief promoter of this early connection. Mr. -Rowe merely observes, that, "in order to settle in the world after a -family-manner, he thought fit to marry while he was yet very<a name="FNanchor_i_62:A_81" id="FNanchor_i_62:A_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_62:A_81" class="fnanchor">[62:A]</a> -young;" language which seems to imply that <i>prudence</i> was the prime -motive with the youthful bard. Theobald proceeds still further, and -declares "it is <i>probable</i>, a view of <i>interest</i> might partly sway his -conduct in this point: for he married the daughter of a <i>substantial</i> -yeoman in his neighbourhood, <i>and she had the start of him in age no -less than eight years</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_62:B_82" id="FNanchor_i_62:B_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_62:B_82" class="fnanchor">[62:B]</a> Capell, on the contrary, thinks that the -marriage was contracted against the wishes of his father, whose -displeasure was the consequence of their union.<a name="FNanchor_i_62:C_83" id="FNanchor_i_62:C_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_62:C_83" class="fnanchor">[62:C]</a></p> - -<p>A moment's consideration of the character of Shakspeare will induce us -to conclude that <i>interest</i> could not be his <i>leading</i> object in forming -the matrimonial tie. In no stage of his subsequent life does a motive of -this kind appear strongly to have influenced him; and it is well known, -from facts which we shall have occasion shortly to record, that his -juvenility at Stratford was marked, rather by carelessness and -dissipation, than by the cool calculations of pecuniary wisdom. In -short, to adopt, with slight variation, a line of his own, we may -confidently assert that at this period,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Love and Liberty crept in the mind and marrow of his youth."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Timon of Athens.</i></p> - -<p>Neither can we agree with Mr. Capell in supposing that the father of our -bard was averse to the connection; a supposition which he has built on -the idea of old Mr. Shakspeare being "a man of no little substance," and -that by this marriage of his son he was disappointed in a design which -he had formed of sending him to an <a name="FNanchor_i_62:D_84" id="FNanchor_i_62:D_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_62:D_84" class="fnanchor">[62:D]</a>University! Now it has been -proved that John Shakspeare was, at this period, if not in distressed -yet in embarrassed circumstances, and that neither <!-- Page 63 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_63" id="Page_i_63">[63]</a></span>the school-education -of his son, nor his subsequent employment at home, could be such as was -calculated in any degree to prepare him for an academical life.</p> - -<p>We conclude, therefore, and certainly, with every probability on our -side, that the young poet's attachment to Anne Hathaway was, not only -perfectly disinterested, but had met likewise with the approbation of -his parents. This will appear with more verisimilitude if we consider, -in the first place, that though his bride were eight years older than -himself, still she could be but in her twenty-sixth year, an age -compatible with youth, and with the most alluring beauty; secondly, it -does not appear that the finances of young Shakspeare were in the least -improved by the connection; and thirdly, we know that he remained some -years at Stratford after his marriage, which it is not likely that he -would have done, had he been at variance with his father.</p> - -<p>It is to be regretted, and it is indeed somewhat extraordinary, that not -a fragment of the bard's poetry, addressed to his Warwickshire beauty, -has been rescued from oblivion; for that the muse of Shakspeare did not -lie dormant on an occasion so propitious to her inspiration we must -believe, both from the costume of the times, and from his own amatory -disposition. He has himself told us that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Never durst poet touch a pen to write,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Until his ink were temper'd with love's sighs."—</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Love's Labour's Lost</i>, act iv. sc. 3.</p> - -<p class="noindent">and we have seen that an opportunity for qualification was very early -placed within his power. That he availed himself of it, there can be no -doubt; and had his effusions, on this occasion, descended to posterity, -we should, in all probability, have been made acquainted with several -interesting particulars relative to his early life and character, and to -the person and disposition of his mistress.<a name="FNanchor_i_63:A_85" id="FNanchor_i_63:A_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_63:A_85" class="fnanchor">[63:A]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 64 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_64" id="Page_i_64">[64]</a></span>Our ignorance on this subject, however, would have been compensated, -had any authentic documents been preserved relative to his establishment -at Stratford, in consequence of his marriage; but of his domestic -arrangements, of his business or professional employment, no -information, or tradition to be depended upon, has reached us. We can -only infer, from the evidence produced in the preceding chapter, and -from the necessity, which must now have occurred, of providing for a -family-establishment, that if, as we have reason to conclude, he had -entered on the exercise of a branch of the manorial law, previous to his -marriage, and with a view towards that event, he would, of course, be -compelled, from prudential motives, to continue that occupation, after -he had become a householder, and most probably to combine with it the -business of a woolstapler, either on his own separate interest, or in -concert with his father.</p> - -<p>If any further incitement were wanting to his industry, it was soon -imparted; for, to the claims upon him as a husband, were added, during -the following year, those which attach to the name of a parent; his -eldest child, Susanna, being born in May 1583, and baptized on the 26th -of the same month. Thus, scarcely had our poet completed his nineteenth -year, when the most serious duties of life were imperiously forced upon -his attention, under circumstances perhaps of narrow fortune not -altogether calculated to render their performance easy and pleasant; a -situation which, on a superficial view, would not appear adapted to -afford that leisure, that free and unincumbered state of intellect, so -necessary to mental exertion; but with Shakspeare the pressure of these -and of pecuniary difficulties served only to awaken that energy and -elasticity of mind, which, ultimately directing his talents into their -proper channel, called forth the brightest and most successful -emanations of a genius nearly universal.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 65 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_65" id="Page_i_65">[65]</a></span>The family of the youthful bard gathered round him with rapidity; for, -in 1584-5, it was increased by the birth of twins, a son and daughter, -named Hamnet and Judith, who were baptized on February the 2d, of the -same year.</p> - -<p>The boy was christened by the name of Hamnet in compliment to his -god-father Mr. Hamnet Sadler, and the girl was called Judith, from a -similar deference to his wife, Mrs. Judith Sadler, who acted as her -sponsor. Mr. Hamnet or Hamlet Sadler, for they were considered as -synonymous names, and therefore used indiscriminately<a name="FNanchor_i_65:A_86" id="FNanchor_i_65:A_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_65:A_86" class="fnanchor">[65:A]</a>, appears to -have been some relation of the Shakspeare family; he is one of the -witnesses to Shakspeare's will, and is remembered in it in the following -manner:—"<i>Item</i>, I give and bequeath to Hamlet Sadler twenty-six -shillings eight-pence, to buy him a ring." Mr. Sadler died at Stratford -in October 1624, and is supposed to have been born about the year 1550. -His wife was buried there March 23. 1613-14, and Mr. Malone conjectures -that our poet was probably god-father to their son <i>William</i>, who was -baptized at Stratford, February 5. 1597-8.<a name="FNanchor_i_65:B_87" id="FNanchor_i_65:B_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_65:B_87" class="fnanchor">[65:B]</a> In the Stratford -Register are to be found entries of the baptism of six of Mr. Sadler's -children, four sons and two daughters, William being the last but one.</p> - -<p>An anecdote of Shakspeare, unappropriated to any particular period of -his life, and which may with as much, if not more, probability, be -ascribed to this stage of his biography, as to any subsequent era, has -been preserved as a tradition at Stratford. A drunken blacksmith, with a -carbuncled face, reeling up to Shakspeare, as he was leaning over a -mercer's door, exclaimed, with much vociferation,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Now, Mr. <span class="smcap">Shakspeare</span>, tell me, if you can,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The difference between a youth and a young man:"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 66 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_66" id="Page_i_66">[66]</a></span>a question which immediately drew from our poet the following reply:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Thou son of fire, with <i>thy face like a maple</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The same difference as between a scalded and a coddled apple."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">A part of the wit of this anecdote, which, says Mr. Malone, "was related -near fifty years ago to a gentleman at Stratford, by a person then above -eighty years of age, whose father might have been contemporary with -Shakspeare," turns upon the comparison between the blacksmith's face and -a species of maple, the bark of which, according to Evelyn, is -uncommonly rough, and the grain undulated and crisped into a variety of -curls.</p> - -<p>It would appear, indeed, from a book published in 1611, under the title -of <i>Tarleton's Jeasts</i>, that this fancied resemblance was a frequent -source of sarcastic wit; for it is there recorded of this once -celebrated comedian, that, "as he was performing some part 'at the Bull -in Bishopsgate-street, where the Queen's players oftentimes played,' -while he was 'kneeling down to aske his father's blessing,' a fellow in -the gallery threw an apple at him, which hit him on the cheek. He -immediately took up the apple, and, advancing to the audience, addressed -them in these lines:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'Gentlemen, this fellow, with <i>his face of mapple</i>,</div> - <div class="line indents">Instead of a pippin hath throwne me an apple;</div> - <div class="line indents">But as for an apple he hath cast a crab,</div> - <div class="line indents">So instead of an honest woman God hath sent him a drab.'</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">'The people,' says the relator, 'laughed heartily; for the fellow had a -quean to his wife.'"<a name="FNanchor_i_66:A_88" id="FNanchor_i_66:A_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_66:A_88" class="fnanchor">[66:A]</a></p> - -<p>Shakspeare was now, to all appearance, settled in the country; he was -carrying on his own and his father's business; he was married and had a -family around him; a situation in which the comforts of domestic privacy -might be predicted within his reach, but which augured little of that -splendid destiny, that universal fame and unparalleled celebrity, which -awaited his future career.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 67 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_67" id="Page_i_67">[67]</a></span>In adherence, therefore, to the plan, which we have announced, of -connecting the circumstances of the times with our author's life, we -have chosen this period of it, as admirably adapted for the introduction -of a survey of country life and manners, its customs, diversions and -superstitions, as they existed in the age of Shakspeare. These, -therefore, will be the subject of the immediately following chapters, in -which it shall be our particular aim, among the numerous authorities to -which we shall be obliged to have recourse, to draw from the poet -himself those passages which throw light upon the topics as they rise to -view; an arrangement which, when it shall have been carried, in all its -various branches, through the work, will clearly show, that from -Shakspeare, more than from any other poet, is to be collected the -history of the times in which he lived, so far as that history relates -to popular usage and amusement.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_59:A_74" id="Footnote_i_59:A_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_59:A_74"><span class="label">[59:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 139. note 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_60:A_75" id="Footnote_i_60:A_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_60:A_75"><span class="label">[60:A]</span></a> "Heere Lyeth Interrid The Bodye of Anne, Wife of Mr. -William Shakespeare, Who Depted. This Life The 6th Day of Avgvst, 1623, -Being of The Age of 67 Yeares."—Wheler's Stratford, p. 76.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_60:B_76" id="Footnote_i_60:B_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_60:B_76"><span class="label">[60:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 133.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_60:C_77" id="Footnote_i_60:C_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_60:C_77"><span class="label">[60:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 134. Note by Malone.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_60:D_78" id="Footnote_i_60:D_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_60:D_78"><span class="label">[60:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 128.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_60:E_79" id="Footnote_i_60:E_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_60:E_79"><span class="label">[60:E]</span></a> "Richard Hathaway, of Shottery, died 15th April, 1692. -Robert Hathaway died 4th March, 1728, aged 64. Edmund Hathaway died 14th -June, 1729, aged 57. Jane his wife died 12th Dec. 1729, aged 64. John -Hathaway died 11th Oct. 1731, aged 39. Abigail, wife of John Hathaway, -jun. of Luddington, died 5th of May, 1735, aged 29. Mary her daughter -died 13th July, 1735, aged 10 weeks. Robert Hathaway, son of Robert and -Sarah Hathaway, died the 1st of March, 1723, aged 21. Ursula, wife of -John Hathaway, died the 23d of Janry. 1731, aged 50. John Hathaway, sen. -died the 5th of Sept. 1753, aged 73. John Hathaway, of Haddington, died -the 23d of June, 1775, aged 67. S. H. 1756. S. H. 1785."—Wheler's -History and Antiquities of Stratford-upon-Avon, p. 55.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_61:A_80" id="Footnote_i_61:A_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_61:A_80"><span class="label">[61:A]</span></a> Ireland's Views, p. 206-209.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_62:A_81" id="Footnote_i_62:A_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_62:A_81"><span class="label">[62:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 60.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_62:B_82" id="Footnote_i_62:B_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_62:B_82"><span class="label">[62:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 193.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_62:C_83" id="Footnote_i_62:C_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_62:C_83"><span class="label">[62:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 355. note 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_62:D_84" id="Footnote_i_62:D_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_62:D_84"><span class="label">[62:D]</span></a> Ibid.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_63:A_85" id="Footnote_i_63:A_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_63:A_85"><span class="label">[63:A]</span></a> Building on the high credibility of Shakspeare having -employed his poetical talents, at this period, on the subject nearest to -his heart, two ingenious gentlemen have been so obliging as not only to -furnish him with words on this occasion, but to offer these to the world -as the genuine product of his genius. It is scarcely necessary to add, -that I allude to the Shakspeare Papers of young Ireland; and to a Tour -in Quest of Genealogy, by a Barrister.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_65:A_86" id="Footnote_i_65:A_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_65:A_86"><span class="label">[65:A]</span></a> Thus in the will of Shakspeare we read, "I give and -bequeath to <i>Hamlet</i> Sadler;" when at the close, Mr. Sadler as a witness -writes his Christian name <i>Hamnet</i>. See Malone's note on this subject, -Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 135.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_65:B_87" id="Footnote_i_65:B_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_65:B_87"><span class="label">[65:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 158, note 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_66:A_88" id="Footnote_i_66:A_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_66:A_88"><span class="label">[66:A]</span></a> Malone's Historical Account of the English Stage, Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 140. note 4.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 68 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_68" id="Page_i_68">[68]</a></span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_V" id="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">A VIEW OF COUNTRY LIFE DURING THE AGE OF SHAKSPEARE;—ITS -MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.—RURAL CHARACTERS.</p> -</div> - - -<p>It may be necessary, in the commencement of this chapter, to remark, -that rural life, in the strict acceptation of the term, will be at -present the exclusive object of attention; a survey of the manners and -customs of the metropolis, and of the superior orders of society, being -deferred to a subsequent portion of the work.</p> - -<p>No higher character will, therefore, be introduced in this sketch than -the <i>country squire</i>, constituting according to Harrison, who wrote -about the year 1580, one of the second order of gentlemen; for these, he -remarks, "be divided into two sorts, as the baronie or estate of lords -(which conteineth barons and all above that degree), and also those that -be no lords, as knights, esquires, and simple gentlemen."<a name="FNanchor_i_68:A_89" id="FNanchor_i_68:A_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_68:A_89" class="fnanchor">[68:A]</a> He has -also furnished us, in another place, with a more precise definition of -the character under consideration. "Esquire (which we call commonlie -squire) is a French word, and so much in Latine as Scutiger vel Armiger, -and such are all those which beare armes, or armoires, testimonies of -their race from whence they be descended. They were at the first -costerels or bearers of the armes of barons, or knights, and thereby -being instructed in martiall knowledge, had that name for a dignitie -given to distinguish them from common souldiers called Gregarii Milities -when they were together in the field."<a name="FNanchor_i_68:B_90" id="FNanchor_i_68:B_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_68:B_90" class="fnanchor">[68:B]</a></p> - -<p>It is curious to mark the minute distinctions of gentlemen as detailed -at this period, in the various books of <i>Armorie</i> or <i>Heraldrie</i>. The -science, indeed, was cultivated, in the days of Shakspeare, with an -enthusiasm which has never since been equalled, and the treatises on the -subject were consequently multitudinous.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> -<!-- Page 69 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_69" id="Page_i_69">[69]</a></span> <div class="line">"—— If no gentleman, why then no arms,"<a name="FNanchor_i_69:A_91" id="FNanchor_i_69:A_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_69:A_91" class="fnanchor">[69:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">exclaims our poet; the aspirants, therefore, to this distinction were -numerous, and in the <i>Gentleman's Academie</i>; or, <i>The Booke of St. -Albans</i>, published by Gervase Markham in 1595, which he says in the -dedication was <i>then</i> absolutely "necessarie and behovefull to the -accomplishment of the gentlemen of this flourishing ile—in the -heroicall and excellent study of Armory," we find "nine sortes" and -"foure maner" of gentlemen expressly distinguished.</p> - -<p class="center">"Of nine sortes of gentlemen:</p> - -<p>"First, there is a gentleman of ancestry and blood.</p> - -<p>"A gentleman of blood.</p> - -<p>"A gentleman of coat-armour, and those are three, one of the kings -badge, another of lordship, and the third of killing a pagan.</p> - -<p>"A gentleman untriall: a gentleman Ipocrafet: a gentleman spirituall and -temporall: there is also a gentleman spirituall and temporall.—</p> - -<p class="center">"The divers manner of gentlemen:</p> - -<p>"There are foure maner of gentlemen, to wit, one of auncestrie, which -must needes bee of blood, and three of coate-armour, and not of blood: -as one a gentleman of coate-armour of the kings badge, which is of armes -given him by an herauld: another is, to whome the king giveth a -lordeshippe, to a yeoman by his letters pattents, and to his heires for -ever, whereby hee may beare the coate-armour of the same lordeshippe: -the thirde is, if a yeoman kill a gentleman, Pagan or Sarazen, whereby -he may of right weare his coate-armour: and some holde opinion, that if -one Christian doe kill an other, and if it be lawfull battell, they may -weare each others coate-armour, yet it is not so good as where the -Christian killes the Pagan."</p> - -<p>We have also the virtues and vices proper or contrary to the character -of the gentleman, the former of which are divided into five amorous and -four sovereign: "the five amorous are these,—lordly of <!-- Page 70 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_70" id="Page_i_70">[70]</a></span>countenance, -sweet in speech, wise in answere, perfitte in government and cherefull -to faithfulnes: the foure soveraigne are these fewe,—oathes are no -swearing, patient in affliction, knowledge of his owne birth, and to -feare to offend his soveraigne."<a name="FNanchor_i_70:A_92" id="FNanchor_i_70:A_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92" class="fnanchor">[70:A]</a> The vices which are likewise -enumerated as <i>nine</i>, are all modifications of cowardice, lechery, and -drunkenness.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 71 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_71" id="Page_i_71">[71]</a></span>That the character of the gentleman was still estimated, in the reign -of Elizabeth, according to this definition of the Prioress of Sopewell, -<!-- Page 72 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_72" id="Page_i_72">[72]</a></span>we have consequently the authority of Markham to assert, who tells us, -that the study of his modernised edition of the Booke of St. Albans was -still "behovefull to the accomplishment of the gentleman" of 1595.</p> - -<p>The mansion-houses of the country-gentlemen were, in the days of -Shakspeare, rapidly improving both in their external appearance, and in -their interior comforts. During the reign of Henry the Eighth, and even -of Mary, they were, if we except their size, little better than -cottages, being thatched buildings, covered on the outside with the -coarsest clay, and lighted only by lattices; when Harrison wrote, in the -age of Elizabeth, though the greater number of manor-houses still -remained framed of timber, yet he observes, "such as be latelie builded, -are cōmonlie either of bricke or hard stone, or both; their roomes large -and comelie, and houses of office further distant from their -lodgings."<a name="FNanchor_i_72:A_93" id="FNanchor_i_72:A_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_72:A_93" class="fnanchor">[72:A]</a> The old timber mansions, too, were now covered with the -finest plaster, which, says the historian, "beside the delectable -<!-- Page 73 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_73" id="Page_i_73">[73]</a></span>whitenesse of the stuffe itselfe, is laied on so even and smoothlie, as -nothing in my judgment can be done with more exactnesse<a name="FNanchor_i_73:A_94" id="FNanchor_i_73:A_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_73:A_94" class="fnanchor">[73:A]</a>:" and at -the same time, the windows, interior decorations, and furniture were -becoming greatly more useful and elegant. "Of old time our countrie -houses," continues Harrison, "instead of glasse did use much lattise, -and that made either of wicker or fine rifts of oke in chekerwise. I -read also that some of the better sort, in and before the time of the -Saxons, did make panels of horne insteed of glasse, and fix them in -woodden calmes. But as horne in windows is now quite laid downe in -everie place, so our lattises are also growne into lesse use, because -glasse is come to be so plentifull, and within a verie little so good -cheape if not better then the other.—The wals of our houses on the -inner sides in like sort be either hanged with tapisterie, arras worke, -or painted cloths, wherein either diverse histories, or hearbes, beasts, -knots, and such like are stained, or else they are seeled with oke of -our owne, or wainescot brought hither out of the east countries, whereby -the roomes are not a little commanded, made warme, and much more close -than otherwise they would be. As for stooves we have not hitherto used -them greatlie, yet doo they now begin to be made in diverse houses of -the gentrie.—Likewise in the houses of knights, gentlemen, &c. it is -not geson to behold generallie their great provision of Turkie worke, -pewter, brasse, fine linen, and thereto costlie cupbords of plate, worth -five or six hundred or a thousand pounds, to be deemed by -estimation."<a name="FNanchor_i_73:B_95" id="FNanchor_i_73:B_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_73:B_95" class="fnanchor">[73:B]</a></p> - -<p>The house of every country-gentleman of property included a neat chapel -and a spacious hall; and where the estate and establishment were -considerable, the mansion was divided into two parts or sides, one for -the state or banqueting-rooms, and the other for the household; but in -general, the latter, except in baronial residences, was the only part to -be met with, and when complete had the addition of parlours; thus Bacon, -in his Essay on Building, describing the houshold side of a mansion, -says, "I wish it divided at the first into a hall, and <!-- Page 74 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_74" id="Page_i_74">[74]</a></span>a chappell, with -a partition betweene; both of good state and bignesse: and those not to -goe all the length, but to have, at the further end, a winter, and a -summer parler, both faire: and under these roomes a faire and large -cellar, sunke under ground: and likewise, some privie kitchins, with -butteries and pantries, and the like."<a name="FNanchor_i_74:A_96" id="FNanchor_i_74:A_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_74:A_96" class="fnanchor">[74:A]</a> It was the custom also to -have windows opening from the parlours and passages into the chapel, -hall, and kitchen, with the view of overlooking or controlling what -might be going on; a trait of vigilant caution, which may still be -discovered in some of our ancient colleges and manor-houses, and to -which Shakspeare alludes in King Henry the Eighth, where he describes -His Majesty and Butts the physician entering at a window above, which -overlooks the council-chamber.<a name="FNanchor_i_74:B_97" id="FNanchor_i_74:B_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_74:B_97" class="fnanchor">[74:B]</a> We may add, in illustration of this -system of architectural espionage, that Andrew Borde, when giving -instructions for building a house in his <i>Dietarie of Health</i>, directs -"many of the chambers to have a view into the chapel:" and that Parker, -Archbishop of Canterbury, in a letter, dated 1573, says, "if it please -Her Majestie, she may come in through my gallerie, and see the -disposition of the hall in dynner-time, at <i>a window opening -thereunto</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_74:C_98" id="FNanchor_i_74:C_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_74:C_98" class="fnanchor">[74:C]</a></p> - -<p>The hall of the country-squire was the usual scene of eating and -hospitality, at the upper end of which was placed the orsille or high -table, a little elevated above the floor, and here the master of the -mansion presided, with an authority, if not a state, which almost -equalled that of the potent baron. The table was divided into upper and -lower messes, by a huge saltcellar, and the rank and consequence of the -visitors were marked by the situation of their seats above, and below, -the saltcellar; a custom which not only distinguished the relative -dignity of the guests, but extended likewise to the nature of the -provision, the wine frequently circulating only above the saltcellar, -and the dishes below it, being of a coarser kind than those near the -head of the table. So prevalent was this uncourteous distinction, that -<!-- Page 75 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_75" id="Page_i_75">[75]</a></span>Shakspeare, in his Winter's Tale, written about the year 1604, or 1610, -designates the inferior orders of society by the term "<i>lower messes</i>."</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">————————— "Lower messes,</div> - <div class="line">Perchance, are to this business purblind."<a name="FNanchor_i_75:A_99" id="FNanchor_i_75:A_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_75:A_99" class="fnanchor">[75:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Dekkar, likewise, in his play called <i>The Honest Whore</i>, 1604, mentions -in strong terms the degradation of sitting beneath the salt: "Plague -him, set him beneath the salt; and let him not touch a bit, till every -one has had his full cut."<a name="FNanchor_i_75:B_100" id="FNanchor_i_75:B_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_75:B_100" class="fnanchor">[75:B]</a> Hall too, in the sixth satire of his -second book, published in 1597, when depicting the humiliated state of -the squire's chaplain, says, that he must not</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"ever presume to sit <i>above the salt</i>:"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Jonson, in his Cynthia's Revells, speaking of a coxcomb, says, "his -fashion is, not to take knowledge of him that is beneath him in clothes. -He never drinkes <i>below the salt</i>." See act i. sc. 2.</p> - -<p>This invidious regulation appears to have extended far into the -seventeenth century; for Massinger in his <i>City Madam</i>, acted in 1632, -thus notices it:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">——————— "My proud lady</div> - <div class="line">Admits him to her table, marry, ever</div> - <div class="line"><i>Beneath the salt</i>, and there he sits the subject</div> - <div class="line">Of her contempt and scorn:"<a name="FNanchor_i_75:C_101" id="FNanchor_i_75:C_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_75:C_101" class="fnanchor">[75:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Cartright still later:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">——— "Where you are best esteem'd,</div> - <div class="line">You only pass under the favourable name</div> - <div class="line">Of humble cousins that sit <i>beneath the salt</i>."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Love's Convert.</i></p> - -<p>The luxury of eating and of good cooking were well understood in the -days of Elizabeth, and the table of the country-squire frequently -groaned beneath the burden of its dishes; at Christmas and <!-- Page 76 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_76" id="Page_i_76">[76]</a></span>at Easter -especially, the hall became the scene of great festivity; "in -gentlemen's houses, at Christmas," says Aubrey, "the first dish that was -brought to table was a boar's head, with a lemon in his mouth. At -Queen's Coll. Oxon. they still retain this custom, the bearer of it -bringing it into the hall, singing to an old tune an old Latin rhyme, -<i>Apri caput defero, &c.</i> The first dish that was brought up to table on -Easter-day was a red-herring riding away on horseback; <i>i. e.</i> a herring -ordered by the cook something after the likeness of a man on horseback, -set in a corn sallad. The custom of eating a gammon of bacon at Easter -(which is still kept up in many parts of England) was founded on this, -<i>viz.</i> to shew their abhorrence of Judaism at that solemn commemoration -of our Lord's resurrection."<a name="FNanchor_i_76:A_102" id="FNanchor_i_76:A_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_76:A_102" class="fnanchor">[76:A]</a></p> - -<p>Games and diversions of various kinds, such as mumming, masqueing, -dancing, loaf-stealing, &c. &c. were allowed in the hall on these days; -and the servants, or heralds, wore the coats of arms of their masters, -and cried '<i>Largesse</i>' thrice. The hall was usually hung round with the -insignia of the squire's amusements, such as hunting, shooting, fishing, -&c.; but in case he were a justice of the peace, it assumed a more -terrific aspect. "The halls of the justice of peace," observes honest -Aubrey, "were dreadful to behold. The skreen was garnished with corslets -and helmets, gaping with open mouths, with coats of mail, launces, -pikes, halberts, brown bills, bucklers."<a name="FNanchor_i_76:B_103" id="FNanchor_i_76:B_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_76:B_103" class="fnanchor">[76:B]</a></p> - -<p>The following admirable description of an old English hall, which still -remains as it existed in the days of Elizabeth, is taken from the notes -to Mr. Scott's recent poem of Rokeby, and was communicated to the bard -by a friend; the story which it introduces, I have also added, as it -likewise occurred in the same reign, and affords a curious though not a -pleasing trait of the manners of the times; as, while it gives a -dreadful instance of ferocity, it shows with what ease justice, even in -the case of the most enormous crimes, might be set aside.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 77 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_77" id="Page_i_77">[77]</a></span>Littlecote-House stands in a low and lonely situation. On three sides -it is surrounded by a park that spreads over the adjoining hill; on the -fourth, by meadows which are watered by the river Kennet. Close on one -side of the house is a thick grove of lofty trees, along the verge of -which runs one of the principal avenues to it through the park. It is an -irregular building of great antiquity, and was probably erected about -the time of the termination of feudal warfare, when defence came no -longer to be an object in a country-mansion. Many circumstances in the -interior of the house, however, seem appropriate to feudal times. The -hall is very spacious, floored with stones, and lighted by large transom -windows, that are clothed with casements. Its walls are hung with old -military accoutrements, that have long been left a prey to rust. At one -end of the hall is a range of coats of mail and helmets, and there is on -every side abundance of old-fashioned pistols and guns, many of them -with matchlocks. Immediately below the cornice hangs a row of leathern -jerkins, made in the form of a shirt, supposed to have been worn as -armour by the vassals. A large oak-table, reaching nearly from one end -of the room to the other, might have feasted the whole neighbourhood, -and an appendage to one end of it made it answer at other times for the -old game of shuffle-board. The rest of the furniture is in a suitable -style, particularly an arm-chair of cumbrous workmanship, constructed of -wood, curiously turned, with a high back and triangular seat, said to -have been used by Judge Popham in the reign of Elizabeth. The entrance -into the hall is at one end by a low door, communicating with a passage -that leads from the outer door, in the front of the house, to a -quadrangle within; at the other it opens upon a gloomy staircase, by -which you ascend to the first floor, and, passing the doors of some -bed-chambers, enter a narrow gallery, which extends along the back front -of the house from one end to the other of it, and looks upon an old -garden. This gallery is hung with portraits, chiefly in the Spanish -dresses of the sixteenth century. In one of the bed-chambers, which you -pass in going towards the gallery, is a bedstead with blue furniture, -which time has now made dingy and threadbare, <!-- Page 78 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_78" id="Page_i_78">[78]</a></span>and in the bottom of one -of the bed-curtains you are shewn a place where a small piece has been -cut out and sown in again; a circumstance which serves to identify the -scene of the following story:</p> - -<p>"It was a dark rainy night in the month of November, that an old midwife -sate musing by her cottage fire-side, when on a sudden she was startled -by a loud knocking at the door. On opening it she found a horseman, who -told her that her assistance was required immediately by a person of -rank, and that she should be handsomely rewarded, but that there were -reasons for keeping the affair a strict secret, and, therefore, she must -submit to be blind-folded, and to be conducted in that condition to the -bed-chamber of the lady. After proceeding in silence for many miles -through rough and dirty lanes, they stopped, and the midwife was led -into a house, which, from the length of her walk through the apartment, -as well as the sounds about her, she discovered to be the seat of wealth -and power. When the bandage was removed from her eyes, she found herself -in a bed-chamber, in which were the lady on whose account she had been -sent for, and a man of a haughty and ferocious aspect. The lady was -delivered of a fine boy. Immediately the man commanded the midwife to -give him the child, and, catching it from her, he hurried across the -room, and threw it on the back of the fire, that was blazing in the -chimney. The child, however, was strong, and by its struggles rolled -itself off upon the hearth, when the ruffian again seized it with fury, -and, in spite of the intercession of the midwife, and the more piteous -entreaties of the mother, thrust it under the grate, and raking the live -coals upon it, soon put an end to its life. The midwife, after spending -some time in affording all the relief in her power to the wretched -mother, was told that she must be gone. Her former conductor appeared, -who again bound her eyes, and conveyed her behind him to her own home; -he then paid her handsomely, and departed. The midwife was strongly -agitated by the horrors of the preceding night; and she immediately made -a deposition of the fact before a magistrate. Two circumstances afforded -hopes of detecting the house in which the crime had been committed; one -was, that the midwife, as <!-- Page 79 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_79" id="Page_i_79">[79]</a></span>she sate by the bed-side, had, with a view to -discover the place, cut out a piece of the bed-curtain, and sown it in -again; the other was, that as she had descended the staircase, she had -counted the steps. Some suspicions fell upon one Darrell, at that time -the proprietor of Littlecote-House and the domain around it. The house -was examined, and identified by the midwife, and Darrell was tried at -Salisbury for the murder. By corrupting his judge, he escaped the -sentence of the law; but broke his neck by a fall from his horse in -hunting, in a few months after. The place where this happened is still -known by the name of Darrell's Hill: a spot to be dreaded by the peasant -whom the shades of evening have overtaken on his way.</p> - -<p>"Littlecote-House is two miles from Hungerford, in Berkshire, through -which the Bath road passes. The fact occurred in the reign of Elizabeth. -All the important circumstances I have given exactly as they are told in -the country." Rokeby, 4to. edit. notes, p. 102-106.</p> - -<p>The usual fare of country-gentlemen, relates Harrison, was "foure, five, -or six dishes, when they have but <i>small resort</i>;" and accordingly, we -find that Justice Shallow, when he invites Falstaffe to dinner, issues -the following orders: "Some pigeons, Davy; a couple of short-legged -hens; a joint of mutton; and any pretty little tiny kickshaws, tell -William Cook."<a name="FNanchor_i_79:A_104" id="FNanchor_i_79:A_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_79:A_104" class="fnanchor">[79:A]</a> But on feast-days, and particularly on the -festivals above-mentioned, the profusion and cost of the table were -astonishing. Harrison observes that the country-gentlemen and merchants -contemned butchers meat on such occasions, and vied with the nobility in -the production of rare and delicate viands, of which he gives a long -list<a name="FNanchor_i_79:B_105" id="FNanchor_i_79:B_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_79:B_105" class="fnanchor">[79:B]</a>; and Massinger says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Men may talk of <i>country-christmasses</i>—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Their thirty-pound butter'd eggs, their pies of carps tongues,</div> - <!-- Page 80 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_80" id="Page_i_80">[80]</a></span><div class="line indentq">Their pheasants drench'd with ambergris, the carcases</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of three fat wethers bruised for gravy, to</div> - <div class="line indentq">Make sauce for a single peacock; yet their feasts</div> - <div class="line indentq">Were fasts, compared with the city's."<a name="FNanchor_i_80:A_106" id="FNanchor_i_80:A_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_80:A_106" class="fnanchor">[80:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It was the custom in the houses of the country-gentlemen to retire after -dinner, which generally took place about eleven in the morning, to the -garden-bower or an arbour in the orchard, in order to partake of the -banquet or dessert; thus Shallow, addressing Falstaffe after dinner, -exclaims, "Nay, you shall see mine orchard: where, in an <i>arbour</i>, we -will eat a last year's pippin of my own graffing, with a dish of -carraways, and so forth."<a name="FNanchor_i_80:B_107" id="FNanchor_i_80:B_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_80:B_107" class="fnanchor">[80:B]</a> From the banquet it was usual to retire -to evening prayer, and thence to supper, between five and six o'clock; -for in Shakspeare's time, there were seldom more than two meals, dinner -and supper; "heretofore," remarks Harrison, "there hath beene much more -time spent in eating and drinking than commonlie is in these daies, for -whereas of old we had breakfasts in the forenoone, beverages, or -nuntions after dinner, and thereto reare <!-- Page 81 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_81" id="Page_i_81">[81]</a></span>suppers generallie when it was -time to go to rest. Now these od repasts, thanked be God, are verie well -left, and ech one in manner (except here and there some yoong hungrie -stomach that cannot fast till dinner time) contenteth himselfe with -dinner and supper onelie. The nobilitie, <i>gentlemen</i>, and merchantmen, -especiallie at great meetings, doo sit commonlie till two or three of -the clocke at afternoone, so that with manie is an hard matter to rise -from the table to go to evening praier, and returne from thence to come -time enough to supper."<a name="FNanchor_i_81:A_108" id="FNanchor_i_81:A_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_81:A_108" class="fnanchor">[81:A]</a></p> - -<p>The supper which, on days of festivity, was often protracted to a late -hour, and often too as substantial as the dinner, was succeeded, -especially at Christmas, by gambols of various sorts, and sometimes the -squire and his family would mingle in the amusements, or retiring to the -tapestried parlour, would leave the hall to the more boisterous mirth of -their household; then would the <span class="smcap">Blind Harper</span>, who sold his <i><span class="smcap">FIT</span> of mirth -for a groat</i>, be introduced, either to provoke the dance, or to rouse -their wonder by his minstrelsy; his "matter being for the most part -stories of old time, as the tale of Sir Topas, the reportes of Bevis of -Southampton, Guy of Warwicke, Adam Bell, and Clymme of the Clough, and -such other old romances or historical rimes, made purposely for -recreation of the common people at Christmasse dinners and -brideales."<a name="FNanchor_i_81:B_109" id="FNanchor_i_81:B_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_81:B_109" class="fnanchor">[81:B]</a> Nor was the evening passed by the parlour fire-side -dissimilar in its pleasures; the harp of history or romance was -frequently made vocal by one of the party. "We ourselves," says -Puttenham, who wrote in 1589, "have written for pleasure a little brief -romance, or historical ditty, in the English tong of the Isle of Great -Britaine, in short and long meetres, and by breaches or divisions, to be -more commodiously sung to the harpe in places of assembly, where the -company shal be desirous to heare of old adventures, and valiaunces of -noble knights in times past, as are those of King Authur and his Knights -of the Round Table, Sir Bevys of Southampton, Guy of Warwicke, and -others like."<a name="FNanchor_i_81:C_110" id="FNanchor_i_81:C_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_81:C_110" class="fnanchor">[81:C]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 82 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_82" id="Page_i_82">[82]</a></span>The <i>posset</i> at bed-time, closed the joyous day, a custom to which -Shakspeare has occasionally alluded; thus Lady Macbeth says of the -"surfeited grooms," "I have drugg'd their possets<a name="FNanchor_i_82:A_111" id="FNanchor_i_82:A_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_82:A_111" class="fnanchor">[82:A]</a>;" Mrs. Quickly -tells Rugby, "Go; and we'll have a posset for't soon at night, in faith, -at the latter end of a sea-coal fire<a name="FNanchor_i_82:B_112" id="FNanchor_i_82:B_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_82:B_112" class="fnanchor">[82:B]</a>;" and Page, cheering -Falstaffe, exclaims, "Thou shall eat a posset to-night at my<a name="FNanchor_i_82:C_113" id="FNanchor_i_82:C_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_82:C_113" class="fnanchor">[82:C]</a> -house." Thomas Heywood also, a contemporary of Shakspeare, has -particularly noticed this refection as occurring just before bed-time: -"Thou shall be welcome to beef and bacon, and perhaps a bag-pudding; and -my daughter Nell shall pop a <i>posset</i> upon thee when thou goest to -bed."<a name="FNanchor_i_82:D_114" id="FNanchor_i_82:D_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_82:D_114" class="fnanchor">[82:D]</a></p> - -<p>In short, hospitality, a love of festivity, and an ardent attachment to -the sports of the field, were prominent traits in the character of the -country-gentleman in Shakspeare's days. The floor of his hall was -commonly occupied by his greyhounds, and on his hand was usually to be -found his favorite hawk. His conversation was very generally on the -subject of his diversions; for as Master Stephen says, "Why you know, -an'a man have not skill in the hawking and hunting languages -now-a-dayes, I'll not give a rush for him. They are more studied than -the <i>Greeke</i>, or the <i>Latine</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_82:E_115" id="FNanchor_i_82:E_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_82:E_115" class="fnanchor">[82:E]</a> Classical acquirements were, -nevertheless, becoming daily more fashionable and familiar with the -character which we are describing; but still an intimacy with heraldry, -romance, and the chroniclers, constituted the chief literary wealth of -the country-gentleman. In his dress he was plain, though occasionally -costly; yet Harrison complains in 1580, that the gaudy trappings of the -French were creeping even into the rural and mercantile world: "Neither -was it merrier," says he, "with England, than when an Englishman was -knowne abroad by his owne cloth, and contented himselfe at home with his -fine carsie hosen, and a meane slop: his coat, gowne, and cloak of -browne, blue, or puke, with some <!-- Page 83 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_83" id="Page_i_83">[83]</a></span>pretie furniture of velvet or furre, -and a doublet of sad tawnie, or blacke velvet, or other comelie silke, -without such cuts and gawrish colours as are worne in these daies, and -never brought in but by the consent of the French, who thinke themselves -the gaiest men, when they have most diversities of jagges and change of -colours about them."<a name="FNanchor_i_83:A_116" id="FNanchor_i_83:A_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_83:A_116" class="fnanchor">[83:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of the female part of the family of the country-gentleman, we must be -indulged in giving one description from Drayton, which not only -particularizes the employments and dress of the younger part of the sex, -but is written with the most exquisite simplicity and beauty; he is -delineating the well-educated daughter of a country-knight:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"He had, as antique stories tell,</div> - <div class="line indentq">A daughter cleaped Dawsabel,</div> - <div class="line i1q">A maiden fair and free:</div> - <div class="line indentq">And for she was her father's heir,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Full well she was ycond the leir</div> - <div class="line i1q">Of mickle courtesy.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">The silk well couth she twist and twine,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And make the fine march-pine,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And with the needle work:</div> - <div class="line indentq">And she couth help the priest to say</div> - <div class="line indentq">His mattins on a holy day,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And sing a psalm in kirk.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">She wore a frock of frolic green,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Might well become a maiden queen,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Which seemly was to see;</div> - <div class="line indentq">A hood to that so neat and fine,</div> - <div class="line indentq">In colour like the columbine,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Ywrought full featously.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Her features all as fresh above,</div> - <div class="line indentq">As is the grass that grows by Dove,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And lythe as lass of Kent.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Her skin as soft as Lemster wool,</div> - <div class="line indentq">As white as snow on Peakish Hull,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Or swan that swims in Trent.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 84 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_84" id="Page_i_84">[84]</a></span><div class="line indentq">This maiden in a moon betime,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Went forth when May was in the prime,</div> - <div class="line i1q">To get sweet setywall,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The honey-suckle, the harlock,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The lily, and the lady-smock,</div> - <div class="line i1q">To deck her summer-hall."<a name="FNanchor_i_84:A_117" id="FNanchor_i_84:A_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_84:A_117" class="fnanchor">[84:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Some heightening to the picture of the country-gentleman which we have -just given, may be drawn from the character of the upstart squire or -country-knight, as it has been pourtrayed by Bishop Earle, towards the -commencement of the seventeenth century; for the absurd imitation of the -one is but an overcharged or caricature exhibition of the costume of the -other. The upstart country-gentleman, remarks the Bishop, "is a holiday -clown, and differs only in the stuff of his clothes, not the stuff of -himself, for he bare the kings sword before he had arms to wield it; yet -being once laid o'er the shoulder with a knighthood, he finds the herald -his friend. His father was a man of good stock, though but a tanner or -usurer; he purchased the land, and his son the title. He has doffed off -the name of a country-fellow, but the look not so easy, and his face -still bears a relish of churne-milk. He is guarded with more gold lace -than all the gentlemen of the country, yet his body makes his clothes -still out of fashion. His house-keeping is seen much in the distinct -families of dogs, and serving-men attendant on their kennels, and the -deepness of their throats is the depth of his discourse. A hawk he -esteems the true burden of nobility, and is exceeding ambitious to seem -delighted in the sport, and have his fist gloved with his <a name="FNanchor_i_84:B_118" id="FNanchor_i_84:B_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_84:B_118" class="fnanchor">[84:B]</a>jesses. -A justice of peace he is to domineer in his parish, and do his neighbour -wrong with more right. He will be drunk with his hunters for company, -and stain his gentility with droppings of ale. He is fearful of being -sheriff of the shire by instinct, and dreads the assize-week as much as -the prisoner. In sum, he's but a clod of his own <!-- Page 85 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_85" id="Page_i_85">[85]</a></span>earth, or his land is -the dunghill and he the cock that crows over it: and commonly his race -is quickly run, and his children's children, though they scape hanging, -return to the place from whence they came."<a name="FNanchor_i_85:A_119" id="FNanchor_i_85:A_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_85:A_119" class="fnanchor">[85:A]</a></p> - -<p>Notwithstanding the hospitality which generally prevailed among the -country-gentlemen towards the close of the sixteenth century, the -injurious custom of deserting their hereditary halls for the luxury and -dissipation of the metropolis, began to appear; and, accordingly, Bishop -Hall has described in a most finished and picturesque manner the -deserted mansion of his days;</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Beat the broad gates, a goodly hollow sound</div> - <div class="line indentq">With double echoes doth againe rebound;</div> - <div class="line indentq">But not a dog doth bark to welcome thee,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Nor churlish porter canst thou chafing see:</div> - <div class="line indentq">All dumb and silent, like the dead of night,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or dwelling of some sleepy Sybarite!</div> - <div class="line indentq">The marble pavement hid with desert weed,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With house-leek, thistle, dock, and hemlock-seed.—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Look to the towered chimnies, which should be</div> - <div class="line indentq">The wind-pipes of good hospitalitie:——</div> - <div class="line indentq">Lo, there th'unthankful swallow takes her rest,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And fills the tunnel with her circled nest."<a name="FNanchor_i_85:B_120" id="FNanchor_i_85:B_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_85:B_120" class="fnanchor">[85:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>That it was no very uncommon thing for country-gentlemen to spend their -Christmas in London at this period, is evident from a letter preserved -by Mr. Lodge, in his Illustrations of British History; it is written by -William Fleetwood, afterwards Queen's Serjeant, to the Earl of Derby; is -dated New Yere's Daye, 1589, and contains the following passage:—"The -gentlemen of Norff. and Suffolk were commanded to dep<sup>r</sup>te from London -before Xtemmas, and to repaire to their countries, and there to kepe -hospitalitie amongest their <!-- Page 86 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_86" id="Page_i_86">[86]</a></span>neighbours.<a name="FNanchor_i_86:A_121" id="FNanchor_i_86:A_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_86:A_121" class="fnanchor">[86:A]</a>" The fashion, however, of -annually visiting the capital did not become general, nor did the -character of the country-squire, such as it was in the days of -Shakspeare, alter materially during the following century.<a name="FNanchor_i_86:B_122" id="FNanchor_i_86:B_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_86:B_122" class="fnanchor">[86:B]</a><!-- Page 87 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_87" id="Page_i_87">[87]</a></span></p> - -<p>The <i>country-clergyman</i>, the next character we shall attempt to notice, -was distinguished, in the time of Shakspeare, by the <!-- Page 88 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_88" id="Page_i_88">[88]</a></span>appellation of -<i>Sir</i>: a title which the poet has uniformly bestowed on the inferior -orders of this profession, as <i>Sir</i> Hugh in the Merry Wives of <!-- Page 89 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_89" id="Page_i_89">[89]</a></span>Windsor, -<i>Sir</i> Topas in the Twelfth Night, <i>Sir</i> Oliver in As You like It, and -<i>Sir</i> Nathaniel in Love's Labour's lost. This custom, which was not -entirely discontinued until the close of the reign of Charles II., owes -its origin to the language of our universities, which confers the -designation of <i>Dominus</i> on those who have taken their first degree or -bachelor of arts, and not, as has been supposed, to any claim which the -clergy had upon the order of knighthood. The word <i>Dominus</i> was -naturally translated <i>Sir</i>; and as almost every clergyman had taken his -first degree, it became customary to apply the term to the lower class -of the hierarchy. "<i>Sir</i> seems to have been a title," remarks Dr. Percy, -"formerly appropriated to such of the inferior clergy as were only -<i>readers</i> of the service, and not admitted to be preachers, and -therefore were held in the lowest estimation, as appears from a -remarkable passage in Machell's MS. <i>Collections for the History of -Westmoreland and Cumberland</i>, in six volumes, folio, preserved in the -Dean and Chapter's library at Carlisle. The Rev. Thomas Machell, author -of the Collections, lived temp. Car. II. Speaking of the little chapel -of Martindale in the mountains of Westmoreland and Cumberland, the -writer says, 'There is little remarkable in or about it, but a neat -chapel yard, which, by the peculiar care of the old reader, <i>Sir -Richard</i><a name="FNanchor_i_89:A_123" id="FNanchor_i_89:A_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_89:A_123" class="fnanchor">[89:A]</a>, is kept clean, and as neat as a bowling-green.'</p> - -<p>"Within the limits of myne own memory all <i>readers</i> in chapels were -called <i>Sirs</i><a name="FNanchor_i_89:B_124" id="FNanchor_i_89:B_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_89:B_124" class="fnanchor">[89:B]</a>, and of old have been writ so; whence, I suppose, -such of the laity as received the noble order of knighthood being -<!-- Page 90 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_90" id="Page_i_90">[90]</a></span>called <i>Sirs</i> too, for distinction sake had <i>Knight</i> writ after them; -which had been superfluous, if the title <i>Sir</i> had been peculiar to -them."<a name="FNanchor_i_90:A_125" id="FNanchor_i_90:A_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_90:A_125" class="fnanchor">[90:A]</a></p> - -<p>Shakspeare has himself indeed sufficiently marked the distinction -between priesthood and knighthood, when he makes Viola say, "I am one -that had rather go with <i>Sir Priest</i> than <i>Sir Knight</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_90:B_126" id="FNanchor_i_90:B_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_90:B_126" class="fnanchor">[90:B]</a></p> - -<p>Were we to estimate the diameter of the country-clergy, during the age -of Elizabeth, from the sketches which Shakspeare has given us of them, I -am afraid we should be induced to appreciate their utility and moral -virtue on too low a scale. It will be a fairer plan to exhibit the -picture from the delineation of one of their own order, a competent -judge, and who was likewise a contemporary. "The apparell of our -clergiemen," records Harrison, "is comlie, and, in truth, more decent -than ever it was in the popish church: before the universities bound -their graduats unto a stable attire, afterward usurped also even by the -blind Sir Johns. For if you peruse well my chronolojie, you shall find, -that they went either in diverse colors, like plaiers, or in garments of -light hew, as yellow, red, greene, &c.: with their shoes piked, their -haire crisped, their girdles armed with silver; their shoes, spurres, -bridles, &c. buckled with like metall: their apparell (for the most -part) of silke, and richlie furred; their cappes laced and butned with -gold: so that to meet a priest in those daies, was to behold a peacocke -that spreadeth his taile when he danseth before the henne: which now (I -saie) is well reformed. Touching hospitalitie, there was never any -greater used in England, sith by reason that marriage is permitted to -him that will choose that kind of life, their meat and drinke is more -orderly and frugallie dressed; their furniture of houshold more -convenient, and better looked unto; and the poore oftener fed generallie -than heretofore they have beene." Then, alluding to those who reproach -the country-clergy for not being so prodigal of good cheer as in former -days, he adds, "To such as doo consider of the curtailing of their -livings, or <!-- Page 91 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_91" id="Page_i_91">[91]</a></span>excessive prices wherevnto things are growen, and how their -course is limited by law, and estate looked into on every side, the -cause of their so dooing is well inough perceived. This also offendeth -manie, that they should after their deaths leave their substances to -their wives and children: whereas they consider not, that in old time -such as had no lemans nor bastards (verie few were there God wot of this -sort) did leave their goods and possessions to their brethren and -kinsfolk, whereby (as I can shew by good record) manie houses of -gentilitie have growen and beene erected. If in anie age some one of -them did found a college, almes-house, or schoole, if you looke unto -these our times, you shall see no fewer deeds of charitie doone, nor -better grounded upon the right stub of pietie than before. If you saie -that their wives be fond, after the decease of their husbands, and -bestow themselves not so advisedlie as their calling requireth, which -God knoweth these curious surveiors make small accompt of in truth, -further than thereby to gather matter of reprehension: I beseech you -then to look into all states of the laitie, and tell me whether some -duchesses, countesses, barons, or knights' wives, doo not fullie so -often offend in the like as they: for Eve will be Eve, though Adam would -saie naie. Not a few also find fault with our thread-bare gowns, as if -not our patrons but our wives were causes of our wo: but if it were -knowne to all, that I know to have beene performed of late in Essex, -where a minister taking a benefice (of lesse than twentie pounds in the -Quéen's bookes so farre as I remember) was inforced to paie to his -patrone, twentie quarters of otes, ten quarters of wheat, and sixtéene -yéerlie of barleie, which he called hawkes-meat; and another left the -like in farme to his patrone forten pounds by the yéere, which is well -worth fortie at the least, the cause of our thread-bare gowns would -easilie appeere, for such patrones doo scrape the wooll from our -clokes."<a name="FNanchor_i_91:A_127" id="FNanchor_i_91:A_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_91:A_127" class="fnanchor">[91:A]</a></p> - -<p>This delineation is, upon the whole, a favourable one; but the author in -the very next page admits that the country-clergy had <!-- Page 92 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_92" id="Page_i_92">[92]</a></span>notwithstanding -fallen into "general contempt" and "small consideration;" that the cause -of this was not merely owing to the poverty of the ministry, but was for -the most part attributable either to the iniquity of the patron or the -immorality of the priest, will but too clearly appear from the relation -of Harrison himself, and from other contemporary evidence. The historian -declares that it was the custom of some patrons to "bestow advowsons of -benefices upon their bakers, butlers, cookes, good archers, falconers, -and horsekéepers, insted of other recompence for their long and -faithfull service<a name="FNanchor_i_92:A_128" id="FNanchor_i_92:A_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_92:A_128" class="fnanchor">[92:A]</a>;" and the following letter from the Talbot -papers presents us with a frightful view of the manners of the -country-clergy at the commencement of the reign of James I.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="sectctr">"Ad. Slack to the Lady Bowes.</p> - -<p class="wideind">"Right wor<sup>ll</sup>.</p> - -<p>"I understand that one Raphe Cleaton ys curate of the chappell -at Buxton; his wages are, out of his neighbour's benevolence, -about v<sup>li</sup> yearely: S<sup>r</sup> Charles Cavendishe had the tythes -there this last yeare, ether of his owne right or my Lords, as -th' inhabitants saye. The minister aforenamed differeth litle -from those of the worste sorte, and hath dipt his finger both -in manslaughter and p'jurie, &c. The placinge or displacing of -the curate there resteth in Mr. Walker, commissarie of -Bakewell, of which churche Buxton is a chappell of ease.</p> - -<p>"I humbly thanke yo<sup>r</sup> Wor<sup>pp</sup> for yo<sup>re</sup> l<sup>re</sup> to the -justices at the cessions; for S<sup>r</sup> Peter Fretchvell, togither -w<sup>th</sup> Mr. Bainbrigg, were verie earnest against the badd -vicar of Hope; and lykewyse S<sup>r</sup> Jermane Poole, and all the -benche, savinge Justice Bentley, who use some vaine —— on -his behalfe, and affirmed that my La. Bowes had been -disprooved before My Lord of Shrowesburie in reports touching -the vicar of Hope; but such answere was made therto as his -mouthe was stopped: yet the latter daie, when all the justic's -but himselffe and <!-- Page 93 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_93" id="Page_i_93">[93]</a></span>one other were rysen, he wold have had the -said vicar lycensed to sell ale in his vicaredge, althoe the -whole benche had comanded the contrarye; whereof S<sup>r</sup> Jermane -Poole being adv'tised, retyrned to the benche (contradicting -his speeche) whoe, w<sup>th</sup> Mr. Bainbrigge, made their warrant -to bringe before them, him, or anie other person that shall, -for him, or in his vicaridge, brue, or sell ale, &c. He ys not -to bee punished by the Justices for the multytude of his -women, untyll the basterds whereof he is the reputed father -bee brought in. I am the more boulde to wryte so longe of this -sorrie matter, in respect you maye take so much better -knowledge of S<sup>r</sup> Jo. Bentley, and his p'tialytie in so vile -a cause; and esteeme and judge of him accordinge to y<sup>r</sup> -wisdome and good discretion. Thus, humbly cravinge p'don, I -com̄itt y<sup>r</sup> good Wors. to the everlasting Lorde, who ever -keepe you. This 12th of Octob. 1609.</p> - -<p class="rightind">"Yo<sup>r</sup> La' humble poore tenant, at comandm<sup>t</sup>.</p> - -<p class="authorsc">"Ad. Slack.<a name="FNanchor_i_93:A_129" id="FNanchor_i_93:A_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_93:A_129" class="fnanchor">[93:A]</a></p> - -<p class="dateline">"To the right wor<sup>ll</sup> my good Ladie, the<br /> -<span class="indentline2">La. Bowes of Walton, geive theise."</span></p> -</div> - -<p>That men who could thus debase themselves should be held in little -esteem, and their services ill requited, cannot excite our wonder; and -we consequently read without surprise, that in the days of Elizabeth, -the minstrel and the cook were often better paid than the priest;—thus -on the books of the Stationers' Company for the year 1560, may be found -the following entry:</p> - -<table summary="preachers paid less than minstrels and cooks" border="0"> - <tr> - <th> </th> - <th><i>s.</i></th> - <th><i>d.</i></th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">"Item, payd to the preacher</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">vi</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">2</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Item, payd to the minstrell</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">xij</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">0</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Item, payd to the coke</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">xv</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">0"</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a name="FNanchor_i_93:B_130" id="FNanchor_i_93:B_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_93:B_130" class="fnanchor">[93:B]</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>Let us not conclude, however, that the age of Shakspeare was without -instances of a far different kind, and that religion and virtue were -<!-- Page 94 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_94" id="Page_i_94">[94]</a></span>altogether excluded from what ought to have been their most favoured -abode; it will be sufficient to mention the name of <i>Bernard Gilpin</i>, -the most exemplary of parish-priests, whose humility, benevolence, and -exalted piety were never exceeded, and whose ministerial labours were -such as to form a noble contrast to the shameful neglect of the pastoral -care which existed around him. Indeed we are inclined to infer, -notwithstanding the numerous individual instances of profligacy and -dissipation which may be brought forward, that the country clergy then, -as now, if considered in the aggregate, possessed more real virtue and -utility than any other equally numerous body of men; but that -aberrations from the stricter decency of their order were, as is still -very properly the case in the present day, marked with avidity, and -censured with abhorrence. To the younger clergy in the country, also, -was frequently committed the task of education, a labour of unspeakable -importance, but in the period of which we are writing, attended too -often with the most undeserved contumely and contempt. In the -Scholemaster of Ascham may be found the most bitter complaints of the -barbarous and disgraceful treatment of the able instructor of youth; and -the following sketches of the clerical tutor from Peacham and Hall, will -still further heighten and authenticate the picture. The former of these -writers observes, "Such is the most base and ridiculous parsimony of -many of our Gentlemen, (if I may so terme them) that if they can procure -some poore Batchelor of Art from the Universitie to teach their children -to say grace, and serve the cure of an impropriation, who wanting meanes -and friends, will be content upon the promise of ten pounds a yeere at -his first comming, to be pleased with five; the rest to be set off in -hope of the next advouson, (which perhaps was sold before the young man -was borne): Or if it chance to fall in his time, his lady or master tels -him; 'Indeed Sir we are beholden unto you for your paines, such a living -is lately falne, but I had before made a promise of it to my butler or -bailiffe, for his true and extraordinary service.'</p> - -<p>"Is it not commonly seene, that the most Gentlemen will give better -wages, and deale more bountifully with a fellow who can but <!-- Page 95 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_95" id="Page_i_95">[95]</a></span>a dogge, or -reclaime a hawke, than upon an honest, learned, and well qualified man -to bring up their children? It may be, hence it is, that dogges are able -to make syllogismes in the fields, when their young masters can conclude -nothing at home, if occasion of argument or discourse be offered at the -table."<a name="FNanchor_i_95:A_131" id="FNanchor_i_95:A_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_95:A_131" class="fnanchor">[95:A]</a></p> - -<p>The domestic chaplain of Bishop Hall is touched with a glowing pencil, -and while it faithfully exhibits the servile and depressed state of the -poor tutor, is, at the same time, wrought up with much point and humour.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"A gentle squire would gladly entertaine</div> - <div class="line indentq">Into his house some trencher-chapelaine;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Some willing man, that might instruct his sons.</div> - <div class="line indentq">And that would stand to good conditions.</div> - <div class="line indentq">First, that he lie upon the truckle-bed,</div> - <div class="line indentq">While his young maister lieth o'er his head:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Second, that he do, upon no default,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Never presume to sit above the salt:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Third, that he never change his trencher twise;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Fourth, that he use all common courtesies;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sit bare at meales, and one half rise and wait:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Last, that he never his young maister beat;</div> - <div class="line indentq">But he must aske his mother to define</div> - <div class="line indentq">How manie jerks she would his breech should line.</div> - <div class="line indentq">All these observ'd, he could contented be,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To give five markes, and winter liverie."<a name="FNanchor_i_95:B_132" id="FNanchor_i_95:B_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_95:B_132" class="fnanchor">[95:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>From the description of the character of the country clerical tutor, it -is an easy transition to that of the <i>rural pedagogue or schoolmaster</i>, -a personage of not less consequence in the days of Elizabeth, than in -the present period. He frequently combined, indeed, in the sixteenth -century, the reputation of a conjuror with that of a schoolmaster, and -<!-- Page 96 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_96" id="Page_i_96">[96]</a></span>accordingly in the <i>Comedy of Errors</i>, <i>Pinch</i>, in the dramatis -personæ, is described as "a schoolmaster, and a conjuror," and the -following not very amiable portrait of his person is given towards the -conclusion of the play:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"They brought one Pinch; a hungry lean-faced villain,</div> - <div class="line indentq">A meer anatomy, a mountebank,</div> - <div class="line indentq">A thread-bare juggler, and a fortune-teller;</div> - <div class="line indentq">A needy, hollow-eye'd, sharp-looking wretch,</div> - <div class="line indentq">A living dead man: this pernicious slave,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Forsooth, took him on as conjuror."<a name="FNanchor_i_96:A_133" id="FNanchor_i_96:A_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_96:A_133" class="fnanchor">[96:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Ben Jonson also alludes to this union of occupations when he says, "I -would have ne'er a cunning <i>schoolemaster</i> in England, I mean a -Cunningman as a schoolemaster; that is, a Conjurour."<a name="FNanchor_i_96:B_134" id="FNanchor_i_96:B_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_96:B_134" class="fnanchor">[96:B]</a></p> - -<p>A less formidable figure of a schoolmaster has been given us by -Shakspeare, under the character of Holofernes, in <i>Love's Labour's -Lost</i>, where he has drawn a full-length caricature of the too frequent -pedantry of this profession. Yet Holofernes, though he speak <i>a leash of -languages at once</i>, is not deficient either in ability or -discrimination; he ridicules with much good sense and humour the -literary fops of his day, the "rackers of orthography;" and his -conversation is described by his friend, Sir Nathaniel, the Curate, as -possessing all the requisites to perfection. "Sir: your reasons at -dinner have been sharp and sententious; pleasant without scurrility, -witty without affection, audacious without impudency, learned without -opinion, and strange without heresy."<a name="FNanchor_i_96:C_135" id="FNanchor_i_96:C_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_96:C_135" class="fnanchor">[96:C]</a> "It is very difficult," -remarks Dr. Johnson, "to add any thing to this character of the -schoolmaster's table-talk, and perhaps all the precepts of Castiglione -will scarcely be found to comprehend a rule for conversation so justly -delineated, so widely dilated, and so nicely limited."<a name="FNanchor_i_96:D_136" id="FNanchor_i_96:D_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_96:D_136" class="fnanchor">[96:D]</a></p> - -<p>The country-schoolmasters in the reigns of Elizabeth and James, were, -however, if we trust to the accounts of Ascham and Peacham, in <!-- Page 97 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_97" id="Page_i_97">[97]</a></span>general -many degrees below the pedagogue of Shakspeare in ability; tyranny and -ignorance appear to have been their chief characteristics; to such an -extent, indeed, were they deficient in point of necessary knowledge, -that Peacham, speaking of bad masters, declares, "it is a generall -plague and complaint of the whole land; for, for one discreet and able -teacher, you shall finde twenty ignorant and carelesse; who (among so -many fertile and delicate wits as <i>England</i> affordeth) whereas they make -one scholler, they marre ten."<a name="FNanchor_i_97:A_137" id="FNanchor_i_97:A_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_97:A_137" class="fnanchor">[97:A]</a></p> - -<p>Ascham had endeavoured, by every argument and mode of persuasion in his -power, to check the severe and indiscriminate discipline which prevailed -among the teachers in his time; it would seem in vain; for Peacham, -about the year 1620, found it necessary to recommend lenity in equally -strenuous terms, and has given a minute and we have no doubt a faithful -picture of the various cruelties to which scholars were then subjected; -a summary of the result of this conduct may be drawn, indeed, from his -own words, where he says, "Masters for the most part so behave -themselves, that their very name is hatefull to the scholler, who -trembleth at their comming in, rejoyceth at their absence, and looketh -his master (returned) in the the face, as his deadly enemy."<a name="FNanchor_i_97:B_138" id="FNanchor_i_97:B_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_97:B_138" class="fnanchor">[97:B]</a></p> - -<p>To the charges of undue severity and defective literature, we must add, -I am afraid, the infinitely more weighty accusation of frequent -immorality and buffoonery. Ludovicus Vives, who wrote just before the -age of Shakspeare, asserts, that "some schoolmasters taught Ovid's books -of love to their scholars, and some made expositions, and expounded the -vices<a name="FNanchor_i_97:C_139" id="FNanchor_i_97:C_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_97:C_139" class="fnanchor">[97:C]</a>;" and Peacham, at the close of the era we are considering, -censures in the strongest terms their too common levity and misconduct: -"the diseases whereunto some of them are very subject, are <i>humour</i> and -<i>folly</i> (that I may say nothing of the grosse ignorance and -insufficiency of many) whereby they become ridiculous and contemptible -both in the schoole and abroad. Hence <!-- Page 98 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_98" id="Page_i_98">[98]</a></span>it comes to passe, that in many -places, especially in Italy, of all professions that of <i>pedanteria</i> is -held in basest repute: the schoole-master almost in every comedy being -brought upon the stage, to paralell the <i>Zani</i> or <i>Pantaloun</i>. He made -us good sport in that excellent comedy of <i>Pedantius</i>, acted in our -Trinity Colledge in <i>Cambridge</i>, and if I be not deceived, in -<i>Priscianus Vapulans</i>, and many of our English plays.</p> - -<p>"I knew one, who in winter would ordinarily in a cold morning, whip his -boyes over for no other purpose than to get himselfe a heat: another -beat them for swearing, and all the while he sweares himself with -horrible oathes, he would forgive any fault saving that.</p> - -<p>"I had I remember myselfe (neere <i>S. Albanes</i> in <i>Hertfordshire</i>, where -I was borne) a master, who by no entreaty would teach any scholler he -had, farther than his father had learned before him; as, if he had onely -learned but to reade English, the sonne, though he went with him seven -yeeres, should goe no further: his reason was, they would then proove -saucy rogues, and controule their fathers; yet these are they that -oftentimes have our hopefull gentry under their charge and tuition, to -bring them in science and civility."<a name="FNanchor_i_98:A_140" id="FNanchor_i_98:A_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_98:A_140" class="fnanchor">[98:A]</a></p> - -<p>We must, I apprehend, from these representations, be induced to -conclude, that ignorance, despotism, and self-sufficiency were leading -features in the composition of the country-schoolmaster, during this -period of our annals; it would not be just, however, to infer from these -premises that the larger schools were equally unfortunate in their -conductors; on the contrary, most of the public seminaries of the -capital, and many in the large provincial towns, were under the -regulation of masters highly respectable for their erudition, men, -indeed, to whom neither Erasmus nor Joseph Scaliger would have refused -the title of ripe and good scholars.</p> - -<p>We shall now pass forward, in the series of our rural characters, to the -delineation of one of great importance in a national point of view, that -of the substantial Farmer or Yeoman, of whom Harrison has left us the -following interesting definition:—"This sort of people have a <!-- Page 99 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_99" id="Page_i_99">[99]</a></span>certaine -preheminence, and more estimation than labourers and the common sort of -artificers, and these commonlie live wealthilie, kéepe good houses, and -travell to get riches. They are also for the most part farmers to -gentlemen, or at the leastwise artificers, and with grazing, frequenting -of markets, and kéeping of servants (not idle servants, as the gentlemen -doo, but such as get both their owne and part of their masters living) -do come to great welth, in somuch that manie of them are able and doo -buie the lands of unthriftie gentlemen, and often setting their sonnes -to the schooles, to the universities, and to the Ins of the court; or -otherwise leaving them sufficient lands whereupon they may live without -labour, doo make them by those meanes to become gentlemen: these were -they that in times past made all France afraid. And albeit they be not -called master, as gentlemen are, or sir as to knights apperteineth, but -onelie John and Thomas, &c.: yet have they beene found to have doone -verie good service: and the kings of England in foughten battels, were -woont to remaine among them (who were their footmen) as the French kings -did amongst their horssemen: the prince thereby shewing where his chiefe -strength did consist."<a name="FNanchor_i_99:A_141" id="FNanchor_i_99:A_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_99:A_141" class="fnanchor">[99:A]</a></p> - -<p>After this description of the rank which the farmer held in society, we -shall proceed to state the mode in which he commonly lived in the age of -Elizabeth; and in doing this we have chosen, as usual, to adopt at -considerable length the language of our old writers; a practice to which -we shall in future adhere, while detailing the manners, customs, &c. of -our ancestors, a practice which has indeed peculiar advantages; for the -authenticity of the source is at once apparent, the diction possesses a -peculiar charm from its antique cast, and the expression has a raciness -and force of colouring, which owes its origin to actual inspection, and -which, consequently, it is in vain to expect, on such subjects, from -modern composition.</p> - -<p>The houses or cottages of the farmer were built, in places abounding in -wood, in a very strong and substantial manner, with not more <!-- Page 100 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_100" id="Page_i_100">[100]</a></span>than four, -six, or nine inches between stud and stud; but in the open and champaine -country, they were compelled to use more flimsy materials, with here and -there a girding to which they fastened their splints, and then covered -the whole with thick clay to keep out the wind. "Certes this rude kind -of building," says Harrison, "made the Spaniards in quéene Maries daies -to wonder, but chéeflie when they saw what large diet was used in manie -of these so homelie cottages, in so much that one of no small reputation -amongst them said after this manner: 'These English (quoth he) have -their houses made of sticks and durt, but they fare commonlie so well as -the king.' Whereby it appeareth that he liked better of our good fare in -such coarse cabins, than of their owne thin diet in their prince-like -habitations and palaces."<a name="FNanchor_i_100:A_142" id="FNanchor_i_100:A_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_100:A_142" class="fnanchor">[100:A]</a> The cottages of the peasantry usually -consisted of but two rooms on the ground-floor, the outer for the -servants, the inner for the master and his family, and they were -thatched with straw or sedge; while the dwelling of the substantial -farmer was distributed into several rooms above and beneath, was coated -with white lime or cement, and was very neatly roofed with reed; hence -Tusser, speaking of the farm-house, gives the following directions for -repairing and preserving its thatch in the month of May:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Where houses be reeded (as houses have need)</div> - <div class="line indentq">Now pare of the mosse, and go beat in the reed:</div> - <div class="line indentq">The juster ye drive it, the smoother and plaine,</div> - <div class="line indentq">More handsome ye make it, to shut off the raine."<a name="FNanchor_i_100:B_143" id="FNanchor_i_100:B_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_100:B_143" class="fnanchor">[100:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>A few years before the era of which we are treating, the venerable Hugh -Latimer, describing in one of his impressive sermons the economy of a -farmer in his time, tells us that his father, who was a <!-- Page 101 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_101" id="Page_i_101">[101]</a></span>yeoman, had no -land of his own, but only "a farm of three or four pounds by the year at -the utmost; and hereupon he tilled so much as kept half a dozen men. He -had a walk for an hundred sheep; and my mother milked thirty kine. He -kept his son at school till he went to the university, and maintained -him there; he married his daughters with five pounds or twenty nobles a -piece; he kept hospitality with his neighbours, and some alms he gave to -the poor; and all this he did out of the said farm."<a name="FNanchor_i_101:A_144" id="FNanchor_i_101:A_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_101:A_144" class="fnanchor">[101:A]</a></p> - -<p>Land let, at this period, it should be remembered, at about a shilling -per acre; but in the reign of Elizabeth its value rapidly increased, -together with a proportional augmentation of the comfort of the farmer, -who even began to exhibit the elegancies and luxuries of life. Of the -change which took place in rural economy towards the close of the -sixteenth century, the following faithful and interesting picture has -been drawn by the pencil of Harrison, who, noticing the additional -splendour of gentlemen's houses, remarks,—"In times past the costlie -furniture staied <i>there</i>, whereas now it is descended yet lower, even -unto manie farmers, who by vertue of their old and not of their new -leases, have for the most part learned also to garnish their cupbords -with plate, their ioined beds with tapistrie and silke hangings, and -their tables with carpets and fine naperie, whereby the wealth of our -countrie (God be praised therefore, and give us grace to imploie it -well) dooth infinitlie appeare. Neither doo I speake this in reproch of -anie man, God is my judge, but to shew that I do rejoise rather, to see -how God hath blessed us with his good gifts; and whilest I behold how -that in a time wherein all things are growen to most excessive prices, -and what commoditie so ever is to be had, is daily plucked from the -commonaltie by such as looke in to everie trade, we doo yet find the -means to obtein and atchive such furniture as here to fore hath beene -unpossible. There are old men yet dwelling in the village where I -remaine, which have noted three things to be marvellouslie altered in -England within their sound remembrance; and other three <!-- Page 102 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_102" id="Page_i_102">[102]</a></span>things too too -much encreased. <i>One</i> is, the multitude of chimnies latelie erected, -wheras in their yoong daies there were not above two or three, if so -manie in most uplandish townes of the realme, (the religious houses, and -manor places of their lords alwaies excepted, and peradventure some -great personages) but ech one made his fire against a rere dosse in the -hall, where he dined and dressed his meat.</p> - -<p>"The <i>second</i> is the great (although not generall) amendment of lodging, -for (said they) our fathers (yea and wee ourselves also) have lien full -oft upon straw pallets, on rough mats covered onlie with a shéet, under -coverlets made of dagswain or hop harlots (I use their owne termes) and -a good round log under their heads instead of a bolster or pillow. If it -were so that our fathers or the good man of the house, had within seven -yeares after his mariage purchased a matteres or flockebed, and thereto -a sacke of chaffe to rest his head upon, he thought himselfe to be as -well lodged as the lord of the towne, that peradventure laie seldome in -a bed of downe or whole fethers; so well were they contented, and with -such base kind of furniture: which also is not verie much amended as yet -in some parts of Bedfordshire, and elsewhere further off from our -southerne parts. Pillowes (said they) were thought méet onelie for women -in child bed. As for servants, if they had anie shéet above them it was -well, for seldome had they anie under their bodies, to kéepe them from -the pricking straws that ran oft through the canvas of the pallet, and -rased their hardened hides.</p> - -<p>"The <i>third</i> thing they tell of, is the exchange of vessell, as of -treene platters into pewter, and wodden spoones into silver or tin. For -so common was all sorts of tréene stuff in old time, that a man should -hardlie find four péeces of pewter (of which one was peradventure a -salt) in a good farmer's house, and yet for all this frugalitie (if it -may so be justly called) they were scarce able to live and paie their -rents at their daies without selling of a cow, or an horsse, or more, -although they paid but foure pounds at the uttermost by the yeare. Such -also was their povertie, that if some one od farmer or husbandman had -béene at the alehouse, a thing greatlie <!-- Page 103 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_103" id="Page_i_103">[103]</a></span>used in those daies, amongst -six or seven of his neighbours, and there in a braverie to shew what -store he had, did cast downe his purse, and therein a noble or six -shillings in silver unto them (for few such men then cared for gold -because it was not so readie paiment, and they were oft inforced to give -a penie for the exchange of an angell) it was verie likelie that all the -rest could not laie downe so much against it: whereas in my time, -although peradventure foure poundes of old rent be improved to fortie, -fiftie, or an hundred pounds, yet will the farmer as another palme or -date trée thinke his gaines verie small toward the end of his terme, if -he have not six or seven yeares rent lieing by him, therewith to -purchase a new lease, beside a faire garnish of pewter on his cupbord, -with so much in od vessell going about the house, thrée or foure feather -beds, so manie coverlids and carpets of tapistrie, a silver salt, a -bowle for wine (if not an whole neast) and a dozzen of spoones to -furnish up the sute."<a name="FNanchor_i_103:A_145" id="FNanchor_i_103:A_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_103:A_145" class="fnanchor">[103:A]</a></p> - -<p>To this curious delineation of the furniture and household accommodation -of the farmer, it will be necessary, in order to complete the sketch, to -add a few things relative to his diet and hospitality. Contrary to what -has taken place in modern times, the hours for meals were later with the -artificer and the husbandman than with the higher order of society; the -farmer and his servants usually sitting down to dinner at one o'clock, -and to supper at seven, while the nobleman and gentleman took the first -at eleven in the morning, and the second at five in the afternoon.</p> - -<p>It would appear that, from the cottage to the palace, good eating was as -much cultivated in the days of Elizabeth as it has been in any -subsequent period; and the rites of hospitality, more especially in the -country, were observed with a frequency and cordiality which a further -progress in civilisation has rather tended to check, than to increase.</p> - -<p>Of the larder of the cotter and the shepherd, and of the hospitality of -the former, a pretty accurate idea may be acquired from the <!-- Page 104 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_104" id="Page_i_104">[104]</a></span>simple yet -beautiful strains of an old pastoral bard of Elizabeth's days, who, -describing a nobleman fatigued by the chase, the heat of the weather, -and long fasting, adds that he—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Did house him in a peakish graunge,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Within a forrest great:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Wheare, knowne, and welcom'd, as the place</div> - <div class="line i1q">And persons might afforde,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Browne bread, whig, bacon, curds, and milke,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Were set him on the borde:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">A cushion made of lists, a stoole</div> - <div class="line i1q">Half backed with a houpe,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Were brought him, and he sitteth down</div> - <div class="line i1q">Besides a sorry coupe.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">The poor old couple wish't their bread</div> - <div class="line i1q">Were wheat, their whig were perry,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Their bacon beefe, their milke and curds</div> - <div class="line i1q">Weare creame, to make him mery."<a name="FNanchor_i_104:A_146" id="FNanchor_i_104:A_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_104:A_146" class="fnanchor">[104:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The picture of the shepherd youth is so exquisitely drawn that, though -only a portion of it is illustrative of our subject, we cannot avoid -giving so much of the text as will render the figure complete.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Sweet growte, or whig, his bottle had</div> - <div class="line i1q">As much as it might hold:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">A sheeve of bread as browne as nut,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And cheese as white as snowe,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And wildings, or the season's fruite,</div> - <div class="line i1q">He did in scrip bestow:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">And whil'st his py-bald curre did sleepe,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And sheep-hooke lay him by,</div> - <div class="line indentq">On hollow quilles of oten strawe</div> - <div class="line i1q">He piped melody:—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 105 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_105" id="Page_i_105">[105]</a></span><div class="line indentq">— — — — — — — With the sun</div> - <div class="line i1q">He doth his flocke unfold,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And all the day on hill or plaine</div> - <div class="line i1q">He merrie chat can hold:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">And with the sun doth folde againe;</div> - <div class="line i1q">Then jogging home betime,</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>He turnes a crab</i>, or tunes a round,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Or sings some merrie ryme:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Nor lackes he gleeful tales to tell,</i></div> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Whil'st round the bole doth trot</i>;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And sitteth singing care away,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Till he to bed hath got.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Theare sleeps he soundly all the night,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Forgetting morrow cares,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Nor feares he blasting of his corne</div> - <div class="line i1q">Nor uttering of his wares,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Or stormes by seas, or stirres on land,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Or cracke of credite lost,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Not spending franklier than his flocke</div> - <div class="line i1q">Shall still defray the cost.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Wel wot I, sooth they say that say:</div> - <div class="line i1q">More quiet nightes and daies</div> - <div class="line indentq">The shepheard sleepes and wakes than he</div> - <div class="line i1q">Whose cattel he doth graize."<a name="FNanchor_i_105:A_147" id="FNanchor_i_105:A_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_105:A_147" class="fnanchor">[105:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The lines in Italics allude to the favourite beverage of the peasantry, -and the mode in which they recreated themselves over the spicy bowl. To -<i>turne a crab</i> is to roast a wilding or wild apple in the fire for the -purpose of being thrown hissing hot into a bowl of nut-brown ale, into -which had been previously put a toast with some spice and sugar. To this -delicious compound Shakspeare has frequently referred; thus in <i>Love's -Labour's Lost</i> one of his designations of winter is,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl:"<a name="FNanchor_i_105:B_148" id="FNanchor_i_105:B_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_105:B_148" class="fnanchor">[105:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 106 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_106" id="Page_i_106">[106]</a></span>and Puck, describing his own wanton tricks in <i>Midsummer Night's -Dream</i>, says—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl,</div> - <div class="line indentq">In very likeness of a roasted crab,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And when she drinks, against her lips I bob."<a name="FNanchor_i_106:A_149" id="FNanchor_i_106:A_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_106:A_149" class="fnanchor">[106:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">The very expression to <i>turn a crab</i> will be found in the following -passages from two old plays, in the first of which the good man says he -will</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Sit down in <i>his</i> chaire by <i>his</i> wife faire Alison,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And <i>turne a crabbe</i> in the fire;"<a name="FNanchor_i_106:B_150" id="FNanchor_i_106:B_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_106:B_150" class="fnanchor">[106:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and in the second, Christmas is personified</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—— "sitting in a corner <i>turning crabs</i>,</div> - <div class="line">Or coughing o'er a warmed pot of ale."<a name="FNanchor_i_106:C_151" id="FNanchor_i_106:C_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_106:C_151" class="fnanchor">[106:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Nor can we omit, in closing this series of quotations, the following -stanza of a fine old song in the curious comedy of <i>Gammer Gurton's -Needle</i>, first printed in 1575:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"I love no rost, but a nut brown toste,</div> - <div class="line i1q">and <i>a crab layde in the fyre</i>;</div> - <div class="line indentq">A lytle bread shall do me stead,</div> - <div class="line i1q">much bread I not desyre.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">No froste nor snow, no winde, I trow,</div> - <div class="line i1q">can hurte me if I wolde,</div> - <div class="line indentq">I am so wrapt, and throwly lapt</div> - <div class="line i1q">of joly good ale, and olde.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Back and syde go bare, go bare,</div> - <div class="line i1q">booth foote and hande go colde;</div> - <div class="line indentq">But belly, God sende thee good ale ynoughe,</div> - <div class="line i1q">whether it be newe or olde."<a name="FNanchor_i_106:D_152" id="FNanchor_i_106:D_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_106:D_152" class="fnanchor">[106:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 107 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_107" id="Page_i_107">[107]</a></span>To tell gleeful tales, "whilst round the bole doth trot," was an -amusement much more common among our ancestors, during the age of -Elizabeth, and the subsequent century, than it has been in any later -period. The <i>Winter's Tale</i> of Shakspeare owes its title to this custom, -of which an example is placed before us in the first scene of the second -act.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Her.</i> <span class="s5">Come Sir—</span></div> - <div class="line i1">—— Pray you, sit by us,</div> - <div class="line">And tell 's a <i>tale</i>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Mam.</i> Merry, or sad, shal't be?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Her.</i> As merry as you will.<a name="FNanchor_i_107:A_153" id="FNanchor_i_107:A_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_107:A_153" class="fnanchor">[107:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">And Burton, the first edition of whose Anatomy of Melancholy was -published in 1617, enumerates, among the ordinary recreations of Winter, -"merry tales of errant knights, queens, lovers, lords, ladies, giants, -dwarfs, thieves, cheaters, witches, fayries, goblins, friars, &c.—which -some delight to hear, some to tell; all are well pleased with;" and he -remarks shortly afterwards, "when three or four good companions meet, -they tell old stories by the fire-side, or in the sun, as old folks -usually do, remembering afresh and with pleasure antient matters, and -such like accidents, which happened in their younger years."<a name="FNanchor_i_107:B_154" id="FNanchor_i_107:B_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_107:B_154" class="fnanchor">[107:B]</a> -Milton also, in his <i>L'Allegro</i>, first printed in 1645, gives a -conspicuous station</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—— "to the spicy nut-brown ale,</div> - <div class="line i1">With stories told of many a feat:"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and adds,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Thus done the tales, to bed they creep,</div> - <div class="line indentq">By whispering winds soon lull'd to sleep."<a name="FNanchor_i_107:C_155" id="FNanchor_i_107:C_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_107:C_155" class="fnanchor">[107:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 108 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_108" id="Page_i_108">[108]</a></span>The farmer's daily diet may be drawn with sufficient accuracy from the -curious old Georgic of Tusser, a poem which, more than any other that we -possess, throws light upon the agricultural manners and customs of the -age. In Lent, says this entertaining bard, the farmer must in the first -place consume his red herring, and afterwards his salt fish, which -should be kept in store, indeed, and considered as good even when Lent -is past, and with these leeks and peas should be procured for pottage, -with the view of saving milk, oatmeal, and bread: at Easter veale and -bacon are to be the chief articles; at Martilmas salted beef, "when -country folk do dainties lack:" at Midsummer, when mackrel are out of -season, grasse (that is sallads, &c.) fresh beef and pease: at -Michaelmas fresh herring and fatted <a name="FNanchor_i_108:A_156" id="FNanchor_i_108:A_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_108:A_156" class="fnanchor">[108:A]</a>crones: at All Saints pork -and souse, sprats and spurlings: at Christmas he enjoins the farmer to -"plaie and make good cheere," and he concludes by advising him, as was -the custom in Elizabeth's time, to observe Fridays, Saturdays, and -Wednesdays as fish-days; to "keep embrings well and fasting dayes," and -of fish and fruit be scarce, to supply their want with butter and -cheese.<a name="FNanchor_i_108:B_157" id="FNanchor_i_108:B_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_108:B_157" class="fnanchor">[108:B]</a> To these recommendations he adds, in another place, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Good ploughmen look weekly of custom and right,</div> - <div class="line indentq">For rostmeat on sundaies, and thursday at night:"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and he subsequently gives directions for writing what he terms -"husbandlie posies," that is, economical proverbs in rhyme, to be hung -up in the Hall, the parlour, the Ghest's chamber, and the good man's own -bed chamber.<a name="FNanchor_i_108:C_158" id="FNanchor_i_108:C_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_108:C_158" class="fnanchor">[108:C]</a></p> - -<p>If the farmer have a visitor, our worthy bard is not illiberal in his -allowance, but advises him to place three dishes on his table at -<!-- Page 109 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_109" id="Page_i_109">[109]</a></span>dinner, well dressed, which, says he, will be sufficient to pleese your -friend, and will <i>become</i> your Hall.<a name="FNanchor_i_109:A_159" id="FNanchor_i_109:A_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_109:A_159" class="fnanchor">[109:A]</a></p> - -<p>On days of feasting and rejoicing, however, it appears to have been a -common custom for the guests to bring their victuals with them, forming -as it were a pic-nic meal; thus, Harrison, describing the occasional -mirth and hospitality of the farmer, says,—"In feasting the husbandmen -doo exceed after their maner: especiallie at bridales, purifications of -women, and such od meetings, where it is incredible to tell what meat is -consumed and spent, ech one bringing such a dish, or so manie with him -as his wife and he doo consult upon, but alwaies with this -consideration, that the léefer fréend shall have the better provision. -This also is commonlie séene at these bankets, that the good man of the -house is not charged with any thing saving bread, drink, sauce, -houseroome, and fire. (He then gives us the following naïve and pleasing -picture of their festivity and content.) The husbandmen are -sufficientlie liberall, and verie fréendlie at their tables, and when -they méet, they are so merie without malice, and plaine without inward -Italian or French craft and subtiltie, that it would doo a man good to -be in companie among them. Herein only are the inferiour sort somewhat -to be blamed, that being thus assembled, their talke is now and then -such as savoureth of scurrilitie and ribaldrie, a thing naturallie -incident to carters and clowns, who thinke themselves not to be merie -and welcome, if their foolish veines in this behalfe be never so little -restreined. This is moreover to be added in these meetings, that if they -happen to stumble upon a péece of venison, and a cup of wine or verie -strong beere or ale (which latter they commonlie provide against their -appointed daies) they thinke their chéere so great, and themselves to -have fared so well, as the lord Maior of London, with whome when their -bellies be full they will not often sticke to make comparison, (saying, -<i>I have dined so well as my lord maior</i>) because that of a subject there -is no publike officer of anie citie in Europe, that may compare in port -and countenance with him during the time of his office."<a name="FNanchor_i_109:B_160" id="FNanchor_i_109:B_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_109:B_160" class="fnanchor">[109:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 110 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_110" id="Page_i_110">[110]</a></span>The dress of the farmer during the middle of the sixteenth century was -plain and durable; consisting, for common purposes, of coarse gray cloth -or fustian, in the form of trunk-hose, frock, or doublet.</p> - -<p>To this account of the farmer's mode of living, it will be proper to add -a brief description of his coadjutor in domestic economy, the English -housewife, a personage of no small importance; for, as honest Tusser has -justly observed,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"House keping and husbandry, if it be good,</div> - <div class="line indentq">must love one another, as cousinnes in blood.</div> - <div class="line indentq">The wife to, must husband as well as the man,</div> - <div class="line indentq">or farewel thy husbandry, doe what thou can."<a name="FNanchor_i_110:A_161" id="FNanchor_i_110:A_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_110:A_161" class="fnanchor">[110:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of the qualifications necessary to constitute this useful character, -Gervase Markham has given us a very curious detail, in his work entitled -"The English Housewife;" which, though not published until the close of -the Shakspearian era, appears, from the dedication to Frances, Countess -Dowager of Exeter, to have been written long anterior to its -transmission to the press; for it is there said, "That much of it was a -manuscript which many years ago belonged to an honourable Countess, one -of the greatest glories of our<a name="FNanchor_i_110:B_162" id="FNanchor_i_110:B_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_110:B_162" class="fnanchor">[110:B]</a> kingdom." It is a delineation -which, as supposed of easy practical application, does honour to the sex -and to the age. After expatiating on the necessity of a religious -example to her household, on the part of the good housewife, he thus -proceeds:</p> - -<p>"Next unto her sanctity and holiness of life, it is meet that our -<i>English</i> Housewife be a woman of great modesty and temperance, as well -inwardly as outwardly; inwardly, as in her behaviour and carriage -towards her husband, wherein she shall shun all violence of rage, -passion and humour, coveting less to direct than to be directed, -appearing ever unto him pleasant, amiable and delightful; and, <!-- Page 111 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_111" id="Page_i_111">[111]</a></span>tho' -occasion of mishaps, or the mis-government of his will may induce her to -contrary thoughts, yet vertuously to suppress them, and with a mild -sufferance rather to call him home from his error, than with the -strength of anger to abate the least spark of his evil, calling into her -mind, that evil and uncomely language is deformed, though uttered even -to servants; but most monstrous and ugly, when it appears before the -presence of a husband: outwardly, as in her apparel, and dyet, both -which she shall proportion according to the competency of her husband's -estate and calling, making her circle rather strait than large: for it -is a rule, if we extend to the uttermost, we take away increase; if we -go a hairs bredth beyond, we enter into consumption: but if we preserve -any part, we build strong forts against the adversaries of fortune, -provided that such preservation be honest and conscionable: for as -lavish prodigality is brutish, so miserable covetousness is hellish. Let -therefore the Housewife's garments be comely and strong, made as well to -preserve the health, as to adorn the person, altogether without toyish -garnishes, or the gloss of light colours, and as far from the vanity of -new and fantastick fashions, as near to the comely imitation of modest -matrons. Let her dyet be wholesome and cleanly, prepared at due hours, -and cook'd with care and diligence, let it be rather to satisfie nature, -than her affections, and <i>apter</i> to kill <i>hunger</i> than revive <i>new</i> -appetites; let it proceed <i>more</i> from the provision of her own yard, -than the furniture of the markets; and let it be rather esteemed for the -familiar acquaintance she hath without it, than for the strangeness and -rarity it bringeth from other countries.</p> - -<p>"To conclude, <i>our English</i> Housewife must be of chast thoughts, stout -courage, patient, untired, watchful, diligent, witty, pleasant, constant -in friendship, full of good neighbour-hood, wise in discourse, but not -frequent therein, sharp and quick of speech, but not bitter or -talkative, secret in her affairs, comfortable in her counsels, and -generally skilful in the worthy knowledges which do belong to her -vocation."<a name="FNanchor_i_111:A_163" id="FNanchor_i_111:A_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_111:A_163" class="fnanchor">[111:A]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 112 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_112" id="Page_i_112">[112]</a></span>These knowledges, he then states, should consist in an intimacy with -domestic physic, with cookery, with the distillation of waters, with the -making and preserving of wines, with the making and dying of cloth, with -the conduct of dairies, and with malting, brewing, and baking; for all -which he gives very ample directions. Markham, indeed, seems to have -taken the greater part of this picture from his predecessor Tusser, in -whose poems on husbandry may be found, among many others, the following -excellent precepts for the conduct of the good house-wife:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"In Marche and in Aprill from morning to night:</div> - <div class="line indentq">in sowing and setting good huswives delight.</div> - <div class="line indentq">To have in their garden or some other plot:</div> - <div class="line indentq">to trim up their house and to furnish their pot.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Have millons at Mihelmas, parsneps in lent:</div> - <div class="line indentq">in June, buttred beanes, saveth fish to be spent.</div> - <div class="line indentq">With those and good pottage inough having than:</div> - <div class="line indentq">thou winnest the heart of thy laboring man.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">From Aprill begin til saint Andrew be past:</div> - <div class="line indentq">so long with good huswives their dairies doe last.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Good milche bease and pasture, good husbandes provide:</div> - <div class="line indentq">good huswives know best all the rest how to guide.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">But huswives, that learne not to make their owne cheese:</div> - <div class="line indentq">with trusting of others, have thes for their feese.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Their milke slapt in corners their creame al to sost:</div> - <div class="line indentq">their milk pannes so flotte, that their cheeses be lost.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Where some of a kowe maketh yerely a pounde:</div> - <div class="line indentq">these huswives crye creake for their voice will not sounde.</div> - <div class="line indentq">The servauntes suspecting their dame, lye in waighte:</div> - <div class="line indentq">with one thing or other they trudge away straight.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Then neighbour (for god's sake) if any such be:</div> - <div class="line indentq">if you know a good servant, waine her to me.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Such maister, suche man, and such mistres such mayde:</div> - <div class="line indentq">such husbandes and huswives, suche houses araide.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">For flax and for hemp, for to have of her owne:</div> - <div class="line indentq">the wife must in May take good hede it be sowne.</div> - <div class="line indentq">And trimme it and kepe it to serve at a nede:</div> - <div class="line indentq">the femble to spin and the karle for her fede.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 113 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_113" id="Page_i_113">[113]</a></span><div class="line indentq">Good husbandes abrode seketh al wel to have:</div> - <div class="line indentq">good huswives at home seketh al wel to save.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thus having and saving in place where they meete:</div> - <div class="line indentq">make profit with pleasure suche couples to greete.<a name="FNanchor_i_113:A_164" id="FNanchor_i_113:A_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_113:A_164" class="fnanchor">[113:A]</a>"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>But it is in "The points of <i>Huswifry</i> united to the comfort of -<i>Husbandry</i>," of the good old poet, that we recognise the most perfect -picture of the domestic economy of agricultural life in the days of -Elizabeth. This material addition to the husbandry of our author -appeared in 1570, and embraces a complete view of the province of the -<i>Huswife</i>, with all her daily labours and duties, which are divided -into—1st, <i>Morning Works</i>; 2dly, <i>Breakfast Doings</i>; 3dly, <i>Dinner -Matters</i>; 4thly, <i>Afternoon Works</i>; 5thly, <i>Evening Works</i>; 6thly, -<i>Supper-Matters</i>; and 7thly, <i>After-Supper Matters</i>.</p> - -<p>From the details of this arrangement we learn, that the servants in -summer rose at four, and in winter at five o'clock; that in the latter -season they were called to breakfast on the appearance of the day-star, -and that the huswife herself was the carver and distributer of the meat -and pottage. We find, likewise, and it is the only objectionable article -in the admonitions of the poet, that he recommends his dame not to -scold, but to thrash heartily her maids when refractory; and he adds a -circumstance rather extraordinary, but at the same time strongly -recommendatory of the effects of music, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Such servants are oftenest painfull and good,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That sing in their labour, as birds in the wood."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Dinner, he enjoins, should be taken at noon; should be quickly -dispatched; and should exhibit plenty, but no dainties.</p> - -<p>The bare table, he observes, will do as well, as if covered with a -cloth, which is liable to be cut; and that wooden and pewter dishes and -tin vessels for liquor are the best, as most secure; and then, with his -accustomed piety, he advises the regular use of grace—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 114 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_114" id="Page_i_114">[114]</a></span><div class="line">"At dinner, at supper, at morning, at night,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Give thanks unto God."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>As soon as dinner is over, the servants are again set to work, and he -very humanely adds,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"To servant in seikness, see nothing ye grutch,</div> - <div class="line indentq">A thing of a trifle shall comfort him much."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Many precepts, strictly economical, then follow, in which the huswife is -directed to save her parings, drippings, and skimmings for the sake of -her poultry, and for "medicine for cattle, for cart, and for shoe;" to -employ the afternoon, like a good sempstress, in making and mending; to -keep her maids cleanly in their persons, to call them quarterly to -account, to mark and number accurately her linen, to save her feathers, -to use little spice, and to make her own candle.</p> - -<p>The business of the evening commences with preparations for supper, as -soon as the hens go to roost; the hogs are then to be served, the cows -milked, and as night comes on, the servants return, but none -empty-handed, some bringing in wood, some logs, &c. The cattle, both -without and within doors, are next to be attended to, all clothes -brought into the house, and no door left unbolted, and the duties of the -evening close with this injunction:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Thou woman, whom pity becometh the best,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Grant all that hath laboured time to take rest."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Supper now is spread, and the scene opens with an excellent persuasive -to cheerfulness and hospitality:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Provide for thy husband, to make him good cheer,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Make merry together, while time ye be here.</div> - <div class="line indentq">A-bed and at board, howsoever befall,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whatever God sendeth, be merry withall.</div> - <div class="line indentq">No taunts before servants, for hindering of fame,</div> - <div class="line indentq">No jarring too loud, for avoiding of shame."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 115 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_115" id="Page_i_115">[115]</a></span>The servants are then ordered to be courteous, and attentive to each -other, especially at their meals, and directions are given for the next -morning's work.</p> - -<p>The last section, entitled "After-supper matters," is introduced and -terminated in a very moral and impressive manner. The first couplet -tells us to</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Remember those children, whose parents be poor,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Which hunger, yet dare not to crave at thy door;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">the bandog is then ordered to have the bones and the scraps; the huswife -looks carefully to the fire, the candle, and the keys; the whole family -retire to rest, at nine in winter, and at ten in summer, and the -farmer's day closes with four lines which ought to be written in letters -of gold, and which, if duly observed, would ensure a great portion of -the happiness obtainable by man:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Be lowly, not sullen, if aught go amiss,</div> - <div class="line indentq">What wresting may lose thee, that win with a kiss.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Both bear and forbear, now and then as ye may,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then wench, God a mercy! thy husband will say."<a name="FNanchor_i_115:A_165" id="FNanchor_i_115:A_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_115:A_165" class="fnanchor">[115:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 116 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_116" id="Page_i_116">[116]</a></span><br /></p> - -<p>Frugality and domestic economy were not, however, the constant -attributes of the farmer's wife in the age of which we are treating; -<!-- Page 117 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_117" id="Page_i_117">[117]</a></span>the luxury of dress, both in England and Scotland, had already -corrupted the simplicity of country-habits. Stephen Perlet, who <!-- Page 118 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_118" id="Page_i_118">[118]</a></span>visited -Scotland in 1553, and Fines Moryson, who made a similar tour in -1598<a name="FNanchor_i_118:A_166" id="FNanchor_i_118:A_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_118:A_166" class="fnanchor">[118:A]</a>, agree in describing the dress of the common people of both -countries as nearly if not altogether the same; the picture, therefore, -which Dunbar has given us of the dress of a rich farmer's wife, in -Scotland, during the middle of the sixteenth century, will apply, with -little fear of exaggeration, to the still wealthier dames of England. He -has drawn her in a robe of fine scarlet with a white hood; a gay purse -and gingling keys pendant at her side from a silken belt of silver -tissue; on each finger she wore two rings, and round her waste was bound -a sash of grass-green silk, richly embroidered with silver.<a name="FNanchor_i_118:B_167" id="FNanchor_i_118:B_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_118:B_167" class="fnanchor">[118:B]</a> To -this rural extravagancy in dress, Warner will bear an equal testimony; -for, describing two old gossips cowering over their cottage-fire, and -chatting how the world was changed in their time,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"When we were maids (quoth one of them)</div> - <div class="line indentq">Was no such new found pride:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then wore they shooes of ease, now of</div> - <div class="line i1q">An inch-broad, corked hye:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Black karsie stockings, worsted now,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Yea silke of youthful'st dye:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Garters of lystes, but now of silke,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Some edged deep with gold:</div> - <div class="line indentq">With costlier toyes, for courser turns,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Than us'd, perhaps of old.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Fring'd and ymbroidered petticoats</div> - <div class="line i1q">Now begge. But heard you nam'd,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Till now of late, busks, perrewigs,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Maskes, plumes of feathers fram'd,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Supporters, posters, fardingales</div> - <div class="line i1q">Above the loynes to waire,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That be she near so bombe-thin, yet</div> - <div class="line i1q">She crosse-like seems foure-squaire?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 119 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_119" id="Page_i_119">[119]</a></span><div class="line indentq">Some wives, grayheaded, shame not locks</div> - <div class="line i1q">Of youthfull borrowed haire:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Some, tyring arte, attyer their heads</div> - <div class="line i1q">With only tresses bare:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Some, (grosser pride than which, think I,</div> - <div class="line i1q">No passed age might shame)</div> - <div class="line indentq">By arte, abusing nature, heads</div> - <div class="line i1q">Of antick't hayre doe frame.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Once starching lack't the tearme, because</div> - <div class="line i1q">Was lacking once the toy,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And lack't we all these toyes and tearmes,</div> - <div class="line i1q">It were no griefe but joy.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Now dwels ech drossell in her glas:</div> - <div class="line i1q">When I was yong, I wot,</div> - <div class="line indentq">On holly-dayes (for sildome els</div> - <div class="line i1q">Such ydell times we got)</div> - <div class="line indentq">A tubb or paile of water cleere</div> - <div class="line i1q">Stood us in steede of glas."<a name="FNanchor_i_119:A_168" id="FNanchor_i_119:A_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_119:A_168" class="fnanchor">[119:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Luxury and extravagance soon spread beyond the female circle, and the -<i>Farmer's Heir</i> of forty pounds a year, is described by Hall, in 1598, -as dissipating his property on the follies and fopperies of the day.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Vilius, the wealthy farmer, left his heire</div> - <div class="line indentq">Twice twenty sterling pounds to spend by yeare:—</div> - <div class="line indentq">But whiles ten pound goes to his wife's new gowne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Nor little lesse can serve to suit his owne;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whiles one piece pays her idle waiting-man,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or buys an hoode, or silver-handled fanne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or hires a Friezeland trotter, halfe yard deepe,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To drag his tumbrell through the staring Cheape;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or whiles he rideth with two liveries,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And's treble rated at the subsidies;</div> - <div class="line indentq">One end a kennel keeps of thriftlesse hounds;</div> - <div class="line indentq">What think ye rests of all my younker's pounds</div> - <div class="line indentq">To diet him, or deal out at his doore,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To coffer up, or stocke his wasting store?"<a name="FNanchor_i_119:B_169" id="FNanchor_i_119:B_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_119:B_169" class="fnanchor">[119:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 120 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_120" id="Page_i_120">[120]</a></span>In contrast to this character, who keeps a pack of hounds, and sports a -couple of liveries, it will be interesting to bring forward the picture -of the <i>poor copyholder</i>, as drawn by the same masterly pencil; the -description of the wretched hovel is given in all the strength of minute -reality, and the avidity of the avaricious landlord is wrought up with -several strokes of humour.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Of one bay's breadth, God wot, a silly cote,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whose thatched spars are furr'd with sluttish soote</div> - <div class="line indentq">A whole inch thick, shining like black-moor's brows,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Through smoke that downe the headlesse barrel blows.</div> - <div class="line indentq">At his bed's feete feeden his stalled teame,</div> - <div class="line indentq">His swine beneath, his pullen o'er the beame.</div> - <div class="line indentq">A starved tenement, such as I guesse</div> - <div class="line indentq">Stands straggling on the wastes of Holdernesse:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or such as shivers on a Peake hill side, &c.—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Yet must he haunt his greedy landlord's hall</div> - <div class="line indentq">With often presents at each festivall:</div> - <div class="line indentq">With crammed capons everie new-yeare's morne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or with greene cheese when his sheepe are shorne:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or many maunds-full of his mellow fruite,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To make some way to win his weighty suite.—</div> - <div class="line indentq">The smiling landlord shews a sunshine face,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Feigning that he will grant him further grace;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And leers like Esop's foxe upon the crane,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whose neck he craves for his chirurgian."<a name="FNanchor_i_120:A_170" id="FNanchor_i_120:A_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_120:A_170" class="fnanchor">[120:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>We shall close these characters, illustrative of rural manners, as they -existed in the reigns of Elizabeth and James 1st, with a delineation of -the <i>plain Country Fellow or down right Clown</i>, from the accurate pen of -Bishop Earle, who has touched this homely subject with singular point -and spirits.</p> - -<p>"A <i>plain country fellow</i> is one that manures his ground well, but lets -himself lye fallow and untilled. He has reason enough to do his -business, and not enough to be idle or melancholy. He seems to have the -punishment of <i>Nebuchadnezzar</i>, for his conversation is among beasts, -and his tallons none of the shortest, only he eats not <!-- Page 121 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_121" id="Page_i_121">[121]</a></span>grass, because -he loves not sallets. His hand guides the plough, and the plough his -thoughts, and his ditch and land-mark is the very mound of his -meditations. He expostulates with his oxen very understandingly, and -speaks gee, and ree, better than English. His mind is not much -distracted with objects, but if a good fat cow come in his way, he -stands dumb and astonished, and though his haste be never so great, will -fix here half an hour's contemplation. His habitation is some poor -thatched roof, distinguished from his barn by the loop-holes that let -out smoak, which the rain had long since washed through, but for the -double ceiling of bacon on the inside, which has hung there from his -grandsire's time, and is yet to make rashers for posterity. His dinner -is his other work, for he sweats at it as much as at his labour; he is a -terrible fastner on a piece of beef, and you may hope to stave the guard -off sooner. His religion is a part of his copy-hold, which he takes from -his land-lord, and refers it wholly to his discretion: yet if he give -him leave he is a good Christian to his power, (that is,) comes to -church in his best cloaths, and sits there with his neighbours, where he -is capable only of two prayers, for rain, and fair weather. He -apprehends God's blessings only in a good year, or a fat pasture, and -never praises him but on <i>good ground</i>. Sunday, he esteems a day to make -merry in, and thinks a bag-pipe as essential to it as evening prayer, -where he walks very solemnly after service with his hands coupled behind -him, and censures the dancing of his parish. His compliment with his -neighbour is a good thump on the back, and his salutation commonly some -blunt curse. He thinks nothing to be vices, but pride and ill husbandry, -from which he will gravely dissuade the youth, and has some thrifty -hob-nail proverbs to clout his discourse. He is a niggard all the week, -except only market-day, where, if his corn sell well, he thinks he may -be drunk with a good conscience. He is sensible of no calamity but the -burning a stack of corn or the overflowing of a meadow, and thinks -Noah's flood the greatest plague that ever was, not because it drowned -the world, but spoiled the <!-- Page 122 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_122" id="Page_i_122">[122]</a></span>grass. For death he is never troubled, and -if he get in but his harvest before, let it come when it will, he cares -not."<a name="FNanchor_i_122:A_171" id="FNanchor_i_122:A_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_122:A_171" class="fnanchor">[122:A]</a></p> - -<p>The <i>nine</i> characters which have now passed in brief review before us, -namely, the <i>Rural Squire</i>; the <i>Rural Coxcomb</i>; the <i>Rural Clergyman</i>; -the <i>Rural Pedagogue</i>; the <i>Farmer</i> or <i>substantial Yeoman</i>; the -<i>Farmer's Wife</i>; the <i>Farmer's Heir</i>; the <i>Poor Copyholder</i>, and the -mere <i>Ploughman</i> or <i>Country Boor</i>, will, to a certain extent, point out -the personal manners, condition, and mode of living of those who -inhabited the country, during the period in which Shakspeare flourished. -They have been given from the experience, and, generally, in the very -words of contemporary writers, and may, therefore, be considered as -faithful portraits. To complete the picture, a further elucidation of -the customs of the country, as drawn from its principal occurrences and -events, will be the subject of the ensuing chapter, in which the -references to the works of our immortal bard will be more frequent than -could take place while collecting mere out-line draughts of rural -character.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_68:A_89" id="Footnote_i_68:A_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_68:A_89"><span class="label">[68:A]</span></a> Holinshed's Chronicles, edit. of 1807, in six vols. 4to. -vol. i. p. 276.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_68:B_90" id="Footnote_i_68:B_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_68:B_90"><span class="label">[68:B]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 273.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_69:A_91" id="Footnote_i_69:A_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_69:A_91"><span class="label">[69:A]</span></a> Taming of the Shrew, act ii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_70:A_92" id="Footnote_i_70:A_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_70:A_92"><span class="label">[70:A]</span></a> Of the very rare tract from which these extracts are -taken, the following is the entire title-page:—"The Gentleman's -Academie; or, the Booke of St. Albans: containing three most exact and -excellent Bookes: the first of Hawking, the second of all the proper -Termes of Hunting, and the last of Armorie: all compiled by Juliana -Barnes, in the Yere from the Incarnation of Christ 1486. And now reduced -into a better method, by G. M. London. Printed for Humphrey Lownes, and -are to be sold at his shop in Paules Church-yard, 1595." This curious -edition of the <i>Booke of St. Albans</i>, accommodated to the days of -Shakspeare, contains 95 leaves 4to. and I shall add the interesting -dedication:</p> - -<p class="center">"To the Gentlemen of England:<br /> -and all good fellowship<br /> -of Huntsmen and<br /> -Falconers.</p> - -<p>"Gentlemen, this booke, intreting of Hawking, Hunting, and Armorie; the -originall copie of the which was doone at St. Albans, about what time -the excellent arte of printing was first brought out of Germany, and -practised here in England: which booke, because of the antiquitie of the -same, and the things therein contained, being so necessarie and -behovefull to the accomplishment of the gentlemen of this flourishing -ile, and others which take delight in either of these noble sports, or -in that heroicall and excellent study of Armory, I have revived and -brought again to light the same which was almost altogether forgotten, -and either few or none of the perfect copies thereof remaining, except -in their hands, who wel knowing the excellency of the worke, and the -rarenesse of the booke, smothered the same from the world, thereby to -inrich themselves in private with the knowledge of these delights. -Therfore I humbly crave pardon of the precise and judicial reader, if -sometimes I use the words of the ancient authour, in such plaine and -homely English, as that time affoorded, not being so regardful, nor -tying myself so strictly to deliver any thing in the proper and peculiar -wordes and termes of arte, which for the love I beare to antiquitie, and -to the honest simplicitie of those former times, I observe as wel -beseeming the subject, and no whit disgracefull to the worke, our tong -being not of such puritie then, as at this day the poets of our age have -raised it to: of whom, and in whose behalf I wil say thus much, that our -nation may only thinke herself beholding for the glory and exact -compendiousnes of our longuage. Thus submitting our academy to your kind -censures and friendly acceptance of the same, and requesting you to -reade with indifferency, and correct with judgement; I commit you to -God.</p> - -<p class="author">G. M."</p> - -<p>From this dedication we learn that the original edition of the Booke of -St. Albans was as scarce towards the close of the sixteenth century as -at the present day; that "few or none of the perfect copies" were to be -obtained; for that those were in the hands of <i>Bibliomaniacs</i> who (like -too many now existing) "smother'd them from the world." We have, -therefore, every reason to conclude, from "the rarenesse (and consequent -value) of the booke" of 1486, that the copy of Juliana's work in the -library of Shakspeare, was the edition by Markham of 1595. I shall just -add, that the copy now before me, was purchased at the Roxburgh sale, -for 9<i>l.</i> 19<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i>! It is, notwithstanding, probable, from the -<i>peculiarities</i> attending Markham's re-impression, that this sum, great -as it may appear, will be exceeded at some future sale.</p> - -<p>The attachment of <i>Gervase Markham</i> to the subjects which employed the -pen of his favourite Prioress, is very happily introduced by Mr. Dibdin, -while alluding to the similar propensities of the <i>modern Markham</i>, Mr. -Haslewood. "Up starts <span class="smcap">Florizel</span>, and blows his bugle, at the annunciation -of any work, new or old, upon the diversions of <i>Hawking</i>, <i>Hunting</i>, or -<i>Fishing</i>! Carry him through <span class="smcap">Camillo's</span> cabinet of Dutch pictures, and -you will see how instinctively, as it were, his eyes are fixed upon a -sporting piece by Wouvermans. The hooded hawk, in his estimation, hath -more charms than Guido's Madonna:—how he envies every rider upon his -white horse!—how he burns to bestride the foremost steed, and to mingle -in the fair throng, who turn their blue eyes to the scarcely bluer -expanse of heaven! Here he recognises <i>Gervase Markham</i>, spurring his -courser; and there he fancies himself lifting <i>Dame Juliana</i> from her -horse! Happy deception! dear fiction! says Florizel—while he throws his -eyes in an opposite direction, and views every printed book upon the -subject, from <i>Barnes</i> to <i>Thornton</i>." Bibliomania, p. 729, 730.</p> - -<p>The following very amusing description of "the difference twixt Churles -and Gentlemen," will prove an adequate specimen of Markham's edition, -will be appropriate to the subject in the text, and may be compared with -the accurate reprint of the edition of W. De Worde by Mr. Haslewood.</p> - -<p>"There was never gentleman, nor churle ordained, but hee had father and -mother: Adam and Eve had neither father nor mother, and therefore in the -sonnes of Adam and Eve, first issued out both gentleman and churle. By -the sonnes of Adam and Eve, to wit, Seth, Abell, and Caine, was the -royall blood divided from the rude and barbarous, a brother to murder -his brother contrary to the law, what could be more ungentlemanly or -vile? in that, therefore, became Caine and al his ofspring churles, both -by the curse of God, and his owne father. Seth was made a gentleman -through his father and mother's blessing, from whose loynes issued Noah, -a gentleman by kind and linage. Noah had three sonnes truely begotten, -two by the mother, named Cham and Sem, and the third by the father -called Japhet, even in these three, after the world's inundation, was -both gentlenes and vilenes discerned, in Cham was grose barbarisme -founde towardes his owne father in discovering his privities, and -deriding from whence hee proceeded. Japhet the yongest gentlemanlike -reproved his brother, which was to him reputed a vertue, where Cham for -his abortive vilenes became a churle both through the curse of God and -his father Noah. When Noah awoke, hee said to Cham his sonne knowest not -thou how it is become of Caine the sonne of Adam, and of his churlelike -blood, that for them all the worlde is drowned save eight persons, and -wilt thou nowe begin barbarisme againe, whereby the world in after ages -shall be brought to consummation? well upon thee it shall bee and so I -pray the Great one it maye fall out, for to thee I give my curse, and -withall the north part of the world, to draw thine habitation unto, for -there shall it be where sorrow, care, colde, and as a mischievous and -unrespected churle thou shall live, which part of the earth shall be -termed Europe, which is the country of churles. Japhet come hither my -sonne, on thee will I raine my blessing, deare insteede of Seth: Adams -sonne, I make thee a gentleman, and thy renowne shall stretch through -the west part of the world, and to the end of the Occident, where wealth -and grace shall flourish, there shall be thine habitation, and thy -dominion shall bee called Asia, which is the cuntrie of gentlemen. And -Sem my sonne, I make thee a gentleman also, to multiply the blood of -Abell slaine so undeservedlie, to thee I give the orient, that part of -the world which shal be called Africa, which is the country of -temperateres: and thus divided Noah the world and his blessings. From -the of-spring of gentlemanly Japhet came Abraham, Moyses, Aaron and the -Prophets, and also the king of the right line of Mary, of whom that only -absolute gentleman Jesus was borne, perfite God and perfite man, -according to his manhood king of the lande of Juda and the Jewes, and -gentleman by his mother Mary princesse of coat armor." Fol. 44.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_72:A_93" id="Footnote_i_72:A_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_72:A_93"><span class="label">[72:A]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 316.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_73:A_94" id="Footnote_i_73:A_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_73:A_94"><span class="label">[73:A]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 315.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_73:B_95" id="Footnote_i_73:B_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_73:B_95"><span class="label">[73:B]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 315. 317.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_74:A_96" id="Footnote_i_74:A_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_74:A_96"><span class="label">[74:A]</span></a> Bacon's Essayes or Counsels, 4to. edit., 1632, p. 260.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_74:B_97" id="Footnote_i_74:B_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_74:B_97"><span class="label">[74:B]</span></a> Act v. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_74:C_98" id="Footnote_i_74:C_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_74:C_98"><span class="label">[74:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 184. note 5. by -Steevens.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_75:A_99" id="Footnote_i_75:A_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_75:A_99"><span class="label">[75:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 236.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_75:B_100" id="Footnote_i_75:B_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_75:B_100"><span class="label">[75:B]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 531.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_75:C_101" id="Footnote_i_75:C_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_75:C_101"><span class="label">[75:C]</span></a> Massinger's Plays, <i>apud</i> Gifford, vol. iv. p. 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_76:A_102" id="Footnote_i_76:A_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_76:A_102"><span class="label">[76:A]</span></a> From a MS. of Aubrey's in the Ashmole Museum, as quoted -by Mr. Malcolm in his Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London, -part i. p. 220. 4to.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_76:B_103" id="Footnote_i_76:B_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_76:B_103"><span class="label">[76:B]</span></a> Aubrey's MS. Malcolm, p. 221, 222.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_79:A_104" id="Footnote_i_79:A_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_79:A_104"><span class="label">[79:A]</span></a> Henry IV. part ii. act v. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_79:B_105" id="Footnote_i_79:B_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_79:B_105"><span class="label">[79:B]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 281. The particulars of the diet -of our ancestors in the age of Shakspeare will be given in a subsequent -part of the work.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_80:A_106" id="Footnote_i_80:A_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_80:A_106"><span class="label">[80:A]</span></a> City Madam, act ii. sc. 1.</p> - -<p>Gervase Markham in his English House-Wife, the first edition of which -was published not long after Shakspeare's death, after mentioning in his -second chapter, which treats of cookery, the manner of "ordering great -feasts," closes his observations under this head, with directions for "a -more humble feast, or an ordinary proportion which any good man may keep -in his family, for the entertainment of his true and worthy friend;" -this <i>humble feast</i> or <i>ordinary proportion</i>, he proceeds to say, should -consist for the first course of "sixteen full dishes, that is, dishes of -meat that are of substance, and not empty, or for shew—as thus, for -example; first, a shield of brawn with mustard; secondly, a boyl'd -capon; thirdly, a boyl'd piece of beef; fourthly, a chine of beef -rosted; fifthly, a neat's tongue rosted; sixthly, a pig rosted; -seventhly, chewets bak'd; eighthly, a goose rosted; ninthly, a swan -rosted; tenthly, a turkey rosted; the eleventh, a haunch of venison -rosted; the twelfth, a pasty of venison; the thirteenth, a kid with a -pudding in the belly; the fourteenth, an olive-pye; the fifteenth, a -couple of capons; the sixteenth, a custard or dowsets. Now to these full -dishes may be added sallets, fricases, quelque choses, and devised -paste, as many dishes more which make the full service no less than two -and thirty dishes, which is as much as can conveniently stand on one -table, and in one mess; and after this manner you may proportion both -your second and third course, holding fulness on one half of the dishes, -and shew in the other, which will be both frugal in the spendor, -contentment to the guest, and much pleasure and delight to the -beholders." P. 100, 101. ninth edition of 1683, small 4to.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_80:B_107" id="Footnote_i_80:B_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_80:B_107"><span class="label">[80:B]</span></a> Henry IV. part ii. act v. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_81:A_108" id="Footnote_i_81:A_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_81:A_108"><span class="label">[81:A]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 287.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_81:B_109" id="Footnote_i_81:B_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_81:B_109"><span class="label">[81:B]</span></a> Puttenham's Art of English Poesie, p. 69, reprint of -1811.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_81:C_110" id="Footnote_i_81:C_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_81:C_110"><span class="label">[81:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 33.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_82:A_111" id="Footnote_i_82:A_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_82:A_111"><span class="label">[82:A]</span></a> Macbeth, act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_82:B_112" id="Footnote_i_82:B_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_82:B_112"><span class="label">[82:B]</span></a> Merry Wives of Windsor, act i. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_82:C_113" id="Footnote_i_82:C_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_82:C_113"><span class="label">[82:C]</span></a> Merry Wives of Windsor, act v. sc. 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_82:D_114" id="Footnote_i_82:D_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_82:D_114"><span class="label">[82:D]</span></a> Heywood's Edward II. p. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_82:E_115" id="Footnote_i_82:E_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_82:E_115"><span class="label">[82:E]</span></a> Jonson's Every Man in his Humour, act i. sc. 1. Acted in -the year 1598.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_83:A_116" id="Footnote_i_83:A_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_83:A_116"><span class="label">[83:A]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 290.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_84:A_117" id="Footnote_i_84:A_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_84:A_117"><span class="label">[84:A]</span></a> Chalmers' Poets, vol. iv. p. 435, 436. Drayton, Fourth -Eclogue.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_84:B_118" id="Footnote_i_84:B_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_84:B_118"><span class="label">[84:B]</span></a> "A term in hawking, signifying the short straps of -leather which are fastened to the hawk's legs, by which he is held on -the fist, or joined to the leash." Bliss.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_85:A_119" id="Footnote_i_85:A_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_85:A_119"><span class="label">[85:A]</span></a> Earle's Microcosmography; or a Piece of the World -discovered, in Essays and Characters. Edition of 1811, by Philip Bliss.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_85:B_120" id="Footnote_i_85:B_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_85:B_120"><span class="label">[85:B]</span></a> Hall's Satires, book v. sat. 2. printed in 1598.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_86:A_121" id="Footnote_i_86:A_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_86:A_121"><span class="label">[86:A]</span></a> Lodge's Illustrations of British History, Biography, and -Manners, in the Reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, Elizabeth, and -James I., vol. ii. p. 383.</p> - -<p>That this evil kept gradually increasing during the reign of James I., -may be proved from the testimony of Peacham and Brathwait; the former, -in his <i>Compleat Gentleman</i>, observes,—"Much doe I detest that -effeminacy of the most, that burne out day and night in their beds, and -by the fire side; in trifles, gaming, or courting their yellow -mistresses all the winter in a city; appearing but as cuckoes in the -spring, one time in the yeare to the countrey and their tenants, leaving -the care of keeping good houses at Christmas, to the honest yeomen of -the countrey;" (p. 214.) and the latter, in his <i>English Gentleman</i>, -addressing the rural fashionables of his day, exclaims,—"Let your -countrey (I say) enjoy you, who bred you, shewing there your -hospitality, where God hath placed you, and with sufficient meanes -blessed you. I doe not approve of these, who fly from their countrey, as -if they were ashamed of her, or had committed something unworthy of her. -How blame-worthy then are these <i>Court-comets</i>, whose onely delight is -to admire themselves? These, no sooner have their bed-rid <i>fathers</i> -betaken themselves to their last home, and removed from their crazie -couch, but they are ready to sell a mannor for a coach. They will not -take it as their fathers tooke it: their countrey houses must bee barred -up, lest the poore passenger should expect what is impossible to finde, -releefe to his want, or a supply to his necessity. No, the cage is -opened, and all the birds are fled, not one crum of comfort remaining to -succour a distressed poore one. Hospitality, which was once a <i>relique</i> -of <i>gentry</i>, and a knowne <i>cognizance</i> to all ancient houses, hath lost -her title, meerely through discontinuance: and <i>great houses</i>, which -were at first founded to releeve the poore, and such needfull passengers -as travelled by them, are now of no use but onely as <i>waymarkes</i> to -direct them. But whither are these <i>Great ones</i> gone? To the <i>Court</i>; -there to spend in boundlesse and immoderate riot, what their provident -ancestors had so long preserved, and at whose doores so many needy -soules have beene comfortably releeved." Second edition, 1633. p. 332.</p> - -<p>In the margin of the page from which this extract is taken, occurs the -following note:—"This is excellently seconded by a Princely pen, in a -pithy poem directed to all persons to ranke or quality to leave the -Court, and returne into their owne countrey."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_86:B_122" id="Footnote_i_86:B_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_86:B_122"><span class="label">[86:B]</span></a> In confirmation of this remark, I shall beg leave to -give, for the entertainment of my readers, the two following sketches of -country-squires, as they existed towards the middle of the seventeenth, -and commencement of the eighteenth century. "Mr. Hastings," relates -Gilpin from Hutchin's History of Dorsetshire, "was low of stature, but -strong and active, of a ruddy complexion with flaxen hair. His cloaths -were always of green cloth, his house was of the old fashion; in the -midst of a large park, well stocked with deer, rabbits, and fish-ponds. -He had a long narrow bowling green in it; and used to play with round -sand bowls. Here too he had a banquetting room built, like a stand, in a -large tree. He kept all sorts of hounds, that ran buck, fox, hare, -otter, and badger: and had hawks of all kinds, both long and short -winged. His great hall was commonly strewed with marrow bones; and full -of hawk-perches, hounds, spaniels, and terriers. The upper end of it was -hung with fox-skins, of this and the last year's killing. Here and there -a pole-cat was intermixed; and hunter's poles in great abundance. The -parlour was a large room, compleatly furnished in the same style. On a -broad hearth, paved with brick, lay some of the choicest terriers, -hounds and spaniels. One or two of the great chairs had litters of cats -in them, which were not to be disturbed. Of these, three or four always -attended him at dinner, and a little white wand lay by his trencher, to -defend it, if they were too troublesome. In the windows which were very -large, lay his arrows, cross-bows, and other accoutrements. The corners -of the room were filled with his best hunting and hawking poles. His -oyster table stood at the lower end of the room, which was in constant -use twice a day, all the year round; for he never failed to eat oysters -both at dinner and supper; with which the neighbouring town of Pool -supplied him. At the upper end of the room stood a small table with a -double desk; one side of which held a <span class="smcap">Church Bible</span>; the other the <span class="smcap">Book -of Martyrs</span>. On different tables in the room lay hawk's-hoods, bells, old -hats, with their crowns thrust in, full of pheasant eggs; tables, dice, -cards, and store of tobacco pipes. At one end of this room was a door, -which opened into a closet, where stood bottles of strong beer and wine; -which never came out but in single glasses, which was the rule of the -house; for he never exceeded himself nor permitted others to exceed. -Answering to this closet, was a door into an old chapel; which had been -long disused for devotion; but in the pulpit, as the safest place, was -always to be found a cold chine of beef, a venison pasty, a gammon of -bacon, or a great apple-pye, with thick crust well baked. His table cost -him not much, though it was good to eat at. His sports supplied all, but -beef and mutton; except on Fridays, when he had the best of fish. He -never wanted a London pudding; and he always sang it in with "<i>My part -lies therein-a</i>." He drank a glass or two of wine at meals; put syrup of -gilly-flowers into his sack; and had always a tun glass of small beer -standing by him, which he often stirred about with rosemary. He lived to -be an hundred; and never lost his eye sight, nor used spectacles. He got -on horseback without help; and rode to the death of the stag, till he -was past four score." Gilpin's Forest Scenery; vol. ii. p. 23. 26.</p> - -<p>Mr. Dibdin, in the second edition of his Bibliomania, the most pleasing -and interesting book which Bibliography has ever produced, has quoted -the above passage, and thus alludes, in his text, to the character which -it describes:—"But what shall we say to Lord Shaftesbury's eccentric -neighbour, <span class="smcap">Henry Hastings</span>? who, in spite of his hawks, hounds, kittens, -and oysters, could not forbear to indulge his book-propensities, though -in a moderate degree! Let us fancy we see him, in his eightieth year, -just alighted from the toils of the chase, and listening, after dinner, -with his 'single glass' of ale by his side, to some old woman with -'spectacle on nose,' who reads to him a choice passage out of John Fox's -<i>Book of Martyrs</i>! A rare old boy was this Hastings." Bibliomania, p. -379.</p> - -<p>Mr. Grose, the antiquary, has given us, in his sketches of some worn-out -characters of the last age, a most amusing portrait of the country -squire of Queen Anne's days: "I mean," says he, "the little independant -gentleman of three hundred pounds per annum, who commonly appeared in a -plain drab or plush coat, large silver buttons, a jockey cap, and rarely -without boots. His travels never exceeded the distance of the county -town, and that only at assize and session time, or to attend an -election. Once a week he commonly dined at the next market town, with -the attornies and justices. This man went to church regularly, read the -Weekly Journal, settled the parochial disputes between the parish -officers at the vestry, and afterwards adjourned to the neighbouring -ale-house, where he usually got drunk for the good of his country. He -never played at cards but at Christmas, when a family pack was produced -from the mantle-piece. He was commonly followed by a couple of -grey-hounds and a pointer, and announced his arrival at a neighbours -house by smacking his whip, or giving the view-halloo. His drink was -generally ale, except on Christmas, the fifth of November, or some other -gala days, when he would make a bowl of strong brandy punch garnished -with a toast and nutmeg. A journey to London was, by one of these men, -reckoned as great an undertaking, as is at present a voyage to the East -Indies, and undertaken with scarce less precaution and preparation.</p> - -<p>"The mansion of one of these 'Squires was of plaister striped with -timber, not unaptly called callimanco work, or of red brick, large -casemented bow windows, a porch with seats in it, and over it a study; -the eaves of the house well inhabited by swallows, and the court set -round with holly-hocks. Near the gate a horse-block for the conveniency -of mounting.</p> - -<p>"The hall was furnished with flitches of bacon, and the mantle-piece -with guns and fishing rods of different dimensions, accompanied by the -broad sword, partizan, and dagger, borne by his ancestor in the civil -wars. The vacant spaces were occupied by stag's horns. Against the wall -was posted King Charles's Golden Rules, Vincent Wing's Almanack, and a -portrait of the Duke of Marlborough; in his window lay Baker's -Chronicle, Fox's Book of Martyrs, Glanvil on Apparitions, Quincey's -Dispensatory, the Complete Justice, and a Book of Farriery.</p> - -<p>"In the corner, by the fire side, stood a large wooden two-armed chair -with a cushion; and within the chimney corner were a couple of seats. -Here, at Christmas, he entertained his tenants assembled round a glowing -fire made of the roots of trees, and other great logs, and told and -heard the traditionary tales of the village respecting ghosts and -witches, till fear made them afraid to move. In the mean time the jorum -of ale was in continual circulation.</p> - -<p>"The best parlour, which was never opened but on particular occasions, -was furnished with Turk-worked chain, and hung round with portraits of -his ancestors; the men in the character of shepherds, with their crooks, -dressed in full suits and huge full-bottomed perukes: others in complete -armour or buff coats, playing on the base viol or lute. The females -likewise as shepherdesses, with the lamb and crook, all habited in high -heads and flowing robes.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Alas! these men and these houses are no more!"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Grose's Olio</i>, 2nd edit. 1796. p. 41-44.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_89:A_123" id="Footnote_i_89:A_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_89:A_123"><span class="label">[89:A]</span></a> Richard Berket Reader, æt. 74. MS. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_89:B_124" id="Footnote_i_89:B_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_89:B_124"><span class="label">[89:B]</span></a> In the margin is a MS. note seemingly in the -hand-writing of Bishop Nicholson, who gave these volumes to the library:</p> - -<p>"Since I can remember there was not a reader in any chapel but was -called <i>Sir</i>."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_90:A_125" id="Footnote_i_90:A_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_90:A_125"><span class="label">[90:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 8. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_90:B_126" id="Footnote_i_90:B_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_90:B_126"><span class="label">[90:B]</span></a> Twelfth Night, act iii. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_91:A_127" id="Footnote_i_91:A_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_91:A_127"><span class="label">[91:A]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 233, 234.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_92:A_128" id="Footnote_i_92:A_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_92:A_128"><span class="label">[92:A]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 231.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_93:A_129" id="Footnote_i_93:A_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_93:A_129"><span class="label">[93:A]</span></a> Lodge's Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 391.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_93:B_130" id="Footnote_i_93:B_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_93:B_130"><span class="label">[93:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 221. note 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_95:A_131" id="Footnote_i_95:A_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_95:A_131"><span class="label">[95:A]</span></a> The Compleat Gentleman. Fashioning him absolut, in the -most necessary and commendable Qualities concerning Minde or Body that -may be required in a Noble Gentleman. By Henry Peacham Master of Arts: -Sometime of Trinitie Colledge in Cambridge.</p> - -<p>This book, which is written in an easy and elegant style, was published -in 1622, and has been several times reprinted; it is a work of -considerable interest and amusement, and throws much light on the -education and literature of its times.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_95:B_132" id="Footnote_i_95:B_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_95:B_132"><span class="label">[95:B]</span></a> Hall's Satires, Book ii. sat. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_96:A_133" id="Footnote_i_96:A_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_96:A_133"><span class="label">[96:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 451.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_96:B_134" id="Footnote_i_96:B_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_96:B_134"><span class="label">[96:B]</span></a> The Staple of Newes, the third Intermeane after the -third act.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_96:C_135" id="Footnote_i_96:C_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_96:C_135"><span class="label">[96:C]</span></a> Act v. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_96:D_136" id="Footnote_i_96:D_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_96:D_136"><span class="label">[96:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 132. note 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_97:A_137" id="Footnote_i_97:A_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_97:A_137"><span class="label">[97:A]</span></a> Compleat Gentleman, p. 22. edit. of 1634.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_97:B_138" id="Footnote_i_97:B_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_97:B_138"><span class="label">[97:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 25.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_97:C_139" id="Footnote_i_97:C_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_97:C_139"><span class="label">[97:C]</span></a> Instruction of a Christian Woman, 4to. edit. of 1557.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_98:A_140" id="Footnote_i_98:A_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_98:A_140"><span class="label">[98:A]</span></a> Compleat Gentleman, p. 26, 27.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_99:A_141" id="Footnote_i_99:A_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_99:A_141"><span class="label">[99:A]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 275.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_100:A_142" id="Footnote_i_100:A_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_100:A_142"><span class="label">[100:A]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 315.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_100:B_143" id="Footnote_i_100:B_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_100:B_143"><span class="label">[100:B]</span></a> Three editions of Tusser's Poem on Husbandry are now -before me; the first printed in 1557, entitled <i>A Hundreth good Pointes -of Husbandrie</i>; the 4to. edition of 1586, termed <i>Five Hundred Pointes -of Good Husbandrie</i>; and <i>Tusser Redivivus</i>, by Daniel Hilman, first -published in 1710, and again in 1744; the quatrain just quoted is from -the copy of 1744, p. 56.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_101:A_144" id="Footnote_i_101:A_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_101:A_144"><span class="label">[101:A]</span></a> Gilpin's Life of Latimer, p. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_103:A_145" id="Footnote_i_103:A_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_103:A_145"><span class="label">[103:A]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 317, 318.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_104:A_146" id="Footnote_i_104:A_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_104:A_146"><span class="label">[104:A]</span></a> Warner's Albion's England, chap. 42. Chalmers's English -Poets, vol. iv. p. 602.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_105:A_147" id="Footnote_i_105:A_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_105:A_147"><span class="label">[105:A]</span></a> Warner in Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 552, 553.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_105:B_148" id="Footnote_i_105:B_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_105:B_148"><span class="label">[105:B]</span></a> Act v. sc. 2. Song at the conclusion.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_106:A_149" id="Footnote_i_106:A_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_106:A_149"><span class="label">[106:A]</span></a> Act ii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_106:B_150" id="Footnote_i_106:B_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_106:B_150"><span class="label">[106:B]</span></a> Damon and Pithias, 1582.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_106:C_151" id="Footnote_i_106:C_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_106:C_151"><span class="label">[106:C]</span></a> Summer's Last Will and Testament, by Nash, 1600.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_106:D_152" id="Footnote_i_106:D_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_106:D_152"><span class="label">[106:D]</span></a> Introductory Song to the second acte. Vide Ancient -British Drama, vol. i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_107:A_153" id="Footnote_i_107:A_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_107:A_153"><span class="label">[107:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 255.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_107:B_154" id="Footnote_i_107:B_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_107:B_154"><span class="label">[107:B]</span></a> Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 172, 173., eighth -edition of 1676.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_107:C_155" id="Footnote_i_107:C_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_107:C_155"><span class="label">[107:C]</span></a> Milton's Poems by Warton, second edition, p. 56. 61.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_108:A_156" id="Footnote_i_108:A_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_108:A_156"><span class="label">[108:A]</span></a> Crones are ewes whose teeth are so worn down, that they -can no longer live in their sheep-walk; but will sometimes, if put into -good pasture, thrive exceedingly.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_108:B_157" id="Footnote_i_108:B_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_108:B_157"><span class="label">[108:B]</span></a> Tusser, 4to. edit. 1586., chap. 12. fol. 25, 26.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_108:C_158" id="Footnote_i_108:C_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_108:C_158"><span class="label">[108:C]</span></a> Tusser, 4to. edit. 1586., fol. 138. 144, 145.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_109:A_159" id="Footnote_i_109:A_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_109:A_159"><span class="label">[109:A]</span></a> Tusser, 4to. of 1586. fol. 133.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_109:B_160" id="Footnote_i_109:B_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_109:B_160"><span class="label">[109:B]</span></a> Holinshed, vol. i. p. 282.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_110:A_161" id="Footnote_i_110:A_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_110:A_161"><span class="label">[110:A]</span></a> Tusser, first edit. of 1557. title-page.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_110:B_162" id="Footnote_i_110:B_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_110:B_162"><span class="label">[110:B]</span></a> The English House-Wife, containing the inward and -outward vertues which ought to be in a Compleat Woman. Ninth edition, -1683. Dedication.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_111:A_163" id="Footnote_i_111:A_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_111:A_163"><span class="label">[111:A]</span></a> English House-Wife, p. 2, 3, 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_113:A_164" id="Footnote_i_113:A_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_113:A_164"><span class="label">[113:A]</span></a> Tusser, first edit. p. 14, 15.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_115:A_165" id="Footnote_i_115:A_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_115:A_165"><span class="label">[115:A]</span></a> Mayor's Tusser, p. 247. ad p. 270.</p> - -<p>Even this, and every other description of the duties of the Huswife, may -be traced to "The Book of Husbandry," written by Sir Anthony -Fitzherbert, of Norbury, in Derbyshire.</p> - -<p>This gentleman, who was a Judge of the Common Pleas, in the reign of -Henry the Eighth, is justly entitled to the appellation of "the father -of English Husbandry." His work, the first edition of which was printed -by Richard Pynson, in 1528, 4to., underwent not less than eleven -editions during the sixteenth century, and soon excited among his -countrymen a most beneficial spirit of emulation. Notwithstanding these -numerous impressions, there are probably not ten complete copies left in -the kingdom.</p> - -<p>One of these is, however, now before me included in a thick duodecimo, -of which the <i>first article</i> is "Xenophon's treatise of householde," -black letter, title wanting; the colophon, "Imprinted At London in -fletestrete in the house of Thomas Berthelet. Cum privilegio ad -imprimendum solum." No date. The <i>second article</i> is "The booke of -Husbandrye verye profitable and necessary for all maner of persons, -newlye corrected and amended by the auctor fitzherbard, with dyvers -addicions put thereunto. Anno do. 1555," black letter. Colophon, -"Imprinted at London in Flete strete at the signe of the Sunne over -agaynst the Conduit by John Weylande." Sixty-one leaves, exclusive of -the table. The <i>third article</i> is entitled "Surveyinge," An. 1546. -Colophon, "Londini in ædibus Thome Berthelet typis impress. Cum -privilegio ad imprimendum solum." Contains sixty leaves, black letter.</p> - -<p>From "The booke of husbandrye," I shall extract the detail of huswifely -duties, as a specimen of the work, and as a proof of the assertion at -the commencement of this note.</p> - -<p class="sectctr">"What workes a wyfe shoulde doe in generall.</p> - -<p>"First in the mornyng when thou art wakēd and purpose to rise, lift up -thy hand, and blis the and make a signe of the holy crosse. In nomine -patris et filii et spiritus sancti. Amen. In the name of the father -y<sup>e</sup> sonne, and the holy gost. And if thou saye a Paternoster, an Ave -and a Crede, and remembre thy maker thou shalte spede much the better, -and when thou art up and readye, then firste swepe thy house; dresse up -the dysshe bord, and set al thynges in good order within thy house, -milke y<sup>e</sup> kie, socle thy calves, sile by thy milke, take up thy -children, and aray them, and provide for thy husbande's breakefaste, -diner, souper, and for thy children and servauntes, and take thy parte -wyth them. And to ordeyne corne and malt to the myll, to bake and brue -withal when nede is. And mete it to the myl and fro the myl, and se that -thou have thy mesure agayne besides the tole or elles the mylner dealeth -not truly wyth the, or els thy corne is not drye as it should be, thou -must make butter and chese when thou may, serve thy swine both mornynge -and eveninge, and give thy polen meate in the mornynge, and when tyme of -yeare cometh thou must take hede how thy henne, duckes and geese do ley, -and to gather up their egges and when they waxe broudy to set them there -as no beastes, swyne, nor other vermyne hurt them, and thou must know -that al hole foted foule wil syt a moneth and all cloven foted foule -wyll syt but three wekes except a peyhen and suche other great foules as -craynes, bustardes, and suche other. And when they have brought forth -theyr birdes to se that they be well kepte from the gleyd, crowes fully -martes and other vermyn, and in the begynyng of March, or a lytle before -is time for a wife to make her garden and to get as manye good sedes and -herbes as she can, and specyally such as be good for the pot and for to -eate and as ofte as nede shall require it must be weded, for els the -wede wyll over grow the herbes, and also in Marche is time to sowe flaxe -and hempe for I have heard olde huswyves say, that better is Marche -hurdes than Apryll flaxe, the reason appereth, but howe it shoulde bee -sowen, weded, pulled, repealed, watred, washen, dried, beten, braked, -tawed, hecheled, spon, wounden, wrapped and oven, it nedeth not for me -to shewe, for they be wyse ynough, and thereof may they make shetes, -bordclothes, towels, shertes, smockes, and suche other necessaryes, and -therefore lette thy dystaffe be alwaye redy for a pastyme, that thou be -not ydell. And undoubted a woman can not get her livinge honestly with -spinning on the dystaffe, but it stoppeth a gap and must nedes be had. -The bolles of flaxe when they be rypled of, must be rediled from the -wedes and made dry with the sunne to get out the sedes. Now be it one -maner of linsede called loken sede wyll not open by the sunne, and -therefore when they be drye they must be sore brusen and broken the -wyves know how, and then wynowed and kept dry til peretime cum againe. -Thy femell hempe must be pulled fro the chucle hempe for this beareth no -sede and thou must doe by it as thou didest by the flaxe. The chucle -hempe doth beare sede, and thou must be ware that birdes eate it not as -it groweth, the hempe thereof is not so good as the femel hempe, but yet -it wil do good service. It may fortune sometime that thou shalte have so -many thinges to do that thou shalte not wel know where is best to begyn. -Then take hede which thing should be the greatest losse if it were not -done and in what space it woulde be done, and then thinke what is the -greatest los and ther begin. But I put case that, that thing that is of -the greatest losse wyll be longe in doing, that thou might do thre or -iiij other thinges in the meane whyle then loke wel if all these thinges -were set togyther whiche of them were greatest losse, and yf these -thynges be of greater losse, and may be al done in as shorte space as -the other, then do thy many thinges fyrst. It is convenient for a -husbande to have shepe of his owne for many causes, and then may his -wife have part of the wooll to make her husbande and her selfe sum -clothes. And at the least waye she may have the lockes of the shepe -therwith to make clothes or blankets, and coverlets, or both. And if she -have no wol of her owne she maye take woll to spynne of cloth makers, -and by that meanes she may have a convenient living, and many tymes to -do other workes. It is a wives occupacion to winow al maner of cornes, -to make malte wash and wring, to make hey, to shere corne, and in time -of nede to helpe her husbande to fyll the mucke wayne or donge carte, -dryve the plough, to lode hey corne and such other. Also to go or ride -to the market to sell butter, chese, mylke, egges, chekens, kapons, -hennes, pygges, gees, and al maner of corne. And also to bye al maner of -necessary thinges belonging to a houshold, and to make a true rekening -and accompt to her husband what she hath receyved and what she hathe -payed. And yf the husband go to the market to bye or sell as they ofte -do, he then to shew his wife in lyke maner. For if one of them should -use to disceive the other, he disceyveth himselfe, and he is not lyke to -thryve, and therfore they must be true ether to other. I could -peraventure shew the husbande of divers pointes that the wives disceve -their husbandes in, and in like maner how husbandes deceve their wives. -But yf I should do so, I shuld shew mo subtil pointes of disceite then -other of them knew of before. And therfore me semeth best to holde my -peace, leste I shuld do as the knight of the tower did the which had -many faire doghters, and of fatherlie love that he oughte to them he -made a boke unto a good intent that they mighte eschewe and flee from -vices and folowe vertues in the which boke he sheweth that yf they were -woed, moved, or styrred by any man after such a maner as is there shewed -that they shuld withstande it, in the which booke he shewed so manye -wayes how a man shuld attaine to his purpose to bryng a woman to vice, -the which waies were so naturall and the wayes to come to theyr purpose -was so subtylly contrived and craftely shewed that hard it wolde be for -any woman to resist or deny their desyre. And by the sayd boke hath made -both the man and the woman to know mo vyces subtylty and crafte then -ever they shoulde have knowen if the boke had not bene made, the which -boke he named him selfe the knighte of the tower. And thus I leave the -wyves to use theyr occupations at theyr owne discression." Fol. 45, 46, -47.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_118:A_166" id="Footnote_i_118:A_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_118:A_166"><span class="label">[118:A]</span></a> See Antiquarian Repertory, vol. i. p. 236; and -Moryson's Itinerary, part iii. fol. 1617.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_118:B_167" id="Footnote_i_118:B_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_118:B_167"><span class="label">[118:B]</span></a> The Freirs of Berwick; Pinkerton's Ancient Scotish -Poems, 12mo. 2 vols. 1786. v. 2. p. 70.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_119:A_168" id="Footnote_i_119:A_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_119:A_168"><span class="label">[119:A]</span></a> Warner's Albion's England, book ix. chap. xlvii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_119:B_169" id="Footnote_i_119:B_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_119:B_169"><span class="label">[119:B]</span></a> Hall's Satires, book v. satire 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_120:A_170" id="Footnote_i_120:A_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_120:A_170"><span class="label">[120:A]</span></a> Hall's Satires, book v. satire 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_122:A_171" id="Footnote_i_122:A_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_122:A_171"><span class="label">[122:A]</span></a> Earle's Microcosmography, p. 64. et seq. edit. of 1811, -by Philip Bliss.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 123 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_123" id="Page_i_123">[123]</a></span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_VI" id="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">A VIEW OF <i>COUNTRY LIFE</i> DURING THE AGE OF SHAKSPEARE; ITS -MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.—RURAL HOLYDAYS, AND FESTIVALS.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The record of rural festivity and amusement, must, as far as it is -unaccompanied by any detail of riot or intemperance, be a subject of -pleasing contemplation to every good and cheerful mind. Labour, the -destined portion of by far the greater part of human beings, requires -frequent intervals of relaxation; and the encouragement of innocent -diversion at stated periods, may be considered, therefore, both in a -moral and political point of view, as essentially useful. The sports and -amusements of our ancestors on their holydays and festivals, while they -had little tendency to promote either luxury or dissipation, contributed -very powerfully to preserve some of the best and most striking features -of our national manners and character, and were frequently mingled with -that cheerful piety which forms the most heart-felt species of devotion, -where religion, mixing with the social rite, offers up the homage of a -happy and contented heart.</p> - -<p>It may be necessary here to mention, that in enumerating the various -ceremonial and feast days of rural life, we have purposely omitted those -which are <i>peculiarly</i> occupied by <i>superstitious</i> observances, as they -will with more propriety be included under a subsequent chapter, -appropriated to the consideration of popular superstitions.</p> - -<p>The ushering in of the New Year, or <i>New Years tide</i>, with rejoicings, -presents, and good wishes, was a custom observed, during the sixteenth -century, with great regularity and parade, and was as cordially -celebrated in the court of the prince as in the cottage of the peasant.</p> - -<p>To end the old year <i>merrily</i> and begin the new one <i>well</i>, and in -<i>friendship</i> with their neighbours, were the objects which the common -<!-- Page 124 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_124" id="Page_i_124">[124]</a></span>people had in view in the celebration of this tide or festival. -New-Years Eve, therefore, was spent in festivity and frolic by the men; -and the young women of the village carried about, from door to door, a -bowl of spiced ale, which they offered to the inhabitants of every house -where they stopped, singing at the same time some rude congratulatory -verses, and expecting some small present in return. This practice, -however, which originated in pure kindness and benevolence, soon -degenerated into a mere pecuniary traffic, for Selden, in his Table -Talk, thus alludes to the subject, while drawing the following curious -comparison: "The pope in sending relicks to princes, does as <i>wenches</i> -do by their <i>wassails</i> at <i>New Years Tide</i>.—They <i>present you</i> with a -<i>cup</i>, and you must <i>drink</i> of a slabby stuff; but the meaning is, you -must <i>give</i> them <i>money</i> ten times more than it is worth."<a name="FNanchor_i_124:A_172" id="FNanchor_i_124:A_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_124:A_172" class="fnanchor">[124:A]</a></p> - -<p>It was customary also, on this eve, for the young men and women to -exchange their clothes, which was termed <i>Mumming</i> or <i>Disguising</i>; and -when thus dressed in each other's garments, they would go from one -neighbour's cottage to another, singing, dancing, and partaking of their -good cheer; a species of masquerading which, as may be imagined, was -often productive of the most licentious freedoms.</p> - -<p>On the succeeding morning, the first of the New Year, presents, called -new-year's gifts, were given and received, with the mutual expression of -good wishes, and particularly that of a <i>happy New Year</i>. The compliment -was sometimes paid at each other's doors in the form of a song; but more -generally, especially in the north of England and in Scotland, the house -was entered very early in the morning, by some young men and maidens -selected for the purpose, who presented the spiced bowl, and hailed you -with the gratulations of the season.</p> - -<p>The custom of interchanging gifts on this day, though now nearly -obsolete, was, in the days of Shakspeare, observed most scrupulously; -and not merely in the country, but, as hath been just before hinted, -even in the palace of the monarch. In fact the wardrobe and jewelry <!-- Page 125 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_125" id="Page_i_125">[125]</a></span>of -Elizabeth appear to have been supported principally by these annual -contributions.</p> - -<p>As a brief summary of these presents, though given not in the country, -but at court, will yet, as including almost every rank in life, from the -peer to the dustman, place in a strong light the prevalence of this -custom, and point out of what these gifts usually consisted in a town, -and therefore, by inference, of what they must have included in the -country, its introduction will not, we should hope, be considered as -altogether digressive from the nature of our subject.</p> - -<p>To Mr. Nichols, who, in his work entitled "Queen Elizabeth's -Progresses," has printed, from the original rolls in vellum, some very -copious lists of New Year's gifts annually presented to this popular -monarch, are we indebted for the following curious enumeration.</p> - -<p>"From all these rolls," says he, "and more of them perhaps are still -existing, it appears that the greatest part, if not all the peers and -peeresses of the realm, all the bishops, the chief officers of state, -and several of the Queen's houshold servants, even down to her -apothecaries, master cook, serjeant of the pastry, &c. gave New Year's -gifts to Her Majesty; consisting, in general, either of a sum of money, -or jewels, trinkets, wearing apparel, &c. The largest sum given by any -of the temporal lords was 20<i>l.</i>; but the Archbishop of Canterbury gave -40<i>l.</i>, the Archbishop of York 30<i>l.</i>, and the other spiritual lords -20<i>l.</i> and 10<i>l.</i>; many of the temporal lords and great officers, and -most of the peeresses, gave rich gowns, petticoats, smocks, kirtles, -silk stockings, cypres garters, sweet-bags, doblets, mantles, some -embroidered with pearles, garnets, &c. looking-glasses, fans, bracelets, -caskets studded with precious stones, jewels ornamented with sparks of -diamonds in various devices, and other costly trinkets. Sir Gilbert -Dethick, Garter King of Arms, gave a book of the states in King William -the Conqueror's time, and a book of the arms of the noblemen in Henry -the Fifth's time; Absolon, the master of the Savoy, a Bible covered with -cloth of gold, garnished with silver, and gilt, and two plates with the -royal arms; <i>Petruchio Ubaldino</i>, a book covered with vellum of Italian; -Lambarde, the antiquary, <!-- Page 126 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_126" id="Page_i_126">[126]</a></span>his Pandecta of all the Rolls, &c. in the -Tower of London. The Queen's physician presented her with a box of -foreign sweetmeats; another physician with two pots, one of green -ginger, the other of orange flowers; two other physicians gave each a -pot of green ginger, and a pot of the rinds of lemons; her apothecaries -a box of lozenges, a box of ginger candy, a box of grene ginger, a box -of orange candit, a pot of conserves, a pot of wardyns condite, a box of -wood with prunolyn, and two boxes of <i>manus Christi</i>; Mrs. Blanch a -Parry, a little box of gold to put in cumphetts, and a little spoon of -gold; Mrs. Morgan a box of cherryes, and one of aberycocks; her master -cook a fayre marchepayne; her serjeant of the pastry a fayre pie of -quinces oringed; a box of peaches of Jenneway (Genoa); a great pie of -quynses and wardyns guilte; <i>Putrino</i>, an Italian, presented her with -two pictures; <i>Innocent Corry</i> with a box of lutestrings; <i>Ambrose Lupo</i> -with another box of lutestrings, and a glass of sweet water; <i>Petro -Lupo</i>, <i>Josepho Lupo</i>, and <i>Cæsar Caliardo</i>, each with a pair of sweet -gloves; a cutler with a meat knyfe with a fan haft of bone, <i>a conceit -in it</i>; <i>Jaromy</i> with twenty-four drinking-glasses; <i>Jeromy Bassano</i> two -drinking-glasses; Smyth, <i>dustman</i>, two boltes of cambrick."<a name="FNanchor_i_126:A_173" id="FNanchor_i_126:A_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_126:A_173" class="fnanchor">[126:A]</a></p> - -<p>The Queen, though she made returns in plate and other articles, took -sufficient care that the balance should be in her own favour; hence, as -the custom was found to be lucrative, and had indeed been practised with -success by her predecessors on the throne, it was encouraged and -rendered fashionable to an extent hitherto unprecedented in this -kingdom. In the country, however, with the exception of the extensive -households of the nobility, this interchange was conducted on the pure -basis of reciprocal kindness and good will, and without any view of -securing patronage or support; it was, indeed, frequently the channel -through which charity delighted to exert her holy influence, and though -originating in the heathen world, became sanctified by the Christian -virtues.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 127 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_127" id="Page_i_127">[127]</a></span>To the rejoicings on New Year's tide succeeded, after a short interval, -the observance of the <span class="smcap">Twelfth Day</span>, so called from its being the twelfth -after the Nativity of our Saviour, and the day on which the <i>Eastern -Magi</i>, guided by the star, arrived at Bethlehem to worship the infant -Jesus.</p> - -<p>This festive day, the most celebrated of the twelve for the peculiar -conviviality of its rites, has been observed in this kingdom ever since -the reign of Alfred, in whose days, says Collier, "a Law was made with -relation to Holidays, by virtue of which the <i>twelve</i> days <i>after</i> the -Nativity of our Saviour were made Festivals."<a name="FNanchor_i_127:A_174" id="FNanchor_i_127:A_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_127:A_174" class="fnanchor">[127:A]</a></p> - -<p>In consequence of an idea, which seems generally to have prevailed, that -the <i>Eastern Magi</i> were kings, this day has been frequently termed the -<i>Feast of the Three Kings</i>; and many of the rites with which it is -attended, are founded on this conception; for it was customary to elect, -from the company assembled on this occasion, a king or queen, who was -usually elevated to this rank by the fortuitous division of a cake -containing a bean or piece of coin, and he or she to whom this symbol of -distinction fell, in dividing the cake, was immediately chosen king or -queen, and then forming their ministers and court from the company -around, maintained their state and character until midnight.</p> - -<p>The <i>Twelfth Cake</i> was almost always accompanied by the <i>Wassail Bowl</i>, -a composition of spiced wine or ale, or mead, or metheglin, into which -was thrown roasted apples, sugar, &c. The term <i>Wassail</i>, which in our -elder poets is connected with much interesting imagery, and many curious -rites, appears to have been first used in this island during the -well-known interview between Vortigern and Rowena. Geoffrey of Monmouth -relates, on the authority of Walter Calenius, that this lady, the -daughter of Hengist, knelt down, on the approach of the king, and -presenting him with a cup of wine, exclaimed "Lord king <i>wæs heil</i>," -that is, literally "Health be to you." Vortigern being ignorant of the -Saxon language, was informed <!-- Page 128 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_128" id="Page_i_128">[128]</a></span>by an interpreter, that the purport of -these words was to wish him health, and that he should reply by the -expression <i>drinc-heil</i>, or "Drink the health;" accordingly, on his so -doing, Rowena drank, and the king receiving the cup from her hand, -kissed and pledged her.<a name="FNanchor_i_128:A_175" id="FNanchor_i_128:A_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_128:A_175" class="fnanchor">[128:A]</a> Since this period, observes the -historian, the custom has prevailed in Britain of using these words -whilst drinking; the person who drank to another saying <i>was-heil</i>, and -he who received the cup answering <i>drinc-heil</i>.</p> - -<p>It soon afterwards became a custom in villages, on Christmas-Eve, New -Year's Eve, and Twelfth Night, for itinerant minstrels to carry to the -houses of the gentry, and others, where they were generally very -hospitably received, a bowl of spiced wine, which being presented with -the Saxon words just mentioned, was therefore called a <i>Wassail-bowl</i>. A -bowl or cup of this description was likewise to be found in almost every -nobleman's and gentleman's house, (and frequently of massy silver,) -until the middle of the seventeenth century, and which was in perpetual -requisition during the revels of Christmas. In "<i>The Antiquarian -Repertory</i>, vol. i. p. 217," relates Mr. Douce, "there is an account, -accompanied with an engraving, of an oaken chimney-piece in a very old -house at Berlen, near Snodland in Kent, on which is carved a wassel-bowl -resting on the branches of an apple-tree, alluding, probably, to part of -the materials of which the liquor was composed. On one side is the word -<span class="blackletter">wassheil</span>, and on the other <!-- Page 129 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_129" id="Page_i_129">[129]</a></span><span class="blackletter">drincheile</span>."<a name="FNanchor_i_129:A_176" id="FNanchor_i_129:A_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_129:A_176" class="fnanchor">[129:A]</a> "This is certainly," he -adds, "a very great curiosity of its kind, and at least as old as the -fourteenth century. Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, in his will gave to -Sir John Briddlewood a silver cup called <i>wassail</i>: and it appears that -John Duke of Bedford, the regent, by his first will bequeathed to John -Barton, his maitre d'hotel, a silver cup and cover, on which was -inscribed <span class="smcap">Washayl</span>."<a name="FNanchor_i_129:B_177" id="FNanchor_i_129:B_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_129:B_177" class="fnanchor">[129:B]</a></p> - -<p>In consequence of the <i>Wassail-bowl</i> being peculiar to scenes of revelry -and festivity, the term <i>wassail</i> in time became synonymous with -feasting and carousing, and has been used, therefore, by many of our -poets either to imply drinking and merriment, or the place where such -joviality was expected to occur. Thus Shakspeare makes Hamlet say of the -king "draining his draughts of Rhenish down," that he</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Keeps <i>wassel</i>:"<a name="FNanchor_i_129:C_178" id="FNanchor_i_129:C_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_129:C_178" class="fnanchor">[129:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and in Macbeth, the heroine of that play declares that she will convince -the two chamberlains of Duncan</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"With wine and <i>wassel</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_129:D_179" id="FNanchor_i_129:D_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_129:D_179" class="fnanchor">[129:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">In Anthony and Cleopatra also, Cæsar, advising Anthony to live more -temperately, tells him to leave his</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Lascivious <i>wassals</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_129:E_180" id="FNanchor_i_129:E_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_129:E_180" class="fnanchor">[129:E]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 130 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_130" id="Page_i_130">[130]</a></span>And lastly, in Love's Labour's Lost, Biron, describing the character of -Boyet, says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"He is wit's pedler: and retails his wares</div> - <div class="line indentq">At wakes, and <i>wassels</i>, meetings, markets, fairs."<a name="FNanchor_i_130:A_181" id="FNanchor_i_130:A_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_130:A_181" class="fnanchor">[130:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Ben Jonson has given us two curious personifications of the Wassal; the -first in his Forest, No. 3. whilst giving an account of a rural feast in -the hall of Sir Robert Wroth; he says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The rout of rural folk come thronging in,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Their rudenesse then is thought no sin—</div> - <div class="line indentq">The jolly <i>Wassal</i> walks the often round,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And in their cups their cares are drown'd:"<a name="FNanchor_i_130:B_182" id="FNanchor_i_130:B_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_130:B_182" class="fnanchor">[130:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and the second in "Christmas, His Masque, as it was presented at Court -1616," where <i>Wassall</i>, as one of the ten children of Christmas, is -represented in the following quaint manner. <i>Like a neat Sempster, and -Songster; her Page bearing a browne bowle, drest with Ribbands, and -Rosemarie before her.</i><a name="FNanchor_i_130:C_183" id="FNanchor_i_130:C_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_130:C_183" class="fnanchor">[130:C]</a></p> - -<p>Fletcher, in his Faithful Shepherdess, has given a striking description -of the festivity attendant on the Wassal bowl:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——— "The woods, or some near town</div> - <div class="line">That is a neighbour to the bordering down,</div> - <div class="line">Hath drawn them thither, 'bout some lusty sport,</div> - <div class="line">Or spiced <i>Wassel-Boul</i>, to which resort</div> - <div class="line">All the young men and maids of many a cote,</div> - <div class="line">Whilst the trim minstrell strikes his merry note."<a name="FNanchor_i_130:D_184" id="FNanchor_i_130:D_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_130:D_184" class="fnanchor">[130:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The persons thus accompanying the Wassal bowl, especially those who -danced and played, were called <i>Wassailers</i>, an appellation which it was -afterwards customary to bestow on all who indulged, at any season, in -intemperate mirth. Hence Milton introduces his Lady in Comus making use -of the term in the following beautiful passage:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 131 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_131" id="Page_i_131">[131]</a></span><div class="line">——————— "Methought it was the sound</div> - <div class="line">Of riot and ill-manag'd merriment,</div> - <div class="line">Such as the jocund flute, or gamesome pipe</div> - <div class="line">Stirs up among the loose unletter'd hinds,</div> - <div class="line">When for their teeming flocks, and granges full,</div> - <div class="line">In wanton dance, they praise the bounteous Pan,</div> - <div class="line">And thank the gods amiss. I should be loath</div> - <div class="line">To meet the rudeness, and swill'd insolence,</div> - <div class="line">Of such late <i>wassailers</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_131:A_185" id="FNanchor_i_131:A_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_131:A_185" class="fnanchor">[131:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>During the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. the celebration of Twelfth -Night was, equally with Christmas-Day, a festival through the land, and -was observed with great ostentation and ceremony in both the -Universities, at Court, at the Temple, and at Lincoln's and <!-- Page 132 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_132" id="Page_i_132">[132]</a></span>Gray's-Inn. -Many of the Masques of Ben Jonson were written for the amusement of the -royal family on this night, and Dugdale in his <i>Origines Juridicales</i>, -has given us a long and particular account of the revelry at the Temple -on each of the twelve days of Christmas, in the year 1562. It appears -from this document that the hospitable rites of St. Stephen's Day, St. -John's Day, and Twelfth Day, were ordered to be exactly alike, and as -many of them are, in their nature, perfectly rural, and were, there is -every reason to suppose, observed, to a certain extent, in the halls of -the country-gentry and substantial yeomanry, a short record here, of -those that fall under this description, cannot be deemed inapposite.</p> - -<p>The breakfast on Twelfth Day is directed to be of brawn, mustard, and -malmsey; the dinner of two courses, to be served in the hall, and after -the first course "cometh in the Master of the Game, apparalled in green -velvet: and the Ranger of the Forest also, in a green suit of satten; -bearing in his hand a green bow and divers arrows, with either of them a -hunting horn about their necks: blowing together three blasts of venery, -they pace round about the fire three times. Then the Master of the Game -maketh three curtesies," kneels down, and petitions to be admitted into -the service of the Lord of the Feast.</p> - -<p>"This ceremony performed, a huntsman cometh into the hall, with a fox -and a purse-net; with a cat, both bound at the end of a staff; and with -them nine or ten couple of hounds, with the blowing of hunting-horns. -And the fox and cat are by the hounds set upon, and killed beneath the -fire. This sport finished, the Marshal (an officer so called, who, with -many others under different appellations, were created for the purpose -of conducting the revels) placeth them in their several appointed -places."</p> - -<p>After the second course, the "antientest of the Masters of the Revels -singeth a song, with the assistance of others there present;" and after -some repose and revels, supper, consisting of two courses, is then -served in the hall, and, being ended, "the Marshall presenteth <!-- Page 133 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_133" id="Page_i_133">[133]</a></span>himself -with drums afore him, mounted upon a scaffold, born by four men; and -goeth three times round about the harthe, crying out, aloud, 'A Lord, a -Lord,' &c., then he descendeth, and goeth to dance."</p> - -<p>"This done, the Lord of Misrule (an officer whose functions will be -afterwards noticed) addresseth himself to the Banquet; which ended with -some minstralsye, mirth and dancing, every man departeth to -rest."<a name="FNanchor_i_133:A_186" id="FNanchor_i_133:A_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_133:A_186" class="fnanchor">[133:A]</a></p> - -<p>Herrick, who was the contemporary of Shakspeare for the first -twenty-five years of his life, that is, from the year 1591 to 1616, has -given us the following curious and pleasing account of the ceremonies of -Twelfth Night, as we may suppose them to have been observed in almost -every private family:</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">"TWELFTH-NIGHT,</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Or King and Queen</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">Now, now the mirth comes</div> - <div class="line i2">With the cake full of plums,</div> - <div class="line">Where Beane's the king of the sport here;</div> - <div class="line i2">Beside, we must know,</div> - <div class="line i2">The Pea also</div> - <div class="line">Must revell, as Queene, in the court here.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">Begin then to chuse,</div> - <div class="line i2">This night as ye use,</div> - <div class="line">Who shall for the present delight here,</div> - <div class="line i2">Be a King by the lot,</div> - <div class="line i2">And who shall not</div> - <div class="line">Be Twelfe-day Queene for the night here.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">Which knowne, let us make</div> - <div class="line i2">Joy-sops with the cake;</div> - <div class="line">And let not a man then be seen here,</div> - <div class="line i2">Who unurg'd will not drinke</div> - <div class="line i2">To the base from the brink</div> - <div class="line">A health to the King and the Queene here.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> -<!-- Page 134 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_134" id="Page_i_134">[134]</a></span> <div class="line i2">Next crowne the bowle full</div> - <div class="line i2">With gentle lambs-wooll;</div> - <div class="line">Adde sugar, nutmeg and ginger,</div> - <div class="line i2">With store of ale too;</div> - <div class="line i2">And thus ye must doe</div> - <div class="line">To make the <i>wassaile</i> a swinger.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">Give then to the King</div> - <div class="line i2">And Queene wassailing;</div> - <div class="line">And though with ale ye be whet here;</div> - <div class="line i2">Yet part ye from hence,</div> - <div class="line i2">As free from offence,</div> - <div class="line">As when ye innocent met here."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Herrick's Hesperides</i>, p. 376, 377.</p> - -<p>The <i>Twelfth Day</i> was the usual termination of the festivities of -Christmas with the higher ranks; but with the vulgar they were -frequently prolonged until Candlemas, to which period it was thought a -point of much importance to retain a portion of their Christmas cheer.</p> - -<p>It should not be forgotten here, that Shakspeare has given the -appellation of <i>Twelfth Night</i> to one of his best and most finished -plays. No reason for this choice is discoverable in the drama itself, -and from its adjunctive title of <i>What You Will</i>, it is probable, that -the name was meant to be no otherwise appropriate than as designating an -evening on which dramatic mirth and recreation were, by custom, -peculiarly expected and always acceptable.<a name="FNanchor_i_134:A_187" id="FNanchor_i_134:A_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_134:A_187" class="fnanchor">[134:A]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 135 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_135" id="Page_i_135">[135]</a></span>It appears from a passage from Warner's Albion's England, that between -Twelfth Day and Plough-Monday, a period was customarily fixed upon for -the celebration of games in honour of the Distaff, and which was termed -<span class="smcap">Rock-Day</span>.<a name="FNanchor_i_135:A_188" id="FNanchor_i_135:A_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_135:A_188" class="fnanchor">[135:A]</a> The notice in question is to be found in the -lamentations of the Northerne-man over the decline of festivity, where -he exclaims,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Rock</i>, and plow-mondaies, <i>gams</i> sal gang,</div> - <div class="line i1q">With saint-feasts and kirk sights."<a name="FNanchor_i_135:B_189" id="FNanchor_i_135:B_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_135:B_189" class="fnanchor">[135:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>That this festival was observed not only during the immediate days of -Warner and Shakspeare, but for some time afterwards, we learn from a -little poem by Robert Herrick, which was probably written between the -years 1630 and 1640. Herrick was born in 1591, and published his -collection of poems, entitled Hesperides, in 1648. He gives us in his -title the additional information that <i>Rock</i>, or <i>Saint Distaff's Day</i>, -was the morrow after Twelfth Day; and he advises that it should -terminate the sports of Christmas.</p> - -<p class="sectctr">"SAINT DISTAFF'S <span class="allcapsc">OR</span> THE MORROW AFTER<br /> -TWELFTH-DAY.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Partly worke and partly play</div> - <div class="line">Ye must on S. <i>Distaff's day</i>:</div> - <div class="line">From the plough soone free your teame;</div> - <div class="line">Then come home and fother them.</div> - <div class="line">If the Maides a spinning goe,</div> - <div class="line">Burne the flax, and fire the tow:</div> - <div class="line">Scorch their plackets, but beware</div> - <div class="line">That ye singe no maiden-haire.</div> -<!-- Page 136 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_136" id="Page_i_136">[136]</a></span> <div class="line">Bring in pailes of water then,</div> - <div class="line">Let the Maides bewash the men.</div> - <div class="line">Give S. <i>Distaffe</i> all the right,</div> - <div class="line">Then bid Christmas sport <i>good night</i>.</div> - <div class="line">And next morrow, every one</div> - <div class="line">To his owne vocation."<a name="FNanchor_i_136:A_190" id="FNanchor_i_136:A_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_136:A_190" class="fnanchor">[136:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The first Monday after Twelfth Day used to be celebrated by the -ploughmen as a Holiday, being the season at which the labours of the -plough commenced, and hence the day has been denominated <span class="smcap">Plough-Monday</span>. -Tusser, in his poem on husbandry, after observing that the "old guise -must be kept," recommends the ploughmen on this day to the hospitality -of the good huswife:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Good huswives, whom God hath enriched ynough,</div> - <div class="line i1q">forget not the feasts, that belong to the plough:</div> - <div class="line indentq">The meaning is only to joy and be glad,</div> - <div class="line i1q">for comfort with labour, is fit to be had."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>He then adds,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Plough-Munday, next after that Twelftide is past,</div> - <div class="line i1q">bids out with the plough, the worst husband is last:</div> - <div class="line indentq">If plowman get hatchet, or whip to the skreene,</div> - <div class="line i1q">maids loveth their cocke, if no water be seene."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>These lines allude to a custom prevalent in the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, and which Mr. Hilman, in a note on the passage, -has thus explained: "After Christmas, (which formerly, during the twelve -days, was a time of very little work,) every gentleman feasted the -farmers, and every farmer their servants and task-men. <i>Plough-monday</i> -puts them in mind of their business. In the morning the men and -maid-servants strive who shall shew their diligence in rising earliest; -if the ploughman can get his whip, his plough-staff, hatchet, or any -thing that he wants in the field, by the fire-side, before the maid hath -got her kettle on, then the maid loseth her <i>Shrovetide</i> cock, and it -wholly belongs to the men. Thus did our <!-- Page 137 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_137" id="Page_i_137">[137]</a></span>forefathers strive to allure -youth to their duty, and provided them innocent mirth, as well as -labour. On this <i>Plough-Monday</i> they have a good supper and some strong -drink, that they might not go immediately out of one extreme into -another."<a name="FNanchor_i_137:A_191" id="FNanchor_i_137:A_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_137:A_191" class="fnanchor">[137:A]</a></p> - -<p>In the northern and north-western parts of England, the entire day was -usually consumed in parading the streets, and the night was devoted to -festivity. The ploughmen, apparently habited only in their shirts, but -in fact with flannel jackets underneath, to keep out the cold, and these -shirts decorated with rose-knots of various coloured riband, went about -collecting what they called "<i>plough-money</i> for drink." They were -accompanied by a plough, which they dragged along, and by music, and not -unfrequently two of the party were dressed to personate an <i>old woman</i>, -whom they called <i>Bessy</i>, and a <i>Fool</i>, the latter of these characters -being covered with skins, with a hairy cap on his head, and the tail of -some animal pendent from his back. On one of these antics was devolved -the office of collecting money from the spectators by rattling a box, -into which their contributions were dropped, while the rest of the -ploughmen were engaged in performing a <i>sword-dance</i>, a piece of -pageantry derived from our northern ancestors, and of which Olaus Magnus -has left us an accurate description in his history of the Gothic -nations.<a name="FNanchor_i_137:B_192" id="FNanchor_i_137:B_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_137:B_192" class="fnanchor">[137:B]</a> It consisted, for the most part, in forming various -figures with the swords, sheathed and unsheathed, commencing in slow -time, and terminating in very rapid movements, which required great -agility and address to be conducted with safety and effect.<a name="FNanchor_i_137:C_193" id="FNanchor_i_137:C_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_137:C_193" class="fnanchor">[137:C]</a></p> - -<p>It was the opinion of Dr. Johnson that Shakspeare alluded to the -<!-- Page 138 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_138" id="Page_i_138">[138]</a></span><i>sword-dance</i>, where, in <i>Anthony and Cleopatra</i>, he makes his hero -observe of Augustus, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——————— "He, at Philippi, kept</div> - <div class="line">His sword even like a dancer."<a name="FNanchor_i_138:A_194" id="FNanchor_i_138:A_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_138:A_194" class="fnanchor">[138:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">But Mr. Malone has remarked, with more probability, that the allusion is -to the English custom of dancing with a sword <i>worn by the side</i>; in -confirmation of which idea, he quotes a passage from <i>All's Well That -Ends Well</i>, where Bertram, lamenting that he is kept from the wars, -says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"I shall stay here the forehorse to a smock,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Creaking my shoes on the plain masonry,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Till honour be bought up, and no <i>sword worn</i>.</div> - <div class="line indentq">But one to <i>dance</i> with."<a name="FNanchor_i_138:B_195" id="FNanchor_i_138:B_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_138:B_195" class="fnanchor">[138:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It has been observed in a preceding page, that, among the common people, -the festivities of Christmas were frequently protracted to -<span class="smcap">Candlemas-Day</span>. This was done under the idea of doing honour to the -Virgin Mary, whose <i>purification</i> is commemorated by the church at this -period. It was generally, remarks Bourne, "a day of festivity, and more -than ordinary observation among women, and is therefore called the -<i>Wives Feast-Day</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_138:C_196" id="FNanchor_i_138:C_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_138:C_196" class="fnanchor">[138:C]</a> The term <i>Candlemas</i>, however, seems to have -arisen from a custom among the Roman Catholics, of consecrating tapers -on this day, and bearing them about lighted in procession, to which they -were enjoined by an edict of Pope Sergius, A. D. 684; but on what -foundation is not accurately ascertained. At the Reformation, among the -rites and ceremonies which were ordered to be retained in a convocation -of Henry VIII., this is one, and expressedly because it was considered -as symbolical of the spiritual illumination of the Gospel.<a name="FNanchor_i_138:D_197" id="FNanchor_i_138:D_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_138:D_197" class="fnanchor">[138:D]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 139 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_139" id="Page_i_139">[139]</a></span>From Candlemas to Hallowmas, the tapers which had been lighted all the -winter in Cathedral and Conventual Churches ceased to be used; and so -prevalent, indeed, was the relinquishment of candles on this day in -domestic life, that it has laid the foundation of one of the proverbs in -the collection of Mr. Ray:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">On <i>Candlemas-day</i> throw <i>Candle</i> and <i>Candlestick</i> away.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>On this day likewise the Christmas greens were removed from churches and -private houses. Herrick, who may be considered as the contemporary of -Shakspeare, being five-and-twenty at the period of the poet's death, has -given us a pleasing description of this observance; he abounds, indeed, -in the history of local rites, and, though surviving beyond the middle -of the seventeenth century, paints with great accuracy the manners and -superstitions of the Shakspearean era. He has paid particular attention -to the festival that we are describing, and enumerates the various -greens and flowers appropriated to different seasons in a little poem -entitled</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">"CEREMONIES FOR CANDLEMASSE EVE.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Down</span> with the Rosemary and Bayes,</div> - <div class="line i1">Down with the Misleto;</div> - <div class="line">Instead of Holly, now up-raise</div> - <div class="line i1">The greener Box (for show).</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">The Holly hitherto did sway;</div> - <div class="line i1">Let Box now domineere;</div> - <div class="line">Untill the dancing Easter-day,</div> - <div class="line i1">On Easter's Eve appeare.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Then youthfull Box which now hath grace,</div> - <div class="line i1">Your houses to renew;</div> - <div class="line">Grown old, surrender must his place,</div> - <div class="line i1">Unto the crisped Yew.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> -<!-- Page 140 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_140" id="Page_i_140">[140]</a></span> <div class="line">When Yew is out, then Birch comes in,</div> - <div class="line i1">And many Flowers beside;</div> - <div class="line">Both of a fresh and fragrant kinne,</div> - <div class="line i1">To honour Whitsontide.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Green Bushes then, and sweetest Bents,</div> - <div class="line i1">With cooler Oken boughs;</div> - <div class="line">Come in for comely ornaments,</div> - <div class="line i1">To re-adorn the house."<a name="FNanchor_i_140:A_198" id="FNanchor_i_140:A_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_140:A_198" class="fnanchor">[140:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The usage which we have alluded to, of preserving the Christmas cheer -and hospitality to Candlemas, is immediately afterwards recorded and -connected with a singular superstition, in the following poems under the -titles of</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">"CEREMONIES FOR CANDLEMASSE DAY.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Kindle</span> the Christmas Brand, and then</div> - <div class="line i1">Till sunne-set, let it burne;</div> - <div class="line">Which quencht, then lay it up agen,</div> - <div class="line i1">Till Christmas next returne.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Part must be kept wherewith to teend<a name="FNanchor_i_140:B_199" id="FNanchor_i_140:B_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_140:B_199" class="fnanchor">[140:B]</a></div> - <div class="line i1">The Christmas Log next yeare;</div> - <div class="line">And where 'tis safely kept, the fiend</div> - <div class="line i1">Can do no mischiefe there.——</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="tb">—————</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">End now the white-loafe, and the pye,</div> - <div class="line">And let all sports with Christmas dye."<a name="FNanchor_i_140:C_200" id="FNanchor_i_140:C_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_140:C_200" class="fnanchor">[140:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>To the exorcising power of the Christmas Brand is added, in the -subsequent effusion, a most alarming denunciation against those who -heedlessly leave in the Hall on Candlemas Eve, any the smallest portion -of the Christmas greens.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr"><!-- Page 141 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_141" id="Page_i_141">[141]</a></span>"CEREMONY UPON CANDLEMAS EVE</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Down</span> with the Rosemary, and so</div> - <div class="line">Down with the Baies, and Misletoe:</div> - <div class="line">Down with the Holly, Ivie, all</div> - <div class="line">Wherewith ye drest the Christmas Hall:</div> - <div class="line">That so the superstitious find</div> - <div class="line">No one least Branch there left behind:</div> - <div class="line">For look, how many leaves there be,</div> - <div class="line">Neglected there, maids, trust to me,</div> - <div class="line">So many <i>goblins</i> you shall see."<a name="FNanchor_i_141:A_201" id="FNanchor_i_141:A_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_141:A_201" class="fnanchor">[141:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The next important period of feasting in the country occurred at -<span class="smcap">Shrove-tide</span>, which among the Roman Catholics was the time appointed for -<i>shriving</i> or <i>confession of sins</i>, and was also observed as a -<i>carnival</i> before the commencement of Lent. The former of these -ceremonies was dispensed with at the Reformation; but the rites -attending the latter were for a long time supported with a rival spirit -of hilarity. The Monday and Tuesday succeeding <i>Shrove</i> Sunday, called -<i>Collop Monday</i> and <i>Pancake Tuesday</i>, were peculiarly devoted to -<i>Shrovetide Amusement</i>; the first having been, in papal times, the -period at which they took leave of flesh, or slices of meat, termed -<i>collops</i> in the north, which had been preserved through the winter by -salting and drying, and the second was a relic of the feast preceding -Lent; eggs and collops therefore on the Monday, and pancakes, as a -delicacy, on the Tuesday, were duly if not religiously served up.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 142 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_142" id="Page_i_142">[142]</a></span>Tusser, in his very curious and entertaining poem on agriculture, thus -notices some of the old observances at <i>Shrovetide</i>:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"At Shroftide to shroving, go thresh the fat hen,</div> - <div class="line i1q">If blindfold can kill her, then give it thy men:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Maids, fritters and pancakes, ynow see ye make,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Let slut have one pancake, for company sake."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>For an explanation of the obsolete custom of "threshing the fat hen," we -are indebted to Mr. Hilman. "The hen," says he, "is hung at a fellow's -back, who has also some horse-bells about him; the rest of the fellows -are blinded, and have boughs in their hands, with which they chase this -fellow and his hen about some large court or small enclosure. The fellow -with his hen and bells shifting as well as he can, they follow the -sound, and sometimes hit him and his hen; at other times, if he can get -behind one of them, they thresh one another well favour'dly; but the -jest is, the maids are to blind the fellows, which they do with their -aprons, and the cunning baggages will endear their sweet-hearts with a -peeping hole, whilst the others look out as sharp to hinder it. After -this the hen is boil'd with bacon, and store of pancakes and fritters -are made. She that is noted for lying in bed long, or any other -miscarriage, hath the first pancake presented to her, which most -commonly falls to the dogs share at last, for no one will own it their -due." Mr. Hilman concludes his comment on the text with a singular -remark; "the loss of the above laudable custom, is one of the benefits -we have got by smoaking tobacco."<a name="FNanchor_i_142:A_203" id="FNanchor_i_142:A_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_142:A_203" class="fnanchor">[142:A]</a></p> - -<p>Shakspeare has twice noticed this season of feasting and amusement; -first, in <i>All's Well That Ends Well</i>, where he makes the Clown tell the -Countess (among a string of other similes), that his <!-- Page 143 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_143" id="Page_i_143">[143]</a></span>answer is "as fit -as a pancake for Shrove-tuesday<a name="FNanchor_i_143:A_204" id="FNanchor_i_143:A_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_143:A_204" class="fnanchor">[143:A]</a>;" and in the <i>Second Part of King -Henry IV.</i> he has introduced <i>Silence</i> singing the following song:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Be merry, be merry, my wife's as all;<a name="FNanchor_i_143:B_205" id="FNanchor_i_143:B_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_143:B_205" class="fnanchor">[143:B]</a></div> - <div class="line indentq">For women are shrews, both short and tall:</div> - <div class="line indentq">'Tis merry in hall, when beards wag all,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And welcome merry <i>shrove-tide</i>.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Be merry, be merry, &c."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The third line of this song appears to have been proverbial, and of -considerable antiquity; for Adam Davie, who flourished about 1312, has -the same imagery with the same rhyme, in his <i>Life of Alexander</i>:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Merry swithe it is in halle,</div> - <div class="line indentq">When the <i>berdes waveth alle</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_143:C_206" id="FNanchor_i_143:C_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_143:C_206" class="fnanchor">[143:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">And the subsequent passage, quoted by Mr. Reed from a writer -contemporary with Shakspeare, proves, that it was a common burden or -under song in the halls of our gentry at that period:—"which done, -grace said, and the table taken up, the plate presently conveyed into -the pantrie, the hall summons this consort of companions (upon <!-- Page 144 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_144" id="Page_i_144">[144]</a></span>payne to -dyne with Duke Humphfrie, or to kisse the hare's foot,) to appear at the -first call: where a song is to be sung, the under song or holding -whereof is, <i>It is merrie in haul where beards wag all.</i>" The -Serving-man's Comfort, 1598, sign. C.<a name="FNanchor_i_144:A_207" id="FNanchor_i_144:A_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_144:A_207" class="fnanchor">[144:A]</a></p> - -<p>The evening of <i>Shrove-Tuesday</i> was usually appropriated, as well in the -country as in town, to the exhibition of dramatic pieces. Not only at -Court, where Jonson was occasionally employed to write Masques on this -night<a name="FNanchor_i_144:B_208" id="FNanchor_i_144:B_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_144:B_208" class="fnanchor">[144:B]</a>, but at both the Universities, in the provincial schools, -and in the halls of the gentry and nobility, were these the amusements -of <i>Shrovetide</i>, during the days of Elizabeth and James. Warton, -speaking of these ephemeral plays, adds, in a note, "I have seen an -anonymous comedy, <span class="smcap">Apollo Shroving</span>, composed by the Master of -Hadleigh-school, in Suffolk<a name="FNanchor_i_144:C_209" id="FNanchor_i_144:C_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_144:C_209" class="fnanchor">[144:C]</a>, and acted by his scholars, on -Shrove-tuesday, Feb. 7, 1626, printed 1627. 8vo. published, as it seems, -by E. W. <i>Shrove-tuesday</i>, as the day immediately preceding Lent, was -always a day of extraordinary sport and feasting."—"Some of these -festivities," he proceeds to say, "still remain in our universities. In -the <span class="smcap">Percy Houshold-Book</span>, 1512, it appears, that the clergy and officers -of Lord Percy's chapel performed a play <i>before his lordship upon -Shrowftewesday at night</i>." Pag. 345.<a name="FNanchor_i_144:D_210" id="FNanchor_i_144:D_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_144:D_210" class="fnanchor">[144:D]</a></p> - -<p>The cruel custom of <i>Cock-throwing</i>, which, until lately, was a -diversion peculiar to this day, seems to have originated from the -barbarous, <!-- Page 145 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_145" id="Page_i_145">[145]</a></span>yet less savage, amusement of <i>Cock-fighting</i>. "Every yeare -on <i>Shrove-Tuesday</i>," says Fitzstephen, who wrote in the reign of Henry -II., "the schoole-boyes doe bring cockes of the game to their master, -and all the forenoone they delight themselves in Cock-fighting."<a name="FNanchor_i_145:A_211" id="FNanchor_i_145:A_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_145:A_211" class="fnanchor">[145:A]</a> -At what period this degenerated into Cock-throwing cannot now be -ascertained; Chaucer seems to allude to it in his <i>Nonnes Priests' -Tale</i>, where the Cock revenges himself on the Priest's son, because he</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">—————— "gave hym a knocke</div> - <div class="line">Upon his legges, when he was yonge and nice;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and that it was common in the sixteenth century, we have the testimony -of Sir Thomas More, who, describing the state of childhood, speaks of -his skill in casting a cok-stele, that is, a stick or cudgel to throw at -a cock.<a name="FNanchor_i_145:B_212" id="FNanchor_i_145:B_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_145:B_212" class="fnanchor">[145:B]</a></p> - -<p>The first effective blow directed against this infamous sport, was given -by the moral pencil of Hogarth, who in one of his prints called <i>The -Four Stages of Cruelty</i>, has represented, among other puerile -diversions, a groupe of boys <i>throwing at a Cock</i>, and, as Trusler -remarks, "beating the harmless feathered animal to jelly."<a name="FNanchor_i_145:C_213" id="FNanchor_i_145:C_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_145:C_213" class="fnanchor">[145:C]</a> The -benevolent satire of this great artist gradually produced the necessary -reform, and for some time past, the magistrates have so generally -interdicted the practice, that the pastime may happily be considered as -extinct.<a name="FNanchor_i_145:D_214" id="FNanchor_i_145:D_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_145:D_214" class="fnanchor">[145:D]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 146 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_146" id="Page_i_146">[146]</a></span><span class="smcap">Easter-tide</span>, or the week succeeding Easter-Sunday, afforded another -opportunity for rejoicing, and was formerly a season of great festivity. -Not only, as bound by every tie of gratitude to do, did man rejoice on -this occasion, but it was the belief of the vulgar that the sun himself -partook of the exhilaration, and regularly danced on Easter-Day. To see -this glorious spectacle, therefore, it was customary for the common -people to rise before the sun on Easter-morning, and though, as we may -conclude, they were constantly disappointed, yet might the habit -occasionally lead to serious thought and useful contemplation; -metaphorically considered, indeed, the idea may be termed both just and -beautiful, "for as the earth and her valleys standing thick with corn, -are said <i>to laugh and sing</i>; so, on account of the Resurrection, the -heavens and the sun may be said to dance for joy; or, as the Psalmist -words it, the <i>heavens may rejoice and the earth may be glad</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_146:A_215" id="FNanchor_i_146:A_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_146:A_215" class="fnanchor">[146:A]</a></p> - -<p>The great amusement of the Easter-holidays consisted in playing at -hand-ball, a game at which, say the ritualists Belithus and Durandus, -<!-- Page 147 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_147" id="Page_i_147">[147]</a></span>bishops and archbishops used, upon the continent at this period, to -recreate themselves with their inferior clergy<a name="FNanchor_i_147:A_216" id="FNanchor_i_147:A_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_147:A_216" class="fnanchor">[147:A]</a>; nor was it -uncommon for corporate bodies on this occasion in England to amuse -themselves in a similar way with their burgesses and young people; -antiently this was the custom, says Mr. Brand, at Newcastle, at the -feasts of Easter and Whitsuntide, when the mayor, aldermen, and sheriff, -accompanied by great numbers of the burgesses, used to go yearly at -these seasons to the Forth, or little mall of the town, with the mace, -sword, and cap of maintenance carried before them, and not only -countenance, but frequently join in the diversions of hand-ball, -dancing, &c.<a name="FNanchor_i_147:B_217" id="FNanchor_i_147:B_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_147:B_217" class="fnanchor">[147:B]</a></p> - -<p>The constant prize at hand-ball, during Easter, was a <i>tansy-cake</i>, -supposed to be allusive to the <i>bitter herbs</i> used by the Jews on this -festival. Selden, the contemporary of Shakspeare, speaking of our chief -holidays, remarks, that "our Meats and Sports have much of them relation -to Church-Works. The coffin of our <i>Christmas Pies</i>, in shape long, is -in imitation of the Cratch<a name="FNanchor_i_147:C_218" id="FNanchor_i_147:C_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_147:C_218" class="fnanchor">[147:C]</a>: our chusing Kings and Queens on -Twelfth Night, hath reference to the three kings. So likewise our eating -of fritters, <i>whipping</i> of tops, <i>roasting</i> of herrings, Jack of Lents, -&c. they are all in imitation of Church-Works, emblems of martyrdom. Our -<i>Tansies at Easter</i> have reference to the <i>bitter Herbs</i>; though at the -same time 'twas always the fashion for a man to have a <i>Gammon of -Bacon</i>, to shew himself to be no <i>Jew</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_147:D_219" id="FNanchor_i_147:D_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_147:D_219" class="fnanchor">[147:D]</a> <!-- Page 148 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_148" id="Page_i_148">[148]</a></span>Fuller has noticed this -Easter game under his Cheshire, where, explaining the origin of the -proverb "When the daughter is stolen shut Pepper Gate," he says, "The -mayor of the city had his daughter, as she was <i>playing at ball</i> with -other maidens in Pepper-street, stolen away by a young man through the -same gate, whereupon he caused it to be shut up."<a name="FNanchor_i_148:A_220" id="FNanchor_i_148:A_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_148:A_220" class="fnanchor">[148:A]</a></p> - -<p>Another custom which prevailed in this country, during the sixteenth -century, at Easter, and is still kept up in some parts of the north, was -that of presenting children with <i>eggs stained with various colours in -boiling</i>, termed <i>Paste</i> or more properly <i>Pasche Eggs</i>, which the young -people considered in the light of <i>fairings</i>. This observance appears to -have arisen from a superstition, prevalent among the Roman Catholics, -that eggs were an emblem of the resurrection, and, indeed, in the Ritual -of Pope Paul the Fifth, which was composed for the use of England, -Ireland, and Scotland, there is a prayer for the consecration of eggs, -in which the faithful servants of the Lord are directed to eat this his -creature of eggs <i>on account of the resurrection</i>. On this custom Mr. -Brand has well observed, that "the antient Egyptians, if the -resurrection of the body had been a tenet of their faith, would perhaps -have thought an <i>Egg</i> no improper hieroglyphical representation of it. -The exclusion of a living creature by incubation, after the vital -principle has lain a long while dormant or extinct, is a process so -truly marvellous, that if it could be disbelieved, would be thought by -some a thing as incredible, as that the Author of <i>Life</i> should be able -to re-animate the <i>dead</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_148:B_221" id="FNanchor_i_148:B_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_148:B_221" class="fnanchor">[148:B]</a> So prevalent indeed was this custom of -<i>egg-giving</i> at Easter, that it forms the basis of an old English -proverb, which, in the collection of Mr. Ray, runs thus:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"I'll warrant you for an <i>egg</i> at <i>Easter</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_148:C_222" id="FNanchor_i_148:C_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_148:C_222" class="fnanchor">[148:C]</a></p> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 149 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_149" id="Page_i_149">[149]</a></span>A popular holiday, called <span class="smcap">Hoke-Day</span>, or <span class="smcap">Hock-Day</span>, which used to be -celebrated with much festivity in Shakspeare's native county, was -usually observed on the Tuesday following the second Sunday after -Easter-day. Its origin is doubtful, some antiquaries supposing it was -commemorative of the massacre of the Danes in the reign of Ethelred the -Unready, which took place on the 13th of November 1002; and others that -it was meant to perpetuate the deliverance of the English from the -tyrannical government of the Danes, by the death of Hardicanute on -Tuesday the 8th of June 1041. At Coventry in Warwickshire, however, it -was celebrated in memory of the former event, though the commemoration -was held on a day wide apart from that on which the catastrophe -occurred, a circumstance which originated in an ordinance of Ethelred -himself, who transferred the sports of this day to the Monday and -Tuesday in the third week after Easter. John Rouse, or Ross, the -Warwickshire historian, says, that this day was distinguished by various -sports, in which the people, divided into parties, used to draw each -other by ropes<a name="FNanchor_i_149:A_223" id="FNanchor_i_149:A_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_149:A_223" class="fnanchor">[149:A]</a>; a species of diversion of which Spelman has given -us a more intelligible account by telling us that it "consisted in the -men and women binding each other, and especially the women the men," and -that the day, in consequence of this pastime, was called -<i>Binding-Tuesday</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_149:B_224" id="FNanchor_i_149:B_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_149:B_224" class="fnanchor">[149:B]</a></p> - -<p>The term <i>hock</i>, by which this day is designated, is thus accounted for -by Henry of Huntingdon. "The secret letters of Ethelred, directed to all -parts of his kingdom from this city (Winchester), ordered that all the -Danes indiscriminately should be put to death; and this was executed, as -we learn from the chronicle of Wallingford, with circumstances of the -greatest cruelty, even upon women and <!-- Page 150 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_150" id="Page_i_150">[150]</a></span>children, in many parts: but in -other places, it seems that the English, instead of killing their -guests, satisfied themselves with what was called <i>hock-shining</i>, or -<i>houghing</i> them, by cutting their ham-strings, so as to render them -incapable of serving in war. Hence the sports which were afterwards -instituted in our city, and from thence propagated throughout the whole -kingdom, obtained the name of <i>Hocktide merriments</i>."</p> - -<p>It appears from the following passage in Laneham's Account of Queen -Elizabeth's Entertainment at Kenelworth Castle, A. D. 1575, that the -citizens of Coventry had lately been compelled to give up their annual -amusements on <i>Hock Tuesday</i>, and took the opportunity of the queen's -visit to the Earl of Leicester to petition her for a renewal of the -same. "Hereto followed," says Laneham, "as good a sport (methought), -presented in an historical cue, by certain good-hearted men of -<i>Coventry</i>, my Lord's neighbours there; who understanding among them the -thing that could not be hidden from any, how careful and studious his -Honour was that by all pleasant recreations her Highness might best find -herself welcome, and be made gladsome and merry (the groundwork indeed -and foundation of his Lordship's mirth and gladness of us all), made -petition that they mought renew now their old storial shew: Of argument -how the <i>Danes</i>, whylome here in a troublous season were for quietness -borne withal and suffered in peace; that anon, by outrage and importable -insolency, abusing both <i>Ethelred</i> the <i>King</i>, then, and all Estates -every where beside; at the grievous complaint and counsel of <i>Huna</i> the -<i>King</i>'s chieftain in wars on a <i>Saint Brice</i>'s night, A. D. 1012 (as -the book says, that falleth yearly on the thirteenth of November) were -all dispatched, and the realm rid. And for because the matter mentioneth -how valiantly our <i>English</i> women for love of their country behaved -themselves, expressed in actions and rymes after their manner, they -thought it mought move some mirth to her Majesty the rather. The thing, -said they, is grounded on story, and for pastime wont to be played in -our city yearly; without ill example of manners, papistry, or any -superstition; and else did so occupy the heads of a number, that likely -<!-- Page 151 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_151" id="Page_i_151">[151]</a></span>enough would have had worse meditations; had an ancient beginning and a -long continuance; till now of late laid down, they knew no cause why, -unless it were by the zeal of certain their preachers, men very -commendable for their behaviour and learning, and sweet in their -sermons, but somewhat too sour in preaching away their pastime: Wished -therefore, that as they should continue their good doctrine in pulpit, -so, for matters of policy and governance of the city, they would permit -them to the <i>Mayor</i> and <i>Magistrates</i>; and said, by my faith, <i>Master -Martyn, they would make their humble petition unto her Highness, that -they might have their Plays up again</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_151:A_225" id="FNanchor_i_151:A_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_151:A_225" class="fnanchor">[151:A]</a></p> - -<p>As it is subsequently stated that their play was very graciously -received by the queen, who commanded it to be represented again on the -following Tuesday, and gave the performers two bucks, and five marks in -money, we must suppose, that their petition was not rejected, and that -they were allowed to renew yearly at Coventry, their favourite -diversions on <i>Hock-Tuesday</i>. The observance of this day, indeed, was -still partially retained in the time of Spelman, who died A. D. -1641<a name="FNanchor_i_151:B_226" id="FNanchor_i_151:B_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_151:B_226" class="fnanchor">[151:B]</a>, and even Plott, who lived until 1696, mentions it then as -not totally discontinued; but the eighteenth century, we believe, never -witnessed its celebration.</p> - -<p>We have now reached that period of the year which was formerly dedicated -to one of the most splendid and pleasing of our festal rites. <!-- Page 152 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_152" id="Page_i_152">[152]</a></span>The -observance of <span class="smcap">May-Day</span> was a custom which, until the close of the reign -of James the First, alike attracted the attention of the royal and the -noble, as of the vulgar class. Henry the Eighth, Elizabeth, and James, -patronized and partook of its ceremonies; and, during this extended era, -there was scarcely a village in the kingdom but what had a <i>May-pole</i>, -with its appropriate games and dances.</p> - -<p>The origin of these festivities has been attributed to three different -sources, <i>Classic</i>, <i>Celtic</i>, and <i>Gothic</i>. The first appears to us to -establish the best claim to the parentage of our May-day rites, as a -relique of the <i>Roman Floralia</i>, which were celebrated on the last four -days of April, and on the first of May, in honour of the goddess Flora, -and were accompanied with dancing, music, the wearing of garlands, -strewing of flowers, &c. The <i>Beltein</i>, or rural sacrifice of the -Highlanders on this day, as described by Mr. Pennant and Dr. -Jamieson<a name="FNanchor_i_152:A_227" id="FNanchor_i_152:A_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_152:A_227" class="fnanchor">[152:A]</a>, seems to have arisen from a different motive, and to -have been instituted for the purpose of propitiating the various noxious -animals which might injure or destroy their flocks and herds. The Gothic -anniversary on May-day makes a nearer approach to the general purpose of -the <i>Floralia</i>, and was intended as a thanksgiving to the sun, if not -for the return of flowers, fruit, and grain, yet for the introduction of -a better season for fishing and hunting.<a name="FNanchor_i_152:B_228" id="FNanchor_i_152:B_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_152:B_228" class="fnanchor">[152:B]</a></p> - -<p>The modes of conducting the ceremonies and rejoicings on <i>May-day</i>, may -be best drawn from the writers of the Elizabethan period, in which this -festival appears to have maintained a very high degree of celebrity, -though not accompanied with that splendour of exhibition which took -place at an earlier period in the reign of Henry the Eighth. It may be -traced, indeed, from the era of Chaucer, who, in the conclusion of his -<i>Court of Love</i>, has described the <i>Feast of May</i>, when</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 153 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_153" id="Page_i_153">[153]</a></span><div class="line">"—— Forth goth all the court both most and lest,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To fetch the floures fresh, and braunch and blome—</div> - <div class="line indentq">And namely hauthorn brought both page and grome</div> - <div class="line indentq">And than rejoysen in their great delite:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Eke ech at other throw the floures bright,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The primerose, the violete, and the gold,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With fresh garlants party blew and white."<a name="FNanchor_i_153:A_229" id="FNanchor_i_153:A_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_153:A_229" class="fnanchor">[153:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">And, it should be observed, that this, the simplest mode of celebrating -May-day, was as much in vogue, in the days of Shakspeare, as the more -complex one, accompanied by the morris-dance, and the games of Robin -Hood. The following descriptions, by Bourne and Borlase, manifestly -allude to the costume of this age, and to the simpler mode of -commemorating the 1st of May: "On the <i>Calends</i>, or the 1st day of May," -says the former, "commonly called <i>May-day</i>, the juvenile part of both -sexes were wont to rise a little after midnight, and walk to some -neighbouring wood, accompany'd with music, and the blowing of horns, -where they break down branches from the trees, and adorn them with -<i>nosegays</i> and <i>crowns of flowers</i>. When this is done, they return with -their booty homewards, about the rising of the sun, and make their doors -and windows to triumph in the flowery spoil. The after part of the day, -is chiefly spent in dancing round a tall poll, which is called a <i>May -Poll</i>; which being placed in a convenient part of the village, stands -there, as it were consecrated to the <i>Goddess of Flowers</i>, without the -least violence offered it, in the whole circle of the year."<a name="FNanchor_i_153:B_230" id="FNanchor_i_153:B_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_153:B_230" class="fnanchor">[153:B]</a> "An -antient custom," says the latter, "still retained by the Cornish, is -that of decking their doors and porches on the first of May with green -sycamore and hawthorn boughs, and of planting trees, or rather stumps of -trees, before their houses: and on May-eve, they from towns make -excursions into the country, and having cut down a tall elm, brought it -into town, fitted a straight and taper pole to the end of it, and -painted <!-- Page 154 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_154" id="Page_i_154">[154]</a></span>the same, erect it in the most public places, and on holidays -and festivals adorn it with flower garlands, or insigns and -streamers."<a name="FNanchor_i_154:A_231" id="FNanchor_i_154:A_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_154:A_231" class="fnanchor">[154:A]</a></p> - -<p>Now both these passages are little more than a less extended account of -what Philip Stubbes was a witness of, and described, in the year 1595, -in his puritanical work, entitled <i>The Anatomie of Abuses</i>. "Against -Maie-day," relates this vehement declaimer, "every parish, towne, or -village, assemble themselves, both men, women, and children; and either -all together, or dividing themselves into companies, they goe some to -the woods and groves, some to the hills and mountaines, some to one -place, some to another, where they spend all the night in pleasant -pastimes, and in the morning they return bringing with them, birche -boughes and branches of trees to deck their assemblies withal. But their -chiefest jewel they bring from thence is the maie-pole, which they bring -home with great veneration, as thus—they have twentie or fortie yoake -of oxen, every oxe having a sweete nosegaie of flowers tied to the tip -of his hornes, and these oxen drawe home the maie-poale, their stinking -idol rather, which they covered all over with flowers and hearbes, bound -round with strings from the top to the bottome, and sometimes it was -painted with variable colours, having two or three hundred men, women, -and children following it with great devotion. And thus equipp'd it was -reared with handkerchiefes and flagges streaming on the top, they strawe -the ground round about it, they bind green boughs about it, they set up -summer halles, bowers, and arbours, hard by it, and then fall they to -banquetting and feasting, to leaping and dauncing about it, as the -heathen people did at the dedication of their idolls.—I have heard it -crediblie reported," he sarcastically adds, "by men of great gravity, -credite, and reputation, that of fourtie, three score, or an hundred -maides going to the wood, there have scarcely the third part of them -returned home againe as they went."<a name="FNanchor_i_154:B_232" id="FNanchor_i_154:B_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_154:B_232" class="fnanchor">[154:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 155 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_155" id="Page_i_155">[155]</a></span>Browne also has given a similar description of the May-day rites in his -Britannia's Pastorals:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"As I have seene the Lady of the May</div> - <div class="line indentq">Set in an arbour —— —— ——</div> - <div class="line indentq">Built by the May-pole, where the jocund swaines</div> - <div class="line indentq">Dance with the maidens to the bagpipe's straines,</div> - <div class="line indentq">When envious night commands them to be gone,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Call for the merry yongsters one by one,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And for their well performance some disposes,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To this a garland interwove with roses;</div> - <div class="line indentq">To that a carved hooke, or well-wrought scrip,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Gracing another with her cherry lip:</div> - <div class="line indentq">To one her garter, to another then</div> - <div class="line indentq">A handkerchiefe cast o're and o're agen;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And none returneth empty, that hath spent</div> - <div class="line indentq">His paynes to fill their rurall merriment."<a name="FNanchor_i_155:A_233" id="FNanchor_i_155:A_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_155:A_233" class="fnanchor">[155:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The custom of rising early on a May-morning to enjoy the season, and -honour the day, is thus noticed by Stow:—"In the month of May," he -says, "namely, on May-day in the morning, every man, except impediment, -would walke into the sweete meddowes and green woods, there to rejoice -their spirits, with the beauty and savour of sweet flowers, and with the -harmony of birds, praysing God in their kind<a name="FNanchor_i_155:B_234" id="FNanchor_i_155:B_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_155:B_234" class="fnanchor">[155:B]</a>;" and Shakspeare has -repeated references to the same observance; in <i>Midsummer-Night's -Dream</i>, Lysander tells Hermia,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—— "I did meet thee once with Helena,</div> - <div class="line"><i>To do observance to a morn of May</i>;"<a name="FNanchor_i_155:C_235" id="FNanchor_i_155:C_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_155:C_235" class="fnanchor">[155:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and again, in the same play, Theseus says,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 156 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_156" id="Page_i_156">[156]</a></span><div class="line">"No doubt they rose up early, <i>to observe</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>The rite of May</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_156:A_236" id="FNanchor_i_156:A_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_156:A_236" class="fnanchor">[156:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>So generally prevalent was this habit of early rising on May-day, that -Shakspeare makes one of his inferior characters in <i>King Henry the -Eighth</i> exclaim,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Pray, sir, be patient; <i>'tis as much impossible</i></div> - <div class="line indentq">(Unless we sweep them from the door with cannons)</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>To scatter them, as 'tis to make them sleep</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>On May-day morning; which will never be</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_156:B_237" id="FNanchor_i_156:B_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_156:B_237" class="fnanchor">[156:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Herrick, the minute describer of the customs and superstitions of his -times, which were those of Shakspeare, and the <i>immediately</i> succeeding -period, has a poem called <i>Corinna's Going A Maying</i>, which includes -most of the circumstances hitherto mentioned; he thus addresses his -mistress:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"Get up —— and see</div> - <div class="line i1q">The dew bespangling herbe and tree:</div> - <div class="line">Each flower has wept, and bow'd toward the east,</div> - <div class="line">Above an houre since;—it is sin,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Nay profanation to keep in;</div> - <!-- Page 157 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_157" id="Page_i_157">[157]</a></span><div class="line">When as a thousand virgins on this day,</div> - <div class="line">Spring sooner than the lark, to fetch in May!</div> - <div class="line i1q">Come, my Corinna, come; and comming marke</div> - <div class="line i1q">How each field turns a street, each street a parke</div> - <div class="line i2q">Made green, and trimm'd with trees; see how</div> - <div class="line i2q">Devotion gives each house a bough,</div> - <div class="line i2q">Or branch: each porch, each doore, ere this,</div> - <div class="line i2q">An arke, a tabernacle is</div> - <div class="line i1q">Made up of white-thorn neatly enterwove.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">There's not a budding boy, or girle, this day</div> - <div class="line">But is got up, and gone to bring in May:</div> - <div class="line i1q">A deale of youth, ere this, is come</div> - <div class="line i1q">Back, and with white-thorn laden home.</div> - <div class="line i1q">Some have dispatcht their cakes and creame,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Before that we have left to dreame:</div> - <div class="line">And some have wept, and woo'd, and plighted troth,</div> - <div class="line">And chose their priest, ere we can cast off sloth:</div> - <div class="line i1q">Many a green gown has been given;</div> - <div class="line i1q">Many a kisse, both odde and even:</div> - <div class="line i1q">Many a glance too has been sent</div> - <div class="line i1q">From out the eye, Love's firmament:</div> - <div class="line">Many a jest told of the keyes betraying</div> - <div class="line">This night, and locks pickt, yet w'are not a Maying!"<a name="FNanchor_i_157:A_238" id="FNanchor_i_157:A_238"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_157:A_238" class="fnanchor">[157:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>With this, the simplest mode of celebrating the rites of May-day, was -frequently united, in the days of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, a groupe of -<i>Morris Dancers</i>, consisting of several characters, which were often -varied both in number, appellation, and dress. The <i>Morris Dance</i> -appears to have been introduced into this kingdom about the reign of -Edward the Fourth, and is, without doubt, derived from the <i>Morisco</i>, a -dance peculiar to the <i>Moors</i>, and generally termed the <i>Spanish -Morisco</i>, from its notoriety in Spain, during the dynasty of that people -in the peninsula. The <i>Morris Dance</i> in this country, when performed on -a May-day, and not connected with the Games of Robin Hood, usually -consisted of the Lady of the May, the Fool, or domestic buffoon of the -15th and 16th centuries, a Piper, and two, four, or more, Morris -Dancers. The dress of these <!-- Page 158 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_158" id="Page_i_158">[158]</a></span>last personages, who designated the -amusement, was of a very peculiar kind; they had their faces blackened -to resemble the native Moors, and "in the reign of Henry the Eighth," -says Mr. Douce, "they were dressed in gilt leather and silver paper, and -sometimes in coats of white spangled fustian. They had purses at their -girdles, and garters to which bells were attached<a name="FNanchor_i_158:A_239" id="FNanchor_i_158:A_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_158:A_239" class="fnanchor">[158:A]</a>;" but according -to Stubbes, who wrote in 1595, the costume had been altered, for he -tells us that they were clothed in "greene, yellow, or some other light -wanton collour. And as though that were not gawdy ynough," he continues, -"they bedeeke themselves with scarffes, ribbons, and laces hanged all -over with golde ringes, precious stones, and other jewels: this done, -they tie about either legge twentie or fourtie belles, with rich -handkerchiefe in their handes, and sometimes laide a crosse over their -shoulders and neckes borrowed for the most part of their pretie -<i>Mopsies</i> and loving <i>Bessies</i> for bussing them in the darke."<a name="FNanchor_i_158:B_240" id="FNanchor_i_158:B_240"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_158:B_240" class="fnanchor">[158:B]</a> -Feathers, too, were usually worn in their hats, and they had -occasionally bells fixed on their arms or wrists, as well as on their -legs. That these jingling ornaments were characteristic of, and derived -from, the genuine <i>Moorish Dance</i>, appears from a plate copied by Mr. -Douce from the habits of various nations, published by Hans Weigel at -Nuremberg, in 1577, and which represents the figure of an African lady -of the kingdom of Fez in the act of dancing, with bells at her -feet.<a name="FNanchor_i_158:C_241" id="FNanchor_i_158:C_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_158:C_241" class="fnanchor">[158:C]</a></p> - -<p>It was the business of these motley figures to dance round the May-pole, -which was painted of various colours; thus in Mr. Tollett's painted -glass window, at Betley in Staffordshire, which represents an English -May-game and morris-dance, the May-pole is stained yellow and black, in -spiral lines<a name="FNanchor_i_158:D_242" id="FNanchor_i_158:D_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_158:D_242" class="fnanchor">[158:D]</a>; and Shakspeare, in allusion to this custom, makes -Hermia tell Helena, whilst ridiculing the tallness of her form, that she -is a "painted May-pole<a name="FNanchor_i_158:E_243" id="FNanchor_i_158:E_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_158:E_243" class="fnanchor">[158:E]</a>;" so Stubbes, likewise, in a <!-- Page 159 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_159" id="Page_i_159">[159]</a></span>passage -previously quoted, says, that the Maie-pole was "painted with variable -colours."</p> - -<p>That the <i>morris-dance</i> was an almost constant attendant on the May-day -festivities, may be drawn from our usual authority, the works of -Shakspeare; for, in <i>All's Well That Ends Well</i>, the Clown affirms, that -his answer will serve all questions</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"As fit as a morris for May-day."<a name="FNanchor_i_159:A_244" id="FNanchor_i_159:A_244"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_159:A_244" class="fnanchor">[159:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>But, about the commencement of the sixteenth century, or somewhat -sooner, probably towards the middle of the fifteenth century, a very -material addition was made to the celebration of the rites of May-day, -by the introduction of the characters of Robin Hood and some of his -associates. This was done with a view towards the encouragement of -archery, and the custom was continued even beyond the close of the reign -of James I. It is true, that the May-games in their rudest form, the -mere dance of lads and lasses round a May-pole, or the simple morris -with the Lady of the May, were occasionally seen during the days of -Elizabeth; but the general exhibition was the more complicated ceremony -which we are about to describe.</p> - -<p>The personages who now became the chief performers in the -<i>morris-dance</i>, were four of the most popular outlaws of Sherwood -forest; that Robin Hood, of whom Drayton says,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"In this our spacious isle, I think there is not one,</div> - <div class="line indentq">But he hath heard some talk of him and little John;—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of Tuck the merry friar, which many a sermon made</div> - <div class="line indentq">In praise of Robin Hood, his outlaws and their trade;—</div> - <div class="line indentq">"Of Robin's" mistress dear, his loved Marian,</div> - <div class="line indentq">—— —— —— which wheresoe'er she came,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Was sovereign of the woods, chief lady of the game:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Her clothes tuck'd to the knee, and dainty braided hair,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With bow and quiver arm'd;"<a name="FNanchor_i_159:B_245" id="FNanchor_i_159:B_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_159:B_245" class="fnanchor">[159:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">characters which Warner, the contemporary of Drayton and Shakspeare, has -exclusively recorded as celebrating the rites of May; for, <!-- Page 160 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_160" id="Page_i_160">[160]</a></span>speaking of -the periods of some of our festivals, and remarking that "ere penticost -begun our May," he adds,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Tho' (<i>then</i>) Robin Hood, liell John, frier Tucke,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And Marian, deftly play,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And lord and ladie gang till kirke</div> - <div class="line i1q">With lads and lasses gay:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Fra masse and een sang sa gud cheere</div> - <div class="line i1q">And glee on ery greene."<a name="FNanchor_i_160:A_246" id="FNanchor_i_160:A_246"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_160:A_246" class="fnanchor">[160:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>These four characters, therefore, <i>Robin Hood</i>, <i>Little John</i>, <i>Friar -Tuck</i>, and <i>Maid Marian</i>, although no constituent parts of the original -English morris, became at length so blended with it, especially on the -festival of May-day, that until the practice of archery was nearly laid -aside, they continued to be the most essential part of the pageantry.</p> - -<p>In consequence of this arrangement, "the old <i>Robin Hood</i> of England," -as Shakspeare calls him<a name="FNanchor_i_160:B_247" id="FNanchor_i_160:B_247"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_160:B_247" class="fnanchor">[160:B]</a>, was created the King or Lord of the May, -and sometimes carried in his hand, during the May-game, a painted -standard.<a name="FNanchor_i_160:C_248" id="FNanchor_i_160:C_248"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_160:C_248" class="fnanchor">[160:C]</a> It was no uncommon circumstance, likewise, for metrical -interludes, of a comic species, and founded on the achievements of this -outlaw, to be performed after the morris, on the May-pole green. In -Garrick's Collection of Old Plays, occurs one, entitled "A mery Geste of -Robyn Hoode, and of hys Lyfe, wyth a newe Playe <i>for to be played in -Maye-Games</i>, very pleasaunte and full of pastyme;" it is printed at -London, in the black letter, for William Copland, and has figures in the -title page of Robin Hood and Lytel John.<a name="FNanchor_i_160:D_249" id="FNanchor_i_160:D_249"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_160:D_249" class="fnanchor">[160:D]</a> Shakspeare appears to -allude to these interludes when he represents Fabian, in the <i>Twelfth -Night</i>, exclaiming on the approach of Sir Andrew Ague-Cheek with his -challenge, "More matter for May-morning."<a name="FNanchor_i_160:E_250" id="FNanchor_i_160:E_250"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_160:E_250" class="fnanchor">[160:E]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 161 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_161" id="Page_i_161">[161]</a></span>Upon this introduction of Robin Hood and his companions into the -celebration of May-day, his paramour <i>Maid Marian</i>, assumed the office -of the former Queen of May. This far-famed lady has, according to Mr. -Ritson, no part in the original and more authentic history of Robin -Hood; but seems to have been first brought forward when the story of -this hero became dramatised, which was at a very early period in this -country; and Mr. Douce is of opinion that the name, which is a stranger -to English history, has been taken from "a pretty French pastoral drama -of the eleventh or twelfth century, entitled <i>Le jeu du berger et de la -bergere</i>, in which the principal characters are <i>Robin</i> and <i>Marian</i>, a -shepherd and shepherdess."<a name="FNanchor_i_161:A_251" id="FNanchor_i_161:A_251"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_161:A_251" class="fnanchor">[161:A]</a> This appears the more probable, as the -piece was not only very popular in France, but performed at the season -when the May-games took place in England.</p> - -<p><i>Maid Marian</i>, in the days of Shakspeare, was usually represented by a -delicate, smooth-faced youth, who was dressed in all the fashionable -finery of the times; and this assumption of the female garb gave, not -without some reason, great offence to the puritanical dissenters, one of -whom, exclaiming against the amusements of May-day, notices this, -amongst some other abuses, in the following very curious passage:—"The -abuses which are committed in your May-games are infinite. The first -whereof is this, that you doe use to attyre in woman's apparrell whom -you doe most commonly call <i>may-marrions</i>, whereby you infringe that -straight commandment whiche is given in Deut. xxii. 5., that men must -not put on women's apparrell for feare of enormities. Nay I myself have -seene in a may game a troupe, the greater part whereof hath been men, -and yet have they been attyred so like into women, that their faces -being hidde (as they were indeede) a man coulde not discerne them from -women. The second abuse, which of all other is the greatest, is this, -that it hath been toulde that your morice dauncers have dannced naked in -nettes: what greater enticement unto naughtiness could have been -devised? The third <!-- Page 162 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_162" id="Page_i_162">[162]</a></span>abuse is, that you (because you will loose no tyme) -doe use commonly to runne into woodes in the night time, amongst -maidens, to fet bowes, in so muche as I have hearde of tenne maidens -which went to fet May, and nine of them came home with childe."<a name="FNanchor_i_162:A_252" id="FNanchor_i_162:A_252"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_162:A_252" class="fnanchor">[162:A]</a></p> - -<p>That, in consequence of this custom, effeminate and coxcomical men were -sarcastically compared to <i>Maid Marian</i>, appears from a passage in a -pamphlet by Barnaby Rich, who, satirising the male attire, as worn by -the fops of the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., cries out,—"From -whence commeth this wearing, and this embroidering of long locks, this -curiosity that is used amongst men, in frizeling and curling of their -haire, this gentlewoman-like starcht bands, so be-edged and be-laced, -<i>fitter for Maid Marian in a Moris dance</i>, than for him that hath either -that spirit or courage that shold be in a gentleman."<a name="FNanchor_i_162:B_253" id="FNanchor_i_162:B_253"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_162:B_253" class="fnanchor">[162:B]</a></p> - -<p>It will not seem surprising that the converse of this was occasionally -applicable to the female sex; and that those women who adopted masculine -airs and habits should be branded with a similarity to the clown who, -though personating the lady of the May, never failed, however nice or -affected he might be, to disclose by the boldness and awkwardness of his -gesture and manner, both his rank and sex. Thus Falstaff is represented -as telling the hostess, when he means to upbraid her for her masculine -appearance and conduct, that "for <i>woman hood</i> Maid Marian may be the -Deputy's wife of the ward to thee."<a name="FNanchor_i_162:C_254" id="FNanchor_i_162:C_254"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_162:C_254" class="fnanchor">[162:C]</a> A fancy coronet of gilt -metal, or interwoven with flowers, and a watchet coloured tunic, a -kirtle or petticoat of green, as the livery of Robin Hood, were -customary articles of decoration in the dress of the May-Queen.</p> - -<p><i>Friar Tuck</i>, the next of the four characters which we have mentioned as -introduced into the May-games, was the chaplain of Robin <!-- Page 163 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_163" id="Page_i_163">[163]</a></span>Hood, and is -noticed by Shakspeare, who makes one of the outlaws, in the <i>Two -Gentlemen of Verona</i>, swear</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"By the bare scalp of <i>Robin Hood's fat friar</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_163:A_255" id="FNanchor_i_163:A_255"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_163:A_255" class="fnanchor">[163:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>He is represented in the engraving of Mr. Tollet's window as a -Franciscan friar in the full clerical tonsure; for, as Mr. T. observes -in giving an account of his window, "when the parish priests were -inhibited by the diocesan to assist in the May games, the Franciscans -might give attendance, as being exempted from episcopal jurisdiction;" -he adds that "most of Shakspeare's friars are Franciscans," and that in -Sir David Dalrymple's extracts from the book of the <i>Universal Kirk</i>, in -the year 1576, he is styled "chaplain to Robin Huid, king of -May."<a name="FNanchor_i_163:B_256" id="FNanchor_i_163:B_256"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_163:B_256" class="fnanchor">[163:B]</a></p> - -<p>The last of this groupe was the boon companion of Robin, the "<i>brave -Little John</i>," as he is termed in one of the ballads on this popular -outlaw, and who "is first mentioned," remarks Mr. Douce, "together with -Robin Hood, by Fordun the Scotish historian, who wrote in the fourteenth -century, and who speaks of the celebration of the story of these persons -in the <i>theatrical performances</i> of his time, and of the minstrel's -songs relating to them, which he says the common people preferred to all -<i>other romances</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_163:C_257" id="FNanchor_i_163:C_257"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_163:C_257" class="fnanchor">[163:C]</a></p> - -<p>With these <i>four</i> personages therefore, who were deemed so inseparable, -that a character in Peele's Edward I. says, "We will live and die -together, like <i>Robin Hood</i>, <i>Little John</i>, <i>Friar Tucke</i>, and <i>Maide -Marian</i><a name="FNanchor_i_163:D_258" id="FNanchor_i_163:D_258"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_163:D_258" class="fnanchor">[163:D]</a>," the performers in the simple English Morris, the -<i>fool</i>, <i>Tom the Piper</i>, and the <i>Morris Dancers</i>, peculiarly so called -from their <!-- Page 164 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_164" id="Page_i_164">[164]</a></span>dress and function, were, for a time, generally connected. -Tom the Piper is thus mentioned by Drayton:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Myself above Tom Piper to advance,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Which so bestirs him in the Morrice-dance</div> - <div class="line i2q">For penny wage."<a name="FNanchor_i_164:A_259" id="FNanchor_i_164:A_259"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_164:A_259" class="fnanchor">[164:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">And Shakspeare, alluding to the violent gesticulations and music of the -Morris dancers says, speaking of Cade the rebel,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——————— "I have seen him</div> - <div class="line">Caper upright like a <i>wild morisco</i>,</div> - <div class="line">Shaking the bloody darts, as he his bells."<a name="FNanchor_i_164:B_260" id="FNanchor_i_164:B_260"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_164:B_260" class="fnanchor">[164:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The music accompanying the <i>Morris</i> and the <i>May-games</i>, was either the -simple pipe, or the pipe and tabor, or the bag-pipe. In the following -passage from a curious controversial pamphlet, published towards the -close of the sixteenth century, the morris and the pipe and tabor are -thus noticed: "If Menippus, or the man in the moone, be so quick -sighted, that he beholds these bitter sweete jests, these railing -outcries; this shouting at prelates to cast them downe, and heaving at -Martin to hang him up for Martilmas biefe; what would he imagine -otherwise, then as that stranger, which seeing a Quintessence (beside -the <i>foole</i> and the <i>Maid Marian</i>) of all the picked youth, strained out -of an whole Endship, footing the <i>morris about a may pole</i>, and he, not -hearing the crie of the hounds, for the barking of dogs, (that is to -say) the minstrelsie for the fidling, the tune for the sound, nor the -<i>pipe for the noise of the tabor</i>, bluntly demanded if they were not all -beside themselves, that they so lip'd and skip'd whithout an -occasion."<a name="FNanchor_i_164:C_261" id="FNanchor_i_164:C_261"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_164:C_261" class="fnanchor">[164:C]</a> To this quotation Mr. Haslewood has annexed the -subsequent ludicrous story from a tract entitled, <i>Hay any worke for -Cooper</i>. It is a striking proof of the singular attraction and -popularity of the May-games at this <!-- Page 165 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_165" id="Page_i_165">[165]</a></span>period:—"There is a neighbour of -ours, an honest priest, who was sometimes (simple as he now stands) a -vice in a play, for want of a better; his name is Gliberie of Hawstead -in Essex, hee goes much to the pulpit. On a time, I thinke it was the -last <i>May</i>, he went up with a full resolution to doe his businesse with -great commendations. But, see the fortune of it. A boy in the church, -hearing either the <i>summer lord with his May-game, or Robin Hood with -his morice daunce</i>, going by the church, out goes the boye. Good -Glibery, though he were in the pulpit, yet had a mind to his old -companions abroad, (a company of merry grigs you must thinke them to be, -as merry as a vice on a stage), seeing the boy going out, finished his -matter presently with John of London's amen, saying, ha ye faith, boy! -are they there? Then ha with thee, and so came downe and among them he -goes."<a name="FNanchor_i_165:A_262" id="FNanchor_i_165:A_262"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_165:A_262" class="fnanchor">[165:A]</a></p> - -<p>That the music of the <i>bag-pipe</i> was highly esteemed in the days of -Shakspeare, and even preferred to the tabor and pipe, we have a strong -instance in his <i>Winter's Tale</i>, where a servant enters announcing -Autolicus in the following terms: "If you did but hear the pedlar at the -door, you would never dance again after a tabor and pipe; no, <i>the -bag-pipe could not move you</i><a name="FNanchor_i_165:B_263" id="FNanchor_i_165:B_263"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_165:B_263" class="fnanchor">[165:B]</a>;" and that especially in the -country, it was a frequent accompaniment to the morris bells, the -numerous collections of <i>madrigals</i>, published in the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, afford many proofs. Thus, from a collection -printed in 1600:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Harke, harke, I heare the dancing</div> - <div class="line indentq">And a nimble morris prancing;</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>The bagpipe and the morris bells</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That they are not farre hence us tells;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Come let us all goe thither,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And dance like friends together:"<a name="FNanchor_i_165:C_264" id="FNanchor_i_165:C_264"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_165:C_264" class="fnanchor">[165:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 166 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_166" id="Page_i_166">[166]</a></span>and from another, allusive to the May-games, edited by Thomas Morley:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">"Now is the month of Maying,</div> - <div class="line i2q"><span class="fala">Fa la la,</span>When merry lads are playing;</div> - <div class="line i2q">Each with his bonny lasse,</div> - <div class="line i2q"><span class="fala">Fa la la.</span>Upon the greeny grasse.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2q">The spring clad all in gladness,</div> - <div class="line i2q">Doth laugh at winter's sadnesse;</div> - <div class="line i2q">And to the <i>bagpipe's</i> sound,</div> - <div class="line i2q">The nimphs tread out their ground.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="tb2">——</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">About the May-pole new with glee and merriment,</div> - <div class="line i2q">While as the <i>bagpipe</i> tooted it,</div> - <div class="line i2q"><span class="fala">Fa la la."<a name="FNanchor_i_166:A_265" id="FNanchor_i_166:A_265"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_166:A_265" class="fnanchor">[166:A]</a></span>Thirsis and Cloe fine together footed it;</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The Morris and the May-game of Robin Hood attained their most perfect -form when united with the <i>Hobby-Horse</i> and the <i>Dragon</i>. Of these the -former was the resemblance of the head and tail of a horse, manufactured -in pasteboard, and attached to a person whose business it was, whilst he -seemed to ride gracefully on its back, to imitate the prancings and -curvettings of that noble animal, whose supposed feet were concealed by -a foot-cloth reaching to the ground; and the latter, constructed of the -same materials, was made to hiss and vibrate his wings, and was -frequently attacked by the man on the hobby-horse, who then personated -the character of St. George.<a name="FNanchor_i_166:B_266" id="FNanchor_i_166:B_266"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_166:B_266" class="fnanchor">[166:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 167 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_167" id="Page_i_167">[167]</a></span>In the reigns therefore of Elizabeth and James I. these eight -masqueraders, consisting of <i>Robin Hood</i>, <i>Maid Marian</i>, <i>Friar Tuck</i>, -<i>Little John</i>, the <i>Fool</i>, <i>Tom the Piper</i>, the <i>Hobby-Horse</i>, and the -<i>Dragon</i>, with from two to ten <i>morris-dancers</i>, or, in lieu of them, -the same number of <i>Robin Hood's men</i>, in coats, hoods, and hose of -green, with a painted <i>pole</i> in the centre, represented the most -complete establishment of the May-game.<a name="FNanchor_i_167:A_268" id="FNanchor_i_167:A_268"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_167:A_268" class="fnanchor">[167:A]</a></p> - -<p>All these characters may be traced, indeed, so far back as the middle of -the fifteenth century; and, accordingly, Mr. Strutt, in his interesting -romance, entitled "Queen-hoo Hall," has introduced a very pleasing and -accurate description of the May-games and Morris of Robin Hood, which, -as written in a lively and dramatic style, and not in the least -differing from what they continued to be in the youthful days of -Shakspeare, and before they were broken in upon by the fanaticism of the -puritans, we shall copy in this place for the entertainment of our -readers.</p> - -<p>"In the front of the pavilion, a large square was staked out, and fenced -with ropes, to prevent the crowd from pressing upon the performers, and -interrupting the diversion; there were also two bars at the bottom of -the inclosure, through which the actors might pass and repass, as -occasion required.</p> - -<p>"Six young men first entered the square, clothed in jerkins of leather, -with axes upon their shoulders like woodmen, and their heads bound with -large garlands of ivy-leaves intertwined with sprigs of hawthorn. Then -followed,</p> - -<p><!-- Page 168 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_168" id="Page_i_168">[168]</a></span>"Six young maidens of the village, dressed in blue kirtles, with -garlands of primroses on their heads, leading a fine sleek cow, -decorated with ribbons of various colours, interspersed with flowers; -and the horns of the animal were tipped with gold. These were succeeded -by</p> - -<p>"Six foresters, equipped in green tunics, with hoods and hosen of the -same colour; each of them carried a bugle-horn attached to a baldrick of -silk, which he sounded as he passed the barrier. After them came</p> - -<p>"Peter Lanaret, the baron's chief falconer, who personified <i>Robin -Hood</i>; he was attired in a bright grass-green tunic, fringed with gold; -his hood and his hosen were parti-coloured, blue and white; he had a -large garland of rose-buds on his head, a bow bent in his hand, a sheaf -of arrows at his girdle, and a bugle-horn depending from a baldrick of -light blue tarantine, embroidered with silver; he had also a sword and a -dagger, the hilts of both being richly embossed with gold.</p> - -<p>"Fabian a page, as <i>Little John</i>, walked at his right hand; and Cecil -Cellerman the butler, as Will Stukely, at his left. These, with ten -others of the jolly outlaw's attendants who followed, were habited in -green garments, bearing their bows bent in their hands, and their arrows -in their girdles. Then came</p> - -<p>"Two maidens, in orange-coloured kirtles with white<a name="FNanchor_i_168:A_269" id="FNanchor_i_168:A_269"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_168:A_269" class="fnanchor">[168:A]</a> courtpies; -strewing flowers; followed immediately by</p> - -<p>"The <i>maid Marian</i>, elegantly habited in a watchet-coloured<a name="FNanchor_i_168:B_270" id="FNanchor_i_168:B_270"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_168:B_270" class="fnanchor">[168:B]</a> tunic -reaching to the ground; over which she wore a white linen<a name="FNanchor_i_168:C_271" id="FNanchor_i_168:C_271"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_168:C_271" class="fnanchor">[168:C]</a> rochet -with loose sleeves, fringed with silver, and very neatly plaited; her -girdle was of silver baudekin<a name="FNanchor_i_168:D_272" id="FNanchor_i_168:D_272"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_168:D_272" class="fnanchor">[168:D]</a>, fastened with a double bow on the -left side; her long flaxen hair was divided into many ringlets, and -flowed upon her shoulders; the top part of her head was covered <!-- Page 169 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_169" id="Page_i_169">[169]</a></span>with a -net-work cawl of gold, upon which was placed a garland of silver, -ornamented with blue violets. She was supported by</p> - -<p>"Two bride-maidens, in sky-coloured rochets girt with crimsom girdles, -wearing garlands upon their heads of blue and white violets. After them, -came</p> - -<p>"Four other females in green courtpies, and garlands of violets and -cowslips: Then</p> - -<p>"Sampson the smith, as <i>Friar Tuck</i>, carrying a huge quarter-staff on -his shoulder; and Morris the mole-taker, who represented Much the -miller's son, having a long pole with an inflated bladder attached to -one end<a name="FNanchor_i_169:A_273" id="FNanchor_i_169:A_273"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_169:A_273" class="fnanchor">[169:A]</a>: And after them</p> - -<p>"The <i>May-pole</i>, drawn by eight fine oxen, decorated with scarfs, -ribbons, and flowers of divers colours; and the tips of their horns were -embellished with gold. The rear was closed by</p> - -<p class="center">"The <i>Hobby-horse</i> and the <i>Dragon</i>.</p> - -<p>"When the May-pole was drawn into the square, the foresters sounded -their horns, and the populace expressed their pleasure by shouting -incessantly untill it reached the place assigned for its elevation:—and -during the time the ground was preparing for its reception, the barriers -of the bottom of the inclosure were opened for the villagers to -approach, and adorn it with ribbons, garlands, and flowers, as their -inclination prompted them.</p> - -<p>"The pole being sufficiently onerated with finery, the square was -cleared from such as had no part to perform in the pageant; and then it -was elevated amidst the reiterated acclamations of the spectators. The -woodmen and the milk-maidens danced around it according to the rustic -fashion; the measure was played by Peretto Cheveritte, the baron's chief -minstrel, on the bagpipes accompanied with the pipe and labour, -performed by one of his associates. When the dance was finished, Gregory -the jester, who undertook to play the hobby-horse, came forward with his -appropriate equipment, and, <!-- Page 170 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_170" id="Page_i_170">[170]</a></span>frisking up and down the square without -restriction, imitated the galloping, curvetting, ambling, trotting, and -other paces of a horse, to the infinite satisfaction of the lower -classes of the <a name="FNanchor_i_170:A_274" id="FNanchor_i_170:A_274"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_170:A_274" class="fnanchor">[170:A]</a>spectators. He was followed by Peter Parker, the -baron's ranger, who personated a dragon, hissing, yelling, and shaking -his wings with wonderful ingenuity; and to complete the mirth, Morris, -in the character of Much, having small bells attached to his knees and -elbows, capered here and there between the two monsters in the form of a -dance; and as often as he came near to the sides of the inclosure, he -cast slily a handful of meal into the faces of the gaping rustics, or -rapped them about their heads with the bladder tied at the end of his -<a name="FNanchor_i_170:B_275" id="FNanchor_i_170:B_275"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_170:B_275" class="fnanchor">[170:B]</a>pole. In the mean time, Sampson, representing Friar Tuck, walked -with much gravity around the square, and occasionally let fall his heavy -staff upon the toes of such of the crowd as he thought were approaching -more forward than they ought to do; and if the sufferers cried out from -the sense of pain, he addressed them in a solemn tone of voice, advising -them to count their beads, say a paternoster or two, and to beware of -purgatory. These vagaries were highly palatable to the populace, who -announced their delight by repeated plaudits and loud bursts of -laughter; for this reason they were continued for a considerable length -of time: but Gregory, beginning at last to faulter in his paces, ordered -the dragon to fall back: the well-nurtured beast, being out of breath, -readily obeyed, and their two companions followed their example; which -concluded this part of the pastime.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 171 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_171" id="Page_i_171">[171]</a></span>"Then the archers set up a target at the lower part of the Green, and -made trial of their skill in a regular succession. Robin Hood and Will -Stukely excelled their comrades: and both of them lodged an arrow in the -centre circle of gold, so near to each other that the difference could -not readily be decided, which occasioned them to shoot again; when Robin -struck the gold a second time, and Stukely's arrow was affixed upon the -edge of it. Robin was therefore adjudged the conqueror; and the prize of -honour, a garland of laurel embellished with variegated ribbons, was put -upon his head; and to Stukely was given a garland of ivy, because he was -the second best performer in that contest.</p> - -<p>"The pageant was finished with the archery; and the procession began to -move away, to make room for the villagers, who afterwards assembled in -the square, and amused themselves by dancing round the May-pole in -promiscuous companies, according to the ancient custom."<a name="FNanchor_i_171:A_276" id="FNanchor_i_171:A_276"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_171:A_276" class="fnanchor">[171:A]</a></p> - -<p>In consequence of the opposition, however, of the puritans, during the -close of Elizabeth's reign, who considered the rights of May-day as -relics of paganism, much havoc was made among the Dramatis Personæ of -this festivity. Sometimes instead of Robin and Marian, only a Lord or -Lady of the day was adopted; frequently the friar was not suffered to -appear, and still more frequently was the hobby-horse interdicted. This -zealous interference of the sectarists was ridiculed by the poets of the -day, and among the rest by Shakspeare, who quotes a line from a -satirical ballad on this subject, and represents Hamlet as terming it an -epitaph; "Else shall he suffer not thinking on," says he, "with the -hobby-horse; whose epitaph is, <i>For, O, for, O, the hobby horse is -forgot</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_171:B_277" id="FNanchor_i_171:B_277"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_171:B_277" class="fnanchor">[171:B]</a> He has the same allusion in Love's Labour's -Lost<a name="FNanchor_i_171:C_278" id="FNanchor_i_171:C_278"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_171:C_278" class="fnanchor">[171:C]</a>; and Ben Jonson has still more explicitly noticed the -neglect into which this character in the May-games had fallen in his -days.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 172 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_172" id="Page_i_172">[172]</a></span><div class="line">"But see, the Hobby-horse is forgot.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Foole, it must be your lot,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To supply his want with faces,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And some other Buffon graces;"<a name="FNanchor_i_172:A_279" id="FNanchor_i_172:A_279"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_172:A_279" class="fnanchor">[172:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>and again, still more pointedly,—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"<i>Clo.</i> They should be Morris dancers by their gingle, but -they have no napkins.</p> - -<p><i>Coc.</i> No, nor a hobby-horse.</p> - -<p><i>Clo.</i> Oh, he's <i>often forgotten</i>, that's no rule; but there -is no maid Marian nor Friar amongst them, which is the surer -mark.</p> - -<p><i>Coc.</i> Nor a Foole that I see."<a name="FNanchor_i_172:B_280" id="FNanchor_i_172:B_280"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_172:B_280" class="fnanchor">[172:B]</a></p> -</div> - -<p>In Beaumont and Fletcher's Tragi-comedy called <i>Women Pleased</i>, the -aversion of the puritans to this festive beast is strikingly depicted; -where the person who was destined to perform the hobby-horse, being -converted by his wife, exclaims vehemently against the task imposed upon -him.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ctr">"<i>Hob.</i></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">I do defie thee and thy foot-cloth too,</div> - <div class="line">And tell thee to thy face, this prophane riding</div> - <div class="line">I feel it in my conscience, and I dare speak it,</div> - <div class="line">This unedified ambling hath brought a scourge upon us.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ctr"><i>Far.</i></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Will you dance no more, neighbour?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ctr"><i>Hob.</i></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Surely no,</div> - <div class="line">Carry the beast to his crib: I have renounc'd him</div> - <div class="line">And all his works.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="ctr"><i>Soto.</i></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line"><i>Shall the Hobby-horse be forgot then?</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>The hopeful Hobby-horse, shall he lye founder'd?</i></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 173 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_173" id="Page_i_173">[173]</a></span><div class="ctr"><i>Hob.</i></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">I cry out on't,</div> - <div class="line">'Twas the forerunning sin brought in those tilt-staves,</div> - <div class="line">They brandish 'gainst the church, the Devil calls <i>May poles</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_173:A_281" id="FNanchor_i_173:A_281"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_173:A_281" class="fnanchor">[173:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>From one of these puritans, named Stephen Gosson, we learn, likewise, -that Morrice-dancers and Hobby-horses had been introduced even upon the -stage during the early part of the reign of Elizabeth; for this writer, -in a tract published about 1579, and entitled <i>Plays Confuted</i>, says, -that "the Devil beeside the beautie of the houses, and the stages, -sendeth in gearish apparell, maskes, ranting, tumbling, dauncing of -gigges, galiardes, <i>morisces</i>, <i>hobbi-horses</i>, &c."<a name="FNanchor_i_173:B_282" id="FNanchor_i_173:B_282"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_173:B_282" class="fnanchor">[173:B]</a> By the -continued railings and invectives, however, of these fanatics, the -May-games were, at length, so broken in upon, that had it not been for -the <i>Book of Sports, or lawful Recreations upon Sunday after -Evening-prayers, and upon Holy-days</i>, issued by King James in 1618, they -would have been totally extinct. This curious volume permitted -May-games, Morris-dances, Whitsun-ales, the setting up of May-poles, -&c.<a name="FNanchor_i_173:C_283" id="FNanchor_i_173:C_283"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_173:C_283" class="fnanchor">[173:C]</a>; and <!-- Page 174 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_174" id="Page_i_174">[174]</a></span>had it not allowed church-ales, and dancing on the -Sabbath, would have been unexceptionable in its tendency; for as honest -Burton observes, in allusion to this very <i>Declaration</i> of King James, -"<i>Dancing</i>, <i>Singing</i>, <i>Masking</i>, <i>Mumming</i>, <i>Stage-playes</i>, howsoever -they be heavily censured by some severe <i>Catoes</i>, yet if <i>opportunely</i> -and <i>soberly used</i>, may justly be approved. <i>Melius est fodere, quam -saltare</i>, saith <i>Augustin</i>: but what is that if they delight in it? -<i>Nemo saltat sobrius.</i> But in what kind of dance? I know these sports -have many oppugners, whole volumes writ against them; when as all they -say (if duly considered) is but <i>ignoratio Elenchi</i>; and some again, -because they are now cold and wayward, past themselves, cavil at all -such youthful sports in others, as he did in the Comedy; they think -them, <i>illico nasci senes</i>, &c. Some out of preposterous zeal object -many times trivial arguments, and because of some abuse, will quite take -away the good use, as if they should forbid wine, because it makes men -drunk; but in my judgment they are too stern: there <i>is a time for all -things, a time to mourn, a time to dance</i>. Eccles. 3. 4. <i>a time to -embrace, a time not to embrace</i>, (ver. 5.) <i>and nothing better than that -a man should rejoice in his own works</i>, ver. 22. For my part, I will -subscribe to the <i>King's Declaration</i>, and was ever of that mind, those -<i>May-games</i>, <i>Wakes</i>, and <i>Whitsun-ales</i>, &c. if they be not at -<i>unseasonable</i> hours, may justly be permitted. Let them freely feast, -sing and dance, have their <i>poppet-playes</i>, <i>hobby-horses</i>, <i>tabers</i>, -<i>crouds</i>, <i>bag-pipes</i>, &c., play at <i>ball</i>, and <i>barley-brakes</i>, and -what sports and recreations they like best."<a name="FNanchor_i_174:A_284" id="FNanchor_i_174:A_284"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_174:A_284" class="fnanchor">[174:A]</a> All these -festivities, however, on <i>May-day</i>, were again set aside, by still -greater enthusiasts, during the period of the Commonwealth, and were -once more revived at the Restoration; at present, few vestiges remain -either of those ancient rites, or of those attendant on other popular -periodical festivals.<a name="FNanchor_i_174:B_285" id="FNanchor_i_174:B_285"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_174:B_285" class="fnanchor">[174:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 175 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_175" id="Page_i_175">[175]</a></span>Several of the amusements, and some of the characters attendant on the -celebration of May-day, were again introduced at <span class="smcap">Whitsuntide</span>, especially -the morris-dance, which was as customary on this period of festivity as -on the one immediately preceding it. Thus Shakspeare, in King Henry V., -makes the Dauphin say, alluding to the youthful follies of the English -monarch,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">————— "Let us do it with no show of fear;</div> - <div class="line">No, with no more, than if we heard that England</div> - <div class="line">Were busied with a <i>Whitsun Morris-dance</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_175:A_286" id="FNanchor_i_175:A_286"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_175:A_286" class="fnanchor">[175:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The rural sports and feasting at Whitsuntide were usually designated by -the term <i>Whitsun-ales</i>; <i>ale</i> being in the time of Shakspeare, and for -a century or two, indeed, before him, synonymous with <i>festival</i> or -<i>merry-making</i>. Chaucer and the author of Pierce Plowman use the word -repeatedly in this sense, and the following passages from our great -poet, from Jonson, and from Ascham, prove that it was familiar, in their -time, in the sense of simple carousing, church-feasting, and Whitsuntide -recreation. Launcelot, in the <i>Two Gentlemen of Verona</i>, exclaims to -Speed, "Thou hast not so much charity in thee, as to go to the <i>ale</i> -with a Christian<a name="FNanchor_i_175:B_287" id="FNanchor_i_175:B_287"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_175:B_287" class="fnanchor">[175:B]</a>;" and Ascham, speaking of the conduct of -husbandmen, in his Toxophilus, observes that those which have their -dinner and drink in the field, "have fatter barnes in the harvest, than -they which will either sleape at noonetyme of the day, or els <i>make -merye with theyr neighbours at the ale</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_175:C_288" id="FNanchor_i_175:C_288"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_175:C_288" class="fnanchor">[175:C]</a> In the chorus to the -first act of <i>Pericles</i>, it is recorded of an old song, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 176 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_176" id="Page_i_176">[176]</a></span><div class="line">"It hath been sung at festivals,</div> - <div class="line indentq">On ember-eves, and <i>holy-ales</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_176:A_289" id="FNanchor_i_176:A_289"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_176:A_289" class="fnanchor">[176:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">And Jonson says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—— "All the neighbourhood, from old records</div> - <div class="line">Of antique proverbs drawn from <i>Whitson lords</i>,</div> - <div class="line">And their authorities at wakes and <i>ales</i>,</div> - <div class="line">With country precedents, and old wives tales,</div> - <div class="line">We bring you now."<a name="FNanchor_i_176:B_290" id="FNanchor_i_176:B_290"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_176:B_290" class="fnanchor">[176:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It will be necessary, in this place, therefore, to notice briefly, as -being periods of festivity, the various <i>Ales</i> which were observed by -our ancestors in the sixteenth century. They may be enumerated under the -heads of <i>Leet-ale</i>, <i>Lamb-ale</i>, <i>Bride-ale</i>, <i>Clerk-ale</i>, <i>Church-ale</i> -and <i>Whitsun-ale</i>. We shall confine our attention at present, however, -principally to the two latter; for of the Lamb-ale and Bride-ale, an -occasion will occur to speak more at large in a subsequent part of this -chapter, and a very few words will suffice with regard to the Leet-ale -and the Clerk-ale; the former being merely the dinner provided for the -jury and customary tenants at the court-leet of a manor, or <i>View of -frank pledge</i>, formerly held once or twice a year, before the steward of -the leet<a name="FNanchor_i_176:C_291" id="FNanchor_i_176:C_291"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_176:C_291" class="fnanchor">[176:C]</a>; to this court Shakspeare alludes, in his <i>Taming of the -Shrew</i>, where the servant tells Sly, that in his dream he would "rail -upon the hostess of the house," and threaten to</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—— —— "present her at the leet:"<a name="FNanchor_i_176:D_292" id="FNanchor_i_176:D_292"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_176:D_292" class="fnanchor">[176:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and the latter, which usually took place at Easter, is thus mentioned by -Aubrey in his manuscript History of Wiltshire. "In the Easter holidays -was the <i>Clarkes-Ale</i>, for his private benefit and the solace of the -neighbourhood."<a name="FNanchor_i_176:E_293" id="FNanchor_i_176:E_293"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_176:E_293" class="fnanchor">[176:E]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 177 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_177" id="Page_i_177">[177]</a></span>The <i>Church-ale</i> was a festival instituted sometimes in honour of the -church-saint, but more frequently for the purpose of contributing -towards the repair or decoration of the church. On this occasion it was -the business of the churchwardens to brew a considerable quantity of -strong ale, which was sold to the populace in the church-yard, and to -the better sort in the church itself, a practice which, independent of -the profit arising from the sale of the liquor, led to great pecuniary -advantages; for the rich thought it a meritorious duty, beside paying -for their ale, to offer largely to the holy fund. It was no uncommon -thing indeed to have four, six, or eight of these <i>ales</i> yearly, and -sometimes one or more parishes <i>agreed</i> to hold annually a <i>certain -number</i> of these meetings, and to contribute individually a <i>certain -sum</i>. Of this a very curious proof may be drawn from the following -stipulation, preserved in Dodsworth's Manuscripts in the Bodleian -Library:—"The parishioners of Elveston and Okebrook, in Derbyshire, -agree jointly, to brew four <i>Ales</i>, and every <i>Ale</i> of one quarter of -malt, betwixt this (the time of contract) and the feast of saint John -Baptist next coming. And that every inhabitant of the said town of -Okebrook shall be at the several <i>Ales</i>. And every husband and his wife -shall pay two pence, and every cottager one penny, and all the -inhabitants of Elveston shall have and receive all the profits and -advantages coming of the said <i>Ales</i>, to the use and behoof of the said -church of Elveston. And the inhabitants of Elveston shall brew <i>eight -Ales</i> betwixt this and the feast of saint John Baptist, at the which -<i>Ales</i> the inhabitants of Okebrook shall come and pay as before -rehersed. And if he be away at one <i>Ale</i>, to pay at the toder Ale for -both, &c."<a name="FNanchor_i_177:A_294" id="FNanchor_i_177:A_294"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_177:A_294" class="fnanchor">[177:A]</a></p> - -<p>The date of this document is anterior to the Reformation, but that -<i>church-ales</i> were equally popular and frequent in the days of -Shakspeare will be evident from the subsequent passages in Carew and -Philip Stubbes. The historian of Cornwall, whose work was first printed -in 1602, says that "for the church-ale, two young men of the parish are -yerely chosen by their last foregoers, to be wardens; who, dividing <!-- Page 178 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_178" id="Page_i_178">[178]</a></span>the -task, make collection among the parishioners, of what soever provision -it pleaseth them voluntarily to bestow. This they imploy in brewing, -baking, and other acates, against Whitsontide; upon which holy-dayes the -neighbours meet at the church-house, and there merily feede on their -owne victuals, contributing some petty portion to the stock; which, by -many smalls, groweth to a meetley greatness: for there is entertayned a -kinde of emulation betweene these wardens, who by his graciousness in -gathering, and good husbandry in expending, can best advance the -churches profit. Besides, the neighbour parishes at those times lovingly -visit one another, and this way frankely spend their money together. The -afternoones are consumed in such exercises as olde and yong folke -(having leysure) doe accustomably weare out the time withall."<a name="FNanchor_i_178:A_295" id="FNanchor_i_178:A_295"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_178:A_295" class="fnanchor">[178:A]</a> -Stubbes in his violent philippic declares that, "in certaine townes, -where drunken Bacchus bears swaie against Christmas and Easter, -Whitsunday, or some other time, the churchwardens, for so they call -them, of every parish, with the consent of the whole parish, provide -half a score or twentie quarters of mault, whereof some they buy of the -church stocke, and some is given to them of the parishioners themselves, -every one conferring somewhat, according to his ability; which mault -being made into very strong ale, or beer, is set to sale, either in the -church or in some other place assigned to that purpose. Then, when this -nippitatum, this huffe-cappe, as they call it, this nectar of life, is -set abroach, well is he that can get the soonest to it, and spends the -most at it, for he is counted the godliest man of all the rest, and most -in God's favour, because it is spent upon his church forsooth."<a name="FNanchor_i_178:B_296" id="FNanchor_i_178:B_296"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_178:B_296" class="fnanchor">[178:B]</a></p> - -<p>There is but too much reason to suppose that the satire of this bitter -writer was not, in this instance, ill directed, and that meetings of -this description, though avowedly for the express benefit of the church, -were often productive of licentiousness, and consequently highly -injurious both to morals and religion. A few lines from Ben Jonson will -<!-- Page 179 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_179" id="Page_i_179">[179]</a></span>probably place this beyond doubt. In his Masque of Queens, performed at -Whitehall, 1609, he represents one of his witches as exclaiming</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"I had a dagger: what did I with that?</div> - <div class="line indentq">Kill'd an infant, to have his fat:</div> - <div class="line indentq">A Piper it got, at a <i>Church-ale</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_179:A_297" id="FNanchor_i_179:A_297"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_179:A_297" class="fnanchor">[179:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Returning to the consideration of the <i>Whitsuntide</i> amusements, it may -be observed, that not only was the morris a constituent part in their -celebration, but that the Maid Marian of the May-games was frequently -introduced: thus Shirley represents one of his characters exclaiming -against rural diversions in the following manner:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——— "Observe with what solemnity</div> - <div class="line">They keep their wakes, and throw for pewter candlestickes,</div> - <div class="line">How they become the morris, with whose bells</div> - <div class="line">They ring all into <i>Whitson ales</i>, and sweate</div> - <div class="line">Through twentie scarffes and napkins, till the Hobby-horse</div> - <div class="line">Tire, and the <i>maide Marrian</i> dissolv'd to a gelly,</div> - <div class="line">Be kept for spoone meate."<a name="FNanchor_i_179:B_298" id="FNanchor_i_179:B_298"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_179:B_298" class="fnanchor">[179:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The festivities, indeed, on this occasion, as at those on May-day, were -often regulated by a Lord and Lady of the <i>Whitsun-ales</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_179:C_299" id="FNanchor_i_179:C_299"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_179:C_299" class="fnanchor">[179:C]</a> Very -frequently, however, there was elected only a Lord of Misrule, and as -the church or holy ales were not unfrequently combined with the -merriments of this season, the church-yard, especially on the -sabbath-day, was too generally the scene of rejoicing. The severity of -Stubbes, when censuring this profanation of consecrated ground, will -scarcely <!-- Page 180 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_180" id="Page_i_180">[180]</a></span>be deemed too keen: "First," says he, "all the wilde heads of -the parish, flocking together, chuse them a graund captaine (of -mischiefe) whom they inrolle with the title of <i>my Lord of misrule</i>, and -him they crowne with great solemnitie, and adopt for their king. This -king annoynted, chooseth foorth twentie, fourtie, threescore, or a -hundred lustie guttes like to himselfe to wait upon his lordly majesty, -and to guarde his noble person.—(Here he describes the dress of the -morris dancers, as quoted in a former page, and proceeds as follows.) -Thus all things set in order, then have they their hobby-horses, their -dragons and other antiques, together with their baudie pipers, and -thundering drummers, to strike up the <i>Devils Daunce</i> withall: then -martch this heathen company towards the church and church-yarde, their -pypers pypyng, their drummers thundering, their stumpes dauncing, their -belles jyngling, their handkercheefes fluttering about their heads like -madde men, their hobbie horses, and other monsters skirmishing amongst -the throng: and in this sorte they goe to the church like Devils -incarnate, with such a confused noise, that no man can heare his owne -voyce. Then the foolish people they looke, they stare, they laugh, they -fleere, and mount upon formes and pewes, to see these goodly pageants -solemnized in this sort. Then after this about the church they goe -againe and againe, and so foorth into the church yard, where they have -commonly their summer haules, their bowers, arbours, and banqetting -houses set up, wherein they feast, banquet, and daunce all that day, and -(peradventure) all that night too. And thus these terrestrial furies -spend the Sabboth day. Another sort of fantastical fooles bring to these -helhoundes (the Lord of misrule and his complices) some bread, some good -ale, some new cheese, some old cheese, some custardes, some cracknels, -some cakes, some flaunes, some tartes, some creame, some meat, some one -thing, some another; but if they knewe that as often as they bringe anye -to the maintenance of these execrable pastimes, they offer sacrifice to -the Devill and Sathanas, they would repente and with drawe their handes, -which God graunt they may."<a name="FNanchor_i_180:A_300" id="FNanchor_i_180:A_300"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_180:A_300" class="fnanchor">[180:A]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 181 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_181" id="Page_i_181">[181]</a></span>Dramatic exhibitions, called <i>Whitsun plays</i>, were common, at this -season, both in town and country, and in the latter they were chiefly of -a pastoral character. Shakspeare has an allusion to them in his -<i>Winter's Tale</i>, where Perdita, addressing Florizel, says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——————— "Come, take your flowers:</div> - <div class="line">Methinks, I play as I have seen them do</div> - <div class="line">in <i>Whitsun' pastorals</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_181:A_301" id="FNanchor_i_181:A_301"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_181:A_301" class="fnanchor">[181:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Soon after Whitsuntide began the season of sheep-shearing, which was -generally terminated about midsummer, and either at its commencement or -close, was distinguished by the <span class="smcap">Lamb-ale</span> or <span class="smcap">Sheep-shearing Feast</span>. At -Kidlington in Oxfordshire, it seems to have been <i>ushered in</i> by -ceremonies of a peculiar kind, for, according to Blount, "the Monday -after the Whitsun week, a fat lamb was provided, and the maidens of the -town, having their thumbs tied behind them, were permitted to run after -it, and she who with her mouth took hold of the lamb was declared the -Lady of the Lamb, which, being killed and cleaned, but with the skin -hanging upon it, was carried on a long pole before the lady and her -companions to the green, attended with music, and a morisco dance of -men, and another of women. The rest of the day was spent in mirth and -merry glee. Next day the lamb, partly baked, partly boiled, and partly -roasted, was served up for the lady's feast, where she sat, majestically -at the upper end of the table, and her companions with her, the music -playing during the repast, which, being finished, the solemnity -ended."<a name="FNanchor_i_181:B_302" id="FNanchor_i_181:B_302"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_181:B_302" class="fnanchor">[181:B]</a></p> - -<p>The most usual mode, however, of celebrating this important period was -by a dinner, music, with songs, and the election of a Shepherd King, an -office always conferred upon the individual <!-- Page 182 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_182" id="Page_i_182">[182]</a></span>whose flock had produced -the earliest lamb. The dinner is thus enjoined by the rustic muse of -Tusser:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Wife make us a dinner, spare flesh neither corne,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Make wafers and cakes, for our sheepe must be shorne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">At sheep-shearing, neighbours none other things crave,</div> - <div class="line i1q">But good cheare and welcome, like neighbours to have."<a name="FNanchor_i_182:A_303" id="FNanchor_i_182:A_303"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_182:A_303" class="fnanchor">[182:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>But it is from Drayton that we derive the most minute account of the -festival; who in the fourteenth song of his Poly-Olbion, and still more -at large in his ninth Eclogue, has given a most pleasing picture of this -rural holy-day:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"When the new-wash'd flock from the river's side,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Coming as white as January's snow,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The ram with nosegays bears his horns in pride,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And no less brave the bell-wether doth go.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">After their fair flocks in a lusty rout,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Come the gay swains with bag-pipes strongly blown,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And busied, though this solemn sport about,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Yet had each one an eye unto his own.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">And by the ancient statutes of the field,</div> - <div class="line indentq">He that his flocks the earliest lamb should bring,</div> - <div class="line indentq">(As it fell out then, Rowland's charge to yield)</div> - <div class="line indentq">Always for that year was the shepherd's king.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">And soon preparing for the shepherd's board,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Upon a green that curiously was squar'd,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With country cates being plentifully stor'd:</div> - <div class="line indentq">And 'gainst their coming handsomely prepar'd.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">New whig, with water from the clearest stream,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Green plumbs, and wildings, cherries chief of feast,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Fresh cheese, and dowsets, curds, and clouted cream,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Spic'd syllibubs, and cyder of the best:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">And to the same down solemnly they sit,</div> - <div class="line indentq">In the fresh shadow of their summer bowers,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With sundry sweets them every way to fit,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The neighb'ring vale despoiled of her flowers.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 183 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_183" id="Page_i_183">[183]</a></span><div class="line indentq">When now, at last, as lik'd the shepherd's king,</div> - <div class="line indentq">(At whose command they all obedient were)</div> - <div class="line indentq">Was pointed, who the roundelay should sing,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And who again the under-song should bear."<a name="FNanchor_i_183:A_304" id="FNanchor_i_183:A_304"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_183:A_304" class="fnanchor">[183:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Shakspeare also, in his <i>Winter's Tale</i>, has presented us not only with -a list of the good things necessary for a sheep-shearing feast, but he -describes likewise the attentions which were due, on this occasion, from -the hostess, or Shepherd's Queen.</p> - -<p>"Let me see," says the Clown, "what I am to buy for our sheep-shearing -feast? <i>Three pound of sugar; five pound of currants; rice</i>——What will -this sister of mine do with rice? But my father hath made her mistress -of the feast, and <i>she lays it on</i>. She hath made me four-and-twenty -nosegays for the shearers: three-man song-men all<a name="FNanchor_i_183:B_305" id="FNanchor_i_183:B_305"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_183:B_305" class="fnanchor">[183:B]</a>, and very good -ones; but they are most of them means<a name="FNanchor_i_183:C_306" id="FNanchor_i_183:C_306"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_183:C_306" class="fnanchor">[183:C]</a> and bases: but one Puritan -amongst them, and he sings psalms to horn-pipes. I must have <i>saffron</i>, -to colour the <i>warden pies</i>; mace,—dates,—none; that's out of my note: -<i>nutmegs, seven</i>; <i>a race, or two, of ginger</i>: but that I may -beg;—<i>four pound of prunes, and as many of raisins o' the sun</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_183:D_307" id="FNanchor_i_183:D_307"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_183:D_307" class="fnanchor">[183:D]</a></p> - -<p>The culinary articles in this detail are somewhat more expensive than -those enumerated by Drayton; and Mr. Steevens, in a note on this passage -of the Winter's Tale, observes that "the expence attending these -festivities, appears to have afforded matter of complaint. Thus, in -<i>Questions of profitable and pleasant Concernings</i>, &c. 1594: 'If it be -a <i>sheep-shearing feast</i>, maister Baily can entertaine you with his bill -of reckonings to his maister of three sheapheard's wages, spent on -<i>fresh cates</i>, besides <i>spices</i> and <i>saffron pottage</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_183:E_308" id="FNanchor_i_183:E_308"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_183:E_308" class="fnanchor">[183:E]</a></p> - -<p>The shepherd's reproof to his adopted daughter, Perdita, as Polixenes -remarks,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——— "the prettiest low-born lass, that ever</div> - <div class="line">Ran on the green-sward,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 184 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_184" id="Page_i_184">[184]</a></span>implies indirectly the duties which were expected by the peasants, on -this day, from their rural queen, and which seems to have been -sufficiently numerous and laborious:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Fye, daughter, when my old wife liv'd, upon</div> - <div class="line indentq">This day, she was both pantler, butler, cook;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Both dame and servant: welcom'd all; serv'd all:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Would sing her song, and dance her turn: now here,</div> - <div class="line indentq">At upper end o'the table, now, ithe middle;</div> - <div class="line indentq">On his shoulder, and his: her face o'fire</div> - <div class="line indentq">With labour; and the thing, she took to quench it,</div> - <div class="line indentq">She would to each one sip: You are retir'd,</div> - <div class="line indentq">As if you were a feasted one, and not</div> - <div class="line indentq">The hostess of the meeting: Pray you, bid</div> - <div class="line indentq">These unknown friends to us welcome: for it is</div> - <div class="line indentq">A way to make us better friends, more known.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Come, quench your blushes; and present yourself</div> - <div class="line indentq">That which you are, mistress o'the feast: Come on,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And bid us welcome to your <i>sheep-shearing</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">As your good flock shall prosper."<a name="FNanchor_i_184:A_309" id="FNanchor_i_184:A_309"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_184:A_309" class="fnanchor">[184:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">It should be remarked that one material part of this welcome appears, -from the context, to have consisted in the distribution of various -flowers, suited to the ages of the respective visitors, a ceremony which -was, probably, customary at this season of rejoicing.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Perdita.</i> Give me those flowers there, Dorcas.—Reverend sirs,</div> - <div class="line">For you there's rosemary, and rue; these keep</div> - <div class="line">Seeming, and savour, all the winter long:</div> - <div class="line">Grace, and remembrance, be to you both,</div> - <div class="line">And welcome to our shearing!———</div> - <div class="line">——————————— Here's flowers for you;</div> - <div class="line">Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram;</div> - <div class="line">The marigold, that goes to bed with the sun,</div> - <div class="line">And with him rises weeping; these are flowers</div> - <!-- Page 185 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_185" id="Page_i_185">[185]</a></span><div class="line">Of middle summer, and, I think, they are given</div> - <div class="line">To men of middle age: You are very welcome.—</div> - <div class="line">———— ———— ——— Now, my fairest friend,</div> - <div class="line">I would, I had some flowers of the spring, that might</div> - <div class="line">Become your time of day; and yours, and yours;</div> - <div class="line">That wear upon your virgin branches yet</div> - <div class="line">Your maidenheads growing:—O, these I lack,</div> - <div class="line">To make you garlands of."<a name="FNanchor_i_185:A_310" id="FNanchor_i_185:A_310"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_185:A_310" class="fnanchor">[185:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>A custom somewhat allied to this, that of scattering flowers on the -streams at <i>shearing time</i>, has been long observed in the south-west of -England, and is thus alluded to as an ancient rite by Dyer, in his -beautifully descriptive poem entitled <i>The Fleece</i>:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——— "With light fantastic toe, the nymphs</div> - <div class="line">Thither assembled, thither ev'ry swain;</div> - <div class="line">And o'er the dimpled stream a thousand flowers,</div> - <div class="line">Pale lilies, roses, violets and pinks,</div> - <div class="line">Mixt with the greens of burnet, mint and thyme,</div> - <div class="line">And trefoil, sprinkled with their sportive arms.</div> - <div class="line">Such custom holds along the irriguous vales,</div> - <div class="line">From Wreakin's brow to rocky Dolvoryn,</div> - <div class="line">Sabrina's early haunt."<a name="FNanchor_i_185:B_311" id="FNanchor_i_185:B_311"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_185:B_311" class="fnanchor">[185:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>That one of the principal seasons of rejoicing should take place on -securely collecting the fruits of the field, it is natural to expect; -and accordingly, in almost every country, a <span class="smcap">Harvest-Home</span>, or Feast, has -been observed on this occasion.</p> - -<p>Much of the festivity and jocular freedom however, which subsisted -formerly at this period, has been worn away by the increasing -refinements and distinctions of society. In the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries, and, indeed, during a part of the eighteenth, the -Harvest, or <i>Mell</i>, Supper, as it was sometimes called, from the French -word <i>Mesler</i>, to mingle or mix together, was a scene not only -remarkable for merriment and hospitality, but for a temporary suspension -of all inequality between master and man. The whole family sate down at -the same table, and conversed, danced, and sang <!-- Page 186 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_186" id="Page_i_186">[186]</a></span>together during the -entire night without difference or distinction of any kind; and, in many -places indeed, this freedom of manner subsisted during the whole period -of getting in the Harvest. Thus Tusser, recommending the social equality -of the Harvest-tide, exclaims,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"In harvest time, harvest folke, <i>servants and al</i>,</div> - <div class="line i1q">should make <i>altogither</i>, good cheere in the hal:</div> - <div class="line indentq">And fil out the blacke bol, of bleith to their song,</div> - <div class="line i1q">and let them be merrie, <i>al harvest time long</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_186:A_312" id="FNanchor_i_186:A_312"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_186:A_312" class="fnanchor">[186:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of this ancient convivial licence, a modern rural poet has drawn a most -pleasing picture, lamenting, at the same time, that the Harvest-Feast of -the present day is but the phantom of what it was:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">"The aspect only with the substance gone.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="tb2">————</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Behold the sound oak table's massy frame</div> - <div class="line">Bestride the kitchen floor! the careful dame</div> - <div class="line">And gen'rous host invite their friends around,</div> - <div class="line"><i>While all that clear'd the crop, or till'd the ground,</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Are guests by right of custom:——</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Here once a year Distinction low'rs its crest,</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>The master, servant, and the merry guest,</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Are equal all</i>; and round the happy ring</div> - <div class="line">The reaper's eyes exulting glances fling,</div> - <div class="line">And, warm'd with gratitude, he quits his place,</div> - <div class="line">With sun-burnt hands and ale-enliven'd face,</div> - <div class="line">Refills the jug his honour'd host to tend,</div> - <div class="line">To serve at once the master and the friend;</div> - <div class="line">Proud thus to meet his smiles, to share his tale,</div> - <div class="line">His nuts, his conversation, and his ale.</div> - <div class="line i1"><i>Such were the days,——of days long past I sing.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_i_186:B_313" id="FNanchor_i_186:B_313"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_186:B_313" class="fnanchor">[186:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 187 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_187" id="Page_i_187">[187]</a></span>It will be necessary to enter a little more minutely into the rites and -ceremonies which accompanied this annual feast in the days of -Shakspeare, and fortunately we can appeal to a few curious documents on -which dependence can be placed. Hentzner, a learned German who travelled -through Germany, England, France, and Italy, towards the close of the -sixteenth century, and whose Itinerary, as far as it relates to this -country, has been translated by the late Lord Orford, says, "as we were -returning to our inn (from Windsor), we happened to meet some country -people <i>celebrating their harvest-home</i>; their last load of corn they -crown with flowers, having besides an image richly dressed, by which, -perhaps, they would signify Ceres; this they keep moving about, while -men and women, men and maid servants, riding through the streets in the -cart, shout as loud as they can till they arrive at the barn."<a name="FNanchor_i_187:A_314" id="FNanchor_i_187:A_314"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_187:A_314" class="fnanchor">[187:A]</a> -Dr. Moresin also, another foreigner, who published, in the reign of -James I., an elaborate work on the "Origin and Increase of Depravity in -Religion," relates that he saw "in England the country people bringing -home, in a cart from the harvest field, a figure made of corn, round -which men and women were promiscuously singing, preceded by a piper and -a drum."<a name="FNanchor_i_187:B_315" id="FNanchor_i_187:B_315"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_187:B_315" class="fnanchor">[187:B]</a></p> - -<p>To this custom of accompanying home the last waggon-load of corn, at the -close of harvest, with music, Shakspeare is supposed to allude in the -<i>Merchant of Venice</i>, where Lorenzo tells the musicians to pierce his -mistress' ear with sweetest touches,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"And draw her home with musick."<a name="FNanchor_i_187:C_316" id="FNanchor_i_187:C_316"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_187:C_316" class="fnanchor">[187:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It was usual also, not only to feast the men and women, but to reward -likewise the boys and girls who were in any degree instrumental <!-- Page 188 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_188" id="Page_i_188">[188]</a></span>in -getting in the harvest; accordingly Tusser humanely observes,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Once ended thy harvest, let none be begilde,</div> - <div class="line i1q">please such as did please thee, man, woman and <i>child</i>:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thus doing, with alwaie such helpe as they can,</div> - <div class="line i1q">thou winnest the praise, of the labouring man;"<a name="FNanchor_i_188:A_317" id="FNanchor_i_188:A_317"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_188:A_317" class="fnanchor">[188:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">an injunction which Mr. Hilman has further explained by subjoining to -this stanza the following remark:—"Every one," says he, "that did any -thing towards the Inning, must now have some reward, as ribbons, laces, -rows of pins to boys and girls, if never so small, for their -encouragement, and to be sure plumb-pudding."</p> - -<p>The most minute account, however, which we can now any where meet with, -of the ceremonies and rejoicings at Harvest-Home, as they existed during -the prior part of the seventeenth century, and which we may justly -consider as not deviating from those that accompanied the same festival -in the reign of Elizabeth, is to be found among the poems of Robert -Herrick, and will be valued, not exclusively for its striking -illustration of the subject, but for its merit, likewise, as a -descriptive piece.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">"THE HOCK-CART, OR HARVEST-HOME.<a name="FNanchor_i_188:B_318" id="FNanchor_i_188:B_318"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_188:B_318" class="fnanchor">[188:B]</a></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Come</span>, Sons of Summer, by whose toile</div> - <div class="line">We are the Lords of wine and oile:</div> - <div class="line">By whose tough labours, and rough hands,</div> - <div class="line">We rip up first, then reap our lands.</div> - <div class="line">Crown'd with the eares of corne, now come,</div> - <div class="line">And, to the pipe, sing Harvest-home.</div> - <div class="line">Come forth, my Lord, and see the cart</div> - <div class="line">Drest up with all the country art.</div> - <div class="line">See, here a <i>Maukin</i>, there a sheet,</div> - <div class="line">As spotlesse pure, as it is sweet:</div> - <!-- Page 189 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_189" id="Page_i_189">[189]</a></span><div class="line">The horses, mares, and frisking fillies,</div> - <div class="line">Clad, all, in linnen, white as lillies.</div> - <div class="line">The Harvest swaines, and wenches bound</div> - <div class="line">For joy, to see the <i>Hock-cart</i> crown'd.</div> - <div class="line">About the cart, heare, how the rout</div> - <div class="line">Of rurall younglings raise the shout;</div> - <div class="line">Pressing before, some coming after,</div> - <div class="line">These with a shout, and these with laughter.</div> - <div class="line">Some blesse the cart; some kisse the sheaves;</div> - <div class="line">Some prank them up with oaken leaves:</div> - <div class="line">Some crosse the fill-horse; some with great</div> - <div class="line">Devotion, stroak the home-borne wheat:</div> - <div class="line">While other rusticks, lesse attent</div> - <div class="line">To prayers, then to merryment,</div> - <div class="line">Run after with their breeches rent.</div> - <div class="line">Well, on, brave boyes, to your Lord's hearth,</div> - <div class="line">Glitt'ring with fire; where, for your mirth,</div> - <div class="line">Ye shall see first the large and cheefe</div> - <div class="line">Foundation of your feast, fat beefe:</div> - <div class="line">With upper stories, mutton, veale</div> - <div class="line">And bacon, which makes full the meale;</div> - <div class="line">With sev'ral dishes standing by,</div> - <div class="line">As here a custard, there a pie,</div> - <div class="line">And here all tempting frumentie.</div> - <div class="line">And for to make the merry cheere,</div> - <div class="line">If smirking wine be wanting here,</div> - <div class="line">There's that, which drowns all care, stout beere;</div> - <div class="line">Which freely drink to your Lord's health,</div> - <div class="line">Then to the plough, the commonwealth;</div> - <div class="line">Next to your flailes, your fanes, your fats;</div> - <div class="line">Then to the maids with wheaten hats;</div> - <div class="line">To the rough sickle, and crookt sythe,</div> - <div class="line">Drink frollick boyes, till all be blythe.</div> - <div class="line">Feed, and grow fat; and as ye eat,</div> - <div class="line">Be mindfull, that the lab'ring neat,</div> - <div class="line">As you, may have their fill of meat.</div> - <div class="line">And know, besides, ye must revoke</div> - <div class="line">The patient oxe unto the yoke,</div> - <div class="line">And all goe back unto the plough</div> - <div class="line">And harrow, though they're hang'd up now.</div> - <div class="line">And, you must know, your Lord's word true,</div> - <div class="line">Feed him ye must, whose food fils you.</div> - <div class="line">And that this pleasure is like raine,</div> - <div class="line">Not sent ye for to drowne your paine,</div> - <div class="line">But for to make it spring againe."<a name="FNanchor_i_189:A_319" id="FNanchor_i_189:A_319"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_189:A_319" class="fnanchor">[189:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 190 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_190" id="Page_i_190">[190]</a></span>We must not forget that, during the reign of Elizabeth, another -<i>feast-day</i> fell to the lot of the husbandman, at the close of -wheat-sowing, in October. This was termed, from one of the chief -articles provided for the table, <span class="smcap">The Seed-Cake</span>, and is no where recorded -so distinctly as by the agricultural muse of Tusser:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Wife sometime this week, if the weather hold cleer,</div> - <div class="line i1q">an end of wheat-sowing, we make for this yeere:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Remember thou therefore, though I do it not,</div> - <div class="line i1q">the <i>seed-cake</i>, the <i>pastries</i>, and <i>furmenty pot</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_190:A_320" id="FNanchor_i_190:A_320"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_190:A_320" class="fnanchor">[190:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Proceeding with the year, and postponing the consideration of All -Hallowmas to the chapter on superstitions, we reach the eleventh of -November, or the festival of St. Martin, usually called <span class="smcap">Martinmas</span>, or -<span class="smcap">Martlemas</span>, a day formerly devoted to feasting and conviviality, and on -which a stock of salted provisions was laid in for the winter. This -custom of killing cattle, swine, &c. and <i>curing</i> them against the -approaching season, was, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, -common every where, though <i>now</i> only partially observed in a few -country-villages; for smoke-dryed meat in those days was more generally -relished than at present. We find Tusser, therefore, as might be -expected, recommending this savoury diet; in one place saying to his -farmer,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"For Easter, at <i>Martilmas</i>, hang up a beefe—</div> - <div class="line indentq">With that and the like, yer grasse beef come in,</div> - <div class="line indentq">thy folke shall look cheerely, when others look thin;"<a name="FNanchor_i_190:B_321" id="FNanchor_i_190:B_321"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_190:B_321" class="fnanchor">[190:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and again,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Martilmas</i> beefe doth bear good tacke,</div> - <div class="line indentq">When countrey folke do dainties lacke;"<a name="FNanchor_i_190:C_322" id="FNanchor_i_190:C_322"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_190:C_322" class="fnanchor">[190:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">so, likewise, in <i>The Pinner of Wakefield</i>, printed in 1559,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"A piece of beef hung up since <i>Martlemas</i>."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 191 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_191" id="Page_i_191">[191]</a></span>Moresin tells us, in the reign of James I., that there were great -rejoicings and feasting on this day throughout Europe, an assertion -which is verified by the ancient Calendar of the church of Rome, where -under the eleventh of November occur the following -observations:—"Martinalia, Geniale Festum. Vina delibantur et -defecantur. Vinalia veterum festum huc translatum. Bacchus in Martini -figura.—The Martinalia, a genial feast. Wines are tasted of and drawn -from the lees. The Vinalia, a feast of the Antients, removed to this -day. Bacchus in the figure of Martin."<a name="FNanchor_i_191:A_323" id="FNanchor_i_191:A_323"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_191:A_323" class="fnanchor">[191:A]</a> J. Boëmus Aubanus likewise -informs us, as Mr. Brand remarks, "that in Franconia, there was a great -deal of eating and drinking at this season; no one was so poor or -niggardly that on the <i>Feast of St. Martin</i> had not his dish of the -<i>entrails</i> either of <i>oxen</i>, <i>swine</i>, or <i>calves</i>. They drank, too, he -says, very liberally of <i>wine</i> on the occasion."<a name="FNanchor_i_191:B_324" id="FNanchor_i_191:B_324"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_191:B_324" class="fnanchor">[191:B]</a></p> - -<p>In this country, merriment and good cheer were equally conspicuous on -St. Martin's feast; the young danced and sang, and the old regaled -themselves by the fire-side. A modern poet, who has beautifully copied -the antique, under the somewhat stale pretence of discovering an ancient -manuscript, presents us with a specimen of his manufacture of -considerable merit, under the title of <i>Martilmasse Daye</i>; this, as -being referred to the age of Elizabeth, and recording, with due -attention to historical costume, the mirth and revelry which used -formerly to distinguish this period, may be admitted here as a species -of traditional evidence of no exceptionable kind. The poem, which is -supposed to have been found at Norwich, at an ancient Hostelrie, whilst -under repair, consists of six stanzas, two of which, however, though -possessing poetical and descriptive point, we have omitted, as not -referable to any peculiar observance of the day:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"It is the day of Martilmasse,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Cuppes of ale should freelie passe;</div> - <!-- Page 192 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_192" id="Page_i_192">[192]</a></span><div class="line indentq">What though Wynter has begunne</div> - <div class="line indentq">To push downe the summer sunne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To our fire we can betake</div> - <div class="line indentq">And enjoie the cracklinge brake,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Never heedinge winter's face</div> - <div class="line indentq">On the day of Martilmasse.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Some do the citie now frequent,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where costlie shews and merriment</div> - <div class="line indentq">Do weare the vaporish ev'ninge out</div> - <div class="line indentq">With interlude and revellinge rout;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Such as did pleasure Englandes Queene,</div> - <div class="line indentq">When here her royal Grace was seene,<a name="FNanchor_i_192:A_325" id="FNanchor_i_192:A_325"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_192:A_325" class="fnanchor">[192:A]</a></div> - <div class="line indentq">Yet will they not this day let passe,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The merrie day of Martilmasse.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Nel hath left her wool at home,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The Flanderkin hath stayed his loom,<a name="FNanchor_i_192:B_326" id="FNanchor_i_192:B_326"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_192:B_326" class="fnanchor">[192:B]</a></div> - <div class="line indentq">No beame doth swinge nor wheel go round</div> - <div class="line indentq">Upon Gurguntums walled ground;<a name="FNanchor_i_192:C_327" id="FNanchor_i_192:C_327"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_192:C_327" class="fnanchor">[192:C]</a></div> - <!-- Page 193 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_193" id="Page_i_193">[193]</a></span><div class="line indentq">Where now no anchorite doth dwell</div> - <div class="line indentq">To rise and pray at Lenard's bell:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Martyn hath kicked at Balaam's ass,</div> - <div class="line indentq">So merrie be old Martilmasse.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">When the dailie sportes be done,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Round the market crosse they runne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Prentis laddes, and gallant blades,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Dancinge with their gamesome maids,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Till the beadel, stoute and sowre,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Shakes his bell, and calls the houre;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then farewell ladde and farewell lasse,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To' th' merry night of Martilmasse."<a name="FNanchor_i_193:A_328" id="FNanchor_i_193:A_328"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_193:A_328" class="fnanchor">[193:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Shakspeare has an allusion to this formerly convivial day in the <i>Second -Part of King Henry IV.</i>, where Poins, asking Bardolph after Falstaff, -says: "How doth the <i>martlemas</i>, your master?" an epithet by which, as -Johnson observes, he means the latter spring, or the old fellow with -juvenile passions.<a name="FNanchor_i_193:B_329" id="FNanchor_i_193:B_329"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_193:B_329" class="fnanchor">[193:B]</a></p> - -<p>We have now to record the closing and certainly the greatest festival of -the year, the celebration of <span class="smcap">Christmas</span>, a period which our ancestors -were accustomed to devote to hospitality on a very large scale, to the -indulgence indeed of hilarity and good cheer for, at least, twelve days, -and sometimes, especially among the lower ranks, for six weeks.</p> - -<p>Christmas was always ushered in by the due observance of its <i>Eve</i>, -first in a religious and then in a festive point of view. "Our -forefathers," remarks Bourne, "when the common devotions of the <i>Eve</i> -were over, and night was come on, were wont to light up <i>candles</i> of an -uncommon size, which were called <i>Christmas-candles</i>, and to lay a -<!-- Page 194 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_194" id="Page_i_194">[194]</a></span><i>log</i> of wood upon the fire, which they termed a <i>Yule-clog</i>, or -Christmas-block. These were to illuminate the house, and turn the night -into day; which custom, in some measure, is still kept up in the -northern parts."<a name="FNanchor_i_194:A_330" id="FNanchor_i_194:A_330"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_194:A_330" class="fnanchor">[194:A]</a></p> - -<p>This mode of rejoicing, at the winter solstice, appears to have -originated with the Danes and Pagan Saxons, and was intended to be -emblematical of the return of the sun, and its increasing light and -heat; <i>gehol</i> or <i>Geol</i>, Angl. Sax. <i>Jel</i>, <i>Jul</i>, <i>Huil</i>, or <i>Yule</i>, -Dan. Sax. Swed., implying the idea of <i>revolution</i> or of <i>wheel</i>, and -not only designating, among these northern nations, the month of -December, called <i>Jul</i>-Month, but the great feast also of this -period.<a name="FNanchor_i_194:B_331" id="FNanchor_i_194:B_331"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_194:B_331" class="fnanchor">[194:B]</a> On the introduction of Christianity, the illuminations of -the <i>Eve of Yule</i> were continued as representative of the <i>true light</i> -which was then ushered into the world, in the person of our Saviour, the -<i>Day spring from on High</i>.</p> - -<p>The ceremonies and festivities which were observed on Christmas-Eve -during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and which in some parts -of the north have been partially continued, until within these last -thirty years, consisted in bringing into the house, with much parade and -with vocal and instrumental harmony, the <i>Yule</i> or <i>Christmas-block</i>, a -massy piece of fire-wood, frequently the enormous root of a tree, and -which was usually supplied by the carpenter attached to the family. This -being placed in the centre of the great hall, each of the family, in -turn, sate down upon it, sung a <i>Yule-Song</i>, and drank to a <i>merry -Christmas</i> and a <i>happy new year</i>. It was then placed on the large open -hearth in the hall chimney, and, being lighted with the last year's -brand, carefully preserved for this express purpose, the music again -struck up, when the addition of fuel already inflamed, expedited the -process, and occasioned a brilliant conflagration. The family and their -friends were then feasted with <i>Yule-Dough</i> or <i>Yule-cakes</i>, on which -were impressed the figure of the child <!-- Page 195 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_195" id="Page_i_195">[195]</a></span>Jesus; and with bowls of -<i>frumenty</i>, made from wheat cakes or creed wheat, boiled in milk, with -sugar, nutmeg, &c. To these succeeded tankards of spiced ale, while -preparations were usually going on among the domestics for the -hospitalities of the succeeding day.</p> - -<p>In the curious collection of Herrick is preserved a poem descriptive of -some of these observances, and which was probably written for the -express purpose of being sung during the kindling of the Yule-clog.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<span class="smcap">Come</span>, bring with a noise,</div> - <div class="line i1q">My merrie, merrie boyes,</div> - <div class="line">The Christmas Log to the firing;</div> - <div class="line i1q">While my good Dame, she</div> - <div class="line i1q">Bids ye all be free,</div> - <div class="line">And drink to your hearts desiring.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">With the last yeere's brand</div> - <div class="line i1q">Light the new block, and</div> - <div class="line">For good success in his spending,</div> - <div class="line i1q">On your psalteries play,</div> - <div class="line i1q">That sweet luck may</div> - <div class="line">Come while the Log is a teending.<a name="FNanchor_i_195:A_332" id="FNanchor_i_195:A_332"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_195:A_332" class="fnanchor">[195:A]</a></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">Drink now the strong beere,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Cut the white loafe here,<a name="FNanchor_i_195:B_333" id="FNanchor_i_195:B_333"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_195:B_333" class="fnanchor">[195:B]</a></div> - <div class="line">The while the meat is a shredding</div> - <div class="line i1q">For the rare mince-pie,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And the plums stand by</div> - <div class="line">To fill the paste that's a kneading."<a name="FNanchor_i_195:C_334" id="FNanchor_i_195:C_334"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_195:C_334" class="fnanchor">[195:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It was customary on this <i>eve</i>, likewise, to decorate the windows of -every house, from the nobleman's seat to the cottage, with bay, laurel, -ivy, and holly leaves, which were continued during the whole of the -Christmas-holidays, and frequently until Candlemas. Stowe, in his Survey -of London, particularly mentions this observance:<!-- Page 196 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_196" id="Page_i_196">[196]</a></span>—"Against the feast -of <i>Christmas</i>," says he, "every man's house, as also their parish -churches, were decked with holm, ivie, bayes, and whatsoever the season -of the yeere aforded to be greene: The conduits and standards in the -streetes were likewise garnished. Amongst the which, I read, that in the -yeere 1444, by tempest of thunder and lightning, on the first of -February at night, Paul's steeple was fired, but with great labour -quenched, and toward the morning of Candlemas day, at the Leaden Hall in -Cornhill, a standard of tree, beeing set up in the midst of the pavement -fast in the ground, nayled full of holme and ivy, for disport of -Christmas to the people; was torne up, and cast downe by the <i>malignant -spirit</i> (as was thought) and the stones of the pavement all about were -cast in the streetes, and into divers houses, so that the people were -sore agast at the great tempests."<a name="FNanchor_i_196:A_335" id="FNanchor_i_196:A_335"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_196:A_335" class="fnanchor">[196:A]</a></p> - -<p>This custom, which still prevails in many parts of the kingdom, -especially in our parish-churches, is probably founded on a very natural -idea, that whatever is green, at this bleak season of the year, may be -considered as emblematic of joy and victory, more particularly the -laurel, which had been adopted by the Greeks and Romans, for this -express purpose. That this was the opinion of our ancestors, and that -they believed the <i>malignant spirit</i> was envious of, and interested in -destroying these symbols of their triumph, appears from the passage just -quoted from Stowe.</p> - -<p>It has been, indeed, conjectured, that this mode of ornamenting churches -and houses is either allusive to numerous figurative expressions in the -prophetic Scriptures typical of Christ, as the <i>Branch of -Righteousness</i>, or that it was commemorative of the style in which the -first Christian churches in this country were built, the materials for -the erection of which being usually <i>wrythen wands or boughs</i><a name="FNanchor_i_196:B_336" id="FNanchor_i_196:B_336"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_196:B_336" class="fnanchor">[196:B]</a>; it -may have, however, an origin still more remote, and fancy may trace the -misletoe, which is frequently used on these occasions, to the <!-- Page 197 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_197" id="Page_i_197">[197]</a></span>times of -the ancient Druids, an hypothesis which acquires some probability from a -passage in Dr. Chandler's Travels in Greece, where he informs us, "It is -related where Druidism prevailed, the <i>houses</i> were <i>decked</i> with -<i>evergreens</i> in <i>December</i>, that the Sylvan spirits might repair to -them, and remain unnipped with frost and cold winds, until a milder -season had renewed the foliage of their darling abodes."<a name="FNanchor_i_197:A_337" id="FNanchor_i_197:A_337"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_197:A_337" class="fnanchor">[197:A]</a></p> - -<p>The morning of the Nativity was ushered in with the chaunting of -<i>Christmas Carols</i>, or <i>Pious Chansons</i>. <i>The Christmas Carol</i> was -either <i>scriptural</i> or <i>convivial</i>, the first being sung morning and -evening, until the twelfth day, and the second during the period of -feasting or carousing.</p> - -<p>"As soon as the morning of the Nativity appears," says Bourne, "it is -customary among the common people to sing a <i>Christmas Carol</i>, which is -a song upon the birth of our Saviour, and generally sung from the -Nativity to the Twelfth-day; this custom," he adds, "seems to be an -imitation of the <i>Gloria in Excelsis</i>, or <i>Glory be to God on High</i>, &c. -which was sung by the angels, as they hovered o'er the fields of -Bethlehem on the morning of the Nativity; for even that song, as the -learned Bishop Taylor observes, was a Christmas Carol. <i>As soon</i>, says -he, <i>as these blessed Choristers had sung their Xmas Carol, and taught -the Church a hymn, to put into her offices for ever, on the anniversary -of this festivity; the angels</i>," &c.<a name="FNanchor_i_197:B_338" id="FNanchor_i_197:B_338"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_197:B_338" class="fnanchor">[197:B]</a> We can well remember that, -during the early period of our life, which was spent in the north of -England, it was in general use for the young people to sing a <i>carol</i> -early on the morning of this great festival, and the burthen of which -was,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"All the angels in heaven do sing</div> - <div class="line indentq">On a Chrismas day in the morning;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">customs such as this, laudable in themselves and highly impressive on -<!-- Page 198 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_198" id="Page_i_198">[198]</a></span>the youthful mind, are, we are sorry to say, nearly, if not totally, -disappearing from the present generation.</p> - -<p>To the carols, hymns, or pious chansons, which were sung about the -streets at night, during Christmas-tide, Shakspeare has two allusions; -one in <i>Hamlet</i>, where the Prince quotes two lines from a popular ballad -entitled "<i>The Songe of Jepthah's Daughter</i>," and adds, "The first row -of the pious chanson will show you more<a name="FNanchor_i_198:A_339" id="FNanchor_i_198:A_339"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_198:A_339" class="fnanchor">[198:A]</a>;" and the other in the -<i>Midsummer-Night's Dream</i>, where Titania remarks that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"No night is now with <i>hymn</i> or <i>carol</i> blest."<a name="FNanchor_i_198:B_340" id="FNanchor_i_198:B_340"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_198:B_340" class="fnanchor">[198:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Upon the first of these passages Mr. Steevens has observed that the -"<i>pious chansons</i> were a kind of <i>Christmas carols</i>, containing some -scriptural history thrown into loose rhymes, and sung about the streets -by the common people;" and upon the second, that "<i>hymns</i> and <i>carols</i>, -in the time of Shakspeare, during the season of Christmas, were sung -every night about the streets, as a pretext for collecting money from -house to house."</p> - -<p>Carols of this kind, indeed, were, during the sixteenth century, sung at -Christmas, through every town and village in the kingdom; and Tusser, in -his <i>Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie</i>, introduces one for this -season, which he orders to be sung to the tune of <i>King Salomon</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_198:C_341" id="FNanchor_i_198:C_341"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_198:C_341" class="fnanchor">[198:C]</a></p> - -<p>The chief object of the common people in chaunting these <i>nightly</i> -carols, from house to house, was to obtain money or <i>Christmas-Boxes</i>, a -term derived from the usage of the Romish priests, who ordered masses at -this time to be made to the Saints, in order to atone for the excesses -of the people, during the festival of the Nativity, and as these masses -were always purchased of the priest, the poor were allowed to gather -money in this way with the view of liberating <!-- Page 199 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_199" id="Page_i_199">[199]</a></span>themselves from the -consequence of the debaucheries of which they were enabled to partake, -through the hospitality of the rich.</p> - -<p>The <i>convivial</i> or <i>jolie carols</i> were those which were sung either by -the company, or by itinerant minstrels, during the revelry that daily -took place, in the houses of the wealthy, from Christmas-Eve to Twelfth -Day. They were also frequently called <i>Wassel Songs</i>, and may be traced -back to the Anglo-Norman period. Mr. Douce, in his very interesting -"Illustrations of Shakspeare and of Ancient Manners," has given us a -Christmas-carol of the thirteenth or fourteenth century written in the -Norman language, and which may be regarded, says he, "as the most -ancient drinking song, composed in England, that is extant. This -singular curiosity," he adds, "has been written on a spare leaf in the -middle of a valuable miscellaneous manuscript of the fourteenth century, -preserved in the British Museum, Bibl. Regal. 16, E. 8."<a name="FNanchor_i_199:A_342" id="FNanchor_i_199:A_342"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_199:A_342" class="fnanchor">[199:A]</a> To the -original he has annexed a translation, admirable for its fidelity and -harmony, and we are tempted to insert three stanzas as illustrative of -manners and diet which still continued fashionable in the days of -Shakspeare. We shall prefix the first stanza of the original, as a -specimen of the language, with the observation, that from the word -<i>Noel</i>, which occurs in it, Blount has derived the term <i>Ule</i> or <i>Yule</i>; -the French <i>Nouël</i> or Christmas, he observes, the Normans corrupted to -<i>Nuel</i>, and from <i>Nuel</i> we had <i>Nule</i>, or <i>Ule</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_199:B_343" id="FNanchor_i_199:B_343"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_199:B_343" class="fnanchor">[199:B]</a></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Seignors ore entendez a nus,</div> - <div class="line indentq">De loinz sumes renuz a wous,</div> - <div class="line i2q">Pur quere <span class="smcap">Noel</span>;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Car lem nus dit que en cest hostel</div> - <div class="line indentq">Soleit tenir sa feste anuel</div> - <div class="line i2q">A hi cest jur."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2"><!-- Page 200 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_200" id="Page_i_200">[200]</a></span>"Lordings, from a distant home,</div> - <div class="line i2q">To seek old <span class="smcap">Christmas</span> we are come,</div> - <div class="line i4q">Who loves our minstrelsy:</div> - <div class="line i2q">And here, unless report mis-say,</div> - <div class="line i2q">The grey-beard dwells; and on this day</div> - <div class="line i2q">Keeps yearly wassel, ever gay,</div> - <div class="line i4q">With festive mirth and glee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2q">Lordings list, for we tell you true;</div> - <div class="line i2q"><span class="smcap">Christmas</span> loves the jolly crew</div> - <div class="line i4q">That cloudy care defy:</div> - <div class="line i2q">His liberal board is deftly spread</div> - <div class="line i2q">With manchet loaves and wastel-bread;</div> - <div class="line i1q">His guests with fish and flesh are fed,</div> - <div class="line i4q">Nor lack the stately pye.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2q">Lordings, it is our hosts' command,</div> - <div class="line i2q">And Christmas joins him hand in hand,</div> - <div class="line i4q">To drain the brimming bowl:</div> - <div class="line i2q">And I'll be foremost to obey:</div> - <div class="line i2q">Then pledge me sirs, and drink away,</div> - <div class="line i2q">For <span class="smcap">Christmas</span> revels here to day</div> - <div class="line i4q">And sways without controul.</div> - <div class="line">Now <i>Wassel</i> to you all! and merry may ye be!</div> - <div class="line">But foul that wight befall, who <i>Drinks</i> not <i>Health</i> to me!"<a name="FNanchor_i_200:A_344" id="FNanchor_i_200:A_344"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_200:A_344" class="fnanchor">[200:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><i>Manchet loaves</i>, <i>wastel-bread</i>, and the <i>stately pye</i>, that is, a -<i>peacock</i> or <i>pheasant</i> pye, were still common in the days of -Shakspeare. During the prevalence of chivalry, it was usual for the -knights to take their vows of enterprise, at a solemn feast, on the -presentation to each knight, in turn, of a roasted peacock in a golden -dish. For this was afterwards substituted, though only in a culinary -light, and as the most magnificent dish which could be brought to table, -a peacock in a pie, preserving as much as possible the form of the bird, -with the head elevated above the crust, the beak richly gilt, and the -beautiful tail spread out to its full extent. In allusion to these -superb dishes a ludicrous oath was prevalent in Shakspeare's time, which -he has, with much propriety, put into the mouth of Justice Shallow, who, -soliciting the stay of the fat knight, exclaims,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 201 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_201" id="Page_i_201">[201]</a></span><div class="line">"By <i>cock and pye</i>, sir, you shall not away to night."<a name="FNanchor_i_201:A_345" id="FNanchor_i_201:A_345"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_201:A_345" class="fnanchor">[201:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The use of the peacock, however, as one of the articles of a second -course, continued to the close of the seventeenth century; for Gervase -Markham, in the ninth edition of his <i>English House-Wife</i>, London 1683, -enumerating the articles and ordering of a <i>great feast</i>, mentions this, -among other birds, now seldom seen as objects of cookery; "then in the -second course she shall first preferr the lesser wild-fowl, as &c. then -the lesser land-fowl as &c. &c. then the great wild-fowl, as <i>bittern</i>, -<i>hearn</i>, <i>shoveler</i>, <i>crane</i>, bustard, and such like. Then the greater -land-fowl, as <span class="smcap">PEACOCKS</span>, phesant, <i>puets</i>, <i>gulls</i>, &c."<a name="FNanchor_i_201:B_346" id="FNanchor_i_201:B_346"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_201:B_346" class="fnanchor">[201:B]</a></p> - -<p>Numerous collections of <i>Carols</i>, or <i>festal chansons</i>, to be sung at -the various feasts and ceremonies of the Christmas-holidays, were -published during the sixteenth century. One of the earliest of these was -printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1521, and entitled <i>Christmasse carolles</i>. -It contains, among many very curious specimens of this species of -popular poetry, one, which not only contributed to the hilarity of our -ancestors in the reigns of Henry, Elizabeth, and James, but is still in -use, though with many alterations, in Queen's College, Oxford; it is -designated as <i>a Carol bryngyng in the bores head</i>, which was the first -dish served up at the baron's high table in the great hall on -Christmas-day, and was usually accompanied by a procession, with the -sound of trumpets and other instruments.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">"<i>Caput Apri defero,</i></div> - <div class="line i2q"><i>Reddens laudes Domino.</i></div> - <div class="line">The bores head in hande bringe I,</div> - <div class="line">With garlandes gay and rosemary.</div> - <div class="line">I pray you all synge merily,</div> - <div class="line i2q"><i>Qui estis in convivio</i>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 202 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_202" id="Page_i_202">[202]</a></span><div class="line">The bores head, I understande,</div> - <div class="line">Is the chefe servyce in this lande:</div> - <div class="line">Loke wherever it be fande</div> - <div class="line i2q"><i>Servite cum cantico</i>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Be gladde lordes, both more and lasse,</div> - <div class="line">For this hath ordayned our stewarde</div> - <div class="line">To chere you all this christmasse,</div> - <div class="line">The bores head with mustarde."<a name="FNanchor_i_202:A_347" id="FNanchor_i_202:A_347"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_202:A_347" class="fnanchor">[202:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>For the hospitality, indeed, the merriment and good cheer, which -prevailed during the season of Christmas, this country was peculiarly -distinguished in the sixteenth century. Setting aside the splendid -manner in which this festival was kept at court, and in the capital, we -may appeal to the country, in confirmation of the assertion; the hall of -the nobleman and country-gentleman, and even the humbler mansions of the -yeoman and husbandman, vied with the city in the exhibition of plenty, -revelry, and sport. Of the mode in which the farmer and his servants -enjoyed themselves, on this occasion, a good idea may be formed from the -poem of Tusser, the first edition of which thus admonishes the -housewife:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Get ivye and hull, woman deck up thyne house:</div> - <div class="line indentq">and take this same brawne, for to seeth and to souse.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Provide us good chere, for thou know'st the old guise:</div> - <div class="line indentq">olde customes, that good be, let no man despise.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">At Christmas be mery, and thanke god of all</div> - <div class="line indentq">and feast thy pore neighbours, the great with the small."<a name="FNanchor_i_202:B_348" id="FNanchor_i_202:B_348"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_202:B_348" class="fnanchor">[202:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">And in subsequent impressions, the articles of the <i>Christmas husbandlie -fare</i> are more particularly enumerated; for instance, good drinke, a -blazing fire in the hall, brawne, pudding and souse, and mustard <i>with -all</i>, beef, mutton, and pork, shred or minced pies <i>of the best</i>, pig, -veal, goose, capon, and turkey, cheese, apples, and nuts, with <i>jolie -carols</i>; a pretty ample provision for the rites of hospitality, and a -powerful security against the inclemencies of the season!</p> - -<p><!-- Page 203 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_203" id="Page_i_203">[203]</a></span>The Hall of the baron, knight, or squire, was the seat of the same -festivities, the same gambols, wassailing, mummery, and mirth, which -usually took place in the palaces and mansions of the metropolis, and of -these Jonson has given us a very curious epitome in his <i>Masque of -Christmas</i>, where he has personified the season and its attributes in -the following manner:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="center">"<i>Enter <span class="smcap">Christmas</span> with two or three of the Guard.</i></p> - -<p>"He is attir'd in round hose, long stockings, a close doublet, -a high crownd hat with a broach, a long thin beard, a -truncheon, little ruffes, white shoes, his scarffes, and -garters tyed crosse, and his drum beaten before him.—</p> - -<p class="center">"The names of his <span class="smcap">Children</span>, with their attyres.</p> - -<p>"<i>Mis-rule.</i> In a velvet cap with a sprig, a short cloake, -great yellow ruffe like a reveller, his torch-bearer bearing a -rope, a cheese and a basket.</p> - -<p>"<i>Caroll.</i> A long tawny coat, with a red cap, and a flute at -his girdle, his torch-bearer carrying a song booke open.</p> - -<p>"<i>Minc'd Pie.</i> Like a fine cooke's wife, drest neat; her man -carrying a pie, dish, and spoones.</p> - -<p>"<i>Gamboll.</i> Like a tumbler, with a hoope and bells; his -torch-bearer arm'd with a cole-staffe, and a blinding cloth.</p> - -<p>"<i>Post And Paire.</i> With a paire-royall of aces in his hat; his -garment all done over with payres, and purrs; his squier -carrying a box, cards and counters.</p> - -<p>"<i>New-Yeares-Gift.</i> In a blew coat, serving-man like, with an -orange, and a sprig of rosemarie guilt on his head, his hat -full of broaches, with a coller of gingerbread, his -torch-bearer carrying a march-paine, with a bottle of wine on -either arme.</p> - -<p>"<i>Mumming.</i> In a masquing pied suite, with a visor, his -torch-bearer carrying the boxe, and ringing it.</p> - -<p>"<i>Wassall.</i> Like a neat sempster, and songster; her page -bearing a browne bowle, drest with ribbands, and rosemarie -before her.</p> - -<p>"<i>Offering.</i> In a short gowne, with a porter's staffe in his -hand; a wyth borne before him, and a bason by his -torch-bearer.</p> - -<p>"<i>Babie-Coche.</i> Drest like a boy, in a fine long coat, biggin, -bib, muckender, and a little dagger; his usher bearing a great -cake with a beane, and a pease."<a name="FNanchor_i_203:A_349" id="FNanchor_i_203:A_349"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_203:A_349" class="fnanchor">[203:A]</a></p> -</div> - -<p>Of these personified attributes we have already noticed, at some length, -the most material, such as <i>Misrule</i>, <i>Caroll</i>, <i>New-Year's-Gift</i> and -<i>Wassall</i>; to the account, however, which has been given of the Summer -Lord of Misrule, from Stubbes's Anatomie of Abuses, it <!-- Page 204 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_204" id="Page_i_204">[204]</a></span>will be here -necessary to add, that the sway of this mock prince, both in town and -country, was still more absolute during the Christmas-holidays; "what -time," says Holinshed, "of old ordinarie course there is alwaies one -appointed to make sport in the court, called commonlie Lord of Misrule: -whose office is not unknowne to such as have beene brought up in -noblemen's houses, and among great house-keepers, which use liberal -feasting in that season."<a name="FNanchor_i_204:A_350" id="FNanchor_i_204:A_350"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_204:A_350" class="fnanchor">[204:A]</a> Stowe, likewise, has recorded, in his -Survey, the universal domination of this holiday monarch. "In the feast -of Christmas," he remarks, "there was in the king's house, wheresoever -he was lodged, a <i>Lord of Misrule</i>, or <i>Master of merry desports</i>, and -the like had yee in the house of every nobleman of honour, or good -worship, were he spirituall or temporall. Amongst the which, the Maior -of London, and either of the Sheriffes had their severall Lords of -Misrule, ever contending without quarrell or offence, who should make -the rarest pastimes to delight the beholders. These Lords beginning -their rule on Alhallow Eve, continued the same til the morrow after the -feast of the Purification, commonly called Candlemas-day: In all which -space, there were fine and subtill disguisings, maskes and mummeries, -with playing at cardes for counters, nayles and points <i>in every house</i>, -more for pastime than for gaine."<a name="FNanchor_i_204:B_351" id="FNanchor_i_204:B_351"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_204:B_351" class="fnanchor">[204:B]</a></p> - -<p>In short, the directions which are to be found for a grand Christmas in -the capital, were copied with equal splendour and profusion in the -houses of the opulent gentlemen in the country, who made it a point to -be even lavish at this season of the year. We may, therefore, consider -the following description as applying accurately to the Christmas -hospitality of the Baron's hall.</p> - -<p>"On Christmas-day, service in the church ended, the gentlemen presently -repair into the hall to breakfast, with brawn, mustard, and malmsey.</p> - -<p>"At dinner the butler, appointed for the Christmas, is to see the tables -covered and furnished: and the ordinary butlers of the house <!-- Page 205 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_205" id="Page_i_205">[205]</a></span>are -decently to set bread, napkins, and trenchers, in good form, at every -table; with spoones and knives. At the first course is served in a fair -and large bore's head, upon a silver platter, with minstralsye.</p> - -<p>"Two 'servants' are to attend at supper, and to bear two fair torches of -wax, next before the musicians and trumpeters, and stand above the fire -with the music, till the first course be served in through the hall. -Which performed, they, with the musick, are to return into the buttery. -The like course is to be observed in all things, during the time of -Christmas.</p> - -<p>"At night, before supper, are revels and dancing, and so also after -supper, during the twelve daies of Christmas. The Master of the Revels -is, after dinner and supper, to sing a caroll, or song; and command -other gentlemen then there present to sing with him and the company; and -so it is very decently performed."<a name="FNanchor_i_205:A_352" id="FNanchor_i_205:A_352"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_205:A_352" class="fnanchor">[205:A]</a></p> - -<p>Beside the revelry and dancing here mentioned, we may add, that it was -customary, at this season, after the Christmas sports and games had been -indulged in, until the performers were weary, to gather round the ruddy -fire, and tell tales of legendary lore, or popular superstition. -Herrick, recording the diversions of this period, mentions one of them -as consisting of "winter's tales about the hearth<a name="FNanchor_i_205:B_353" id="FNanchor_i_205:B_353"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_205:B_353" class="fnanchor">[205:B]</a>;" and Grose, -speaking of the source whence he had derived many of the superstitions -narrated in the concluding section of his "Provincial Glossary," says, -that he gives them, as they had, from age to age, been "related to a -closing circle of attentive hearers, assembled in a winter's evening, -round the capacious chimney of an old hall or manor-house;" and he adds, -that tales of this description formed, among our ancestors, "a principal -part of rural conversation, in all large assemblies, <i>and particularly -those in Christmas holidays, during the burning of the -Yule-block</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_205:C_354" id="FNanchor_i_205:C_354"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_205:C_354" class="fnanchor">[205:C]</a></p> - -<p>Of the conviviality which universally reigned during these holidays, a -good estimate may be taken by a few lines from the author of -<!-- Page 206 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_206" id="Page_i_206">[206]</a></span>Hesperides, who, addressing a friend at Christmas-tide, makes the -following request:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">———— "When your faces shine</div> - <div class="line">With bucksome meat and cap'ring wine,</div> - <div class="line">Remember us in cups full crown'd,—</div> - <div class="line">Untill the fired chesnuts leape</div> - <div class="line">For joy, to see the fruits ye reape</div> - <div class="line">From the plumpe challice, and the cup,</div> - <div class="line">That tempts till it be tossed up:—</div> - <div class="line">—— —— —— —— carouse</div> - <div class="line">Till Liber Pater<a name="FNanchor_i_206:A_355" id="FNanchor_i_206:A_355"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_206:A_355" class="fnanchor">[206:A]</a> twirles the house</div> - <div class="line">About your eares;——</div> - <div class="line">"Then" to the bagpipe all addresse,</div> - <div class="line">Till sleep takes place of wearinesse:</div> - <div class="line">And thus throughout, with Christmas playes,</div> - <div class="line">Frolick the full twelve holy-dayes."<a name="FNanchor_i_206:B_356" id="FNanchor_i_206:B_356"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_206:B_356" class="fnanchor">[206:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 207 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_207" id="Page_i_207">[207]</a></span>We shall close this detail of the ceremonies and festivities of -Christmas with a passage from the descriptive muse of Mr. Walter Scott, -in which he has collected, with his usual accuracy, and with his almost -unequalled power of costume-painting, nearly all the striking -circumstances which distinguished the celebration of this high festival, -from an early period, to the close of the sixteenth century. They form a -picture which must delight, both from the nature of its subject, and -from the truth and mellowness of its colouring.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">—— "Well our Christian sires of old</div> - <div class="line">Loved when the year its course had rolled,</div> - <div class="line">And brought blithe Christmas back again,</div> - <div class="line">With all his hospitable train.</div> - <div class="line">Domestic and religious rite</div> - <div class="line">Gave honour to the holy night:</div> - <div class="line">On Christmas eve the bells were rung;—</div> - <div class="line">The damsel donned her kirtle sheen;</div> - <div class="line">The hall was dressed with holly green;</div> - <div class="line">Forth to the wood did merry-men go,</div> - <div class="line">To gather in the misletoe.</div> - <div class="line">Then opened wide the baron's hall</div> - <div class="line">To vassal, tenant, serf and all;</div> - <div class="line">Power laid his rod of rule aside,</div> - <div class="line">And Ceremony doffed his pride.</div> - <div class="line">The heir with roses in his shoes,</div> - <div class="line">That night might village partner chuse;</div> - <div class="line">The lord, underogating, share</div> - <div class="line">The vulgar game of "post and pair."</div> - <div class="line">All hailed, with uncontrolled delight,</div> - <div class="line">And general voice, the happy night,</div> - <div class="line">That to the cottage, as the crown,</div> - <div class="line">Brought tidings of salvation down.</div> - <div class="line i1">The fire with well dried logs supplied,</div> - <div class="line">Went roaring up the chimney wide;</div> - <div class="line">The huge hall-table's oaken face,</div> - <div class="line">Scrubbed till it shone, the day to grace,</div> - <div class="line">Bore then upon its massive board</div> - <div class="line">No mark to part the squire and lord.</div> - <!-- Page 208 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_208" id="Page_i_208">[208]</a></span><div class="line">Then was brought in the lusty brawn,</div> - <div class="line">By old blue-coated serving-man;</div> - <div class="line">Then the grim boar's-head frowned on high,</div> - <div class="line">Crested with bays and rosemary.</div> - <div class="line">Well can the green-garbed ranger tell,</div> - <div class="line">How, when, and where, the monster fell;</div> - <div class="line">What dogs before his death he tore,</div> - <div class="line">And all the baiting of the boar.</div> - <div class="line">The wassol round, in good brown bowls,</div> - <div class="line">Garnished with ribbons, blithely trowls.</div> - <div class="line">There the huge sirloin recked: hard by</div> - <div class="line">Plumb-porridge stood, and Christmas pye;</div> - <div class="line">Nor failed old Scotland to produce,</div> - <div class="line">At such high tide, her savoury goose.</div> - <div class="line">Then came the merry masquers in,</div> - <div class="line">And carols roared with blithesome din;</div> - <div class="line">If unmelodious was the song,</div> - <div class="line">It was a hearty note, and strong.</div> - <div class="line">Who lists may in their mumming see</div> - <div class="line">Traces of ancient mystery;</div> - <div class="line">White shirts supplied the masquerade,</div> - <div class="line">And smutted cheeks the visors made;</div> - <div class="line">But, O! what masquers, richly dight,</div> - <div class="line">Can boast of bosoms half so light!</div> - <div class="line">England was merry England, when</div> - <div class="line">Old Christmas brought his sports again.</div> - <div class="line">'Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale;</div> - <div class="line">'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale;</div> - <div class="line">A Christmas gambol oft could cheer</div> - <div class="line">The poor man's heart through half the year."<a name="FNanchor_i_208:A_357" id="FNanchor_i_208:A_357"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_208:A_357" class="fnanchor">[208:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_124:A_172" id="Footnote_i_124:A_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_124:A_172"><span class="label">[124:A]</span></a> Selden, under the article Pope. The <i>Table Talk</i>, -though not printed until A. D. 1689, is a work illustrative of the era -under our consideration.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_126:A_173" id="Footnote_i_126:A_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_126:A_173"><span class="label">[126:A]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses and Public Processions of Queen -Elizabeth, vol. i. preface, p. 25-28.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_127:A_174" id="Footnote_i_127:A_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_127:A_174"><span class="label">[127:A]</span></a> Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 163.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_128:A_175" id="Footnote_i_128:A_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_128:A_175"><span class="label">[128:A]</span></a> Galfred. Monumeth. l. 3. c. 1. <i>Robert</i> of <i>Gloucester</i> -gives us a similar account of the origin of this ceremony, and makes the -same observation as to its general prevalency. The rude lines of the -ancient poet have been thus beautifully paraphrased in the Antiquarian -Repertory:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'Health, my Lord King,' the sweet Rowena said—</div> - <div class="line">'Health,' cried the Chieftain to the Saxon maid;</div> - <div class="line">Then gaily rose, and, 'mid the concourse wide,</div> - <div class="line">Kiss'd her hale lips, and plac'd her by his side.</div> - <div class="line">At the soft scene such gentle thoughts abound,</div> - <div class="line">That healths and kisses 'mongst the guests went round:</div> - <div class="line">From this the social custom took its rise,</div> - <div class="line">We still retain, and still must keep the prize.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_129:A_176" id="Footnote_i_129:A_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_129:A_176"><span class="label">[129:A]</span></a> "The ingenious remarker on this representation -observes, that it is the figure of the old Wassel-Bowl, so much the -delight of our hardy ancestors, who on the vigil of the New-Year never -failed to assemble round the glowing hearth, with their chearful -neighbours, and then in the spicy Wassel-Bowl (which testified the -goodness of their hearts) drowned every former animosity, an example -worthy modern imitation. <i>Wassel</i> was the word, <i>Wassel</i> every guest -returned as he took the circling goblet from his friend, whilst song and -civil mirth brought in the infant year." Brand's Observations, by Ellis, -vol. i. p. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_129:B_177" id="Footnote_i_129:B_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_129:B_177"><span class="label">[129:B]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare and of Ancient -Manners, vol. ii. p. 209, 210.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_129:C_178" id="Footnote_i_129:C_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_129:C_178"><span class="label">[129:C]</span></a> Act i. sc. 4. Reed's edit. vol. xviii. p. 64.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_129:D_179" id="Footnote_i_129:D_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_129:D_179"><span class="label">[129:D]</span></a> Act i. sc. 7. Reed, vol. x. p. 88.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_129:E_180" id="Footnote_i_129:E_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_129:E_180"><span class="label">[129:E]</span></a> Act i. sc. 4. Reed, vol. xvii. p. 49.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_130:A_181" id="Footnote_i_130:A_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_130:A_181"><span class="label">[130:A]</span></a> Act v. sc. 2. Reed, vol. vii. p. 165.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_130:B_182" id="Footnote_i_130:B_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_130:B_182"><span class="label">[130:B]</span></a> Epigrammes i. booke folio 1640, p. 50.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_130:C_183" id="Footnote_i_130:C_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_130:C_183"><span class="label">[130:C]</span></a> Jonson's Works, fol. vol. ii. 1640.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_130:D_184" id="Footnote_i_130:D_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_130:D_184"><span class="label">[130:D]</span></a> Act v. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_131:A_185" id="Footnote_i_131:A_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_131:A_185"><span class="label">[131:A]</span></a> Warton's Milton, 2d edit. p. 160. The <i>Peg Tankard</i>, a -species of Wassail-Bowl introduced by the Saxons, was still in use in -the days of Shakspeare. I am in possession of one, which was given to a -member of my family about one hundred and fifty years ago; it is of -chased silver, containing nearly two quarts, and is divided by four -pegs.</p> - -<p>This form of the <i>wassail</i> or <i>wish-health bowl</i> was introduced by -<i>Dunstan</i>, with the view of checking the intemperance of his countrymen, -which for a time it effected; but subsequently the remedy was converted -into an additional stimulus to excess; "for, refining upon Dunstan's -plan, each was obliged to drink precisely to a pin, whether he could -sustain a quantity of liquor equal to others or not: and to that end it -became a rule, that whether they exceeded, or fell short of the -prescribed bumper, they were alike compelled to drink <i>again</i>, until -they reached the next mark. In the year 1102, the <i>priests</i>, who had not -been backward in joining and encouraging these drunken assemblies, were -ordered to avoid such abominations, and wholly to <i>discontinue</i> the -practice of "<span class="smcap">Drinking to Pegs</span>." Some of these <span class="smcap">Peg</span> or <span class="smcap">Pin Cups</span>, or -<i>Bowls</i>, and <span class="smcap">Pin</span> or <span class="smcap">Peg Tankards</span>, are yet to be found in the cabinets of -antiquaries; and we are to trace from their use some common terms yet -current among us. When a person is much elated, we say he is "<span class="smcap">In a Merry -Pin</span>," which no doubt originally meant, he had reached that <i>mark</i> which -had deprived him of his usual sedateness and sobriety: we talk of taking -a man "<span class="smcap">A Peg lower</span>," when we imply we shall check him in any -forwardness; a saying which originated from a regulation that deprived -all those of their turn of drinking, <i>or of their Peg</i>, who had become -troublesome in their liquor: from the like rule of society came also the -expression of "<span class="smcap">He is a Peg too low</span>," <i>i. e.</i> has been restrained too -far, when we say that a person is not in equal spirits with his company; -while we also remark of an individual, that he is getting on "<span class="smcap">Peg by -Peg</span>," or, in other words, he is taking greater freedoms than he ought to -do, which formerly meant, he was either drinking out of his turn, or, -contrary to express regulation, did not confine himself to his proper -portion, or <i>peg</i>, but drank into the <i>next</i>, thereby taking a double -quantity." Brady's Clavis Calendaria, vol. ii. p. 322, 323. 1st edit.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_133:A_186" id="Footnote_i_133:A_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_133:A_186"><span class="label">[133:A]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses of Elizabeth, vol. i. -Entertainments at the Temple, &c. p. 22. 24.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_134:A_187" id="Footnote_i_134:A_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_134:A_187"><span class="label">[134:A]</span></a> The only rite that still lingers among us on the -Twelfth Day, is the election of a King and Queen, a ceremony which is -now usually performed by drawing tickets, and of which Mr. Brand, in his -commentary on Bourne's Antiquities of the Common People, has extracted -the subsequent detail from the Universal Magazine of 1774:—"I went to a -Friend's house in the country to partake of some of those innocent -pleasures that constitute a merry Christmas; I did not return till I had -been present at <i>drawing King and Queen</i>, and <i>eaten</i> a <i>Slice</i> of the -<i>Twelfth Cake</i>, made by the fair hands of my good friend's Consort. -After Tea Yesterday, a <i>noble Cake</i> was produced, and two <i>Bowls</i>, -containing the <i>fortunate chances</i> for the different sexes. Our Host -<i>filled up</i> the <i>tickets</i>; the whole company, except the <i>King</i> and -<i>Queen</i>, were to be <i>Ministers of State</i>, <i>Maids of Honour</i>, or <i>Ladies -of the Bed-chamber</i>.</p> - -<p>"Our kind <i>Host</i> and <i>Hostess</i>, whether by <i>design</i>, or <i>accident</i> -became <i>King</i> and <i>Queen</i>. According to <i>Twelfth-Day Law</i>, each <i>party</i> -is to <i>support</i> their <i>character</i> till Mid-night. After supper one -called for a <i>Kings Speech</i>, &c." Observations on Popular Antiquities, -edit. of 1810, p. 228.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_135:A_188" id="Footnote_i_135:A_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_135:A_188"><span class="label">[135:A]</span></a> Dr. Johnson's definition of the word <i>Rock</i> in the -sense of the text, is as follows:</p> - -<p>"(<i>rock</i>, Danish; <i>rocca</i>, Italian; <i>rucca</i>, Spanish; <i>spinrock</i>, Dutch) -A distaff held in the hand, from which the wool was spun by twirling a -ball below." I shall add one of his illustrations:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"A learned and a manly soul</div> - <div class="line indentq">I purpos'd her; that should with even powers,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The <i>rock</i>, the spindle, and the sheers, controul</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of destiny, and spin her own free hours.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Ben Jonson.</i>"</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_135:B_189" id="Footnote_i_135:B_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_135:B_189"><span class="label">[135:B]</span></a> Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 564. Albion's England, -chap. 24.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_136:A_190" id="Footnote_i_136:A_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_136:A_190"><span class="label">[136:A]</span></a> Hesperides, p. 374.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_137:A_191" id="Footnote_i_137:A_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_137:A_191"><span class="label">[137:A]</span></a> Tusser Redivivus, p. 79, 80.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_137:B_192" id="Footnote_i_137:B_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_137:B_192"><span class="label">[137:B]</span></a> Olai Magni Gent. Septent. Breviar. p. 341.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_137:C_193" id="Footnote_i_137:C_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_137:C_193"><span class="label">[137:C]</span></a> See Brand on Bourne's Antiquitates Vulgares, p. 194; -and Strutt's Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, p. 307. edit. -of 1810. Of this curious exhibition on <i>Plough-Monday</i>, I have often, -during my boyhood, at York, been a delighted spectator, and, as far as I -can now recollect, the above description appears to be an accurate -detail of what took place.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_138:A_194" id="Footnote_i_138:A_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_138:A_194"><span class="label">[138:A]</span></a> Act iii. sc. 9. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 171.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_138:B_195" id="Footnote_i_138:B_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_138:B_195"><span class="label">[138:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 172.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_138:C_196" id="Footnote_i_138:C_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_138:C_196"><span class="label">[138:C]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 244.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_138:D_197" id="Footnote_i_138:D_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_138:D_197"><span class="label">[138:D]</span></a> Fuller's Church History, p. 222.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_140:A_198" id="Footnote_i_140:A_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_140:A_198"><span class="label">[140:A]</span></a> Hesperides, p. 337.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_140:B_199" id="Footnote_i_140:B_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_140:B_199"><span class="label">[140:B]</span></a> <i>Teend</i>, to kindle.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_140:C_200" id="Footnote_i_140:C_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_140:C_200"><span class="label">[140:C]</span></a> Hesperides, p. 337, 338.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_141:A_201" id="Footnote_i_141:A_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_141:A_201"><span class="label">[141:A]</span></a> Hesperides, p. 361. Dramatic amusements were frequent -on this day, as well in the halls of the nobility in the country, as at -court. With regard to their exhibition in the latter, many documents -exist; for instance, in a chronological series of Queen Elizabeth's -payments for plays acted before her (from the Council Registers) is the -following entry:</p> - -<p>"18th March, 1573-4. To Richard Mouncaster, (Mulcaster, the Grammarian,) -for two plays presented before her on Candlemas-day and Shrove-tuesday -last, 20 marks."<a name="FNanchor_i_141:B_202" id="FNanchor_i_141:B_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_141:B_202" class="fnanchor">[141:B]</a></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_141:B_202" id="Footnote_i_141:B_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_141:B_202"><span class="label">[141:B]</span></a> Gentleman's Magazine, vide life of Richard Mulcaster, -May, June, and July, 1800.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_142:A_203" id="Footnote_i_142:A_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_142:A_203"><span class="label">[142:A]</span></a> Hilman's Tusser, p. 80. Mr. Hilman seems to have had as -great an aversion to tobacco as King James; for, in another part of his -notes, he observes, that "<i>Suffolk</i> and <i>Essex</i> were the counties -wherein our author was a farmer, and no where are better dairies for -butter, and neater housewives than there, <i>if too many of them at -present do not smoke tobacco</i>." p. 19.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_143:A_204" id="Footnote_i_143:A_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_143:A_204"><span class="label">[143:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 272, 273. Act ii. sc. -2. Warner has also noticed this culinary article as appropriated to -Shrove-Tuesday in his Albion's England, chapter xxiv., where, -enumerating the feasts and holidays of his time, he says, they had</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"At fasts-eve pan-puffes."—</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Chalmers's Poets</i>, vol. iv. p. 564.</p> - -<p><i>Shrove</i> or <i>Pancake Tuesday</i>, is still called, in the North, <i>Fastens</i>, -or <i>Fasterns E'en</i>, as preceding <i>Ash-Wednesday</i>, the first day of Lent; -and the turning of these cakes in the pan is yet observed as a feat of -dexterity and skill.</p> - -<p>Of the <i>pancake-bell</i> which used to be rung on Shrove-Tuesday, Taylor, -the Water Poet, has given us the following most singular -account:—"Shrove-Tuesday, at whose entrance in the morning all the -whole kingdom is unquiet, but by that time the clocke strikes eleven, -which (by the help of a knavish sexton) is commonly before nine, then -there is a bell rung, cal'd pancake-bell, the sound whereof makes -thousands of people distracted, and forgetful either of manners or -humanitie." See his Works, folio, 1630. p. 115.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_143:B_205" id="Footnote_i_143:B_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_143:B_205"><span class="label">[143:B]</span></a> —<i>my wife's as all</i>;] -<i>i. e.</i> as all women are. Farmer.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_143:C_206" id="Footnote_i_143:C_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_143:C_206"><span class="label">[143:C]</span></a> Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. i. p. 225. -note (p).</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_144:A_207" id="Footnote_i_144:A_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_144:A_207"><span class="label">[144:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 235.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_144:B_208" id="Footnote_i_144:B_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_144:B_208"><span class="label">[144:B]</span></a> See his Masque on the Shrove-tuesday at night 1608, and -Chloridia, a Masque, at Shrove-tide, 1630.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_144:C_209" id="Footnote_i_144:C_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_144:C_209"><span class="label">[144:C]</span></a> The author of <i>Apollo Shroving</i> was <i>William Hawkins</i>, -who likewise published "Corolla varia contexta per Guil. Haukinum -scholarcham Hadleianum in agro Suffolcienci. Cantabr. ap. Tho. Buck." -12mo. 1634.</p> - -<p>It may be observed, that <i>Shrove-Tuesday</i> was considered by the -<i>apprentices</i> as their peculiar <i>holiday</i>, and it appears that in the -days of Shakspeare, they claimed a right of punishing, at this season, -women of ill-fame. To these customs Dekker and Sir Thomas Overbury -allude, when the former says: "They presently (like Prentises upon -Shrove-Tuesday) take the lawe into their owne handes and do what they -list." Seven Deadly Sinnes of London, 4to. p. 35. 1606. And when the -latter, in his Characters, speaking of a bawd, remarks: "Nothing daunts -her so much as the approach of Shrove-Tuesday;" and describing a -"roaring boy," adds, "he is a supervisor of brothels, and in them is a -more unlawful reformer of vice than prentices on Shrove-Tuesday."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_144:D_210" id="Footnote_i_144:D_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_144:D_210"><span class="label">[144:D]</span></a> History of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 387.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_145:A_211" id="Footnote_i_145:A_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_145:A_211"><span class="label">[145:A]</span></a> Stow's Survey of London, edit. of 1618, p. 142.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_145:B_212" id="Footnote_i_145:B_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_145:B_212"><span class="label">[145:B]</span></a> Vide Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 250.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_145:C_213" id="Footnote_i_145:C_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_145:C_213"><span class="label">[145:C]</span></a> Vide Hogarth Moralized, p. 134.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_145:D_214" id="Footnote_i_145:D_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_145:D_214"><span class="label">[145:D]</span></a> "In some places," says Mr. Strutt, "it was a common -practice to put the cock into an earthern vessel made for the purpose, -and to place him in such a position that his head and tail might be -exposed to view; the vessel, with the bird in it, was then suspended -across the street, about twelve or fourteen feet from the ground, to be -thrown at by such as chose to make trial of their skill; two-pence was -paid for four throws, and he who broke the pot, and delivered the cock -from his confinement, had him for a reward. At North-Walsham, in -Norfolk, about forty years ago, some wags put an owl into one of these -vessels; and having procured the head and tail of a dead cock, they -placed them in the same position as if they had appertained to a living -one; the deception was successful; and at last, a labouring man -belonging to the town, after several fruitless attempts, broke the pot, -but missed his prize; for the owl being set at liberty, instantly flew -away, to his great astonishment, and left him nothing more than the head -and tail of the dead bird, with the potsherds, for his money and his -trouble; this ridiculous adventure exposed him to the continual laughter -of the town's people, and obliged him to quit the place, to which I am -told he returned no more." Sports and Pastimes, p. 251.</p> - -<p>"For many years," observes Mr. Brady, "our public diaries, and monthly -publications, took infinite pains to impress upon the minds of the -populace a just abhorrence of such barbarities (cock-fighting and -cock-throwing); and, by way of strengthening their arguments, they -failed not to detail in the most pathetic terms the following fact, -which for the interest it contains is here transcribed, from the -Obituary of the Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1789. 'Died, April 4th, -at Tottenham, <span class="smcap">John Ardesoif</span>, esquire, a young man of large fortune, and -in the splendour of his horses and carriages, rivalled by few -country-gentlemen. His table was that of hospitality, where it may be -said he sacrificed too much to conviviality. <i>Mr. Ardesoif</i> was very -fond of cock-fighting, and had a favourite cock upon which he had won -many profitable matches. The last bet he laid upon this cock he lost, -which so enraged him, that he had the bird tied to a spit, and roasted -alive before a large fire. The screams of the miserable animal were so -affecting, that some gentlemen who were present attempted to interfere, -which so enraged <i>Mr. Ardesoif</i>, that he seized a poker, and with the -most furious vehemence declared, that he would kill the first man who -interfered: but in the midst of his passionate asseverations, <i>he fell -down dead upon the spot</i>.' Clavis Calendaria, 1st edit. vol. i. p. 200, -201."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_146:A_215" id="Footnote_i_146:A_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_146:A_215"><span class="label">[146:A]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 268.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_147:A_216" id="Footnote_i_147:A_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_147:A_216"><span class="label">[147:A]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 277. "Why they -should play at <i>Hand Ball</i> at this time," observes Mr. Bourne, "rather -than any other game, I have not been able to find out, but I suppose it -will readily be granted, that this custom of so playing, was the -original of our present recreations and diversions on Easter Holy Days," -p. 277.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_147:B_217" id="Footnote_i_147:B_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_147:B_217"><span class="label">[147:B]</span></a> Brand on Bourne, p. 280. note. The <i>morris dance</i>, of -which such frequent mention is made in our old poets, was frequently -performed at Easter; but, as we shall have occasion to notice this -amusement, at some length, under the article "May-Day," we shall here -barely notice that Warner has recorded it as an Easter diversion in the -following line:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"At <i>Paske begun</i> our <i>morrise</i>: and ere Penticost our May."</p> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Albion's England</i>, Chap. xxiv.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_147:C_218" id="Footnote_i_147:C_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_147:C_218"><span class="label">[147:C]</span></a> <i>Rack</i> or <i>Manger</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_147:D_219" id="Footnote_i_147:D_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_147:D_219"><span class="label">[147:D]</span></a> Selden's Table-Talk, art. Christmas.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_148:A_220" id="Footnote_i_148:A_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_148:A_220"><span class="label">[148:A]</span></a> Fuller's Worthies, p. 188.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_148:B_221" id="Footnote_i_148:B_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_148:B_221"><span class="label">[148:B]</span></a> Bourne apud Brand, p. 316.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_148:C_222" id="Footnote_i_148:C_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_148:C_222"><span class="label">[148:C]</span></a> The following whimsical custom, relates Mr. Brand, "is -still retained at the city of Durham on these holidays. On one day the -men take off the women's shoes, which are only to be redeem'd by a -present; on another day the women take off the men's in like manner." -Bourne apud Brand, p. 282.</p> - -<p>Stow also records, that in the week before Easter there were "great -shewes made, for the fetching in of a twisted tree, or With, as they -tearmed it, out of the Woods into the King's house, and the like into -every man's house of Honor or Worship," p. 150.; but whether this was -general throughout the kingdom, is not mentioned.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_149:A_223" id="Footnote_i_149:A_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_149:A_223"><span class="label">[149:A]</span></a> Vide Ross, as published by Hearne, p. 105.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_149:B_224" id="Footnote_i_149:B_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_149:B_224"><span class="label">[149:B]</span></a> Spelman's Glossary, under the title Hock-day.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_151:A_225" id="Footnote_i_151:A_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_151:A_225"><span class="label">[151:A]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i. -Laneham's Letter, p. 32-34.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_151:B_226" id="Footnote_i_151:B_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_151:B_226"><span class="label">[151:B]</span></a> That Hock-tide was <i>generally</i> observed in the days of -Shakspeare, is evident from the following passage in Withers's "Abuses -Stript and Whipt." 8vo. London. 1618.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Who think (forsooth) because that once a yeare</div> - <div class="line indentq">They can affoord the poore some slender cheere,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Observe their country feasts, or common doles,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And entertaine their Christmass Wassaile Boles,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or els because that, <i>for the Churche's good,</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>They in defence of <span class="smcap">Hocktide</span> custome stood</i>:</div> - <div class="line indentq">A Whitsun-ale, or some such goodly motion,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The better to procure young men's devotion:</div> - <div class="line indentq">What will they do, I say, that think to please</div> - <div class="line indentq">Their mighty God with such fond things as these?</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sure, very ill."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">P. 232.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_152:A_227" id="Footnote_i_152:A_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_152:A_227"><span class="label">[152:A]</span></a> Vide Pennant's Scotland, p. 91.; and Jamieson's -Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_152:B_228" id="Footnote_i_152:B_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_152:B_228"><span class="label">[152:B]</span></a> Olaus Magnus de Gentibus Septentrionalibus, lib. xv. c. -8.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_153:A_229" id="Footnote_i_153:A_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_153:A_229"><span class="label">[153:A]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. i. p. 378.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_153:B_230" id="Footnote_i_153:B_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_153:B_230"><span class="label">[153:B]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquitates Vulgares apud Brand, p. 283.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_154:A_231" id="Footnote_i_154:A_231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_154:A_231"><span class="label">[154:A]</span></a> Vide Borlase's Natural History of Cornwall, &c.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_154:B_232" id="Footnote_i_154:B_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_154:B_232"><span class="label">[154:B]</span></a> Stubbes's Anatomie of Abuses, p. 109. edit. 1595, 4to.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_155:A_233" id="Footnote_i_155:A_233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_155:A_233"><span class="label">[155:A]</span></a> Book ii. Song 4. Chalmers's Poets, vol. vi. p. 296.—It -was no uncommon thing also for the milk-maids to join the procession to -the May-pole on this day, leading a cow decorated with ribands of -various colours, intermingled with knots of flowers, and wreathes of -oaken leaves, and with the horns of the animal gilt.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_155:B_234" id="Footnote_i_155:B_234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_155:B_234"><span class="label">[155:B]</span></a> Stow's Survey of London, p. 150. 1618.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_155:C_235" id="Footnote_i_155:C_235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_155:C_235"><span class="label">[155:C]</span></a> Act i. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 327.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_156:A_236" id="Footnote_i_156:A_236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_156:A_236"><span class="label">[156:A]</span></a> Act iv. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 452, -453.—"The <i>rite</i> of this month," observes Mr. Steevens, "was once so -universally observed, that even authors thought their works would obtain -a more favourable reception, if published on <i>May-day</i>. The following is -a title-page to a metrical performance by a once celebrated poet, Thomas -Churchyard:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'Come bring in <i>Maye</i> with me,</div> - <div class="line i1q">My <i>Maye</i> is fresh and greene;</div> - <div class="line indentq">A subjectes harte, an humble mind,</div> - <div class="line i1q">To serve a mayden Queene.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>'A discourse of rebellion, drawne forth for to warne the wanton wittes -how to kepe their heads on their shoulders.</p> - -<p>'Imprinted at London, in Flete-streat by William Griffith, Anno Domini -1570. The <i>first</i> of <i>Maye</i>.'"</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_156:B_237" id="Footnote_i_156:B_237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_156:B_237"><span class="label">[156:B]</span></a> Act v. sc. 3. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 201.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_157:A_238" id="Footnote_i_157:A_238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_157:A_238"><span class="label">[157:A]</span></a> Herrick's Hesperides, p. 74, 75.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_158:A_239" id="Footnote_i_158:A_239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_158:A_239"><span class="label">[158:A]</span></a> Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 473.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_158:B_240" id="Footnote_i_158:B_240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_158:B_240"><span class="label">[158:B]</span></a> Anatomie of Abuses, p. 107.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_158:C_241" id="Footnote_i_158:C_241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_158:C_241"><span class="label">[158:C]</span></a> Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 474.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_158:D_242" id="Footnote_i_158:D_242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_158:D_242"><span class="label">[158:D]</span></a> Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 440.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_158:E_243" id="Footnote_i_158:E_243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_158:E_243"><span class="label">[158:E]</span></a> Midsummer-Night's Dream, act iii. sc. 2. Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 427.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_159:A_244" id="Footnote_i_159:A_244"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_159:A_244"><span class="label">[159:A]</span></a> Act ii. sc. 2. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 278.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_159:B_245" id="Footnote_i_159:B_245"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_159:B_245"><span class="label">[159:B]</span></a> Drayton's Poly-Olbion, Song 26. Chalmers's Poets, vol. -iv. p. 373, 374.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_160:A_246" id="Footnote_i_160:A_246"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_160:A_246"><span class="label">[160:A]</span></a> Warner's Albion's England, chapter 21. Chalmers's -Poets, vol. iv. p. 564.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_160:B_247" id="Footnote_i_160:B_247"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_160:B_247"><span class="label">[160:B]</span></a> As You Like It, act i. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. -viii. p. 13.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_160:C_248" id="Footnote_i_160:C_248"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_160:C_248"><span class="label">[160:C]</span></a> Lysons's Environs of London, vol. i. p. 227.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_160:D_249" id="Footnote_i_160:D_249"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_160:D_249"><span class="label">[160:D]</span></a> Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature and scarce Books, vol. -i. p. 401.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_160:E_250" id="Footnote_i_160:E_250"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_160:E_250"><span class="label">[160:E]</span></a> Act iii. sc. 4. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 364.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_161:A_251" id="Footnote_i_161:A_251"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_161:A_251"><span class="label">[161:A]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 451.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_162:A_252" id="Footnote_i_162:A_252"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_162:A_252"><span class="label">[162:A]</span></a> Fetherston's Dialogue agaynst light, lewde, and -lascivious dancing, 1582, 12mo. sign. D. 7. apud Douce.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_162:B_253" id="Footnote_i_162:B_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_162:B_253"><span class="label">[162:B]</span></a> The honestie of this age, 1615, 4to. p. 35.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_162:C_254" id="Footnote_i_162:C_254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_162:C_254"><span class="label">[162:C]</span></a> First part of King Henry IV. act iii. sc. 3. Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 362.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_163:A_255" id="Footnote_i_163:A_255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_163:A_255"><span class="label">[163:A]</span></a> Act iv. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 266.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_163:B_256" id="Footnote_i_163:B_256"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_163:B_256"><span class="label">[163:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 438.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_163:C_257" id="Footnote_i_163:C_257"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_163:C_257"><span class="label">[163:C]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 450. -Fordun's Scotichronicon, 1759, folio, tom. ii. p. 104. "In this time," -says Stow, that is, about the year 1190, in the reign of Richard I. -"were many robbers, and outlawes, among the which Robin Hood and Little -John, renowned theeves, continued in woods, despoyling and robbing the -goods of the rich." Annals, p. 159.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_163:D_258" id="Footnote_i_163:D_258"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_163:D_258"><span class="label">[163:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 267. note by Malone.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_164:A_259" id="Footnote_i_164:A_259"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_164:A_259"><span class="label">[164:A]</span></a> Eclogue iii. Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 433.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_164:B_260" id="Footnote_i_164:B_260"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_164:B_260"><span class="label">[164:B]</span></a> Second Part of King Henry the Sixth, act iii. sc. 1. -Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xiii. p. 276.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_164:C_261" id="Footnote_i_164:C_261"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_164:C_261"><span class="label">[164:C]</span></a> Plaine Percevall the peace-maker of England, &c. &c. -Vide Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 250.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_165:A_262" id="Footnote_i_165:A_262"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_165:A_262"><span class="label">[165:A]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 251.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_165:B_263" id="Footnote_i_165:B_263"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_165:B_263"><span class="label">[165:B]</span></a> Act iv. sc. 3. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 345.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_165:C_264" id="Footnote_i_165:C_264"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_165:C_264"><span class="label">[165:C]</span></a> Canto Madrigals, of 5 and 6 parts, apt for the viols -and voices. Made and newly published by Thomas Weelkes of the Coledge at -Winchester, Organist. At London printed by Thomas Este, the assigne of -Thomas Morley. 1600. 4to.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_166:A_265" id="Footnote_i_166:A_265"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_166:A_265"><span class="label">[166:A]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 34.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_166:B_266" id="Footnote_i_166:B_266"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_166:B_266"><span class="label">[166:B]</span></a> It is probable indeed from the subsequent Madrigal, -that the Hobby-horse was frequently attached to, and provided for, by -the town or village.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Our country swains, in the morris daunce,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Thus woo'd and win their brides;</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Will, for our towne, the hobby horse</i></div> - <div class="line i1q"><i>A pleasure frolike rides</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_166:C_267" id="FNanchor_i_166:C_267"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_166:C_267" class="fnanchor">[166:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_166:C_267" id="Footnote_i_166:C_267"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_166:C_267"><span class="label">[166:C]</span></a> Vide Cantus primo. Madrigals to 3, 4, 5, and 6 voyces. -Made and newly published by Thomas Weelkes at London, printed by Thomas -Este, 1597, 4to. Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 9-10.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_167:A_268" id="Footnote_i_167:A_268"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_167:A_268"><span class="label">[167:A]</span></a> "The English were famed," observes Dr. Grey, "for these -and such like diversions; and even the old, as well as young persons, -formerly followed them: a remarkable instance of which is given by Sir -William Temple, (Miscellanea, Part 3. Essay of Health and Long Life,) -who makes mention of a Morrice Dance in Herefordshire, from a noble -person, who told him he had a pamphlet in his library written by a very -ingenious gentleman of that county, which gave an account how, in such a -year of King James's reign, there went about the country a sett of -Morrice Dancers, composed of <i>ten</i> men, who danced a Maid Marian, and a -taber and pipe: and how these ten, one with another, made up twelve -hundred years. 'Tis not so much, says he, that so many in one county -should live to that age, as that they should be in vigour and humour to -travel and dance." Grey's Notes on Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 382.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_168:A_269" id="Footnote_i_168:A_269"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_168:A_269"><span class="label">[168:A]</span></a> <i>Courtpie</i>, in women's dress, a short vest. Strutt.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_168:B_270" id="Footnote_i_168:B_270"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_168:B_270"><span class="label">[168:B]</span></a> <i>Watchet-coloured</i>, pale blue. Strutt.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_168:C_271" id="Footnote_i_168:C_271"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_168:C_271"><span class="label">[168:C]</span></a> <i>Rochet</i>, a lawn garment resembling a surplice gathered -at the wrists. Strutt.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_168:D_272" id="Footnote_i_168:D_272"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_168:D_272"><span class="label">[168:D]</span></a> <i>Baudekin</i>, a cloth of gold tissue, with figures in -silk, for female dress. Strutt.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_169:A_273" id="Footnote_i_169:A_273"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_169:A_273"><span class="label">[169:A]</span></a> The mole-taker, in this place, personates the character -of the <i>fool</i> or domestic buffoon.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_170:A_274" id="Footnote_i_170:A_274"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_170:A_274"><span class="label">[170:A]</span></a> The management of the hobby-horse appears to have been -the most difficult part of the May-day festivities, and from the -following passage in an old play, to have required some preparatory -discipline. A character personating this piece of pageantry, and angry -with the mayor of the town as being his rival, calls out, "Let the mayor -play the hobby-horse among his brethren, an he will, I hope our -towne-lads cannot want a hobby-horse. Have I practic'd my reines, my -careeres, my pranckers, my ambles, my false trotts, my smooth ambles and -Canterbury paces, and shall master mayor put me besides the hobby-horse? -Have I borrowed the fore horse bells, his plumes and braveries, nay had -his mane new shorne and frizl'd, and shall the mayor put me besides the -hobby-horse?" The Vow breaker, by Sampson.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_170:B_275" id="Footnote_i_170:B_275"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_170:B_275"><span class="label">[170:B]</span></a> The morris-dance in this description of the May-game -seems to have been performed chiefly by the fool, with the occasional -assistance of the hobby-horse, which was always decorated with bells, -and the dragon.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_171:A_276" id="Footnote_i_171:A_276"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_171:A_276"><span class="label">[171:A]</span></a> Strutt's Queenhoo-Hall, a romance, vol. i. p. 13. et -seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_171:B_277" id="Footnote_i_171:B_277"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_171:B_277"><span class="label">[171:B]</span></a> Act iii. sc. 2. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 198.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_171:C_278" id="Footnote_i_171:C_278"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_171:C_278"><span class="label">[171:C]</span></a> Act iii. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 53, -54.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_172:A_279" id="Footnote_i_172:A_279"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_172:A_279"><span class="label">[172:A]</span></a> Entertainment of the Queen and Prince at Althorpe. -1603. fol. edit. vol. i. p. 99.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_172:B_280" id="Footnote_i_172:B_280"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_172:B_280"><span class="label">[172:B]</span></a> The Metamorphosed Gipsies, fol. edit. vol. 2. p. -65.—This folio edition of Jonson's works, in two volumes, dated 1640, -is not regularly paged to the close of each volume; for instance, in -vol. i. the Dramas terminate at p. 668, and then the Epigrammes, Forest, -Masques, &c. commence with p. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_173:A_281" id="Footnote_i_173:A_281"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_173:A_281"><span class="label">[173:A]</span></a> Act iv. sc. 1.—Jonson in his <i>Bartholmew Fayre</i>, acted -in the year 1614, has a character of this kind, a Baker, who has -undergone a similar conversion, and is thus introduced:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"<i>Win. W.</i> What call you the Reverend <i>Elder</i>, you told me of? -your Banbury-man.</p> - -<p><i>Joh.</i> <i>Rabbi Busy</i>, Sir, he is more than an <i>Elder</i>, he is a -<i>Prophet</i>, Sir.</p> - -<p><i>Quar.</i> O, I know him! a Baker, is he not?</p> - -<p><i>Joh.</i> Hee was a Baker, Sir, but hee do's dreame now, and see -visions, he has given over his Trade.</p> - -<p><i>Quar.</i> I remember that too: out of a scruple hee tooke, that -(in spic'd conscience) those Cakes hee made, were serv'd to -<i>Bridales</i>, <i>May poles</i>, <i>Morrisses</i>, and such prophane feasts -and meetings; his Christen-name is <i>Zeale-of-the-land</i> Busye."</p> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Jonson's Works, fol. edit. vol. ii. p. vi. act i. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_173:B_282" id="Footnote_i_173:B_282"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_173:B_282"><span class="label">[173:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 198, note, Steevens.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_173:C_283" id="Footnote_i_173:C_283"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_173:C_283"><span class="label">[173:C]</span></a> Wilson, censuring these indulgences, places the era of -the publication of the Book of Sports under 1617, and says of it, that -"some of the Bishops, pretending <i>Recreations</i>, and <i>liberty</i> to -servants and the common people (of which they carved to themselves too -much already) procured the King to put out a Book to permit dancing -about <i>May-poles</i>, <i>Church-ales</i>, and such debauched exercises upon the -Sabbath-Day after Evening-Prayer (being a specious way to make the King, -and them, acceptable to the <i>Rout</i>): which Book came out with a command, -injoyning all Ministers to read it to their parishioners, and to approve -of it; and those that did not, were brought into the high <i>Commission</i>, -imprisoned and suspended." The History of Great Britain, being the Life -and Reign of King James the First, relating to what passed from his -first access to the Crown, till his death. Folio, London 1653. p. 105.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_174:A_284" id="Footnote_i_174:A_284"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_174:A_284"><span class="label">[174:A]</span></a> Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, 8th edit. fol. p. 174.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_174:B_285" id="Footnote_i_174:B_285"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_174:B_285"><span class="label">[174:B]</span></a> "The last May-pole in London was taken down in 1717, -and conveyed to Wanstead in Essex, where it was fixed in the Park for -the support of an immensely large telescope. Its original height was -upwards of one hundred feet above the surface of the ground, and its -station on the East side of Somerset-House, where the new church now -stands.—<span class="smcap">Pope</span> thus perpetuates its remembrance:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Amidst the area wide they took their stand,</div> - <div class="line">Where the tall May-pole once o'erlook'd the Strand."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Clavis Calendaria, vol. i. p. 318.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_175:A_286" id="Footnote_i_175:A_286"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_175:A_286"><span class="label">[175:A]</span></a> Act ii. sc. 4. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 354.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_175:B_287" id="Footnote_i_175:B_287"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_175:B_287"><span class="label">[175:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 231. act ii. sc. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_175:C_288" id="Footnote_i_175:C_288"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_175:C_288"><span class="label">[175:C]</span></a> Ascham's Works apud Bennet, p. 62, 63.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_176:A_289" id="Footnote_i_176:A_289"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_176:A_289"><span class="label">[176:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xxi. p. 155.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_176:B_290" id="Footnote_i_176:B_290"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_176:B_290"><span class="label">[176:B]</span></a> Jonson's Works, fol. edit.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_176:C_291" id="Footnote_i_176:C_291"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_176:C_291"><span class="label">[176:C]</span></a> "A leet," observes Bullokar, in his <i>English -Expositor</i>, 1616, "is a court, or law-day, holden commonly every half -year."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_176:D_292" id="Footnote_i_176:D_292"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_176:D_292"><span class="label">[176:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 33. act i. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_176:E_293" id="Footnote_i_176:E_293"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_176:E_293"><span class="label">[176:E]</span></a> Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 129, -note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_177:A_294" id="Footnote_i_177:A_294"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_177:A_294"><span class="label">[177:A]</span></a> MSS. Bibl. Bod., vol. cxlviii. fol. 97.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_178:A_295" id="Footnote_i_178:A_295"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_178:A_295"><span class="label">[178:A]</span></a> Carew's Survey of Cornwall, edit. of 1769. p. 68.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_178:B_296" id="Footnote_i_178:B_296"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_178:B_296"><span class="label">[178:B]</span></a> Anatomie of Abuses, A. D. 1595.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_179:A_297" id="Footnote_i_179:A_297"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_179:A_297"><span class="label">[179:A]</span></a> Jonson's Works, fol. edit. vol. i. p. 166.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_179:B_298" id="Footnote_i_179:B_298"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_179:B_298"><span class="label">[179:B]</span></a> The Lady of Pleasure, act i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_179:C_299" id="Footnote_i_179:C_299"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_179:C_299"><span class="label">[179:C]</span></a> The former of which is thus noticed by Sir Philip -Sidney:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"Strephon, with leavy twigs of laurell tree,</div> - <div class="line">A garlant made on temples for to weare,</div> - <div class="line i1"><i>For he then chosen was the dignitie</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Of village Lord that Whitsuntide to beare</i>."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">The Countesse of Pembroke's Arcadie, 7th edit. fol. 1629. p. 84.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_180:A_300" id="Footnote_i_180:A_300"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_180:A_300"><span class="label">[180:A]</span></a> Anatomie of Abuses, 1595. p. 107.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_181:A_301" id="Footnote_i_181:A_301"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_181:A_301"><span class="label">[181:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 341. Act iv. sc. -3.—Whitsun playes or mysteries, which at first were exclusively drawn -from the sacred page, may be traced to the fourteenth century; those -which were performed at Chester have been attributed to Ranulph Higden, -the chronicler, who died 1363.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_181:B_302" id="Footnote_i_181:B_302"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_181:B_302"><span class="label">[181:B]</span></a> Blount's Ancient Tenures, p. 49, and Strutt's Sports -and Pastimes, p. 316.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_182:A_303" id="Footnote_i_182:A_303"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_182:A_303"><span class="label">[182:A]</span></a> Tusser apud Hilton, p. 80.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_183:A_304" id="Footnote_i_183:A_304"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_183:A_304"><span class="label">[183:A]</span></a> Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 443.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_183:B_305" id="Footnote_i_183:B_305"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_183:B_305"><span class="label">[183:B]</span></a> Singers of catches in three parts.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_183:C_306" id="Footnote_i_183:C_306"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_183:C_306"><span class="label">[183:C]</span></a> By <i>means</i> are meant tenors.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_183:D_307" id="Footnote_i_183:D_307"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_183:D_307"><span class="label">[183:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 323, 324. Act iv. sc. -2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_183:E_308" id="Footnote_i_183:E_308"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_183:E_308"><span class="label">[183:E]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 323. note 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_184:A_309" id="Footnote_i_184:A_309"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_184:A_309"><span class="label">[184:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 334. Act iv. sc. 3.—I -believe the custom of choosing a king and queen at the sheep-shearing -feast, is still continued in several of our counties; that it was -commonly observed, at least, in the time of Thomson, is evident from the -following lines, taken from his description of this festival:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"One, chief, in gracious dignity enthron'd,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Shines o'er the rest, the <i>Pas'tral Queen</i>, and rays</div> - <div class="line indentq">Her smiles, sweet-beaming on her <i>Shepherd King</i>."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Summer.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_185:A_310" id="Footnote_i_185:A_310"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_185:A_310"><span class="label">[185:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 334, 335. 337, 338. -340.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_185:B_311" id="Footnote_i_185:B_311"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_185:B_311"><span class="label">[185:B]</span></a> Dyer's Fleece, book i. <i>sub finem</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_186:A_312" id="Footnote_i_186:A_312"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_186:A_312"><span class="label">[186:A]</span></a> Tusser Redivivus, p. 104. In the first edition of -Tusser, 1557, this stanza is as follows:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Then welcome thy harvest folke, serveauntes and all:</div> - <div class="line indentq">with mirth and good chere, let them furnish the hall.</div> - <div class="line indentq">The harvest lorde nightly, must give thee a song:</div> - <div class="line indentq">fill him then the blacke boll, or els he hath wrong."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Reprint by Sir Egerton Brydges, p. 19.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_186:B_313" id="Footnote_i_186:B_313"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_186:B_313"><span class="label">[186:B]</span></a> Bloomfield's Farmer's Boy, Summer, l. 299.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_187:A_314" id="Footnote_i_187:A_314"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_187:A_314"><span class="label">[187:A]</span></a> Paul Hentzner's Travels in England, during the reign of -Queen Elizabeth, translated by Horace, late Earl of Orford. Edit. of -1797. p. 55.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_187:B_315" id="Footnote_i_187:B_315"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_187:B_315"><span class="label">[187:B]</span></a> "Anglos vidi spiceam ferre domum in Rheda Imaginem -circum cantantibus promiscuê viris et fœminis, præcedente tibicine aut -tympano." Deprav. Rel. Orig. in verbo <i>Vacina</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_187:C_316" id="Footnote_i_187:C_316"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_187:C_316"><span class="label">[187:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 376. Act v. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_188:A_317" id="Footnote_i_188:A_317"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_188:A_317"><span class="label">[188:A]</span></a> Tusser Redivivus, p. 104.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_188:B_318" id="Footnote_i_188:B_318"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_188:B_318"><span class="label">[188:B]</span></a> <i>Hock-cart</i>,—by this word is meant the <i>high</i> or -<i>rejoicing-cart</i>, and was applied to the last load of corn, as typical -of the close of harvest. Thus <i>Hock-tide</i> is derived from the Saxon -<i>Hoah</i>-<img class="inline" src="images/saxontide.png" alt="Saxon word for tide" width="35" height="25" />, or high tide, and is expressive of the height of festivity.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_189:A_319" id="Footnote_i_189:A_319"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_189:A_319"><span class="label">[189:A]</span></a> Hesperides, p. 113-115.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_190:A_320" id="Footnote_i_190:A_320"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_190:A_320"><span class="label">[190:A]</span></a> Tusser Redivivus, p. 81.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_190:B_321" id="Footnote_i_190:B_321"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_190:B_321"><span class="label">[190:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 147.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_190:C_322" id="Footnote_i_190:C_322"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_190:C_322"><span class="label">[190:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 77.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_191:A_323" id="Footnote_i_191:A_323"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_191:A_323"><span class="label">[191:A]</span></a> Brand on Bourne's Antiquities, p. 392. note edit. -1810.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_191:B_324" id="Footnote_i_191:B_324"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_191:B_324"><span class="label">[191:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 393, 394.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_192:A_325" id="Footnote_i_192:A_325"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_192:A_325"><span class="label">[192:A]</span></a> The magnificent reception of Queen Elizabeth at Norwich -in 1578, has been recorded with great minuteness, in two tracts, by -Bernard Goldingham and Thomas Churchyard the poet, which are reprinted -in Mr. Nichols's Progresses; these accounts are likewise incorporated by -Abraham Fleming as a supplement to Holinshed, and will be found in the -last edition of this chronicler, in vol. iv. p. 375. The pomp and -pageantry which were exhibited during this regal visit were equally -gorgeous, quaint, and operose; "order was taken there," says Churchyard, -"that every day, for sixe dayes together, a shew of some strange device -should be seene; and the maior and aldermen appointed among themselves -and their breethren, that no person reteyning to the Queene, shoulde be -unfeasted, or unbidden to dinner and supper, during the space of those -sixe dayes: which order was well and wisely observed, and gained their -citie more fame and credite, than they wot of: for that courtesie of -theirs shall remayne in perpetuall memorie, whiles the walles of their -citie standeth."—Nichols's Progresses of Q. Elizabeth, vol. ii. p. 56.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_192:B_326" id="Footnote_i_192:B_326"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_192:B_326"><span class="label">[192:B]</span></a> The wise policy of Elizabeth in establishing the -Flemings in this country gave birth to our vast superiority in the -woollen trade; and the first pageant which met the eyes of Elizabeth on -her entrance into Norwich was the <i>artizan-strangers</i> pageant, -illustrative of the whole process of the manufactory, "a shewe which -pleased her Majestie so greatly, as she particularly viewed the knitting -and spinning of the children, perused the loombes, and noted the several -workes and commodities which were made by these meanes."—Nichols's -Progresses, vol. ii. p. 13.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_192:C_327" id="Footnote_i_192:C_327"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_192:C_327"><span class="label">[192:C]</span></a> Gerguntum, a fabulous kind of Briton, who is supposed -to have built Norwich Castle; in the procession which went out of -Norwich to meet the Queen, on the 16th of August, 1578, was "one whiche -represented King <span class="smcap">Gurgunt</span>, some tyme king of Englande, whiche buylded the -castle of Norwich, called Blanch Flowre, and layde the foundation of the -citie. He was mounted uppon a brave courser, and was thus furnished: his -body armed, his bases of greene and white silke; on his head a black -velvet hat, with a plume of white feathers. There attended upon him -three henchmen in white and greene: one of them did beare his helmet, -the seconde his tergat, the thirde his staffe."—Nichols's Progresses, -vol. ii. p. 5, 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_193:A_328" id="Footnote_i_193:A_328"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_193:A_328"><span class="label">[193:A]</span></a> The Cabinet, vol. ii. p. 75, 76.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_193:B_329" id="Footnote_i_193:B_329"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_193:B_329"><span class="label">[193:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 66.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_194:A_330" id="Footnote_i_194:A_330"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_194:A_330"><span class="label">[194:A]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquities, p. 172.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_194:B_331" id="Footnote_i_194:B_331"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_194:B_331"><span class="label">[194:B]</span></a> A great display of literature on the etymon of the word -<i>Yule</i> will be found in the <i>Allegories Orientales</i> of M. Count de -Gebelin, Paris, 1773.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_195:A_332" id="Footnote_i_195:A_332"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_195:A_332"><span class="label">[195:A]</span></a> <i>Teending</i>, a word derived from the Saxon, means -<i>kindling</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_195:B_333" id="Footnote_i_195:B_333"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_195:B_333"><span class="label">[195:B]</span></a> <i>White-loafe</i>, sometimes called at this period -<i>wastel-bread</i> or cake, from the French <i>wastiaux</i>, pastry; implied -white bread well or twice baked, and was considered as a delicacy.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_195:C_334" id="Footnote_i_195:C_334"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_195:C_334"><span class="label">[195:C]</span></a> Hesperides, p. 309, 310.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_196:A_335" id="Footnote_i_196:A_335"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_196:A_335"><span class="label">[196:A]</span></a> Stowe's Survey of London, 4to. edit., 1618, p. 149, -150.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_196:B_336" id="Footnote_i_196:B_336"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_196:B_336"><span class="label">[196:B]</span></a> Vide Gentleman's Magazine for 1765.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_197:A_337" id="Footnote_i_197:A_337"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_197:A_337"><span class="label">[197:A]</span></a> Brand on Bourne's Antiquities, p. 193.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_197:B_338" id="Footnote_i_197:B_338"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_197:B_338"><span class="label">[197:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 200, 201.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_198:A_339" id="Footnote_i_198:A_339"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_198:A_339"><span class="label">[198:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 143. Act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_198:B_340" id="Footnote_i_198:B_340"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_198:B_340"><span class="label">[198:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 361. Act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_198:C_341" id="Footnote_i_198:C_341"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_198:C_341"><span class="label">[198:C]</span></a> Chap. xxx. fol. 57. edit. 1586.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_199:A_342" id="Footnote_i_199:A_342"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_199:A_342"><span class="label">[199:A]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 214.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_199:B_343" id="Footnote_i_199:B_343"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_199:B_343"><span class="label">[199:B]</span></a> Vide Blount's Ancient Tenures of Land, and Jocular -Customs of some Manors. Beckwith's edit. 8vo. 1784.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_200:A_344" id="Footnote_i_200:A_344"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_200:A_344"><span class="label">[200:A]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 215-217. 219.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_201:A_345" id="Footnote_i_201:A_345"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_201:A_345"><span class="label">[201:A]</span></a> Act v. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 213.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_201:B_346" id="Footnote_i_201:B_346"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_201:B_346"><span class="label">[201:B]</span></a> English House-Wife, p. 99. The pies which he recommends -immediately subsequent to this enumeration are somewhat curious, and -rather of a more substantial nature than those of modern days; for -instance, <i>red-deer pye</i>, <i>gammon of bacon pye</i>, <i>wild-bore pye</i>, and -<i>roe-pye</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_202:A_347" id="Footnote_i_202:A_347"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_202:A_347"><span class="label">[202:A]</span></a> Vide Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. -143.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_202:B_348" id="Footnote_i_202:B_348"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_202:B_348"><span class="label">[202:B]</span></a> A hundreth good poyntes of husbandry, 1557. p. 10.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_203:A_349" id="Footnote_i_203:A_349"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_203:A_349"><span class="label">[203:A]</span></a> Christmas, His Masque; as it was presented at Court -1616. Jonson's Works, folio edit. 1640. vol. ii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_204:A_350" id="Footnote_i_204:A_350"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_204:A_350"><span class="label">[204:A]</span></a> Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. iii. p. 1032. edit. 1808.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_204:B_351" id="Footnote_i_204:B_351"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_204:B_351"><span class="label">[204:B]</span></a> Stowe's Survey of London, p. 149. edit. 1618.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_205:A_352" id="Footnote_i_205:A_352"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_205:A_352"><span class="label">[205:A]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses and Processions of Queen -Elizabeth, vol. i. p. 20, 21. Anno 1562.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_205:B_353" id="Footnote_i_205:B_353"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_205:B_353"><span class="label">[205:B]</span></a> Hesperides, p. 145.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_205:C_354" id="Footnote_i_205:C_354"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_205:C_354"><span class="label">[205:C]</span></a> Provincial Glossary, Preface, p. 8. 8vo. 1787.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_206:A_355" id="Footnote_i_206:A_355"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_206:A_355"><span class="label">[206:A]</span></a> <i>Liber Pater</i>, Bacchus.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_206:B_356" id="Footnote_i_206:B_356"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_206:B_356"><span class="label">[206:B]</span></a> Hesperides, p. 146. The following passages place in a -strong and interesting point of view, the hospitality of our ancestors -during this season of the year, and will add not a little to the -impression derived from the text.</p> - -<p>"Heretofore, noblemen and gentlemen of fair estates had their heralds -who wore their coate of armes at Christmas, and at other solemne times, -and cryed largesse thrice. They lived in the country like petty kings. -They always eat in Gothic Halls where the Mummings and Loaf-stealing, -and other Christmas sports, were performed. The hearth was commonly in -the middle; whence the saying, <i>round about our coal-fire</i>." Antiquarian -Repertory, No. xxvi. from the MS. Collections of Aubrey, dated 1678.</p> - -<p>"An English Gentleman at the opening of the great day, <i>i. e.</i> on -Christmas Day in the morning, had all his tenants and neighbours entered -his Hall by day-break. The strong beer was broached, and the black jacks -went plentifully about with toast, sugar, nutmegg, and good Cheshire -cheese. The Hackin, (the great sausage) must be boiled by day-break, or -else two young men must take the maiden (<i>i. e.</i> the cook,) by the arms -and run her round the market place till she is ashamed of her laziness.</p> - -<p>"In Christmass Holidays, the tables were all spread from the first to -the last; the sirloins of beef, the minced pies, the plumb-porridge, the -capons, turkeys, geese, and plumb-puddings, were all brought upon the -board: every one eat heartily, and was welcome, which gave rise to the -proverb, 'Merry in the hall when beards wag all.'" From a Tract entitled -"Round about our Coal-Fire, or Christmas Entertainments;" of which the -first edition was published, I believe, about the close of the -seventeenth century.</p> - -<p>"Our ancestors considered Christmas in the double light of a holy -commemoration and a cheerful festival; and accordingly distinguished it -by devotion, by vacation from business, by merriment and hospitality. -They seemed eagerly bent to make themselves and every body about them -happy.—The great hall resounded with the tumultuous joys of servants -and tenants, and the gambols they played served as amusement to the lord -of the mansion and his family, who, by encouraging every art conducive -to mirth and entertainment, endeavoured to soften the rigour of the -season, and mitigate the influence of winter."—<i>The World</i>, No. 104.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_208:A_357" id="Footnote_i_208:A_357"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_208:A_357"><span class="label">[208:A]</span></a> Scott's Marmion. Introduction to Canto Sixth. 8vo. -edit. p. 300-303.</p> - -<p>"At present, Christmas meetings," remarks Mr. Brady, "are chiefly -confined to family parties, happy, it must be confessed, though less -jovial in their nature; perhaps, too, less beneficial to society, -because they can be enjoyed on other days not, as originally was the -case, set apart for more general conviviality and sociability; not such -as our old ballads proclaim, and history confirms, in which the most -frigid tempers gave way to relaxation, and all in eager joy were ready -to exclaim, in honour of the festivity,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"For, since such delights are thine,</div> - <div class="line indentq"><span class="smcap">Christmas</span>, with thy bands I join."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Clavis Calendaria</i>, vol. ii. p. 319.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 209 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_209" id="Page_i_209">[209]</a></span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_VII" id="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE COUNTRY -CONTINUED—WAKES—FAIRS—WEDDINGS—BURIALS.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Having described, in as brief a manner as was consistent with the nature -of our work, the various circumstances accompanying the celebration of -the most remarkable holidays and festivals, in the country, during the -age of Shakspeare, from whose inimitable compositions we have drawn many -pertinent illustrations on nearly all the subjects as they passed before -us; we shall proceed, in the present chapter, to notice those remaining -topics which are calculated to complete, on the scale adopted, a -tolerably correct view of rural manners and customs, as they existed in -the latter half of the sixteenth, and prior portion of the seventeenth, -century.</p> - -<p>A natural transition will carry us, from the description of the rural -festival, to the gaieties of the <span class="smcap">Wake</span> or <span class="smcap">Fair</span>. Of these terms, indeed, -the former originally implied the vigil which preceded the festival in -honour of the Saint to whom the parish-church was dedicated; for "on the -Eve of this day," remarks Mr. Borlase, in his Cornwall, "prayers were -said, and hymns were sung all night in the church; and from these -watchings the festivals were stiled <i>Wakes</i>; which name still continues -in many parts of England, though the vigils have been long -abolished."<a name="FNanchor_i_209:A_358" id="FNanchor_i_209:A_358"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_209:A_358" class="fnanchor">[209:A]</a> The religious institution, however, of the <i>Wake</i>, -whether held on the vigil or Saint's day, was soon forgotten; mirth and -feasting early became the chief objects of this meeting<a name="FNanchor_i_209:B_359" id="FNanchor_i_209:B_359"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_209:B_359" class="fnanchor">[209:B]</a>, and it, -at length, degenerated into something approaching <!-- Page 210 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_210" id="Page_i_210">[210]</a></span>towards a secular -Fair. These Wakes or Fairs, which were rendered more popular in -proportion as they deviated from their devotional origin, were, until -the reign of Henry the Sixth, always held on a Sunday and its eve, a -custom that continued to be partially observed as late as the middle of -the seventeenth century; hence ale-houses, and places of public resort, -in the immediate neighbourhood of church-yards, the former scene of -Wakes, were still common at the close of Shakspeare's life; thus Sir -Thomas Overbury, describing a Sexton, in his <i>Characters</i>, published in -1616, says: "At every church-style commonly there's an ale-house; where -let him (the Sexton) bee found never so idle-pated, hee is still a grave -drunkard."</p> - -<p>The increasing licentiousness and conviviality, however, which attended -these church-yard assemblies, frequented as they were by pedlars and -hawkers of every description, finally occasioned their suppression in -all places, at least, where much traffic was expected. In their room -regular Fairs were established, to which in central or peculiar -stations, the resort, at fixed periods, was immense.</p> - -<p>Yet the <i>Wake</i>, the meeting for mere festivity and frolic, still -continued in every village and small town, and though not preceded by -any vigil in the church, was popularly termed the <i>Wake-Day</i>. Tusser, in -his catalogue of the "Old Guise," has not forgotten this season of -merriment; on the contrary, he seems to welcome its return with much -cordiality:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Fil oven ful of flawnes, Ginnie passe not for sleepe,</div> - <div class="line i1q">to morrow thy father his wake-daie wil keepe:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then every wanton may danse at hir wil,</div> - <div class="line i1q">both Tomkin and Tomlin, and Jankin with Gil."<a name="FNanchor_i_210:A_360" id="FNanchor_i_210:A_360"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_210:A_360" class="fnanchor">[210:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 211 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_211" id="Page_i_211">[211]</a></span>Mr. Hilman, in his edition of Tusser, has made the following -observations on this passage.—"Waking in the church," says he, "was -left off because of some abuses, and we see here it was converted to -wakeing at the oven. The other continued down to our author's days, and -in a great many places continues still to be observed with all sorts of -rural merriments; such as dancing, wrestling, cudgel-playing, &c." -Bourne observes, that the feasting and sporting, on this occasion, -usually lasted for two or three days<a name="FNanchor_i_211:A_361" id="FNanchor_i_211:A_361"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_211:A_361" class="fnanchor">[211:A]</a>; and Bishop Hall gives an -impressive idea of the revelry and glee which distinguished these rural -assemblages, when he exclaims, "What should I speak of our <i>merry -Wakes</i>, and May games—in all which put together, you may well say, no -Greek can be <i>merrier</i> than they."<a name="FNanchor_i_211:B_362" id="FNanchor_i_211:B_362"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_211:B_362" class="fnanchor">[211:B]</a> Indeed from one end of the -kingdom to the other, from north to south, it would appear, that, among -the country-villages, during the reigns of Elizabeth and her two -immediate successors, Wakes formed one of the principal amusements of -the peasantry, and were anticipated with much eagerness and expectation. -In confirmation of this we need only remark that Drayton, speaking of -Lancashire, declares, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—— "every village smokes at <i>wakes</i> with lusty cheer;"<a name="FNanchor_i_211:C_363" id="FNanchor_i_211:C_363"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_211:C_363" class="fnanchor">[211:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>and that Herrick, in Devonshire, has written a very curious little poem, -entitled <i>The Wake</i>, which, as strikingly descriptive of the various -business of this festivity, claims here an introduction:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Come Anthea, let us two</div> - <div class="line indentq">Go to feast, as others do.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Tarts and custards, creams and cakes,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Are the junketts still at <i>Wakes</i>:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Unto which the tribes resort,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where the businesse is the sport:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Morris-dancers thou shalt see,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Marian too in pagentrie:</div> - <!-- Page 212 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_212" id="Page_i_212">[212]</a></span><div class="line indentq">And a Mimick to devise</div> - <div class="line indentq">Many grinning properties.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Players there will be, and those</div> - <div class="line indentq">Base in action as in clothes:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Yet with strutting they will please</div> - <div class="line indentq">The incurious villages.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Neer the dying of the day,</div> - <div class="line indentq">There will be a cudgell-play,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where a coxcomb will be broke,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Ere a good <i>word</i> can be spoke:</div> - <div class="line indentq">But the anger ends all here,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Drencht in ale, or drown'd in beere.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Happy Rusticks, best content</div> - <div class="line indentq">With the cheapest merriment:</div> - <div class="line indentq">And possesse no other feare,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Than to want the <i>Wake</i> next yeare."<a name="FNanchor_i_212:A_364" id="FNanchor_i_212:A_364"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_212:A_364" class="fnanchor">[212:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of the pedlars or hawkers who, in general, formed a constituent part of -these <i>village-wakes</i> an accurate idea may be drawn from the character -of the pedlar Autolycus, in the <i>Winter's Tale</i> of Shakspeare, who is -delineated with the poet's customary strength of pencil, rich humour, -and fidelity to nature. The wares in which he dealt are curiously -enumerated in the following passages:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Serv.</i> He hath songs, for men, or women, of all sizes; no -milliner can so fit his customers with gloves<a name="FNanchor_i_212:B_365" id="FNanchor_i_212:B_365"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_212:B_365" class="fnanchor">[212:B]</a>: he has -the prettiest love-songs for maids; he hath ribands of all the -colours i' the rainbow; points more than all the lawyers in -Bohemia can learnedly handle, though they come to him by the -gross; inkles, caddisses<a name="FNanchor_i_212:C_366" id="FNanchor_i_212:C_366"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_212:C_366" class="fnanchor">[212:C]</a>, cambricks, lawns: why, he -sings them over, as they were gods or goddesses: you would -think, a smock were a she-angel; he so chants to the -sleeve-hand, and the work about the square on't."<a name="FNanchor_i_212:D_367" id="FNanchor_i_212:D_367"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_212:D_367" class="fnanchor">[212:D]</a></p> - -<p class="center">"<i>Enter Autolycus, singing.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Lawn, as white as driven snow;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Cyprus, black as e'er was crow;</div> - <!-- Page 213 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_213" id="Page_i_213">[213]</a></span><div class="line indentq">Gloves as sweet as damask roses;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Masks for faces, and for noses;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Bugle bracelet, necklace-amber,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Perfume for a lady's chamber:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Golden quoifs, and stomachers,</div> - <div class="line indentq">For my lads to give their dears;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Pins and poking-sticks of steel,</div> - <div class="line indentq">What maids lack from head to heel:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Come, buy of me, come; come buy, come buy;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Buy, lads, or else your lasses cry;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Come buy, &c."<a name="FNanchor_i_213:A_368" id="FNanchor_i_213:A_368"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_213:A_368" class="fnanchor">[213:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>At the close of the feast Autolycus is represented as re-entering, and -declaring "Ha, ha! what a fool honesty is! and trust, his sworn brother, -a very simple gentleman! I have sold all my trumpery; not a counterfeit -stone, not a riband, glass, pomander<a name="FNanchor_i_213:B_369" id="FNanchor_i_213:B_369"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_213:B_369" class="fnanchor">[213:B]</a>, brooch, table-book, ballad, -knife, tape, glove, shoe-tye, bracelet, horn-ring, to keep my pack from -fasting: they throng who should buy first; as if my trinkets had been -hallowed, and brought a benediction to the buyer."<a name="FNanchor_i_213:C_370" id="FNanchor_i_213:C_370"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_213:C_370" class="fnanchor">[213:C]</a></p> - -<p>In the North, the Village-Wake is still kept up, under the title of <i>The -Hopping</i>, a word derived from the Anglo-Saxon, and thus applied, because -dancing was the favourite amusement of these meetings. The reign of -Elizabeth, indeed, was marked by a peculiar propensity to this exercise, -and neither wake nor feast could be properly celebrated without the -country lads and lasses footing it on the green or yard, or in bad -weather, in the Manor-hall.</p> - -<p>In an old play, entitled "A Woman Killed With Kindness," the production -of Thomas Heywood, and acted in 1604, is to be found a very humorous -description of one of these <i>Hoppings</i>, and particularly curious, as it -enumerates the names of the dances then in vogue <!-- Page 214 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_214" id="Page_i_214">[214]</a></span>among these rustic -performers. The poet, after remarking that now</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">————————— "the mad lads</div> - <div class="line">And country lasses, every mother's child,</div> - <div class="line">With nosegays and bride laces in their hats,</div> - <div class="line">Dance all their country measures, rounds and jigs,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">thus introduces his couples:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"<i>Jenkin.</i> Come, Nick, take you Joan Miniver to trace withal; -Jack Slime, traverse you with Sisly Milk-pail; I will take -Jane Trubkin, and Roger Brickbat shall have Isabel Motley; and -now strike up; we'll have a crash here in the yard.—</p> - -<p><i>Jack Slime.</i> Foot it quickly; if the music overcome not my -melancholy, I shall quarrel; and if they do not suddenly -strike up, I shall presently strike them down.</p> - -<p><i>Jen.</i> No quarrelling, for God's sake: truly, if you do, I -shall set a knave between ye.</p> - -<p><i>Jack Slime.</i> I come to dance, not to quarrel; come, what -shall it be? Rogero?</p> - -<p><i>Jen.</i> Rogero! no; we will dance 'The Beginning of the World.'</p> - -<p><i>Sisly.</i> I love no dance so well, as 'John, come kiss me now.'</p> - -<p><i>Nicholas.</i> I have ere now deserved a cushion; call for the -Cushion-dance.</p> - -<p><i>R. Brick.</i> For my part, I like nothing so well as 'Tom -Tyler.'</p> - -<p><i>Jen.</i> No; we'll have 'The hunting of the Fox.'</p> - -<p><i>Jack Slime.</i> 'The Hay! the Hay!' there's nothing like 'The -Hay.'</p> - -<p><i>Nich.</i> I have said, do say, and will say again.</p> - -<p><i>Jen.</i> Every man agree to have it as Nick says.</p> - -<p><i>All.</i> Content.</p> - -<p><i>Nich.</i> It hath been, it now is, and it shall be.</p> - -<p><i>Sisly.</i> What? Mr. Nicholas? What?</p> - -<p><i>Nich.</i> 'Put on your smock a Monday.'</p> - -<p><i>Jen.</i> So, the dance will come cleanly off: come, for God's -sake, agree of something; if you like not that, put it to the -musicians; or let me speak for all, and we'll have -'Sellenger's Round.'</p> - -<p><i>All.</i> That, that, that!</p> - -<p><i>Nich.</i> No, I am resolved, thus it shall be. First take hands, -then take ye to your heels.</p> - -<p><i>Jen.</i> Why, would you have us run away?</p> - -<p><i>Nich.</i> No; but I would have you shake your heels. Music, -strike up.</p> - -<p class="center"><i>They dance.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_i_214:A_371" id="FNanchor_i_214:A_371"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_214:A_371" class="fnanchor">[214:A]</a></p> -</div> - -<p>The <i>Fair</i> or greater wake was usually held, as hath been observed, in a -central situation, and its period and duration were, as at present, -<!-- Page 215 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_215" id="Page_i_215">[215]</a></span>proclaimed by law. It was a scene of extensive business as well as of -pleasure; for before provincial cities had attained either wealth or -consequence, all communication between them was difficult, and neither -the necessaries nor the elegances of life could be procured but at -stated times, and at fixed depôts. It was usual, therefore, to go fifty -or a hundred miles to one of these fairs, in order both to purchase -goods and accommodations for the ensuing year, and to dispose of the -superfluous products of art or cultivation. In the reign of Henry VI. -the monks of the priories of Maxtoke in Warwickshire, and of Bicester in -Oxfordshire, laid in their annual stores of common necessaries at -Sturbridge Fair in Cambridgeshire, at least one hundred miles distant, -and notwithstanding the two cities of Oxford and Coventry were in their -immediate neighbourhood.<a name="FNanchor_i_215:A_372" id="FNanchor_i_215:A_372"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_215:A_372" class="fnanchor">[215:A]</a> In the reign of Henry VIII., it appears, -from the Household-Book of Henry Percy, fifth Earl of Northumberland, -that His Lordship's family were supplied with necessaries for the whole -year from fairs. "He that stands charged with my Lordes House for the -houll Yeir, if he maye possible, shall be at all Faires, where the -greice Emptions shall be boughte for the House for the houll Yeir, as -Wine, Wax, Beiffes, Muttons, Wheite and Malt<a name="FNanchor_i_215:B_373" id="FNanchor_i_215:B_373"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_215:B_373" class="fnanchor">[215:B]</a>;" and, in the reign -of Elizabeth, Tusser recommends to his farmer the same plan, both for -purchase and sale:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"At Bartilmewtide, or at Sturbridge faire,</div> - <div class="line i1q">buie that as is needful, thy house to repaire:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then sel to thy profit, both butter and cheese,</div> - <div class="line i1q">who buieth it sooner, the more he shall leese."<a name="FNanchor_i_215:C_374" id="FNanchor_i_215:C_374"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_215:C_374" class="fnanchor">[215:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>That this custom prevailed until the commencement of the eighteenth -century, and to nearly the same extent, is evident from a note on the -just quoted lines of Tusser by Mr. Hilman. "Sturbridge Fair," says he, -"stocks the country (namely, Norfolk, Suffolk, and <!-- Page 216 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_216" id="Page_i_216">[216]</a></span>Essex,) with -clothes, and all other houshold necessaries; and they (the farmers) -again, sell their butter and cheese, and whatever else remains on their -hands; nay, there the shopkeepers supply themselves with divers sorts of -commodities."</p> - -<p>In the third year, indeed, of James I., Sturbridge Fair began to acquire -such celebrity, that hackney coaches attended it from London; and it -subsequently became so extensive that for several years not less than -sixty coaches have been known to ply at this fair, then esteemed the -largest in England.</p> - -<p>Sturbridge Fair is still annually proclaimed, but now in such a state of -decline, that its extinction, at least in a commercial light, cannot be -far distant.</p> - -<p>To these brief notices of wakes and fairs, it may be necessary to -subjoin a slight detail of the state of <i>Country-Inns</i> and Ale-houses -during the age of Shakspeare.</p> - -<p>To "take mine ease in mine inn" is a proverbial phrase, which the poet -has placed in the mouth of Falstaff<a name="FNanchor_i_216:A_375" id="FNanchor_i_216:A_375"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_216:A_375" class="fnanchor">[216:A]</a>, and which implies a degree -of comfort which has always been the peculiar attribute of an English -house of public entertainment. That it was not less felt and enjoyed in -Shakspeare's time than in our own, is very apparent from the accounts -which have been left us by Harrison and Fynes Moryson; the former -writing towards the close of the sixteenth, and the latter at the -commencement of the seventeenth century. These descriptions, which are -curiously faithful and highly interesting, paint the provincial -hostelries of England as in a most flourishing state, and, according to -Harrison, indeed, greatly superior to those which existed in the -metropolis.</p> - -<p>"Those townes," says the historian, "that we call thorowfaires, have -great and sumptuous innes builded in them, for the receiving of such -travellers and strangers as passe to and fro. The manner of harbouring -wherein, is not like to that of some other countries, in which the host -or goodman of the house dooth chalenge a lordlie <!-- Page 217 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_217" id="Page_i_217">[217]</a></span>authoritie over his -ghests, but clean otherwise, sith every man may use his inne as his owne -house in England, and have for his monie how great or little varietie of -vittels, and what other service himselfe shall thinke expedient to call -for. Our innes are also verie well furnished with naperie, bedding, and -tapisserie, especiallie with naperie: for beside the linnen used at the -tables, which is commonlie washed dailie, is such and so much as -belongeth unto the estate and calling of the ghest. Ech commer is sure -to lie in cleane sheets, wherein no man hath béene lodged since they -came from the landresse, or out of the water wherein they were last -washed. If the traveller have an horsse, his bed dooth cost him nothing, -but if he go on foote he is sure to paie a penie for the same: but -whether he be horsseman or footman if his chamber be once appointed he -may carie the kaie with him, as of his owne house so long as he lodgeth -there. It he loose oughts whilest he abideth in the inne, the host is -bound by a generall custome to restore the damage, so that there is no -greater securitie anie where for travellers than in the gretest ins of -England." He then, after enumerating the depredations to which -travellers are subject on the road, completes the picture by the -following additional touches. "In all innes we have plentie of ale, -biere, and sundrie kinds of wine, and such is the capacitie of some of -them, that they are able to lodge two hundred or three hundred persons, -and their horsses at ease, and thereto with a verie short warning make -such provision for their diet, as to him that is unacquainted withall -may seeme to be incredible. And it is a world to see how ech owner of -them contendeth with other for goodnesse of interteinment of their -ghests, as about finesse and change of linnen, furniture of bedding, -beautie of rooms, service at the table, costlinesse of plate, strength -of drinke, varietie of wines, or well using of horsses. Finallie there -is not so much omitted among them as the gorgeousnes of their verie -signes at their doores, wherein some doo consume thirtie or fortie -pounds, a meere vanitie in mine opinion, but so vaine will they needs -be, and that not onelie to give some outward token <!-- Page 218 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_218" id="Page_i_218">[218]</a></span>of the inne keeper's -welth, but also to procure good ghests to the frequenting of their -houses, in hope there to be well used."<a name="FNanchor_i_218:A_376" id="FNanchor_i_218:A_376"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_218:A_376" class="fnanchor">[218:A]</a></p> - -<p>"As soone as a passenger comes to an inne," remarks Moryson, "the -servants run to him, and one takes his horse and walkes him till he be -cold, then rubs him down, and gives him meat. Another servant gives the -passenger his private chamber, and kindles his fire; the third pulls off -his bootes and makes them cleane; then the host or hostess visits him; -and if he will eate with the hoste, or at a common table with others, -his meale will cost him sixpence, or in some places but four-pence; but -if he will eate in his chamber he commands what meate he will according -to his appetite; yea the kitchin is open to him to order the meate to be -dressed as he likes beste. After having eaten what he pleases, he may, -with credit, set by a part for the next day's breakfast. His bill will -then be written for him, and, should he object to any charge, the host -is ready to alter it."<a name="FNanchor_i_218:B_377" id="FNanchor_i_218:B_377"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_218:B_377" class="fnanchor">[218:B]</a></p> - -<p>Taverns and ale-houses were frequently distinguished in Shakspeare's -time by a <i>bush or tuft of ivy</i> at their doors; a custom which more -particularly prevailed in Warwickshire, and is still practised, remarks -Mr. Ritson, in this county "at statute-hirings, wakes, &c. by people who -sell ale at no other time."<a name="FNanchor_i_218:C_378" id="FNanchor_i_218:C_378"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_218:C_378" class="fnanchor">[218:C]</a> The poet alludes to this observance -in his Epilogue to <i>As You Like It</i>:—"If it be true," he says, "that -<i>Good wine needs no bush</i>, 'tis true, that a good play needs no -epilogue: <i>Yet to good wine they do use good bushes</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_218:D_379" id="FNanchor_i_218:D_379"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_218:D_379" class="fnanchor">[218:D]</a> Several -old plays mention the same custom, and Bishop Earle, in his -<i>Microcosmography</i>, tells us that "A Tavern is a degree, or (if you -will) a pair of stairs above an ale-house, where men are drunk with more -credit and apology. If the vintner's rose be at door, it is a sign -sufficient, but the absence of this is supplied by the -<i>ivy-bush</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_218:E_380" id="FNanchor_i_218:E_380"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_218:E_380" class="fnanchor">[218:E]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 219 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_219" id="Page_i_219">[219]</a></span>That houses of this description, the whole furniture of which, -according to Earle, consisted but of a stool, a table, and a <a name="FNanchor_i_219:A_381" id="FNanchor_i_219:A_381"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_219:A_381" class="fnanchor">[219:A]</a>pot -de chambre, were as numerous two hundred years ago as at present, and -the scene of the same disgusting and intemperate orgies, is but too -apparent from the invective of Robert Burton:—"See the mischief," he -exclaims; "many men knowing that merry company is the only medicine -against melancholy, will therefore neglect their business, and in -another extream, spend all their dayes among good fellows, in a Tavern -or an Ale-house, and know not otherwise how to bestow their time but in -drinking; malt-worms, men fishes, or water-snakes, <i>Qui bibunt solum -ranarum more, nihil comedentes</i>, like so many frogs in a puddle. 'Tis -their sole exercise to eat, and drink; to sacrifice to <i>Volupia</i>, -<i>Rumina</i>, <i>Edulica</i>, <i>Potina</i>, <i>Mellona</i>, is all their religion. They -wish for <i>Philoxenus'</i> neck, <i>Jupiter's trinoctium</i>, and that the sun -would stand still as in <i>Joshua's</i> time, to satisfie their lust, that -they might <i>dies noctesque pergræcari et bibere</i>. Flourishing wits, and -men of good parts, good fashion, and good worth, basely prostitute -themselves to every rogues company, to take tobacco and drink, to roar -and sing scurrile songs in base places.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Invenies aliquem cum percussore jacentem,</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Permistum nautis, aut furibus, aut fugitivis.</i>"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Juvenal.</p> - -<p>"What <i>Thomas Erastus</i> objects to <i>Paracelsus</i>, that he would lye -drinking all day long with carr-men and tapsters in a Brothel-house, is -too frequent amongst us, with men of better note: like <i>Timocreon</i> of -<i>Rhodes</i>, <i>multa bibens, et multa vorans</i>, &c. They drown their wits and -seeth their brains in ale."<a name="FNanchor_i_219:B_382" id="FNanchor_i_219:B_382"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_219:B_382" class="fnanchor">[219:B]</a></p> - -<p>Few ceremonies are better calculated to throw light on the manners and -customs of a country, than those attendant on <span class="allcapsc">WEDDINGS</span> and <span class="allcapsc">BURIALS</span>, and -with these, as they occurred in <i>rural life</i>, during the reigns of -Elizabeth and James, we shall close this chapter.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 220 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_220" id="Page_i_220">[220]</a></span>The style of courtship which prevailed in Shakspeare's time, may be -drawn, with considerable accuracy, from the numerous love-dialogues -interspersed throughout his plays. From these specimens not much -disparity, either in language or manner, appears to have existed between -the addresses of the courtier and the country-gentleman; the female -character was indeed, at this period, greatly less important than at -present; the blandishments of gallantry, and the elegancies of -compliment were little known, and consequently the expression of the -tender passion admitted of neither much variety nor much polish. The -amatory dialogues of Hamlet, Hotspur, and Henry the Fifth, are not more -refined than those which occur between Master Fenton and Anne Page, in -the <i>Merry Wives of Windsor</i>; between Lorenzo and Jessica in the -<i>Merchant of Venice</i>, and between Orlando and Rosalind, in <i>As You Like -It</i>. These last, which may be considered as instances taken from the -middle class of life, together with a few drawn from the lower rank of -rural manners, such as the courtship of Touchstone and Audrey, and of -Silvius and Phœbe, in <i>As You Like It</i>, will sufficiently apply to the -illustration of our present subject; but it must be remarked that, in -point of fancy, sentiment, and simplicity, the most pleasing love-scenes -in Shakspeare are those that take place between Romeo and Juliet, and -between Florizel and Perdita; the latter especially present a most -lovely and engaging picture, on the female side, of pastoral naïveté and -sweetness; and will, in part, serve to show, how far, in the opinion of -Shakspeare, refinement was, at that time, compatible, as a just -representation of nature, with cottage-life.</p> - -<p><i>Betrothing</i> or <i>plighting of troth</i>, as an <i>affiance</i> or <i>promise of -future marriage</i>, was still, there is reason to suppose, often observed -in Shakspeare's time, especially in the country, and as a <i>private</i> -rite. The interchange of rings was the ceremony used on this occasion, -to which the poet refers in his <i>Two Gentlemen of Verona</i>:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Julia.</i> Keep this remembrance for thy Julia's sake. (<i>Giving a ring.</i>)</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Pro.</i> <span class="shalf">Why then we'll make exchange; here take you this.</span></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Jul.</i> <span class="shalf">And seal the bargain with a holy kiss."</span><a name="FNanchor_i_220:A_383" id="FNanchor_i_220:A_383"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_220:A_383" class="fnanchor">[220:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 221 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_221" id="Page_i_221">[221]</a></span>The <i>public</i> celebration of this contract, or what was termed -<i>espousals</i><a name="FNanchor_i_221:A_384" id="FNanchor_i_221:A_384"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_221:A_384" class="fnanchor">[221:A]</a>, was formerly in this country, as well as upon the -continent, a constant preliminary to marriage. It usually took place in -the church, and though nearly, if not altogether, disused, towards the -close of the fifteenth century, is minutely described by Shakspeare in -his <i>Twelfth Night</i>. Olivia, addressing Sebastian, says,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Now go with me, and with this holy man,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Into the chantry by: there <i>before him</i></div> - <div class="line indentq">And underneath that <i>consecrated roof</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Plight me the full assurance of your faith</i>;</div> - <div class="line indentq">That my most jealous and too doubtful soul</div> - <div class="line indentq">May live at peace. He shall conceal it</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whiles you are willing it shall come to note;</div> - <div class="line indentq">What time we will our <i>celebration</i> keep</div> - <div class="line indentq">According to my birth."<a name="FNanchor_i_221:B_385" id="FNanchor_i_221:B_385"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_221:B_385" class="fnanchor">[221:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>A description of what passed at this ceremony of espousals or -betrothing, is given by the priest himself in the first scene of the -subsequent act, who calls it</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"A contract of eternal bond of love</div> - <div class="line indentq">Confirm'd by <i>mutual joinder of your hands</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Attested by the <i>holy close of lips</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Strengthened by <i>interchangement of your rings</i>;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And all the ceremony of this compact</div> - <div class="line indentq">Seal'd in my function, by <i>my testimony</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_221:C_386" id="FNanchor_i_221:C_386"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_221:C_386" class="fnanchor">[221:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>These four observances, therefore; 1st, <i>the joining of hands</i>; 2dly, -the <i>mutually given kiss</i>; 3dly, the <i>interchangement of rings</i>; and -4thly, the <i>testimony of witnesses</i>: appear to have been essential parts -of the public ceremony of betrothing or espousals, which usually -preceded <!-- Page 222 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_222" id="Page_i_222">[222]</a></span>the marriage rite by the term of forty days. The oath indeed, -administered on this occasion, was to the following effect:—"You swear -by God and his holy saints herein and by all the saints of Paradise, -that you will take this woman whose name is N. to wife within forty -days, if holy church will permit." The priest then joining their hands, -said—"And thus you affiance yourselves;" to which the parties -answered,—"Yes, sir."<a name="FNanchor_i_222:A_387" id="FNanchor_i_222:A_387"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_222:A_387" class="fnanchor">[222:A]</a> So frequently has Shakspeare referred to -this custom of troth-plighting, that, either privately or publickly, we -must conclude it to have been of common usage in his days: thus, in -<i>Measure for Measure</i>, Mariana says to Angelo,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"This is the <i>hand</i>, which with a <i>vow'd contract</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Was fast belock'd in thine:"<a name="FNanchor_i_222:B_388" id="FNanchor_i_222:B_388"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_222:B_388" class="fnanchor">[222:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and then addressing the duke, she exclaims,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"As there is sense in truth, and truth in virtue,</div> - <div class="line indentq">I am <i>affianc'd</i> this man's wife."<a name="FNanchor_i_222:C_389" id="FNanchor_i_222:C_389"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_222:C_389" class="fnanchor">[222:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>So in <i>King John</i>, King Philip, and the Arch-duke of Austria, -encouraging the connection of the Dauphin and Blanch:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>K. Phil.</i> It likes us well;—Young princes, <i>close your hands</i>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Aust.</i> And your <i>lips</i> too; for, I am well assur'd,</div> - <div class="line i3 indentq">That I did so, when I was first <i>assur'd</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_222:D_390" id="FNanchor_i_222:D_390"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_222:D_390" class="fnanchor">[222:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>One immoral consequence arising from this custom of public betrothing -was, that the parties, depending upon the priest as a witness, -frequently cohabited as man and wife. It would appear, indeed, from a -passage in Shakspeare, that the ceremony of troth-plight, at <!-- Page 223 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_223" id="Page_i_223">[223]</a></span>least -among the lower orders, was considered as a sufficient warrant for -intercourse of this kind; for he makes the jealous Leontes, in his -<i>Winter's Tale</i>, exclaim,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"My wife's a hobby horse; deserves a name</div> - <div class="line indentq">As rank as any flax-wench, that <i>puts to</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Before her troth-plight</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_223:A_391" id="FNanchor_i_223:A_391"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_223:A_391" class="fnanchor">[223:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>We must not forget, however, to remark, while on the subject of -betrothing, that a singular proof of delicacy and attention to the fair -sex, on this occasion, during the sixteenth century, has been quoted by -Mr. Strutt, from a manuscript in the Harleian library, and which runs -thus: "By the civil law, whatever is given <i>ex sponsalitia largitate, -betwixt them that are promised in marriage</i>, hath a condition, for the -most part silent, that it may be had again if marriage ensue not; but if -the man should have had a kiss for his money, he should lose one half of -what he gave. Yet with the woman it is otherwise; for kissing or not -kissing, whatever she gave, she may have it again."<a name="FNanchor_i_223:B_392" id="FNanchor_i_223:B_392"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_223:B_392" class="fnanchor">[223:B]</a></p> - -<p>Concerning the customs attendant on the celebration of the <i>marriage -rite</i>, among the middle and inferior ranks, in the country, during the -period which we are endeavouring to illustrate, much information, of the -description we want, may be found in Shakspeare and his contemporaries.</p> - -<p>The procession accompanying a rural bride, of some consequence, or of -the middle rank, to church, has been thus given us:—"The bride being -attired in a gown of sheep's russet, and a kirtle of fine worsted, her -hair attired with a 'billement of gold, and her hair as yellow as gold -hanging down behind her, which was curiously combed and plaited, she was -led to church between two sweet boys, with bride laces and rosemary tied -about their silken sleeves. There was a fair bride-cup of silver, gilt, -carried before her, wherein was a goodly branch of rosemary, gilded very -fair, hung about with silken ribbands <!-- Page 224 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_224" id="Page_i_224">[224]</a></span>of all colours. Musicians came -next, then a groupe of maidens, some bearing great bride-cakes, others -garlands of wheat finely gilded; and thus they passed on to the -church."<a name="FNanchor_i_224:A_393" id="FNanchor_i_224:A_393"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_224:A_393" class="fnanchor">[224:A]</a></p> - -<p>Rosemary being supposed to strengthen the memory, was considered as an -emblem of fidelity, and, at this period, was almost as constantly used -at weddings as at funerals: "There's rosemary," says Ophelia, "that's -for remembrance."<a name="FNanchor_i_224:B_394" id="FNanchor_i_224:B_394"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_224:B_394" class="fnanchor">[224:B]</a> Many passages, illustrative of this usage at -weddings, might be taken from our old plays, during the reign of James -I., but two or three will suffice.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">—— "will I be <i>wed</i> this morning,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thou shalt not be there, nor once be graced with</div> - <div class="line indentq">A piece of <i>rosemary</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_224:C_395" id="FNanchor_i_224:C_395"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_224:C_395" class="fnanchor">[224:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Were the <i>rosemary</i> branches dipp'd, and all</div> - <div class="line indentq">The hippocras and cakes eat and drunk off;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Were these two arms encompass'd with the hands</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of bachelors to lead me to the church."<a name="FNanchor_i_224:D_396" id="FNanchor_i_224:D_396"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_224:D_396" class="fnanchor">[224:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Phis.</i> Your master is to be married to-day?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Trim.</i> Else all this <i>rosemary</i> is lost."<a name="FNanchor_i_224:E_397" id="FNanchor_i_224:E_397"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_224:E_397" class="fnanchor">[224:E]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of the peculiarities attending the marriage-ceremony within the church, -a pretty good idea may be formed from the ludicrous wedding <!-- Page 225 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_225" id="Page_i_225">[225]</a></span>of -Catharine and Petruchio in the <i>Taming of the Shrew</i>. It appears from -this description, that it was usual to drink wine at the altar -immediately after the service was closed, a custom which was followed by -the Bridegroom's saluting the bride.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"He calls for wine:—A health, quoth he; as if</div> - <div class="line indentq">He had been aboard, carousing to his mates</div> - <div class="line indentq">After a storm:—Quaff'd off the muscadel,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And threw the sops all in the sexton's face;—</div> - <div class="line indentq">This done, he took the bride about the neck;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And kiss'd her lips with such a clamorous smack,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That, at the parting, all the church did echo."<a name="FNanchor_i_225:A_398" id="FNanchor_i_225:A_398"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_225:A_398" class="fnanchor">[225:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In the account of the procession just quoted, we find that a bride-cup -was carried before the bride; out of this all the persons present, -together with the new-married couple, were expected to drink in the -church. This custom was prevalent, in Shakspeare's time, among every -description of people, from the regal head to the thorough-paced rustic; -accordingly we are informed, on the testimony of an assisting witness, -that the same ceremony took place at the marriage of the Elector -Palatine to King James's daughter, on the 14th day of February, 1612-13: -there was "in conclusion," he relates, "a joy pronounced by the king and -queen, and seconded with congratulation of the lords there present, -which crowned with draughts of <i>Ippocras</i> out of a <i>great golden bowle</i>, -as an health to the prosperity of the marriage, (began by the prince -Palatine and answered by the princess.) After which were served up by -six or seven barons so many bowles filled with wafers, so much of that -work was consummate."<a name="FNanchor_i_225:B_399" id="FNanchor_i_225:B_399"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_225:B_399" class="fnanchor">[225:B]</a></p> - -<p>This <i>bride-cup</i> or <i>bowl</i> was, therefore, frequently termed the -<i>knitting</i> <!-- Page 226 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_226" id="Page_i_226">[226]</a></span>or <i>contracting cup</i>: thus in Ben Jonson's <i>Magnetick Lady</i>, -<i>Compass</i> says to <i>Practise</i>, after enquiring for a licence,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">———————— "Mind</div> - <div class="line">The Parson's pint t'engage him—</div> - <div class="line">A <i>knitting-cup</i> there must be;"<a name="FNanchor_i_226:A_400" id="FNanchor_i_226:A_400"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_226:A_400" class="fnanchor">[226:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Middleton, in one of his Comedies, gives us the following line:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Even when my lip touch'd the <i>contracting cup</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_226:B_401" id="FNanchor_i_226:B_401"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_226:B_401" class="fnanchor">[226:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The salutation of the Bride at the altar was a very ancient custom, and -is referred to by several of the contemporaries of Shakspeare; Marston, -for instance, represents one of his female characters saying,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The <i>kisse thou gav'st me in the church</i>, here take."<a name="FNanchor_i_226:C_402" id="FNanchor_i_226:C_402"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_226:C_402" class="fnanchor">[226:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It was still customary at this period, to bless the bridal bed at night, -in order to dissipate the supposed illusions of the Devil; a -superstitious rite of which Mr. Douce has favoured us with the form, -taken from the Manual for the use of Salisbury in the 13th<a name="FNanchor_i_226:D_403" id="FNanchor_i_226:D_403"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_226:D_403" class="fnanchor">[226:D]</a> -century. It is noticed by Chaucer also in his <i>Marchantes Tale</i>, and is -mentioned as one of the marriage-ceremonies in the "Articles ordained by -King Henry VII. for the regulation of his Household."<a name="FNanchor_i_226:E_404" id="FNanchor_i_226:E_404"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_226:E_404" class="fnanchor">[226:E]</a> Shakspeare -alludes to this ridiculous fashion in the person of Oberon, who tells -his fairies,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"To the best <i>bride-bed</i> will we,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Which by us shall blessed be."<a name="FNanchor_i_226:F_405" id="FNanchor_i_226:F_405"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_226:F_405" class="fnanchor">[226:F]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 227 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_227" id="Page_i_227">[227]</a></span>To this brief description of marriage-ceremonies, it will be necessary -to subjoin some account of those which accompanied the <i>mere rustic</i> -wedding, or <i>Bride-ale</i>; and fortunately we have a most curious picture -of the kind preserved by Laneham, in his <i>Letter on the Queens -Entertainment at Kenelworth Castle</i>, in 1575, one part of which was the -representation of a <i>country Bride-ale</i> set in order in the Tylt-yard, -and exhibited in the great court of the castle. This grotesque piece of -pageantry, a faithful draught of rural costume, as it then existed, must -have afforded Her Majesty no small degree of amusement.</p> - -<p>"Thus were they marshalled. First, all the lustie lads and bold -bachelors of the parish, suitably every wight with his blue buckram -bridelace upon a branch of green broom (cause rosemary is scant there) -tied on his left arm (for a that side lies the heart), and his alder -poll for a spear in his right hand, in martial order ranged on afore, -two and two in a rank: Some with a hat, some in a cap, some a coat, some -a jerkin, some for lightness in his doublet and his hose, clean trust -with a point afore: Some boots and no spurs, he spurs and no boots, and -he neither one nor t'other: One a saddle, another a pail or a pannel -fastened with a cord, for girts wear geazon: And these to the number of -a sixteen wight riding men and well beseem: But the bridegroom foremost, -in his father's tawny worsted jacket (for his friends were fain that he -should be a bridegroom before the <i>Queen</i>), a fair straw hat with a -capital crown, steeple-wise on his head: a pair of harvest gloves on his -hands, as a sign of good husbandry: A pen and inkhorn at his back; for -he would be known to be bookish: lame of a leg, that in his youth was -broken at foot-ball: Well beloved yet of his mother, that lent him a new -mufflar for a napkin that was tied to his girdle for losing. It was no -small sport to mark this minion in his full appointment, that through -good schoolation became as formal in his action, as had he been a -bridegroom indeed; with this special grace by the way, that ever as he -would have framed him the better countenance, with the worse face he -looked.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 228 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_228" id="Page_i_228">[228]</a></span>"Well, Sir, after these horsemen, a lively morrice-dance, according to -the ancient manner; six dancers, maid-marian, and the fool. Then three -pretty puzels, (maids or damsels from <i>pucelle</i>) as bright as a breast -of bacon, of a thirty year old a piece, that carried three special -spice-cakes of a bushel of wheat (they had it by measure out of my -<i>Lords</i> backhouse), before the bride: Cicely with set countinance, and -lips so demurely simpering, as it had been a mare cropping of a thistle. -After these, a lovely lubber woorts<a name="FNanchor_i_228:A_406" id="FNanchor_i_228:A_406"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_228:A_406" class="fnanchor">[228:A]</a>, freckle-faced, red-headed, -clean trussed in his doublet and his hose taken up now indeed by -commission, for that he was so loth to come forward, for reverence -belike of his new cut canvass doublet; and would by his good will have -been but a gazer, but found to be a meet actor for his office: That was -to bear the bride-cup, formed of a sweet sucket barrel, a faire-turned -foot set to it, all seemly besilvered and parcel gilt, adorned with a -beautiful branch of broom, gayly begilded for rosemary; from which, two -broad bride laces of red and yellow buckeram begilded, and gallantly -streaming by such wind as there was, for he carried it aloft: This -gentle cup-bearer, yet had his freckled physiognomy somewhat unhappily -infested as he went, by the busy flies, that flocked about the bride-cup -for the sweetness of the sucket that it savoured on; but he, like a tall -fellow, withstood their malice stoutly (see what manhood may do), beat -them away, killed them by scores, stood to his charge, and marched on in -good order.</p> - -<p>"Then followed the worshipful bride, led (after the country manner) -between two ancient parishioners, honest townsmen. But a stale stallion, -and a well spred, (hot as the weather was) God wot, and ill smelling was -she; a thirty-five year old, of colour brown-bay not very beautiful -indeed, but ugly, foul ill favoured; yet marvellous vain of the office, -because she heard say she should dance before the <i>Queen</i>, in which feat -she thought she would foot it as finely as the <!-- Page 229 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_229" id="Page_i_229">[229]</a></span>best: Well, after this -bride, came there by two and two, a dozen damsels for bride-maids; that -for favor, attyre, for fashion and cleanliness, were as meet for such a -bride as a treen ladle for a porridge-pot; more (but for fear of -carrying all clean) had been appointed, but these few were enow."<a name="FNanchor_i_229:A_407" id="FNanchor_i_229:A_407"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_229:A_407" class="fnanchor">[229:A]</a></p> - -<p>From a passage in Ben Jonson's <i>Tale of a Tub</i>, we learn that the dress -of the downright rustic, on his wedding day, was as follows:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"He had on a lether doublet, with long points,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And a paire of pin'd-up breech's, like pudding bags:</div> - <div class="line indentq">With yellow stockings, and his hat turn'd up</div> - <div class="line indentq">With a silver claspe, on his leere side."<a name="FNanchor_i_229:B_408" id="FNanchor_i_229:B_408"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_229:B_408" class="fnanchor">[229:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 230 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_230" id="Page_i_230">[230]</a></span>Of the ceremonies attendant on <i>Christenings</i>, it will be necessary to -mention two that prevailed at this period, and which have since fallen -into disuse. Shakspeare, who generally transfers the customs of his own -times to those periods of which he is treating, represents Henry VIII. -saying to Cranmer, whom he had appointed Godfather to Elizabeth,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Come, come, my lord, you'd spare your <i>spoons</i>;"<a name="FNanchor_i_230:A_409" id="FNanchor_i_230:A_409"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_230:A_409" class="fnanchor">[230:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and again in the dialogue between the porter and his man:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"<i>Port.</i> On my Christian conscience, this one christening will -beget a thousand; here will be father, godfather, and all -together.</p> - -<p>"<i>Man.</i> The <i>spoons</i> will be the bigger, sir."<a name="FNanchor_i_230:B_410" id="FNanchor_i_230:B_410"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_230:B_410" class="fnanchor">[230:B]</a></p> -</div> - -<p>In the days of Elizabeth and her predecessor, Mary, it was usual for the -sponsors at christenings to present the child with silver spoons gilt, -on the handles of which were engraved the figures of the apostles, -whence they were commonly called <i>apostle-spoons</i>: thus Ben Jonson in -<i>Bartholomew Fair</i>; "and all this for the hope of two <i>apostle-spoons</i>, -to suffer."<a name="FNanchor_i_230:C_411" id="FNanchor_i_230:C_411"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_230:C_411" class="fnanchor">[230:C]</a> The opulent frequently gave a complete set of spoons, -namely, the twelve apostles; those less rich, selected the four -evangelists, and the poorer class were content to offer a single spoon, -or, at most, two, on which were carved their favourite saint or saints.</p> - -<p>Among the higher ranks, in the reign of Henry VIII. the practice at -christenings was to give <i>cups</i> or bowls of gold or silver. Accordingly -Holinshed, describing the christening of Elizabeth, relates that "the -archbishop of Canturburie gave to the princesse a standing cup of gold: -the dutches of Norfolke gave to her a standing cup of gold, fretted with -pearle: the marchionesse of Dorset gave three gilt bolles, pounced with -a cover: and the marchionesse of Excester gave three standing bolles -graven, all gilt with a cover."<a name="FNanchor_i_230:D_412" id="FNanchor_i_230:D_412"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_230:D_412" class="fnanchor">[230:D]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 231 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_231" id="Page_i_231">[231]</a></span>In the Harleian MS. Vol. 6395, occurs a scarce pamphlet, entitled -<i>Merry Passages and Jeasts</i>, from which Dr. Birch transcribed the -following curious anecdote, as illustrative both of the custom of -offering spoons, and of the intimacy which subsisted between Shakspeare -and Jonson. "Shakspeare," says the author of this collection, who names -<i>Donne</i> as his authority for the story, "was godfather to one of Ben -Jonson's children, and after the christening, being in deepe study, -Jonson came to cheer him up, and ask'd him why he was so melancholy: No -'faith Ben, says he, not I; but I have been considering a great while -what should be the fittest gift for me to bestow upon my godchild, and I -have resolved at last. I pr'ythee what? says he.—I'faith, Ben, I'll -give him a douzen good <i>latten</i> (Latin) <i>spoons</i>, and thou shalt -translate them."<a name="FNanchor_i_231:A_413" id="FNanchor_i_231:A_413"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_231:A_413" class="fnanchor">[231:A]</a> It was not until the close of the seventeenth -century, that this practice of spoon-giving at christenings ceased as a -general custom.</p> - -<p>Another baptismal ceremony, now laid aside, was the use of the chrisome, -or white cloth, which was put on the child after the performance of the -sacred rite. To this usage Dame Quickly alludes in describing the death -of Falstaff, though, in accordance with her character, she corrupts the -term: "'A made a finer end, and went away, an it had been any <i>christom</i> -child."<a name="FNanchor_i_231:B_414" id="FNanchor_i_231:B_414"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_231:B_414" class="fnanchor">[231:B]</a></p> - -<p>Previous to the Reformation, oil was used, as well as water, in baptism, -or rather a kind of mixture of oil and balsam, which in the Greek was -called Χρισμα; hence the white cloth worn on this occasion, as an emblem -of purity, was denominated the <i>chrismale</i> or <i>chrism-cloth</i>. During the -era of using this holy unction, with which the priest made the sign of -the cross, on the breast, shoulders, and head of the child, the -<i>chrismale</i> was worn only for seven days, as symbolical, it is said, of -the seven ages of life; but after the Reformation, the oil being -omitted, it was kept on the child until the purification <!-- Page 232 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_232" id="Page_i_232">[232]</a></span>of the mother, -when, after the ceremony of churching, it was returned to the minister, -by whom it had been originally supplied. If the child died during the -month of wearing the chrisome-cloth, it was buried in it, and children -thus situated were called in the bills of mortality <i>chrisoms</i>. This -practice, which was common in the days of Shakspeare, continued in use -for nearly a century afterwards; for Blount in his <i>Glossography</i>, 1678, -explains the word <i>chrisoms</i> as meaning such children as die within the -month of birth, because during that time they use to wear the -chrisom-cloth.<a name="FNanchor_i_232:A_415" id="FNanchor_i_232:A_415"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_232:A_415" class="fnanchor">[232:A]</a></p> - -<p>We shall now proceed to consider some of the peculiarities accompanying -the <i>Funeral Rites</i> of this period; and, in the first place, we shall -notice the <i>passing-bell</i>. This was rung at an early era of the church, -to solicit the prayers of all good christians for the welfare of the -soul <i>passing</i> into another world: thus Durandus, who wrote towards the -close of the twelfth century, says: "Verum <i>aliquo moriente</i>, campanæ -debent pulsari, <i>ut populus hoc audiens, oret pro illo</i>:" "when any one -is <i>dying</i>, the bells must be tolled, <i>that the people may put up their -prayers for him</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_232:B_416" id="FNanchor_i_232:B_416"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_232:B_416" class="fnanchor">[232:B]</a> This custom of ringing a bell for a soul just -departing, which is <i>now</i> relinquished, the bell only tolling after -death, we have reason to believe was still observed in Shakspeare's -time; for he makes Northumberland in <i>King Henry IV.</i> remark on the -"bringer of unwelcome news," that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——————————— "his tongue</div> - <div class="line">Sounds ever after as a sullen bell,</div> - <div class="line">Remember'd knolling a <i>departing</i> friend."<a name="FNanchor_i_232:C_417" id="FNanchor_i_232:C_417"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_232:C_417" class="fnanchor">[232:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Another benefit formerly supposed to be derived from the sounding of the -passing-bell, and which, from the scene of Cardinal Beaufort's death, -was probably a part of Shakspeare's creed, consisted in the discomfiture -of the evil spirits, who were supposed to surround the bed of the dying -person; and who, terrified by the tolling of the <!-- Page 233 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_233" id="Page_i_233">[233]</a></span>holy bell, were -compelled to keep aloof; accordingly Durandus mentions it as one of the -effects of bell-ringing, <i>ut dæmones timentes<a name="FNanchor_i_233:A_418" id="FNanchor_i_233:A_418"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_233:A_418" class="fnanchor">[233:A]</a> fugiant</i>; and in -the Golden Legende, printed by Wynkyn de Worde 1498, it is observed that -"the evill spirytes that ben in the regyon of the ayre, doubte moche -when they here the bells rongen: and this is the cause why the belles -ben rongen—to the ende that the feindes and wycked spirytes shold be -abashed and flee."<a name="FNanchor_i_233:B_419" id="FNanchor_i_233:B_419"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_233:B_419" class="fnanchor">[233:B]</a></p> - -<p>That these opinions, indeed, relative to the <i>passing-bell</i>, continued -to prevail, as things of general belief, during the greater part of the -seventeenth century, is evident from the works of the pious Bishop -Taylor, in which are to be found several forms of prayer for the souls -of the <i>departing</i>, to be offered up <i>during the tolling of the -passing-bell</i>. In these the violence of Hell is deprecated, and it is -petitioned, that the spirits of darkness may be driven far from the -couch of the dying sinner.<a name="FNanchor_i_233:C_420" id="FNanchor_i_233:C_420"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_233:C_420" class="fnanchor">[233:C]</a></p> - -<p>So common, indeed, was this practice, that almost every individual had -an exclamation or form of prayer ready to be recited on hearing the -passing-bell, whence the following proverbial rhyme:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"When the Bell begins to toll</div> - <div class="line indentq">Cry, <i>Lord have mercy on the soul</i>."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In the <i>Vittoria Corombona</i> of Webster, this custom is alluded to in a -manner singularly wild and striking. Cornelia says:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Cor.</i> I'll give you a saying which my grand-mother</div> - <div class="line i2q">Was wont, when she <i>heard the bell</i>, to sing o'er unto her lute.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Ham.</i> Do an you will, do.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Cor.</i> Call for the robin-red-breast, and the wren,</div> - <div class="line i2q">Since o'er shady groves they hover,</div> - <div class="line i2q">And with leaves and flowers do cover</div> - <div class="line i2q">The friendless bodies of unburied men.</div> - <div class="line i2q"><!-- Page 234 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_234" id="Page_i_234">[234]</a></span>Call unto his funeral dole</div> - <div class="line i2q">The ant, the field-mouse, and the mole,</div> - <div class="line i2q">To raise him hillocks that shall keep him warm,</div> - <div class="line i2q">And (when gay tombs are robb'd) sustain no harm,</div> - <div class="line i2q">But keep the wolf far thence: that's foe to men,</div> - <div class="line i2q">For with his nails he'll dig them up again."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Ancient British Drama</i>, vol. iii. p. 41.</p> - -<p>Even so late as the commencement of the eighteenth century, it appears -that this custom of praying during the passing-bell still lingered in -some parts of the country; for Mr. Bourne, the first edition of whose -book was published in 1725, after vindicating the practice, adds,—"I -know several religious families in this place (Newcastle), and I hope it -is so in other places too, who always observe it, whenever the -melancholy season offers; and therefore it will at least sometimes -happen, when we put up our prayers constantly at the tolling of the -bell, that we shall pray for a soul departing. And though it be granted, -that it will oftener happen otherwise, as the regular custom is so -little followed; yet that can be no harmful praying for the -dead."<a name="FNanchor_i_234:A_421" id="FNanchor_i_234:A_421"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_234:A_421" class="fnanchor">[234:A]</a></p> - -<p>Immediately after death a ceremony commenced, the most offensive part of -which has not been laid aside for more than half a century. This was -called the <i>Licke</i> or <i>Lake-wake</i>, a term derived from the Anglo-Saxon -<i>Lic</i> a corpse, and <i>Wæcce</i> a <i>wake</i> or <i>watching</i>. It originally -consisted of a meeting of the friends and relations of the deceased, for -the purpose of watching by the body from the moment it ceased to -breathe, to its exportation to the grave; a duty which was at first -performed with solemnity and piety, accompanied by the singing of psalms -and the recitation of the virtues of the dead. It speedily, however, -degenerated into a scene of levity, of feasting, and intoxication; to -such a degree, indeed, that it was thought necessary at a provincial -synod held in London during the reign of Edward III. to issue a canon -for the restriction of the watchers to the near relations and most -intimate friends of the deceased, and only to such of these as offered -to repeat a fixed number of psalms <!-- Page 235 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_235" id="Page_i_235">[235]</a></span>for the benefit of his soul.<a name="FNanchor_i_235:A_422" id="FNanchor_i_235:A_422"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_235:A_422" class="fnanchor">[235:A]</a> -To this regulation little attention, we apprehend, was paid; for the -Lake-wake appears to have been observed as a meeting of revelry during -the whole of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; and Mr. Bourne, so -late as the year 1725, declares, that it was <i>then</i> "a scene of sport -and drinking and lewdness."<a name="FNanchor_i_235:B_423" id="FNanchor_i_235:B_423"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_235:B_423" class="fnanchor">[235:B]</a></p> - -<p>In Scotland during the period of which we are treating, and even down to -the rebellion of 1745, the Lake-wake was observed with still greater -form and effect than in England, though not often with a better moral -result. Mr. Pennant describing it, when speaking of the Highland -customs, under the mistaken etymology of <i>Late</i>-wake, says, that the -evening after the death of any person, the relations or friends of the -deceased met at the house, attended by a bag-pipe or fiddle; the nearest -of kin, be it wife, son, or daughter, opened a melancholy ball, dancing -and <i>greeting</i>, i. e. crying violently at the same time; and this -continued till day-light, but with such gambols and frolics among the -younger part of the company, that the loss which occasioned them was -often more than supplied by the consequences of that night.<a name="FNanchor_i_235:C_424" id="FNanchor_i_235:C_424"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_235:C_424" class="fnanchor">[235:C]</a> Mrs. -Grant, however, in her lately published work on the Superstitions of the -Highlanders, has given us a more favourable account of this ancient -custom, which she has connected with a wild traditionary tale of much -moral interest.</p> - -<p>A peasant of Glen Banchar, a dreary and secluded recess in the central -Highlands, "was fortunate in all respects but one. He had three very -fine children, who all, in succession, died after having been weaned, -though, before, they gave every promise of health and firmness. Both -parents were much afflicted; but the father's grief was clamorous and -unmanly. They resolved that the next should be suckled for two years, -hoping, by this, to avoid the repetition of such a misfortune. They did -so; and the child, by living longer, only took <!-- Page 236 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_236" id="Page_i_236">[236]</a></span>a firmer hold of their -affections, and furnished more materials for sorrowful recollection. At -the close of the second year, he followed his brothers; and there were -no bounds to the affliction of the parents.</p> - -<p>"There are, however, in the economy of Highland life, certain duties and -courtesies which are indispensable; and for the omission of which -nothing can apologise. One of those is, to call in all their friends, -and feast them at the time of the greatest family distress. The death of -the child happened late in spring, when sheep were abroad in the more -inhabited <i>straths</i>; but, from the blasts in that high and stormy -region, were still confined to the cot. In a dismal snowy evening, the -man, unable to stifle his anguish, went out, lamenting aloud, for a lamb -to treat his friends with at the <i>Late-wake</i>. At the door of the cot, -however, he found a stranger standing before the entrance. He was -astonished, in such a night, to meet a person so far from any frequented -place. The stranger was plainly attired; but had a countenance -expressive of singular mildness and benevolence, and, addressing him in -a sweet, impressive voice, asked him what he did there amidst the -tempest. He was filled with awe, which he could not account for, and -said, that he came for a lamb. 'What kind of lamb do you mean to take?' -said the stranger. 'The very best I can find,' he replied, 'as it is to -entertain my friends; and I hope you will share of it.'—'Do your sheep -make any resistance when you take away the lamb, or any disturbance -afterwards?'—'Never,' was the answer. 'How differently am I treated!' -said the traveller. 'When I come to visit my sheepfold, I take, as I am -well entitled to do, the best lamb to myself; and my ears are filled -with the clamour of discontent by these ungrateful sheep, whom I have -fed, watched, and protected.'</p> - -<p>"He looked up in amaze; but the vision was fled. He went however for the -lamb, and brought it home with alacrity. He did more: It was the custom -of these times—a custom, indeed, which was not extinct till after -1745—for people to dance at <i>Late-wakes</i>. It was a mournful kind of -movement, but still it was dancing. The nearest relation of the deceased -often began the ceremony weeping; but did, <!-- Page 237 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_237" id="Page_i_237">[237]</a></span>however, begin it, to give -the example of fortitude and resignation. This man, on other occasions, -had been quite unequal to the performance of this duty; but at this time -he, immediately on coming in, ordered music to begin, and danced the -solitary measure appropriate to such occasions. The reader must have -very little sagacity or knowledge of the purport and consequences of -visions, who requires to be told, that many sons were born, lived, and -prospered afterwards in this reformed family."<a name="FNanchor_i_237:A_425" id="FNanchor_i_237:A_425"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_237:A_425" class="fnanchor">[237:A]</a></p> - -<p>Some vestiges of the <i>Lake-wake</i> still remain at this day in remote -parts of the north of England, especially at the period of <i>laying out</i>, -or <i>streeking</i> the corpse, as it is termed; and here it may be remarked, -that in the time of Shakspeare, the practice of <i>winding the corse</i>, or -putting on the <i>winding-sheet</i>, was a ceremony of a very impressive -kind, and accompanied by the solemn melody of dirges. Some lines -strikingly illustrative of this pious duty, are to be found in the -<i>White Devil; or Vittoria Corombona</i> of Webster, published in 1612. -Francisco, Duke of Florence, tells Flaminio,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"I found them <i>winding</i> of Marcello's corse;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And there is such a solemn melody,</div> - <div class="line indentq">'Tween doleful songs, tears, and sad elegies;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Such as old grandames, watching by the dead,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Were wont to outwear the nights with; that, believe me,</div> - <div class="line indentq">I had no eyes to guide me forth the room,</div> - <div class="line indentq">They were so o'ercharged with water.——</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="center"><i>Cornelia, the Moor, and three other ladies, discovered <span class="allcapsc">WINDING</span> -Marcello's corse. <span class="smcap">A Song.</span></i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2q"><i>Cor.</i> This rosemary is wither'd, pray get fresh;</div> - <div class="line i2q">I would have these herbs grow up in his grave,</div> - <div class="line i2q">When I am dead and rotten. Reach the bays,</div> - <div class="line i2q">I'll tie a garland here about his head:</div> - <div class="line i2q">'Twill keep my boy from lightning. This <i>sheet</i></div> - <div class="line i2q">I have kept this twenty years, and every day</div> - <div class="line i2q">Hallow'd it with my prayers; I did not think</div> - <div class="line i2q">He should have worn it."<a name="FNanchor_i_237:B_426" id="FNanchor_i_237:B_426"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_237:B_426" class="fnanchor">[237:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 238 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_238" id="Page_i_238">[238]</a></span>Another exquisite passage of this fine old poet alludes to the same -practice—a villain of ducal rank, expiring from the effect of poison, -exclaims,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"O thou soft natural death! that art joint-twin</div> - <div class="line indentq">To sweetest slumber!—no rough-bearded comet</div> - <div class="line indentq">Stares on thy mild departure; the dull owl</div> - <div class="line indentq">Beats not against thy casement; the hoarse wolf</div> - <div class="line indentq">Scents not thy carion. <i>Pity winds thy corse</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whilst horror waits on princes."<a name="FNanchor_i_238:A_427" id="FNanchor_i_238:A_427"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_238:A_427" class="fnanchor">[238:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>After the funeral was over, it was customary, among all ranks, to give a -cold, and sometimes a very ostentatious, entertainment to the mourners. -To this usage Shakspeare refers, in the character of Hamlet:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the <i>funeral bak'd meats</i></div> - <div class="line indentq">Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">a passage which Mr. Collins has illustrated by the following quotation -from a contemporary writer: "His corpes was with funerall pompe conveyed -to the church, and there sollemnly enterred, nothing omitted which -necessitie or custom could claime; a sermon, a <i>banquet</i>, and like -observations."<a name="FNanchor_i_238:B_428" id="FNanchor_i_238:B_428"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_238:B_428" class="fnanchor">[238:B]</a></p> - -<p>The funeral feast is not yet extinct; it may occasionally be met with in -places remote from the metropolis, and more particularly in the northern -counties among some of the wealthy yeomanry. Mr. Douce considers the -practice as "certainly borrowed from the <i>cœna feralis</i> of the Romans," -and adds, "in the North this feast is called an <i>arval</i> or <i>arvil -supper</i>; and the loaves that are sometimes distributed among the poor, -<i>arval-bread</i>. Not many years since one of these arvals was celebrated -in a village in Yorkshire at a public-house, the sign of which was the -family arms of a nobleman whose motto is <span class="smcap">Virtus post funera vivit</span>. The -undertaker, who, though a clerk, was no scholar, requested a gentleman -present to explain to <!-- Page 239 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_239" id="Page_i_239">[239]</a></span>him the meaning of these Latin words, which he -readily and facetiously did in the following manner; <i>Virtus</i>, a parish -clerk, <i>vivit</i>, lives well, <i>post funera</i>, at an <i>arval</i>. The latter -word is apparently derived from some lost Teutonic term that indicated a -funeral pile on which the body was burned in times of Paganism."<a name="FNanchor_i_239:A_429" id="FNanchor_i_239:A_429"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_239:A_429" class="fnanchor">[239:A]</a></p> - -<p>A few observations must still be added on the pleasing, though now -nearly obsolete, practice of carrying ever-greens and garlands at -funerals, and of decorating the grave with flowers. There is something -so strikingly emblematic, so delightfully soothing in these old rites, -that though the prototype be probably heathen, their disuse is to be -regretted. "The carrying of ivy, or laurel, or rosemary, or some of -those ever-greens," says Bourne, "is an emblem of the soul's -immortality. It is as much as to say, that though the body be dead, yet -the soul is ever-green and always in life: it is not like the body, and -those other greens which die and revive again at their proper seasons, -no autumn nor winter can make a change in it, but it is unalterably the -same, perpetually in life, and never dying.</p> - -<p>"The Romans, and other heathens upon this occasion, made use of cypress, -which being once cut, will never flourish nor grow any more, as an -emblem of their dying for ever, and being no more in life. But instead -of that, the antient Christians used the things before mentioned; they -laid them under the corps in the grave, to signify, that they who die in -Christ, do not cease to live. For though, as to the body they die to the -world, yet as to their souls, they live to God.</p> - -<p>"And as the carrying of these ever-greens is an emblem of the soul's -immortality, so it is also of the resurrection of the body: for as these -herbs are not entirely plucked up, but only cut down, and will, at the -returning season, revive and spring up again; so the body, like them, is -but cut down for a while, and will rise and shoot up again at the -resurrection."<a name="FNanchor_i_239:B_430" id="FNanchor_i_239:B_430"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_239:B_430" class="fnanchor">[239:B]</a></p> - -<p>The <i>bay</i> and <i>rosemary</i> were the plants usually chosen, the former <!-- Page 240 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_240" id="Page_i_240">[240]</a></span>as -being said to revive from the root, when apparently dead, and the latter -from its supposed virtue in strengthening the memory:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance."<a name="FNanchor_i_240:A_431" id="FNanchor_i_240:A_431"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_240:A_431" class="fnanchor">[240:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Shakspeare has frequently noticed these ever-greens, garlands, and -flowers, as forming a part of the tributary rites of the departed, as -elegant memorials of the dead: at the funeral of Juliet he adopts the -rosemary:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary</div> - <div class="line indentq">On this fair corse, and as the custom is,</div> - <div class="line indentq">In all her best array bear her to church."<a name="FNanchor_i_240:B_432" id="FNanchor_i_240:B_432"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_240:B_432" class="fnanchor">[240:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><i>Garlands</i> of flowers were formerly either hung up in country-churches, -as a mark of honour and esteem, over the seats of those who had died -virgins, or were remarkable for chastity and fidelity, or were placed in -the form of crowns on the coffins of the deceased, and buried with them, -for the same purpose. Of these crowns and garlands, which were in -frequent use until the commencement of the last century, a very curious -account has been given by a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine.</p> - -<p>"In this nation (as well as others)," he observes, "by the abundant zeal -of our ancestors, virginity was held in great estimation; insomuch that -those which died in that state were rewarded, at their deaths, with a -garland or crown on their heads, denoting their triumphant victory over -the lusts of the flesh. Nay, this honour was extended even to a widow -that had enjoyed but one husband (saith Weever in his Fun. Mon. p. 12.) -And, in the year 1733, the present clerk of the parish church of Bromley -in Kent, by his digging a grave in that church-yard, close to the east -end of the chancel wall, dug up one of these crowns, or garlands, which -is most artificially wrought in fillagree work with gold and silver -wire, in <!-- Page 241 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_241" id="Page_i_241">[241]</a></span>resemblance of myrtle (with which plant the funebrial garlands -of the ancients were composed) whose leaves are fastened to hoops of -large wire of iron, now something corroded with rust, but both the gold -and silver remains to this time very little different from its original -splendor. It was also lined with cloth of silver, a piece of which, -together with part of this curious garland, I keep as a choice relic of -antiquity.</p> - -<p>"Besides these crowns, the ancients had also their depository garlands, -the use of which were continued even till of late years, (and perhaps -are still retained in many parts of this nation, for my own knowledge of -these matters extends not above twenty or thirty miles round London,) -which garlands at the funerals of the deceased, were carried solemnly -before the corpse by two maids, and afterward hung up in some -conspicuous place within the church, in memorial of the departed person, -and were (at least all that I have seen) made after the following -manner, viz. the lower rim or circlet, was a broad hoop of wood, -whereunto was fixed, at the sides thereof, part of two other hoops -crossing each other at the top, at right angles, which formed the upper -part, being about one third longer than the width; these hoops were -wholly covered with artificial flowers of paper, dyed horn, or silk, and -more or less beauteous, according to the skill and ingenuity of the -performer. In the vacancy of the inside, from the top, hung white paper, -cut in form of gloves, whereon was wrote the deceased's name, age, &c. -together with long slips of various coloured paper, or ribbons. These -were many times intermixed with gilded or painted empty shells of blown -eggs, as farther ornaments; or, it may be, as emblems of the bubbles or -bitterness of this life; whilst other garlands had only a solitary -hour-glass hanging therein, as a more significant symbol of mortality.</p> - -<p>"About forty years ago, these garlands grew much out of repute, and were -thought, by many, as very unbecoming decorations for so sacred a place -as the church; and at the reparation, or new beautifying several -churches, where I have been concerned, I was obliged, by order of the -minister and churchwardens, to take the garlands down, <!-- Page 242 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_242" id="Page_i_242">[242]</a></span>and the -inhabitants were strictly forbidden to hang up any more for the future. -Yet, notwithstanding, several people, unwilling to forsake their ancient -and delightful custom, continued still the making of them, and they were -carried at the funerals, as before, to the grave, and put therein, upon -the coffin, over the face of the dead; this I have seen done in many -places." Bromley in Kent. <i>Gentleman's Magazine for June 1747.</i></p> - -<p>Shakspeare has alluded to these maiden rites in <i>Hamlet</i>, where the -priest, at the interment of Ophelia, says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—— "Here she is allow'd her virgin <i>crants</i>,</div> - <div class="line">Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home</div> - <div class="line">Of bell and burial."<a name="FNanchor_i_242:A_433" id="FNanchor_i_242:A_433"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_242:A_433" class="fnanchor">[242:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The term <i>crants</i>, observes Johnson, on the authority of a -correspondent, is the German word for <i>garlands</i>, and was probably -retained by us from the Saxons.<a name="FNanchor_i_242:B_434" id="FNanchor_i_242:B_434"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_242:B_434" class="fnanchor">[242:B]</a></p> - -<p>The <i>strewments</i> mentioned in this passage refer to a pleasing custom, -which is still, we believe, preserved in Wales, of scattering flowers -over the graves of the deceased.<a name="FNanchor_i_242:C_435" id="FNanchor_i_242:C_435"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_242:C_435" class="fnanchor">[242:C]</a> It is manifestly copied from the -funeral rites of the Greeks and Romans, and was early introduced into -the Christian church; for St. Jerom, in an epistle to his friend -Pammachius on the death of his wife, remarks, "whilst other husbands -strawed violets and roses, and lilies, and purple flowers, upon the -graves of their wives, and comforted themselves with such like offices, -Pammachius bedewed her ashes and venerable bones with the balsam of -alms<a name="FNanchor_i_242:D_436" id="FNanchor_i_242:D_436"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_242:D_436" class="fnanchor">[242:D]</a>;" and Mr. Strutt, in his <i>Manners and Customs of England</i>, -tells us, "that of old it was usual to adorn the graves of the deceased -with roses and other flowers (but more especially those of lovers, round -whose tombs they have often planted rose trees): Some traces," he -observes, "of this ancient custom are <!-- Page 243 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_243" id="Page_i_243">[243]</a></span>yet remaining in the church-yard -of Oakley, in Surry, which is full of rose trees planted round the -graves."<a name="FNanchor_i_243:A_437" id="FNanchor_i_243:A_437"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_243:A_437" class="fnanchor">[243:A]</a></p> - -<p>Many of the dramas of our immortal bard bear testimony to his partiality -for this elegantly affectionate tribute; a practice which there is -reason to suppose was in the country at least not uncommon in his days: -thus Capulet, in <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, observes,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse;"<a name="FNanchor_i_243:B_438" id="FNanchor_i_243:B_438"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_243:B_438" class="fnanchor">[243:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and the Queen in <i>Hamlet</i> is represented as performing the ceremony at -the grave of Ophelia:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Queen.</i> Sweets to the sweet: Farewell!</div> - <div class="stagedir">(<i>Scattering Flowers.</i>)</div> - <div class="line indentq">I hop'd, thou should'st have been my Hamlet's wife;</div> - <div class="line indentq">I thought, thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And not have <i>strew'd thy grave</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_243:C_439" id="FNanchor_i_243:C_439"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_243:C_439" class="fnanchor">[243:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It was considered, likewise, as a duty incumbent on the survivors, -annually to plant shrubs and flowers upon, and to tend and keep neat, -the turf which covered the remains of their beloved friends; in -accordance with this usage, Mariana is drawn in <i>Pericles</i> decorating -the tomb of her nurse:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">————— "I will rob Tellus of her weed,</div> - <div class="line">To strew thy green with flowers: the yellows, blues,</div> - <div class="line">The purple violets, and marigolds,</div> - <div class="line">Shall, as a chaplet, hang upon thy grave,</div> - <div class="line">While summer days do last;"<a name="FNanchor_i_243:D_440" id="FNanchor_i_243:D_440"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_243:D_440" class="fnanchor">[243:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Arviragus, in <i>Cymbeline</i>, pathetically exclaims,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————— "With fairest flowers,</div> - <div class="line">Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,</div> - <div class="line">I'll sweeten thy sad grave: Thou shall not lack</div> - <div class="line">The flower, that's like thy face, pale primrose; nor</div> - <!-- Page 244 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_244" id="Page_i_244">[244]</a></span><div class="line">The azur'd hare-bell, like thy veins; no, nor</div> - <div class="line">The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander,</div> - <div class="line">Out-sweeten'd not thy breath."<a name="FNanchor_i_244:A_441" id="FNanchor_i_244:A_441"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_244:A_441" class="fnanchor">[244:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The only relic which yet exists in this country of a custom so -interesting, is to be found in the practice of protecting the hallowed -mound by twigs of osier, an attention to the mansions of the dead, which -is still observable in most of the country-church-yards in the south of -England.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 245 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_245" id="Page_i_245">[245]</a></span>We have thus advanced in pursuit of our object, namely, <i>A Survey of -Country Life during the Age of Shakspeare</i>, as far as a sketch of its -manners and customs, resulting from a brief description of rural -characters, holidays, and festivals, wakes, fairs, weddings, and -burials, will carry us; and we shall now proceed with the picture, by -adding some account of those diversions of our ancestors which could not -with propriety find a place under any of the topics that have been -hitherto noticed; endeavouring in our progress to render the great -dramatic bard the chief illustrator of his own times.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_209:A_358" id="Footnote_i_209:A_358"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_209:A_358"><span class="label">[209:A]</span></a> Brand on Bourne's Antiquities, p. 333.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_209:B_359" id="Footnote_i_209:B_359"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_209:B_359"><span class="label">[209:B]</span></a> Mr. Strutt, in a quotation from an old MS. legend of -St. John the Baptist, preserved in Dugdale's Warwickshire, tells -us,—"In the beginning of holi churche, it was so that the pepul cam to -the chirche with candellys brinnyng, and wold <i>wake</i> and comme with -Light toward the chirche in their devocions, and after they fell to -lecherie and songs, daunces, harping, piping, and also to glotony and -sinne, &c."—Sports and Pastimes, p. 322.</p> - -<p>"It appears," says Mr. Brand, "that in antient times the parishioners -brought <i>rushes</i> at the Feast of Dedication, wherewith to strew the -Church, and from that circumstance the Festivity itself has obtained the -name of <i>Rush-bearing</i>, which occurs for a Country-Wake in a Glossary to -the Lancashire dialect."—Brand ap. Ellis, vol. i. p. 436.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_210:A_360" id="Footnote_i_210:A_360"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_210:A_360"><span class="label">[210:A]</span></a> Hilman's Tusser, p. 81.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_211:A_361" id="Footnote_i_211:A_361"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_211:A_361"><span class="label">[211:A]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquit. Vulg. p. 330.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_211:B_362" id="Footnote_i_211:B_362"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_211:B_362"><span class="label">[211:B]</span></a> Triumph of Pleasure, p. 23.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_211:C_363" id="Footnote_i_211:C_363"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_211:C_363"><span class="label">[211:C]</span></a> Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 378. Poly-Olbion, Song -xxvii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_212:A_364" id="Footnote_i_212:A_364"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_212:A_364"><span class="label">[212:A]</span></a> Hesperides, p. 300, 301.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_212:B_365" id="Footnote_i_212:B_365"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_212:B_365"><span class="label">[212:B]</span></a> In Shakspeare's time the business of the milliner was -transacted by men.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_212:C_366" id="Footnote_i_212:C_366"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_212:C_366"><span class="label">[212:C]</span></a> <i>Caddisses</i>,—a kind of narrow worsted galloon.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_212:D_367" id="Footnote_i_212:D_367"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_212:D_367"><span class="label">[212:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 345. 347, 348.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_213:A_368" id="Footnote_i_213:A_368"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_213:A_368"><span class="label">[213:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 349.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_213:B_369" id="Footnote_i_213:B_369"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_213:B_369"><span class="label">[213:B]</span></a> <i>Pomander</i>,—a little ball of perfumes worn either in -the pocket or about the neck.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_213:C_370" id="Footnote_i_213:C_370"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_213:C_370"><span class="label">[213:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 375, 376.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_214:A_371" id="Footnote_i_214:A_371"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_214:A_371"><span class="label">[214:A]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 435, 436. The third -edition of <i>A Woman Killed With Kindness</i>, was printed in 4to. 1617.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_215:A_372" id="Footnote_i_215:A_372"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_215:A_372"><span class="label">[215:A]</span></a> Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. i. p. 279. -note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_215:B_373" id="Footnote_i_215:B_373"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_215:B_373"><span class="label">[215:B]</span></a> Establishment and Expences of the Houshold of Henry -Percy, the fifth Earl of Northumberland, A. D. 1512. p. 407.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_215:C_374" id="Footnote_i_215:C_374"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_215:C_374"><span class="label">[215:C]</span></a> Hilman's Tusser, p. 110.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_216:A_375" id="Footnote_i_216:A_375"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_216:A_375"><span class="label">[216:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 358.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_218:A_376" id="Footnote_i_218:A_376"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_218:A_376"><span class="label">[218:A]</span></a> Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. i. p. 414, 415. Edit. of -1807.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_218:B_377" id="Footnote_i_218:B_377"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_218:B_377"><span class="label">[218:B]</span></a> Moryson's Itinerary, part iii. p. 151. folio. London, -1617.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_218:C_378" id="Footnote_i_218:C_378"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_218:C_378"><span class="label">[218:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 189. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_218:D_379" id="Footnote_i_218:D_379"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_218:D_379"><span class="label">[218:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 189, 190.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_218:E_380" id="Footnote_i_218:E_380"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_218:E_380"><span class="label">[218:E]</span></a> Bliss's edition, 1811. p. 37, 38.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_219:A_381" id="Footnote_i_219:A_381"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_219:A_381"><span class="label">[219:A]</span></a> Earle's Microcosmography, p. 38.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_219:B_382" id="Footnote_i_219:B_382"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_219:B_382"><span class="label">[219:B]</span></a> Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, 8th edit. p. 191.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_220:A_383" id="Footnote_i_220:A_383"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_220:A_383"><span class="label">[220:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 213. Act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_221:A_384" id="Footnote_i_221:A_384"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_221:A_384"><span class="label">[221:A]</span></a> "Vincent de Beauvais, a writer of the 13th century, in -his <i>Speculum historiale</i>, lib. ix. c. 70., has defined <i>espousals to be -a contract of future marriage</i>, made either by a simple promise, by -earnest or security given, by a ring, or by an oath." Douce's -Illustrations, vol. i. p. 109.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_221:B_385" id="Footnote_i_221:B_385"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_221:B_385"><span class="label">[221:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 395. Act iv. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_221:C_386" id="Footnote_i_221:C_386"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_221:C_386"><span class="label">[221:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 403. Act v. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_222:A_387" id="Footnote_i_222:A_387"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_222:A_387"><span class="label">[222:A]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations, vol. i. p. 113.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_222:B_388" id="Footnote_i_222:B_388"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_222:B_388"><span class="label">[222:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 395.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_222:C_389" id="Footnote_i_222:C_389"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_222:C_389"><span class="label">[222:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 396.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_222:D_390" id="Footnote_i_222:D_390"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_222:D_390"><span class="label">[222:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 405. Here <i>assur'd</i> is -taken in the sense of <i>affianced</i> or <i>contracted</i>. If necessary, many -more instances of betrothing, and troth-plighting, might be brought -forward from our author's dramas.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_223:A_391" id="Footnote_i_223:A_391"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_223:A_391"><span class="label">[223:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 240.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_223:B_392" id="Footnote_i_223:B_392"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_223:B_392"><span class="label">[223:B]</span></a> Strutt's Manners and Customs, vol. iii. p. 155.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_224:A_393" id="Footnote_i_224:A_393"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_224:A_393"><span class="label">[224:A]</span></a> History of Jack of Newbury, 4to. chap. ii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_224:B_394" id="Footnote_i_224:B_394"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_224:B_394"><span class="label">[224:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 291.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_224:C_395" id="Footnote_i_224:C_395"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_224:C_395"><span class="label">[224:C]</span></a> Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks, by Barry, 1611. Vide -Ancient British Drama, vol. ii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_224:D_396" id="Footnote_i_224:D_396"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_224:D_396"><span class="label">[224:D]</span></a> Beaumont and Fletcher's Scornful Lady, 1616.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_224:E_397" id="Footnote_i_224:E_397"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_224:E_397"><span class="label">[224:E]</span></a> A Faire Quarrel, by Middleton and Rowley, 1617. Besides -rosemary, flowers of various kinds were frequently strewn before the -bride as she passed to church; a custom alluded to in a well-known line -of Shakspeare,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Our <i>Bridal Flowers</i> serve for a buried corse:"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>and more explicitly depicted in the following passage from one of his -contemporaries:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Adriana.</i> Come straw apace, Lord shall I never live</div> - <div class="line i4hq">To walke to Church on flowers? O 'tis fine,</div> - <div class="line i4hq">To see a Bride trip it to Church so lightly,</div> - <div class="line i4hq">As if her new Choppines would scorne to bruise</div> - <div class="line i4hq">A silly flower!"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Barry's Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks, act v. sc. 1. 4to. 1611.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_225:A_398" id="Footnote_i_225:A_398"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_225:A_398"><span class="label">[225:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 114, 115, 116. Act iii. -sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_225:B_399" id="Footnote_i_225:B_399"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_225:B_399"><span class="label">[225:B]</span></a> Finet's Philoxenis, 1656, p. 11. quoted by Mr. Reed in -his Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 115. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_226:A_400" id="Footnote_i_226:A_400"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_226:A_400"><span class="label">[226:A]</span></a> Folio edit. p. 44. Act iv. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_226:B_401" id="Footnote_i_226:B_401"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_226:B_401"><span class="label">[226:B]</span></a> <i>No Wit, no Help like a Womans</i>, 8vo. 1657. Middleton -was contemporary with Shakspeare, and commenced a dramatic writer in -1602.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_226:C_402" id="Footnote_i_226:C_402"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_226:C_402"><span class="label">[226:C]</span></a> <i>Insatiate Countess</i>, 4to. 1603.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_226:D_403" id="Footnote_i_226:D_403"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_226:D_403"><span class="label">[226:D]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations, vol. i. p. 199.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_226:E_404" id="Footnote_i_226:E_404"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_226:E_404"><span class="label">[226:E]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 459. note, by Steevens.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_226:F_405" id="Footnote_i_226:F_405"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_226:F_405"><span class="label">[226:F]</span></a> <i>Midsummer-Night's Dream</i>, act v. sc. 2. Vide Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 459.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_228:A_406" id="Footnote_i_228:A_406"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_228:A_406"><span class="label">[228:A]</span></a> <i>Woorts</i>; of this word I know not the precise meaning; -but suppose it is meant to imply <i>plodded</i> or <i>stumbled on</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_229:A_407" id="Footnote_i_229:A_407"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_229:A_407"><span class="label">[229:A]</span></a> Nichols's Queen Elizabeth's Progresses, vol. -i.—Laneham's Letter, p. 18, 19, 20.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_229:B_408" id="Footnote_i_229:B_408"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_229:B_408"><span class="label">[229:B]</span></a> Jonson's Works, fol. edit. of 1640, vol. ii. A Tale of -a Tub, p. 72.—Much of the spirit and costume of the <i>rural wedding</i> of -the sixteenth century continued to survive until within these eighty -years. "I have received," says Mr. Brand, who wrote in 1776, "from those -who have been present at them, the following account of the customs used -at <i>vulgar Northern Weddings</i>, about <i>half a century ago</i>:—</p> - -<p>"The young women in the neighbourhood, with bride-favours (knots of -ribbands) at their breasts, and nosegays in their hands, attended the -Bride on her wedding-day in the morning.—<i>Fore-Riders</i> announced with -shouts the arrival of the Bridegroom; after a kind of breakfast, at -which the <i>bride-cakes</i> were set on and the <i>barrels broached</i>, they -walked out towards the church.—The Bride was led by <i>two young men</i>; -the Bridegroom by <i>two young women</i>: Pipers preceded them, while the -crowd tossed up their hats, shouted and clapped their hands. An indecent -custom prevailed after the ceremony, and that too before the -altar:—Young men strove who could first <i>unloose</i>, or rather pluck off -the Bride's garters: Ribbands supplied their place on this occasion; -whosoever was so fortunate as to tear them thus off from her leggs, bore -them about the church in triumph.</p> - -<p>"It is still usual for the young men present to <i>salute</i> the <i>Bride</i> -immediately after the performing of the marriage service.</p> - -<p>"Four, with their horses, were waiting without; they <i>saluted</i> the Bride -at the church gate, and immediately mounting, contended who should first -carry home the good news, and <span class="smcap">WIN</span> what they call the <span class="smcap">KAIL</span>;" i. e. <i>a -smoking prize of spice-broth</i>, which stood ready prepared to reward the -victor in this singular kind of race.</p> - -<p>"Dinner succeeded; to that dancing and supper; after which a <i>posset</i> -was made, of which the Bride and Bridegroom were always to taste -first.—The men departed the room till the Bride was undressed by her -<i>maids</i>, and put to bed; the Bridegroom in his turn was undressed by his -men, and the ceremony concluded with the well-known rite of <i>throwing -the stocking</i>."—Bourne's Antiquitates Vulg. apud Brand, p. 371, 372, -373. edit. 1810.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_230:A_409" id="Footnote_i_230:A_409"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_230:A_409"><span class="label">[230:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 197.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_230:B_410" id="Footnote_i_230:B_410"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_230:B_410"><span class="label">[230:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 203.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_230:C_411" id="Footnote_i_230:C_411"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_230:C_411"><span class="label">[230:C]</span></a> Ben Jonson's Works, fol. edit. 1640. vol. ii. p. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_230:D_412" id="Footnote_i_230:D_412"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_230:D_412"><span class="label">[230:D]</span></a> Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. iii. p. 787. edit. 1808.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_231:A_413" id="Footnote_i_231:A_413"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_231:A_413"><span class="label">[231:A]</span></a> Capell's Notes and Various Readings on Shakspeare, vol. -i.; and Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 198.—L'Estrange, a nephew to Sir -Roger L'Estrange, appears to have been the compiler of these anecdotes. -Of the truth of the story, however, as far as it relates to Shakspeare -and Jonson, there is reason to entertain much doubt.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_231:B_414" id="Footnote_i_231:B_414"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_231:B_414"><span class="label">[231:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 343. Act ii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_232:A_415" id="Footnote_i_232:A_415"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_232:A_415"><span class="label">[232:A]</span></a> Vide Douce's Illustrations, vol. i. p. 488.; and Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 345.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_232:B_416" id="Footnote_i_232:B_416"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_232:B_416"><span class="label">[232:B]</span></a> Vide Rationale Divinorum Officiorum: the first edition -was printed in 1459.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_232:C_417" id="Footnote_i_232:C_417"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_232:C_417"><span class="label">[232:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 16.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_233:A_418" id="Footnote_i_233:A_418"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_233:A_418"><span class="label">[233:A]</span></a> Durandi Rational. lib. i. c. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_233:B_419" id="Footnote_i_233:B_419"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_233:B_419"><span class="label">[233:B]</span></a> For an account of three editions of De Worde's Golden -Legende, see Dibdin's Typographical Antiquit. vol. ii. p. 73.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_233:C_420" id="Footnote_i_233:C_420"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_233:C_420"><span class="label">[233:C]</span></a> These forms of prayer are transcribed by Bourne in his -Antiquitates Vulgares.—Vide Brand's edit. p. 10. Bishop Taylor died in -1667.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_234:A_421" id="Footnote_i_234:A_421"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_234:A_421"><span class="label">[234:A]</span></a> Bourne apud Brand, p. 9.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_235:A_422" id="Footnote_i_235:A_422"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_235:A_422"><span class="label">[235:A]</span></a> Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 546.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_235:B_423" id="Footnote_i_235:B_423"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_235:B_423"><span class="label">[235:B]</span></a> Antiquitates Vulgares apud Brand, p. 23.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_235:C_424" id="Footnote_i_235:C_424"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_235:C_424"><span class="label">[235:C]</span></a> Tour in Scotland.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_237:A_425" id="Footnote_i_237:A_425"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_237:A_425"><span class="label">[237:A]</span></a> Essays on the Superstitions of the Highlanders of -Scotland, vol. i. p. 184-188.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_237:B_426" id="Footnote_i_237:B_426"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_237:B_426"><span class="label">[237:B]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. iii. p. 40.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_238:A_427" id="Footnote_i_238:A_427"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_238:A_427"><span class="label">[238:A]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. iii. p. 36.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_238:B_428" id="Footnote_i_238:B_428"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_238:B_428"><span class="label">[238:B]</span></a> The Tragique Historie of the Faire Valeria of London, -1598. Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 43. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_239:A_429" id="Footnote_i_239:A_429"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_239:A_429"><span class="label">[239:A]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 202, 203.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_239:B_430" id="Footnote_i_239:B_430"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_239:B_430"><span class="label">[239:B]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquitates Vulg. p. 33, 34.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_240:A_431" id="Footnote_i_240:A_431"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_240:A_431"><span class="label">[240:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 294.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_240:B_432" id="Footnote_i_240:B_432"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_240:B_432"><span class="label">[240:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xx. p. 217, 218.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_242:A_433" id="Footnote_i_242:A_433"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_242:A_433"><span class="label">[242:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 335, 336.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_242:B_434" id="Footnote_i_242:B_434"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_242:B_434"><span class="label">[242:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 336. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_242:C_435" id="Footnote_i_242:C_435"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_242:C_435"><span class="label">[242:C]</span></a> See Pratt's Gleanings in Wales, and Mason's Elegy in a -Church-yard in Wales.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_242:D_436" id="Footnote_i_242:D_436"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_242:D_436"><span class="label">[242:D]</span></a> Bourne's Antiq. apud Brand, p. 45.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_243:A_437" id="Footnote_i_243:A_437"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_243:A_437"><span class="label">[243:A]</span></a> Anglo Saxon Æra, vol. i. p. 69.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_243:B_438" id="Footnote_i_243:B_438"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_243:B_438"><span class="label">[243:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 219.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_243:C_439" id="Footnote_i_243:C_439"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_243:C_439"><span class="label">[243:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 337.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_243:D_440" id="Footnote_i_243:D_440"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_243:D_440"><span class="label">[243:D]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xxi. p. 297, 298.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_244:A_441" id="Footnote_i_244:A_441"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_244:A_441"><span class="label">[244:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 576.—In Mr. Malkin's -notes on Mason's Elegy, we have the following elegant and pleasing -description of this pathetic custom, as it still exists in Wales:—"It -is a very antient and general practice in Glamorgan," he remarks, "to -plant flowers on the graves; so that many Church-yards have something -like the splendour of a rich and various parterre. Besides this it is -usual to strew the graves with flowers and ever-greens, within the -Church as well as out of it, thrice at least every year, on the same -principle of delicate respect as the stones are whitened.</p> - -<p>"No flowers or ever-greens are permitted to be planted on graves but -such as are sweet-scented: the pink and polyanthus, sweet williams, -gilliflowers, and carnations, mignionette, thyme, hyssop, camomile, -rosemary, make up the pious decoration of this consecrated garden.——</p> - -<p>"The white rose is always planted on a virgin's tomb. The red rose is -appropriated to the grave of any person distinguished for goodness, and -especially benevolence of character.</p> - -<p>"In the Easter week most generally the graves are newly dressed, and -manured with fresh earth, when such flowers or ever-greens as may be -wanted or wished for are planted. In the Whitsuntide Holidays, or rather -the preceding week, the graves are again looked after, weeded, and other -wise dressed, or, if necessary, planted again.—This work the nearest -relations of the deceased always do with their own hands, and never by -servants or hired persons.—</p> - -<p>"When a young couple are to be married, their ways to the Church are -strewed with sweet-scented flowers and ever-greens. When a young -unmarried person dies, his or her ways to the grave are also strewed -with sweet flowers and ever-greens; and on such occasions it is the -usual phrase, that those persons are going to their nuptial beds, not to -their graves.—None ever molest the flowers that grow on graves; for it -is deemed a kind of sacrilege to do so. A relation or friend will -occasionally take a pink, if it can be spared, or a sprig of thyme, from -the grave of a beloved or respected person, to wear it in remembrance; -but they never take much, lest they should deface the growth on the -grave.—</p> - -<p>"These elegant and highly pathetic customs of South Wales make the best -impression on the mind. What can be more affecting than to see all the -youth of both sexes in a village, and in every village through which the -corpse passes, dressed in their best apparel, and strewing with -sweet-scented flowers the ways along which one of their beloved -neighbours goes to his or her marriage-bed."</p> - -<p class="attribution">Malkin's Scenery, Antiquities, and Biography of<br /> -<span class="attrib2">South Wales, 4to. 1804. p. 606.</span></p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 246 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_246" id="Page_i_246">[246]</a></span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_VIII" id="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">VIEW OF COUNTRY LIFE DURING THE AGE OF SHAKSPEARE -CONTINUED—DIVERSIONS.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The attempt to describe all the numerous rural diversions which were -prevalent during the age of Shakspeare, would be, in the highest degree, -superfluous; for the greatest part of them, it is evident, must remain, -with such slight or gradual modification as to require but little -notice. It will be, therefore, our endeavour, in the course of this -chapter, after giving a catalogue of the principal country-diversions of -the era in question, to dwell only upon those which are now either -entirely obsolete, or which have subsequently undergone such alterations -as to render their former state an object of novelty and curiosity.</p> - -<p>This catalogue may be taken, with tolerable accuracy, from Randal Holme -of Chester, and from Robert Burton; the former enumerating the games and -diversions of the sixteenth century, and the latter those of the prior -part of the seventeenth. If to these, we add the notices to be drawn -from Shakspeare, the sketch will, there is reason to suppose, prove -sufficiently extensive.</p> - -<p>In the list of Randal Holme will be found the names of some juvenile -sports, which are now perhaps no longer explicable; this poetical -antiquary, however, shall speak for himself.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"—— They dare challenge for to throw the sledge;</div> - <div class="line indentq">To jumpe or lepe over ditch or hedge;</div> - <div class="line indentq">To wrastle, play at stool-balle, or to runne;</div> - <div class="line indentq">To pitch the barre or to shote offe the gunne;</div> - <div class="line indentq">To play at loggets, nineholes, or ten pinnes;</div> - <div class="line indentq">To trye it out at fote balle by the shinnes;</div> - <div class="line indentq">At ticke tacke, seize noddy, maw, or ruffe;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Hot-cockles, leape froggè, or blindman's buffe;</div> - <div class="line indentq">To drinke the halfer pottes, or deale att the whole canne;</div> - <div class="line indentq">To playe at chesse, or pue, and inke-horènne;</div> - <!-- Page 247 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_247" id="Page_i_247">[247]</a></span><div class="line indentq">To daunce the morris, playe at barley breake;</div> - <div class="line indentq">At alle exploytes a man can thynke or speake;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Att shove-grote, 'venter poynte, att crosse and pyle;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Att "Beshrewe him that's last att any style;"</div> - <div class="line indentq">Att lepynge over a Christmàs bon fyer,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or att the "drawynge dame owte o' the myre;"</div> - <div class="line indentq">At "Shoote cock, Gregory," stoole-ball, and what not:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Pickè-poynt, top, and scourge to make him hot."<a name="FNanchor_i_247:A_442" id="FNanchor_i_247:A_442"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_247:A_442" class="fnanchor">[247:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Burton, after mentioning <i>Hawking</i>, <i>Hunting</i>, <i>Fowling</i>, and <i>Fishing</i>, -says, "many other sports and recreations there be, much in use, as -<i>ringing</i>, <i>holding</i>, <i>shooting</i>, (with the bow,) <i>keelpins</i>, <i>tronks</i>, -<i>coits</i>, <i>pitching bars</i>, <i>hurling</i>, <i>wrestling</i>, <i>leaping</i>, <i>running</i>, -<i>fencing</i>, <i>mustring</i>, <i>swimming</i>, <i>wasters</i>, <i>foiles</i>, <i>foot-ball</i>, -<i>balown</i>, <i>quintan</i>, &c., and many such which are the common recreations -of the Country folks."<a name="FNanchor_i_247:B_443" id="FNanchor_i_247:B_443"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_247:B_443" class="fnanchor">[247:B]</a> He subsequently adds <i>bull</i> and <i>bear -baiting</i> as common to both countrymen and<a name="FNanchor_i_247:C_444" id="FNanchor_i_247:C_444"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_247:C_444" class="fnanchor">[247:C]</a> citizens, and then -subjoins to the list of rural amusements, <i>dancing</i>, <i>singing</i>, -<i>masking</i>, <i>mumming</i>, and <i>stage-players</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_247:D_445" id="FNanchor_i_247:D_445"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_247:D_445" class="fnanchor">[247:D]</a> For the ordinary -recreations of <i>Winter</i> as well in <i>the country</i> as in town, he -recommends "<i>cards</i>, <i>tables</i> and <i>dice</i>, <i>shovelboord</i>, <i>chess-play</i>, -the <i>philosopher's game</i>, <i>small trunks</i>, <i>shuttle-cock</i>, <i>balliards</i>, -<i>musick</i>, <i>masks</i>, <i>singing</i>, <i>dancing</i>, <i>ule games</i>, <i>frolicks</i>, -<i>jests</i>, <i>riddles</i>, <i>catches</i>, <i>purposes</i>, <i>questions and commands</i>, and -<i>merry tales</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_247:E_446" id="FNanchor_i_247:E_446"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_247:E_446" class="fnanchor">[247:E]</a></p> - -<p>From this statement it will immediately appear, that many of the rural -diversions of this period are those likewise of the present day, and -that no large portion of the catalogue can with propriety call for a -more extended notice.</p> - -<p>At the head of those which demand some brief elucidation, we shall place -the <i>Itinerant Stage</i>, a <i>country</i> amusement, however, which, in the -days of Elizabeth, was fast degenerating into contempt. The performance -of secular plays by strolling companies of minstrels, had <!-- Page 248 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_248" id="Page_i_248">[248]</a></span>been much -encouraged for two or three centuries, not only by the vulgar, but by -the nobility, into whose castles and halls they were gladly admitted, -and handsomely rewarded. At the commencement of the sixteenth century, -the custom was still common, and Mr. Steevens, as a proof of it, has -furnished us with the following entry from the fifth Earl of -Northumberland's Household Book, which was begun in the year 1512:—</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">"Rewards to Players.</p> - -<p>"Item, to be payd to the said Richard Gowge and Thomas Percy for rewards -to players for playes playd in Chrystinmas by <i>stranegers</i> in my house -after xxd. every play by estimacion somme xxxiijs. iiijd. Which ys -appoynted to be paid to the said Richard Gowge and Thomas Percy at the -said Christynmas in full contentacion of the said reward ys xxxiijs. -iiijd."<a name="FNanchor_i_248:A_447" id="FNanchor_i_248:A_447"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_248:A_447" class="fnanchor">[248:A]</a></p> - -<p>That these itinerants were still occasionally admitted into the -country-mansions of the great, during the reign of Elizabeth, we have -satisfactory evidence; but it may be sufficient here to remark, that -Elizabeth herself was entertained with an historical play at Kenelworth -Castle, by performers who came for that purpose from Coventry; and that -Shakspeare has favoured us with another instance, by the introduction of -the following scene in his <i>Taming of the Shrew</i>, supposed to have been -written in 1594:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Lord.</i> Sirrah, go see what trumpet 'tis that sounds:—</div> - <div class="stagedir">Exit <i>Servant</i>.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Belike, some noble gentleman; that means,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Travelling some journey, to repose him here.—</div> - <div class="stagedir">Re-enter a <i>Servant</i>.</div> - <div class="line indentq">How now? who is it?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Serv.</i> <span class="s5">An it please your honour,</span></div> - <div class="line indentq">Players that offer service to your lordship.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Lord.</i> Bid them come near:—</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="center"><!-- Page 249 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_249" id="Page_i_249">[249]</a></span>Enter Players.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i13">Now, fellows, you are welcome.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q"><i>1 Play.</i> We thank your honour.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Lord.</i> Do you intend to stay with me to night?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q"><i>2 Play.</i> So please your lordship to accept our duty.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Lord.</i> With all my heart.—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Go, sirrah, take them to the buttery,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And give them friendly welcome every one:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Let them want nothing that my house affords."<a name="FNanchor_i_249:A_448" id="FNanchor_i_249:A_448"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_249:A_448" class="fnanchor">[249:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>From this passage it may be deduced, that the <i>itinerant</i> players of -this period were held in no higher estimation than menial servants; an -inference which is corroborated by referring to the anonymous play of <i>A -Taming of a Shrew</i>, written about 1590, where the entry of the players -is thus marked, "Enter two of the plaiers, <i>with packs at their backs</i>." -The abject condition of these <i>strollers</i>, Mr. Pope has attributed, -perhaps too hastily, to the stationary performers of this reign; "the -<i>top</i> of the profession," he observes, "were then mere players, not -gentlemen of the stage; they were led into the <i>buttery</i> by the steward, -not placed at the lord's table, or the lady's<a name="FNanchor_i_249:B_449" id="FNanchor_i_249:B_449"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_249:B_449" class="fnanchor">[249:B]</a> toilette;" a -passage on which Mr. Malone has remarked, that Pope "seems not to have -observed, that the players here introduced are <i>strollers</i>; and there is -no reason to suppose that our author, Heminge, Burbage, Condell, &c. who -were licensed by King James, were treated in this manner."<a name="FNanchor_i_249:C_450" id="FNanchor_i_249:C_450"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_249:C_450" class="fnanchor">[249:C]</a></p> - -<p>On the other hand Mr. Steevens supports the opinion of Pope by -asserting, that "at the period when this comedy (<i>Taming of a Shrew</i>) -was written, and for many years after, the profession of a player was -scarcely allowed to be reputable. The imagined dignity," he continues, -"of those who did not belong to itinerant companies, is, therefore, -unworthy consideration. I can as easily believe that the blundering -editors of the first folio were suffered to lean their hands on Queen -Elizabeth's chair of state, as that they were admitted to the <!-- Page 250 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_250" id="Page_i_250">[250]</a></span>table of -the Earl of Leicester, or the toilette of Lady Hunsden. Like Stephen, in -<i>Every Man in his Humour</i>, the greatest indulgence our histrionic -leaders could have expected, would have been a trencher and a napkin in -the <i>buttery</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_250:A_451" id="FNanchor_i_250:A_451"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_250:A_451" class="fnanchor">[250:A]</a></p> - -<p>The inference, however, which Mr. Malone has drawn, appears to have the -authority of Shakspeare himself; for when Hamlet is informed of the -arrival of the players, he exclaims, "How chances it, they travel; their -<i>residence</i>, both in <i>reputation</i> and profit, was <i>better both -ways</i><a name="FNanchor_i_250:B_452" id="FNanchor_i_250:B_452"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_250:B_452" class="fnanchor">[250:B]</a>;" a question, the drift of which even Mr. Steevens explains -in the following words. "How chances it they travel?—i. e. <i>How happens -it that they are become strollers?</i>—Their residence, both in reputation -and profit, was better both ways—i. e. <i>To have remained in a settled -theatre was the more honourable as well as the more lucrative -situation</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_250:C_453" id="FNanchor_i_250:C_453"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_250:C_453" class="fnanchor">[250:C]</a> We have every reason, therefore, to suppose, that -the difference between the <i>stroller</i> and the <i>licensed</i> performer was -in Shakspeare's time considerable; and that the latter, although not the -companion of lords and countesses, was held in a very respectable light, -if his personal conduct were good, and became the occasional associate -of the first literary characters of the age; while the former was -frequently degraded beneath the rank of a servant, and, in the statute, -indeed, 39 Eliz. ch. 4. he is classed with rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy -beggars.</p> - -<p>This depreciation of the character of the <i>itinerant player</i>, towards -the close of Elizabeth's reign, soon narrowed his field of action; the -opulent became unwilling to admit into their houses persons thus legally -branded; and the <i>stroller</i> was reduced to the necessity of exhibiting -his talents at wakes and fairs, on temporary scaffolds and barrel heads; -"if he pen for thee once," says Ben Jonson, addressing a strolling -player, "thou shalt not need to travell, with thy pumps full of gravell, -any more, after a <i>blinde jade and a hamper</i>, and <i>stalk upon boards and -barrel-heads</i> to an old crackt trumpet."<a name="FNanchor_i_250:D_454" id="FNanchor_i_250:D_454"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_250:D_454" class="fnanchor">[250:D]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 251 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_251" id="Page_i_251">[251]</a></span>Many country-towns, indeed, at this period, were privileged to hold -fairs by exhibiting a certain number of stage-plays at their annual -fairs. Of these, Manningtree in Essex was one of the most celebrated; -Heywood mentions it as notorious for yearly plays at its fair<a name="FNanchor_i_251:A_455" id="FNanchor_i_251:A_455"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_251:A_455" class="fnanchor">[251:A]</a>; -and that its festivity on these occasions was equally known, is evident -from Shakspeare's comparison of Falstaff to a "roasted Manningtree ox -with a pudding in his belly."<a name="FNanchor_i_251:B_456" id="FNanchor_i_251:B_456"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_251:B_456" class="fnanchor">[251:B]</a> The histrionic fame of Manningtree -Mr. Malone proves by two quotations from Nashe and Decker; the former -exclaiming in a poem, called <i>The choosing of Valentines</i>,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——— "Or see a play of strange moralitie,</div> - <div class="line">Shewen by bachelrie of <i>Manning-tree</i>,</div> - <div class="line">Whereto the countrie franklins flock-meale swarme;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and the latter observing, in a tract entitled <i>Seven deadly Sinnes of -London</i>, 1607, that "Cruelty has got another part to play; it is acted -like the old <i>morals</i> at <i>Manningtree</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_251:C_457" id="FNanchor_i_251:C_457"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_251:C_457" class="fnanchor">[251:C]</a></p> - -<p>This custom of stage-playing at annual fairs continued to support a few -itinerant <i>companies</i>; but in general, after the halls of the nobility -and gentry were shut against them<a name="FNanchor_i_251:D_458" id="FNanchor_i_251:D_458"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_251:D_458" class="fnanchor">[251:D]</a>, they divided into small -parties of three or four, and at length became mere jugglers, jesters, -and <i>puppet-show</i> exhibitors. This last-mentioned amusement, indeed, and -its professors, seem to have been known, in this country, under the name -of <i>motions</i>, and <i>motion-men</i>, as early as the commencement <!-- Page 252 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_252" id="Page_i_252">[252]</a></span>of the -sixteenth century<a name="FNanchor_i_252:A_459" id="FNanchor_i_252:A_459"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_252:A_459" class="fnanchor">[252:A]</a>; and the term, indeed, continued to be thus -applied in the time of Jonson, who repeatedly uses it, in his -<i>Bartholomew Fair</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_252:B_460" id="FNanchor_i_252:B_460"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_252:B_460" class="fnanchor">[252:B]</a> The degradation of the <span class="allcapsc">STROLLING</span> companies, -by the statutes of Elizabeth and James, rendered the exhibition of -automaton figures, at this period, common throughout the kingdom. They -are alluded to by Shakspeare under the appellation of <i>drolleries</i>; thus -in the <i>Tempest</i>, Alonzo, alarmed at the <i>strange shapes bringing in the -banquet</i>, exclaims</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Give us kind keepers, heavens! What were these?"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">a question to which Sebastian replies,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>A <span class="allcapsc">LIVING</span> drollery</i>,"<a name="FNanchor_i_252:C_461" id="FNanchor_i_252:C_461"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_252:C_461" class="fnanchor">[252:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">meaning by this epithet to distinguish them from the wooden puppets, the -performers in the shows called <i>drolleries</i>.</p> - -<p>A very popular annual diversion was celebrated, during the age of -Shakspeare, and for more than twenty-five years after, on the <i>Cotswold -Hills</i> in Gloucestershire. It has been said that the rural games which -constituted this anniversary, were <i>founded</i> by one Robert Dover on the -accession of James I.;<a name="FNanchor_i_252:D_462" id="FNanchor_i_252:D_462"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_252:D_462" class="fnanchor">[252:D]</a> but it appears to be ascertained that -Dover was only the <i>reviver</i>, with additional splendour, of sports which -had been yearly exhibited, at an early period, on the same spot, and -perhaps only discontinued for a short time before their revival in 1603. -"We may learn from Rudder's History of Glocestershire," says Mr. -Chalmers, "that, in more early times, there was at Cottswold a customary -meeting, every year, at Whitsontide, called <!-- Page 253 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_253" id="Page_i_253">[253]</a></span>an <i>ale</i>, or <i>Whitson-ale</i>, -which was attended by all the lads, and the lasses, of the <i>villegery</i>, -who, annually, chose a Lord and Lady of the <i>Yule</i>, who were the -authorized rulers of the <i>rustic revellers</i>. There is in the Church of -Cirencester, says Rudder, an ancient monument, in <i>basso relievo</i>, that -evinces the antiquity of those games, which were known to Shakspeare, -before the accession of King James. They were known, also, to Drayton -early in that reign: for upon the map of Glocestershire, which precedes -the <i>fourteenth song</i>, there is a representation of a <i>Whitsun-ale</i>, -with a <i>may pole</i>, which last is inscribed '<i>Heigh for Cotswold</i>.'</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Ascending, next, faire Cotswold's plaines,</div> - <div class="line indentq">She <i>revels</i> with the <i>Shepherd's</i> swaines."<a name="FNanchor_i_253:A_464" id="FNanchor_i_253:A_464"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_253:A_464" class="fnanchor">[253:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Strutt also is of opinion that the Cotswold games had a much higher -origin than the time of Dover, and observes that they are evidently -alluded to in the following lines by John Heywood the epigrammatist:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"He fometh like a bore, the beaste should seeme bolde,</div> - <div class="line indentq">For he is as fierce as a <i>lyon of Cotswold</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_253:B_465" id="FNanchor_i_253:B_465"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_253:B_465" class="fnanchor">[253:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In confirmation of these statements it may be added, that Mr. Steevens -and Mr. Chalmers have remarked, that in Randolph's poems, 1638, is to be -found "An eclogue on the noble assemblies <i>revived</i> on Cotswold hills by -Mr. Robert Dover;" and in D'Avenant's poems published the same year, a -copy of verses "In celebration of the yearely <i>preserver</i> of the games -at Cotswold."<a name="FNanchor_i_253:C_466" id="FNanchor_i_253:C_466"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_253:C_466" class="fnanchor">[253:C]</a></p> - -<p>The <i>Reviver</i> of these far-famed games was an enterprising attorney, a -native of Barton on the Heath in Warwickshire, and consequently a near -neighbour to Shakspeare's country-residence. He obtained permission from -King James to be the director of these annual sports, which he -superintended in person for forty years. They were <!-- Page 254 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_254" id="Page_i_254">[254]</a></span>resorted to by -prodigious multitudes of people, and by all the nobility and gentry for -sixty miles round, until "the rascally rebellion," to adopt the -phraseology of Anthony Wood, "was begun by the Presbyterians, which gave -a stop to their proceedings, and spoiled all that was generous and -ingenious elsewhere."<a name="FNanchor_i_254:A_467" id="FNanchor_i_254:A_467"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_254:A_467" class="fnanchor">[254:A]</a></p> - -<p>They consisted originally, and previous to the direction of Dover, -merely of athletic exercises, such as wrestling, leaping, -cudgel-playing, sword and buckler fighting, pitching the bar, throwing -the sledge, tossing the pike, &c. &c. To these Dover added <i>coursing</i> -for the gentlemen and <i>dancing</i> for the ladies; a temporary castle of -boards being erected for the accommodation of the fair sex, and a silver -collar adjudged as a prize for the fleetest greyhound.</p> - -<p>To these two eras of the Cotswold Games Shakspeare alludes in the second -part of <i>King Henry IV.</i>, and in the <i>Merry Wives of Windsor</i>. Justice -Shallow refers to the original state of this diversion, when in the -first of these dramas he enumerates among the <i>swinge-bucklers</i>, "Will -Squeele, a <i>Cotsole</i> man<a name="FNanchor_i_254:B_468" id="FNanchor_i_254:B_468"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_254:B_468" class="fnanchor">[254:B]</a>;" and to Dover's improvement of them, -when, in the second, he represents Slender asking Page, "How does your -<i>fallow greyhound</i>, Sir? I heard say, he was out-run on Cotsale."<a name="FNanchor_i_254:C_469" id="FNanchor_i_254:C_469"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_254:C_469" class="fnanchor">[254:C]</a></p> - -<p>Dover, tradition says, was highly delighted with the superintendance of -these Games, and assumed, during his direction of them, a great deal of -state and consequence. "<i>Captain</i> Dover," relates Granger, a title which -courtesy had probably bestowed on this public-spirited attorney, "had -not only the permission of James I. to celebrate the Cotswold Games, but -appeared in the very cloaths which that monarch had formerly -worn<a name="FNanchor_i_254:D_470" id="FNanchor_i_254:D_470"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_254:D_470" class="fnanchor">[254:D]</a>, and with much more dignity in his air and aspect."<a name="FNanchor_i_254:E_471" id="FNanchor_i_254:E_471"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_254:E_471" class="fnanchor">[254:E]</a></p> - -<p>In 1636, there was published at London a small quarto, entitled, -"<i>Annalia Dubrensia, upon the yearly Celebration of Mr. Robert <!-- Page 255 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_255" id="Page_i_255">[255]</a></span>Dover's -Olympic Games, upon Cotswold Hills</i>," a book consisting entirely of -recommendatory verses, written by Jonson, Drayton, Randolph, and many -others, and with a print prefixed of Dover on horseback.</p> - -<p>It is probable that, at this period, and for many subsequent years, -there were several places in the kingdom which had Games somewhat -similar to those of Cotswold, though not quite so celebrated; for Heath -says, that a carnival of this kind was kept every year, about the middle -of July, upon Halgaver-moor, near Bodwin in Cornwall; "resorted to by -thousands of people. The sports and pastimes here held were so well -liked," he relates, "by Charles the Second, when he touched here in his -way to Sicily, that he became a brother of the jovial society. The -custom," he adds, "of keeping this Carnival is said to be as old as the -Saxons."<a name="FNanchor_i_255:A_472" id="FNanchor_i_255:A_472"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_255:A_472" class="fnanchor">[255:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of the four great rural diversions, <i>Hawking</i>, <i>Hunting</i>, <i>Fowling</i> and -<i>Fishing</i>, the first will require the greatest share of our attention, -as it is now nearly, if not altogether extinct, and was, during the -reigns of Elizabeth and James, the most prevalent and fashionable of all -amusements.</p> - -<p>To the very commencement, indeed, of the seventeenth century, we may -point, as to the zenith of its popularity and reputation; for although -it had been introduced into this country as early as the middle of the -eighth century<a name="FNanchor_i_255:B_473" id="FNanchor_i_255:B_473"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_255:B_473" class="fnanchor">[255:B]</a>, it was, until the commencement of the sixteenth, -nearly, if not entirely, confined to the highest rank of society. During -the reigns of Elizabeth and James, however, it descended from the -nobility to the gentry and wealthy yeomanry, and no man could then have -the smallest pretension to the character <!-- Page 256 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_256" id="Page_i_256">[256]</a></span>of a gentleman who kept not a -cast of hawks. Of this a ludicrous instance is given us by Ben Jonson, -in his <i>Every Man in his Humour</i>:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"<i>Master Stephen.</i> How does my coussin Edward, uncle?</p> - -<p><i>Knowell.</i> O, well cousse, goe in and see: I doubt he be -scarce stirring yet.</p> - -<p><i>Steph.</i> Uncle, afore I goe in, can you tell me, an' he have -ere a booke of the sciences of hawking, and hunting? I would -faine borrow it.</p> - -<p><i>Know.</i> Why, I hope you will not a hawking now, will you?</p> - -<p><i>Steph.</i> No, cousse; but I'll practise against next yere -uncle. I have bought me a hawke, and a hood, and bells, and -all; I lacke nothing but a booke to keepe it by.</p> - -<p><i>Know.</i> O, most ridiculous.</p> - -<p><i>Steph.</i> Nay, looke you now, you are angrie, uncle: why you -know, an' a man have not skill in the hawking, and -hunting-languages now-a-days, I'll not give a rush for him. -They are more studied than the Greeke, or the Latine. He is -for no gallant's company without 'hem.—A fine jest ifaith! -Slid a gentleman mun show himselfe like a gentleman!"<a name="FNanchor_i_256:A_474" id="FNanchor_i_256:A_474"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_256:A_474" class="fnanchor">[256:A]</a></p> -</div> - -<p>That the character of Master Stephen is not, in this respect, -overcharged, but represents faithfully the fashionable folly of the age, -is evident from many contemporary writers, and especially from that -sensible old author Richard Brathwait, who, speaking of dogs and hawks, -says, "they are to be used only as pleasures and recreations, of which -to speake sparingly were much better, than onely to discourse of them, -<i>as if our whole reading were in them</i>. Neither doe I speake this -without just cause; for I have noted this fault in many of our younger -brood of <i>Gentry</i>, who either for want of education in learning, or -their owne neglect of learning, have no sooner attained to the strength -of making their fist a pearch for a <i>hawke</i>, but by <i>the helpe of some -bookes of faulconry</i>, whereby they are instructed in the words of art, -they will run division upon discourse of this pleasure: whereas, if at -any time they be interrupted by occasion of some other conference, these -<i>High-flyers</i> are presently to bee <i>mewed</i> up, for they are taken from -their element."<a name="FNanchor_i_256:B_475" id="FNanchor_i_256:B_475"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_256:B_475" class="fnanchor">[256:B]</a></p> - -<p>Many of the best books on the Art of Falconry were written, indeed, as -might be expected, during this universal rage for the <!-- Page 257 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_257" id="Page_i_257">[257]</a></span>amusement, and -the <i>hawking coxcombs</i> of the day, adopting their language on all -occasions, became necessarily obtrusive and pedantic in a disgusting -degree. Of these manuals the most popular were written by George -Turberville, Gervase Markham, and Edmund Best.<a name="FNanchor_i_257:A_476" id="FNanchor_i_257:A_476"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_257:A_476" class="fnanchor">[257:A]</a></p> - -<p>But the most detrimental consequence arising from the universality of -this elegant diversion, was the immense expense that attended it, and -which frequently involved those who were not opulent in utter ruin: a -result not to be wondered at, when we find, that at the commencement of -the seventeenth century, a goss-hawk and a tassel-hawk were not to be -purchased for less than a hundred marks; and that in the reign of James -I., Sir Thomas Monson gave one thousand pounds for a cast of hawks. -Brathwait, in his usual strain of propriety, advises those who are not -possessed of <i>good estates</i>, to give up all idea of this diversion, and -exposes its indiscriminate pursuit in the following pleasant manner:—</p> - -<p>"This pleasure," observes he, "as it is a princely delight, so it moveth -many to be so dearely enamoured of it, as they will undergoe any charge, -rather than forgoe it: which makes mee recall to mind a merry tale which -I have read, to this effect. Divers men having entered into discourse, -touching the superfluous care (I will <!-- Page 258 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_258" id="Page_i_258">[258]</a></span>not say folly) of such as kept -<i>dogs</i> and <i>hawkes</i> for <i>hawking</i>; one <i>Paulus</i> a <i>Florentine</i> stood up -and spake: Not without cause (quoth hee) did that foole of <i>Millan</i> -laugh at these; and being entreated to tell the tale, hee thus -proceeded; upon a time (quoth he) there was a citizen of <i>Millan</i>, a -physitian for such as were distracted or lunaticke; who tooke upon him -within a certaine time to cure such as were brought unto him. And hee -cured them after this sort: Hee had a plat of ground neere his house, -and in it a pit of corrupt and stinking water, wherein he bound naked -such as were mad to a stake, some of them knee-deepe, others to the -groin, and some others deeper according to the degree of their madnesse, -where hee so long pined them with water and hunger, till they seemed -sound. Now amongst others, there was one brought, whom he had put -thigh-deepe in water; who after fifteene dayes began to recover, -beseeching the physitian that hee might be taken out of the water. The -physitian taking compassion of him, tooke him out, but with this -condition, that he should not goe out of the roome. Having obeyed him -certaine dayes, he gave him liberty to walke up and downe the house, but -not to passe the out-gate; while the rest of his companions, which were -many, remaining in the water, diligently observed their physitian's -command. Now it chanced, as on a time he stood at the gate, (for out hee -durst not goe, for feare he should returne to the pit) he beckoned to a -yong <i>gentleman</i> to come unto him, who had a <i>hawke</i> and two spaniels, -being moved with the novelty thereof; for to his remembrance before hee -fell mad, he had never seene the like. The yong <i>gentleman</i> being come -unto him; Sir, (quoth he) I pray you hear mee a word or two, and answer -mee at your pleasure: What is this you ride on (quoth he) and how do you -imploy him? This is a horse (replied he) and I keepe him for <i>hawking</i>. -But what call you that, you carry on your fist, and how do you use it? -This is a <i>hawke</i> (said he) and I use to flie with it at pluver and -partridge. But what (quoth he) are these which follow you, what doe -they, or wherein doe they profit you? These are dogges (said he) and -necessary for <i>hawking</i>, to finde and retrieve my <!-- Page 259 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_259" id="Page_i_259">[259]</a></span>game. And what were -these birds worth, for which you provide so many things, if you should -reckon all you take for a whole yeere? Who answering, hee knew not well, -but they were worth a very little, not above sixe crownes. The man -replied; what then may be the charge you are at with your horse, dogges -and hawke? Some fiftie crowns, said he. Whereat, as one wondering at the -folly of the yong <i>gentleman</i>: Away, away Sir, I pray you quickly, and -fly hence before our physitian returne home: for if he finde you here, -as one that is maddest man alive, he will throw you into his pit, there -to be cured with others, that have lost their wits; and more than all -others, for he will set you chin-deepe in the water. Inferring hence, -that the use or exercise of <i>hawking</i>, is the greatest folly, unlesse -sometimes used by such as are of good estate, and for recreation sake.</p> - -<p>"Neither is this pleasure or recreation herein taxed, but the excessive -and immoderate expence which many are at in maintaining this pleasure. -Who as they should be wary in the expence of their <i>coine</i>, so much more -circumspect in their expence of <i>time</i>. So as in a word, I could wish -yong <i>gentlemen</i> never to bee so taken with this pleasure, as to lay -aside the dispatch of more serious occasions, for a flight of feathers -in the ayre."<a name="FNanchor_i_259:A_477" id="FNanchor_i_259:A_477"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_259:A_477" class="fnanchor">[259:A]</a></p> - -<p>The same prudent advice occurs in an author who wrote immediately -subsequent to Brathwait, and who, though a lover of the diversion, -stigmatises the folly of its general adoption. "As for hawking," says -he; "I commend it in some, condemne it in others; in men of qualitie -whose estates will well support it, I commend it as a generous and noble -qualitie; but in men of meane ranke and religious men<a name="FNanchor_i_259:B_478" id="FNanchor_i_259:B_478"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_259:B_478" class="fnanchor">[259:B]</a>, I condemne -it with Blesensis, as an idle and foolish vanitie: for I have ever -thought it a kinde of madnesse for such men, to bestow ten pounds in -feathers, which at one blast might be <!-- Page 260 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_260" id="Page_i_260">[260]</a></span>blowne away, and to buy a -momentary monethly pleasure with the labours and expence of a whole -yeare."<a name="FNanchor_i_260:A_479" id="FNanchor_i_260:A_479"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_260:A_479" class="fnanchor">[260:A]</a></p> - -<p>It is to be regretted, however, that the use of the gun has superseded, -among the opulent, the pursuit of this far more elegant and picturesque -recreation. As intimately connected, for many centuries, with the -romantic manners and costume of our ancient nobility and gentry, it now -possesses peculiar charms for the poet and the antiquary, and we look -back upon the detail of this pastime, and all its magnificent -establishments, with a portion of that interest which time has conferred -upon the splendid pageantries of chivalry. Of the estimation in which it -was held, and of the pleasure which it produced, in Shakspeare's time, -there are not wanting numerous proofs: he has himself frequently alluded -to it, and the poets Turberville, Gascoign, and Sydney, have delighted -to expatiate on its praises, and to adopt its technical phraseology. But -the most interesting eulogia, the most striking pictures of this -diversion, appear to us to be derived from a few strokes in Brathwait, -Nash, and Massinger; writers who, publishing shortly after Shakspeare's -death, and describing the amusement of their youthful days, of course -delineate the features as they existed in Shakspeare's age, with as -much, if not greater accuracy than the still earlier contemporaries of -the bard.</p> - -<p>"Hawking," remarks Brathwait, "is a pleasure for high and mounting -spirits: such as will not stoope to inferiour lures, having their mindes -so farre above, as they scorne to partake with them. It is rare to -consider, how a wilde <i>bird</i> should bee so brought to hand, and so well -managed as to make us such pleasure in the ayre: but most of all to -forgoe her native liberty and feeding, and returne to her former -servitude and diet. But in this, as in the rest, we are taught to admire -the great goodnesse and bounty of God, who hath not only given us the -birds of the aire, with their flesh to feede us, with their voice to -cheere us, but with their flight to delight us."<a name="FNanchor_i_260:B_480" id="FNanchor_i_260:B_480"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_260:B_480" class="fnanchor">[260:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 261 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_261" id="Page_i_261">[261]</a></span>"I have in my youthfull dayes," relates Nash, "beene as glad as ever I -was to come from Schoole, to see a little martin in the dead time of the -yeare, when the winter had put on her whitest coat, and the frosts had -sealed up the brookes and rivers, to make her way through the midst of a -multitude of fowle-mouth'd ravenous crows and kites, which pursued her -with more hydeous cryes and clamours, than did Coll the dog, and Malkin -the maide, the Fox in the Apologue.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"When the geese for feare flew over the trees,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And out of their hives came the swarme of bees:"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution"><i>Chaucer in his Nunes Priests Tale.</i></p> - -<p class="noindent">and maugre all their oppositions pulled down her prey, bigger than -herselfe, being mounted aloft, steeple-high downe to the ground. And to -heare an accipitrary relate againe, how he went forth in a cleere, -calme, and sun-shine evening, about an houre before the sunne did -usually maske himselfe, unto the river, where finding of a mallard, he -whistled off his faulcon, and how shee flew from him as if shee would -never have turned head againe, yet presently upon a shoote came in, how -then by degrees, by little and little, by flying about and about, she -mounted so high, untill shee had lessened herselfe to the view of the -beholder, to the shape of a pigeon or partridge, and had made the height -of the moone the place of her flight, how presently upon the landing of -the fowle, shee came downe like a stone and enewed it, and suddenly got -up againe, and suddenly upon a second landing came downe againe, and -missing of it, in the downe come recovered it, beyond expectation, to -the admiration of the beholder, at a long; and to heare him tell a third -time, how he went forth early in a winter's morning, to the woody fields -and pastures to fly the cocke, where having by the little white feather -in his tayle discovered him in a brake, he cast of a tasel gentle, and -how he never ceased in his circular motion, untill he had recovered his -place, how suddenly upon the flushing of the cocke he came downe, and -missing of it in the downcome, what working there was on both <!-- Page 262 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_262" id="Page_i_262">[262]</a></span>sides, -how the cocke mounted, as if he would have pierced the skies; how the -hawke flew a contrary way, untill he had made the winde his friend, how -then by degrees he got up, yet never offered to come in, untill he had -got the advantage of the higher ground, how then he made in, what speed -the cocke made to save himselfe, and what hasty pursuit the hawke made, -and how after two long miles flight killed it, yet in killing of it -killed himselfe. These discourses I love to heare, and can well be -content to be an eye-witnesse of the sport, when my occasions will -permit."<a name="FNanchor_i_262:A_481" id="FNanchor_i_262:A_481"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_262:A_481" class="fnanchor">[262:A]</a></p> - -<p>To this lively and minute detail, which brings the scene immediately -before our eyes, we must be allowed to add the poetical picture of -Massinger, which, as Mr. Gifford has justly observed, "is from the hand -of a great master."</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">————————— "In the afternoon,</div> - <div class="line">For we will have variety of delights,</div> - <div class="line">We'll to the field again, no game shall rise</div> - <div class="line">But we'll be ready for't——</div> - <div class="line">————————— for the pye or jay, a sparrow hawk</div> - <div class="line">Flies from the fist; the crow so near pursued,</div> - <div class="line">Shall be compell'd to seek protection under</div> - <div class="line">Our horses bellies; a hearn put from her siege,</div> - <div class="line">And a pistol shot off in her breech, shall mount</div> - <div class="line">So high, that, to your view, she'll seem to soar</div> - <div class="line">Above the middle region of the air:</div> - <div class="line">A cast of haggard falcons, by me mann'd,</div> - <div class="line">Eying the prey at first, appear as if</div> - <div class="line">They did turn tail; but with their labouring wings</div> - <div class="line">Getting above her, with a thought their pinions</div> - <div class="line">Clearing the purer element, make in,</div> - <div class="line">And by turns bind with her<a name="FNanchor_i_262:B_482" id="FNanchor_i_262:B_482"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_262:B_482" class="fnanchor">[262:B]</a>; the frighted fowl,</div> - <div class="line">Lying at her defence upon her back,</div> - <div class="line">With her dreadful beak, awhile defers her death,</div> - <div class="line">But by degrees forced down, we part the fray,</div> - <div class="line">And feast upon her.——</div> - <!-- Page 263 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_263" id="Page_i_263">[263]</a></span><div class="line">————————— Then, for an evening flight,</div> - <div class="line">A tiercel gentle, which I call, my masters,</div> - <div class="line">As he were sent a messenger to the moon,</div> - <div class="line">In such a place flies, as he seems to say,</div> - <div class="line">See me, or see me not! the partridge sprung,</div> - <div class="line">He makes his stoop; but wanting breath, is forced</div> - <div class="line">To cancelier<a name="FNanchor_i_263:A_483" id="FNanchor_i_263:A_483"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_263:A_483" class="fnanchor">[263:A]</a>; then, with such speed as if</div> - <div class="line">He carried lightning in his wings, he strikes</div> - <div class="line">The trembling bird, who even in death appears</div> - <div class="line">Proud to be made his quarry."<a name="FNanchor_i_263:B_484" id="FNanchor_i_263:B_484"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_263:B_484" class="fnanchor">[263:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>After these praises and general description of hawking, it will be -proper to mention the various kinds of hawks used for this diversion, -the different modes of exercising it, and a few of the most interesting -particulars relative to the training of the birds.</p> - -<p>It will be found, on consulting the <i>Treatise on Hawking</i>, by Dame -Juliana Barnes, printed by Winkin De Worde in 1496, the <i>Gentleman's -Academie</i>, by Markham, 1595, and the <i>Jewel for Gentrie</i>, published in -1614, that during this space of time, the species of hawks employed, and -the several ranks of society to which they were appropriated, had -scarcely, if at all varied. The following catalogue is, therefore, taken -from the ancient Treatyse:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"An eagle, a bawter (a vulture), a melown; these belong unto an Emperor.</div> - <div class="line indentq">A Gerfalcon: a Tercell of a Gerfalcon are due to a King.</div> - <div class="line indentq">There is a Falcon gentle, and a Tercel gentle; and these be for a Prince.</div> - <div class="line indentq">There is a Falcon of the rock; and that is for a Duke.</div> - <div class="line indentq">There is a Falcon peregrine; and that is for an earl.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Also there is a Bastard; and that hawk is for a baron.</div> - <div class="line indentq">There is a Sacre and a Sacret; and these ben for a knight.</div> - <div class="line indentq">There is a Lanare and a Lanrell; and these belong to a squire.</div> - <div class="line indentq"><!-- Page 264 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_264" id="Page_i_264">[264]</a></span>There is a Merlyon; and that hawk is for a lady.</div> - <div class="line indentq">There is an Hoby; and that hawk is for a young man.</div> - <div class="line i2q">And these <i>ben</i> hawks of the <i>tour</i> and ben both <i>illuryd</i> to be called and reclaimed.</div> - <div class="line i4q">And yet there ben more kinds of hawks.</div> - <div class="line i6q">There is a Goshawk; and that hawk is for a yeoman.</div> - <div class="line indentq">There is a Tercel; and that is for a poor man.</div> - <div class="line indentq">There is a Sparehawk; she is an hawk for a priest.</div> - <div class="line indentq">There is a Muskyte; and he is for an holy-water clerk."<a name="FNanchor_i_264:A_485" id="FNanchor_i_264:A_485"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_264:A_485" class="fnanchor">[264:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="center">To this list the <i>Jewel for Gentre</i> adds</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">A Kesterel, for a knave or servant.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Many of these birds were held in such high estimation by our crowned -heads and nobility, that several severe edicts were issued for the -preservation of their eggs. These were mitigated in the reign of -Elizabeth; but still if any person was convicted of taking or destroying -the eggs of the falcon, gos-hawk or laner, he was liable to suffer -imprisonment for three months, and was obliged to find security for his -good behaviour for seven years, or remain confined until he did.</p> - -<p>Hawking was divided into two branches, land and water hawking, and the -latter was usually considered as producing the most sport. The diversion -of hawking was pursued either on horseback or on foot: on the former in -the fields and open country; on the latter, in woods, coverts, and on -the banks of rivers. When on foot, the sportsman had the assistance of a -stout pole, for the purpose of leaping over ditches, rivulets, &c.; a -circumstance which we learn from the chronicle of Hall, where the -historian tells us that Henry the Eighth, pursuing his hawk on foot, in -attempting to leap over a ditch of muddy water with his pole, it broke, -and precipitated the monarch head-foremost into the mud, where, had it -not been for the timely assistance of one of his footmen, named John -Moody, he would soon have been suffocated; "and so," concludes the -venerable chronicler, "God of hys goodnesse preserved him."<a name="FNanchor_i_264:B_486" id="FNanchor_i_264:B_486"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_264:B_486" class="fnanchor">[264:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 265 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_265" id="Page_i_265">[265]</a></span>The game pursued in hawking included a vast variety of birds, many of -which, once fashionable articles of the table, have now ceased to be -objects of the culinary art. Of those which are now obsolete among -epicures may be enumerated, herons, bitterns, swans, cranes, curlews, -sheldrakes, cootes, peacocks; of those still in use, teel, mallard, -geese, ducks, pheasants, quails, partridges, plovers, doves, turtles, -snipes, woodcocks, rooks, larks, starlings, and sparrows.</p> - -<p>Hawking, notwithstanding the occasional fatigue and hazard which it -produced, was a favourite diversion among the ladies, who in the pursuit -of it, according to a writer of the seventeenth century, did not -hesitate to assume the male attire and posture. "The <a name="FNanchor_i_265:A_487" id="FNanchor_i_265:A_487"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_265:A_487" class="fnanchor">[265:A]</a>Bury -ladies," observes he, "that used <i>hawking</i> and hunting, were once in a -great vaine of wearing breeches."<a name="FNanchor_i_265:B_488" id="FNanchor_i_265:B_488"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_265:B_488" class="fnanchor">[265:B]</a> The same author has preserved a -hawking anecdote of some humour, and which occurred, likewise, at the -same place: "Sir Thomas Jermin," he relates, "going out with his -servants, and brooke hawkes one evening, at Bury, they were no sooner -abroad, but fowle were found, and he called out to one of his falconers, -Off with your jerkin; the fellow being into the wind did not heare him; -at which he stormed, and still cried out, Off with your jerkin, you -knave, off with your jerkin; now it fell out that there was, at that -instant, a plaine townsman of Bury, in a freeze jerkin, stood betwixt -him and his falconer, who seeing Sir Thomas in such a rage, and thinking -he had spoken to him, unbuttoned himself amaine, threw off his jerkin, -and besought his worshippe not to be offended, for he would off with his -doublet too, to give him content."<a name="FNanchor_i_265:C_489" id="FNanchor_i_265:C_489"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_265:C_489" class="fnanchor">[265:C]</a></p> - -<p>That the <i>training</i> of hawks was a work of labour, difficulty, and -skill, and that the person upon whom the task devolved, was highly -prized, and supported at a great expense, may be readily imagined. The -<i>Falconer</i> was, indeed, an officer of high importance in the household -of the opulent, and his whole time was absorbed in the duties of <!-- Page 266 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_266" id="Page_i_266">[266]</a></span>his -station. That these were various and incessant may be deduced from the -following curious character of a <i>falconer</i>, drawn by a satirist of -1615.<a name="FNanchor_i_266:A_490" id="FNanchor_i_266:A_490"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_266:A_490" class="fnanchor">[266:A]</a></p> - -<p>"A falkoner is the egge of a tame pullett, hatcht up among hawkes and -spaniels. Hee hath in his minority conversed with kestrils and yong -hobbies: but growing up he begins to handle the lure, and look a fawlcon -in the face. All his learning makes him but a new linguist; for to have -studied and practised the termes of Hawke's Dictionary, is enough to -excuse his wit, manners, and humanity. He hath too many trades to -thrive; and yet if hee had fewer, hee would thrive lesse. Hee need not -be envied therefore, for a monopolie, though he be barber-surgeon, -physitian, and apothecary, before he commences <i>hawk-leech</i>; for though -he exercise all these, and the art of bow-strings together, his patients -be compelled to pay him no further, then they be able. Hawkes be his -object, that is, his knowledge, admiration, labour, and all; they be -indeed his idoll, or mistresse, be they male or female: to them he -consecrates his amorous ditties, which be no sooner framed then -hallowed; nor should he doubt to overcome the fairest, seeing he -reclaimes such haggards, and courts every one with a peculiar dialect. -That he is truly affected to his sweetheart in her fether-bed, appeares -by the sequele, himselfe being sensible of the same misery, for they be -both mewed up together: but he still chuses the worst pennance, by -chusing rather an ale-house, or a cellar, for his moulting place than -the hawke's mew."<a name="FNanchor_i_266:B_491" id="FNanchor_i_266:B_491"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_266:B_491" class="fnanchor">[266:B]</a></p> - -<p>The training of Hawks consisted principally in the <i>manning</i>, <i>luring</i>, -<i>flying</i>, and <i>hooding</i> them. Of these, the first and second imply a -perfect familiarity with the man, and a perfect obedience to his voice -and commands, especially that of returning to the fist at the <!-- Page 267 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_267" id="Page_i_267">[267]</a></span>appointed -signal.<a name="FNanchor_i_267:A_492" id="FNanchor_i_267:A_492"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_267:A_492" class="fnanchor">[267:A]</a> The <i>flying</i> includes the appropriation of peculiar hawks -to peculiar game; thus the <i>Faulcon gentle</i>, which, according to Gervase -Markham, is the principal of hawks, and adapted either for the field or -river, will fly at the partridge or the mallard; the <i>Gerfaulcon</i> will -fly at the heron; the <i>Saker</i> at the crane or bittern; the <i>Lanner</i> at -the partridge, pheasant, or chooffe; the <i>Barbary Faulcon</i> at the -partridge only; the <i>Merlin</i> and the <i>Hobby</i> at the lark, or any small -bird; the <i>Goshawk</i> or <i>Tercel</i> at the partridge, pheasant, or hare; the -<i>Sparrow-hawk</i> at the partridge or blackbird, and the <i>Musket</i> at the -bush only.<a name="FNanchor_i_267:B_493" id="FNanchor_i_267:B_493"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_267:B_493" class="fnanchor">[267:B]</a></p> - -<p>The <i>hooding</i> of hawks, as it embraces many technical terms, which have -been adopted by our poets, and among the rest, by Shakspeare, will -require a more extended explanation, and this we shall give in the words -of Mr. Strutt. "When the hawk," he observes, "was not flying at her -game, she was usually hood-winked, with a cap or hood provided for that -purpose, and fitted to her head; and this hood was worn abroad, as well -as at home. All hawks taken upon '<i>the fist</i>,' the term used for -carrying them upon the hand, had straps of leather called -<i>jesses</i><a name="FNanchor_i_267:C_494" id="FNanchor_i_267:C_494"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_267:C_494" class="fnanchor">[267:C]</a>, put about their legs; the jesses were made sufficiently -<!-- Page 268 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_268" id="Page_i_268">[268]</a></span>long, for the knots to appear between the middle and the little fingers -of the hand that held them, so that the <i>lunes</i>, or small thongs of -leather, might be fastened to them with two <i>tyrrits</i>, or rings; and the -lunes were loosely wound round the little finger; lastly, their legs -were adorned with <i>bells</i>, fastened with rings of leather, each leg -having one; and the leathers, to which the bells were attached, were -denominated <i>bewits</i>; and to the bewits was added the <i>creance</i>, or long -thread, by which the bird in tutoring, was drawn back, after she had -been permitted to fly; and this was called the <i>reclaiming</i> of the hawk. -The bewits, we are informed, were useful to keep the hawks from <i>winding -when she bated</i>, that is, when she fluttered her wings to fly after her -game. Respecting the bells, it is particularly recommended that they -should not be too heavy, to impede the flight of the bird; and that they -should be of equal weight, sonorous, shrill, and musical; not both of -one sound, but the one a semitone below the other<a name="FNanchor_i_268:A_496" id="FNanchor_i_268:A_496"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_268:A_496" class="fnanchor">[268:A]</a>; they ought not -to be broken, especially in the sounding part, because, in that case, -the sound emitted would be dull and unpleasing. There is, says the Book -of St. Alban's, great choice of sparrow-hawk bells, and they are cheap -enough; but for gos-hawk bells, those made at Milan are called the best; -and, indeed, they are excellent; for they are commonly sounded with -<a name="FNanchor_i_268:B_497" id="FNanchor_i_268:B_497"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_268:B_497" class="fnanchor">[268:B]</a>silver, and charged for accordingly."<a name="FNanchor_i_268:C_498" id="FNanchor_i_268:C_498"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_268:C_498" class="fnanchor">[268:C]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 269 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_269" id="Page_i_269">[269]</a></span>Thomas Heywood, in his play, entitled <i>A Woman killed with Kindness</i>, -and acted before 1604, has a passage on falconry, four lines of which -have been quoted by Mr. Strutt, as allusive to the toning of the Milan -bells; but as the whole is highly descriptive of the diversion, and is -of no great length, we shall venture to transcribe it, with the -exception of a few lines, entire:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<i>Sir Charles.</i> So; well cast off; aloft, aloft; well flown.</div> - <div class="line">O, now she takes her at the <i>sowse</i>, and strikes her down</div> - <div class="line">To th' earth, like a swift thunder clap.—</div> - <div class="line">Now she hath seized the fowl, and 'gins to plume her,</div> - <div class="line"><i>Rebeck</i> her not; rather stand still and <i>check</i> her.</div> - <div class="line">So: seize her <i>gets</i>, her <i>jesses</i>, and her <i>bells</i>;</div> - <div class="line">Away.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Sir Francis.</i> My hawk kill'd too!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Sir Charles.</i> Aye, but 'twas at the <i>querre</i>,</div> - <div class="line">Not at the <i>mount</i>, like mine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Sir Fran.</i> Judgment, my masters.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Cranwell.</i> Your's miss'd her at the <i>ferre</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_269:A_500" id="FNanchor_i_269:A_500"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_269:A_500" class="fnanchor">[269:A]</a></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Wendoll.</i> Aye, but our Merlin first had <i>plumed</i> the fowl,</div> - <div class="line">And twice <i>renew'd</i> her from the river too;</div> - <div class="line">Her bells, Sir Francis, had not both one weight,</div> - <div class="line">Nor was one semi-tune above the other:</div> - <div class="line">Methinks these Milain bells do sound too full,</div> - <div class="line">And spoil the mounting of your hawk.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Sir Fran.</i> —— Mine likewise seized a fowl</div> - <div class="line">Within her talons; and you saw her paws</div> - <div class="line">Full of the feathers: both her petty <i>singles</i>,</div> - <div class="line">And her <i>long singles</i> griped her more than other;</div> - <div class="line">The <i>terrials</i> of her legs were stained with blood:</div> - <!-- Page 270 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_270" id="Page_i_270">[270]</a></span><div class="line">Not of the fowl only, she did discomfit</div> - <div class="line">Some of her feathers; but she brake away."<a name="FNanchor_i_270:A_501" id="FNanchor_i_270:A_501"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_270:A_501" class="fnanchor">[270:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>To hawking and the language of falconry, Shakspeare, as we have -previously observed, has frequently had recourse, and he has selected -the terms with his wonted propriety and effect; of this five or six -instances will be adequate proof. Othello, in allusion to Desdemona, -exclaims:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">————— "If I do prove her <i>haggard</i>,</div> - <div class="line">Though that <i>jesses</i> were my dear heart-strings,</div> - <div class="line">I'd <i>whistle her off</i>, and <i>let her down the wind</i>,</div> - <div class="line">To prey at fortune."<a name="FNanchor_i_270:B_502" id="FNanchor_i_270:B_502"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_270:B_502" class="fnanchor">[270:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>A <i>haggard</i> is a species of hawk wild and difficult to be reclaimed, and -which, if not well trained, flies indiscriminately at every bird; a -fault to which Shakspeare again refers in his <i>Twelfth Night</i>, where -Viola tells the Clown that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"He must observe their mood on whom he jests—</div> - <div class="line indentq">And, like the <i>haggard</i>, check at every feather</div> - <div class="line indentq">That comes before his eye."<a name="FNanchor_i_270:C_503" id="FNanchor_i_270:C_503"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_270:C_503" class="fnanchor">[270:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The phrase to <i>whistle off</i> will be best explained by a simile in -Burton, which opens his chapter on Air. "As a long-winged hawk when he -is first <i>whistled off the fist</i>, mounts aloft, and for his pleasure -fetcheth many a circuit in the air, still soaring higher and higher, -till he be come to his full pitch, and in the end when the game is -sprung, comes down amain, and <i>stoops</i> upon a sudden."<a name="FNanchor_i_270:D_504" id="FNanchor_i_270:D_504"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_270:D_504" class="fnanchor">[270:D]</a> To <i>let a -hawk down the wind</i>, was to dismiss it as worthless.</p> - -<p>Petruchio, soliloquising on the means which he had adopted, in order to -tame his termagant bride, says emphatically,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 271 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_271" id="Page_i_271">[271]</a></span><div class="line">"My falcon now is sharp, and passing empty;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And, till she stoop, she must not be full-gorged,</div> - <div class="line indentq">For then she never looks upon her lure.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Another way I have to man my haggard,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To make her come, and know her keeper's call,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That is,—to watch her, as we watch these kites,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That <i>bate</i>, and beat, and will not be obedient."<a name="FNanchor_i_271:A_505" id="FNanchor_i_271:A_505"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_271:A_505" class="fnanchor">[271:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>To <i>bate</i> in this passage means to <i>flutter</i> or <i>beat the wings</i>, as -striving to fly away, and is metaphorically used in the following -address of Juliet to the night:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">———————— "Come, civil night,——</div> - <div class="line">Hood my unmann'd blood <i>bating</i> in my cheeks,</div> - <div class="line">With thy black mantle."<a name="FNanchor_i_271:B_506" id="FNanchor_i_271:B_506"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_271:B_506" class="fnanchor">[271:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The same tragedy furnishes us with another obligation to falconry, where -the love-sick maiden recalls Romeo in these terms:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Hist! Romeo, hist!——O, for a falconer's voice</div> - <div class="line indentq">To lure this tassel-gentle back again."<a name="FNanchor_i_271:C_507" id="FNanchor_i_271:C_507"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_271:C_507" class="fnanchor">[271:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Falstaff's page in the <i>Merry Wives of Windsor</i> is appositely compared -to the <i>eyas-musket</i>, an unfledged hawk of the smallest species:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Mrs. Ford.</i> How now, my <i>eyas-musket</i>? What news with you?"<a name="FNanchor_i_271:D_508" id="FNanchor_i_271:D_508"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_271:D_508" class="fnanchor">[271:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><i>Eyas-musket</i>, remarks Mr. Steevens, is the same as <i>infant -Lilliputian</i>, and he subjoins an illustrative passage from Spenser:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">———— "youthful gay,</div> - <div class="line">Like <i>eyas-hawke</i>, up mounts into the skies,</div> - <div class="line">His <i>newly budded</i> pinions to essay."<a name="FNanchor_i_271:E_509" id="FNanchor_i_271:E_509"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_271:E_509" class="fnanchor">[271:E]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 272 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_272" id="Page_i_272">[272]</a></span>If the commencement of the seventeenth century, saw <i>Hawking</i> the most -splendid and prevalent amusement of the nobility and gentry, the close -had to witness its decline and abolition; it gave way to a more sure and -expeditious, though, perhaps, less interesting mode of killing game, and -the adoption of the gun had, before the year 1700, almost entirely -banished the art of the Falconer.</p> - -<p>The costume of the next great amusement of the country, that of <span class="smcap">Hunting</span>, -differs at present in few essential points from what it was in the -sixteenth century. The chief variations may be included in the disuse of -killing game in inclosures, and in the adoption of more speed, and less -fatigue and stratagem in the open chace; or in other words, it is the -strength and speed of the fleet blood-horse, and not of the athletic and -active huntsman, or old steady-paced hunter, that now decide the sport. -"In the modern chace," observes Mr Haslewood, "the lithsomness of youth -is no longer excited to pursue the animals. Attendant footmen are -discontinued and forgotten; while the active and eager rustic with a -hunting pole, wont to be foremost, has long forsaken the field, nor is -there a trace of the character known, except in a country of deep clay, -as parts of Sussex. Few years will pass ere the old steady paced English -hunter and the gabbling beagle will be equally obsolete. All the sport -now consists of speed. A hare is hurried to death by dwarf fox-hounds, -and a leash murdered in a shorter period than a single one could -generally struggle for existence. The hunter boasts a cross of blood, -or, in plainer phrase, a racer, sufficiently professed to render a -country sweepstakes doubtful. This variation is by no means an -improvement, and can only advantage the plethoric citizen, who seeks to -combat the somnolency arising from civic festivals by a short and sudden -excess of exercise."<a name="FNanchor_i_272:A_510" id="FNanchor_i_272:A_510"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_272:A_510" class="fnanchor">[272:A]</a></p> - -<p>The mode of hunting, indeed, in the reigns of Elizabeth and James, still -continued an emblem of, and a fit preparation for, the fatigues of <!-- Page 273 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_273" id="Page_i_273">[273]</a></span>war; -nor was it unusual to consider the toils of the chace as initiatory to -those of the camp. "The old Lord Gray, our English Achilles," says -Peacham, "when hee was Deputie of Ireland, to inure his sonnes for the -warre, would usually in the depth of winter, in frost, snow, raine, and -what weather so ever fell, cause them at midnight to be raised out of -their beds, and carried abroad on hunting till the next morning; then -perhaps come wet and cold home, having for a breakefast, a browne loafe -and a mouldie cheese, or (which is ten times worse) a dish of Irish -butter<a name="FNanchor_i_273:A_511" id="FNanchor_i_273:A_511"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_273:A_511" class="fnanchor">[273:A]</a>;" and Dekkar, in his praise of hunting, remarks, that "it -is a very true picture of warre, nay, it is a warre in itselfe, for -engines are brought into the field, stratagems are contrived, ambushes -are laide, onsets are given, alarams strucke up, brave encounters are -made, fierce assailings are resisted by strength, by courage, or by -policie: the enemie is pursued, and the pursuers never give over till -they have him in execution, then is a retreate sounded, then are spoiles -divided, then come they home wearied, but yet crowned with honour and -victorie. And as in battailes, there bee several manners of fight; so in -the pastime of hunting, there are several degrees of game. Some hunt the -lyon, &c.—others pursue the long-lived hart, the couragious stag, or -the nimble footed deere; these are the noblest hunters, and they -exercise the noblest game: these by following the chace, get strength of -bodie, a free, and undisquieted minde, magnanimitie of spirit, alacritie -of heart, and unwearisomnesse to breake through the hardest labours: -their pleasures are not insatiable, but are contented to be kept within -limits, for these hunt within parkes inclosed, or within bounded -forests. The hunting of the hare teaches feare to be bold, and puts -simplicitie to her shifts, that she growes cunning and provident; -&c."<a name="FNanchor_i_273:B_512" id="FNanchor_i_273:B_512"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_273:B_512" class="fnanchor">[273:B]</a></p> - -<p>Hunting in inclosures, that is, in parks, chases, and forests, where the -game was inclosed with a fence-work of netting stretched on posts driven -into the ground, appears to have been the custom of this <!-- Page 274 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_274" id="Page_i_274">[274]</a></span>country from -the time of Edward the Second to the middle of the seventeenth century. -The manuscript treatise of William Twici, grand huntsman to Edward the -Second, entitled <i>Le Art De Venerie, le quel maistre Guillame Twici -venour le roy d'Angleterre fist en son temps per aprandre -Autres</i><a name="FNanchor_i_274:A_513" id="FNanchor_i_274:A_513"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_274:A_513" class="fnanchor">[274:A]</a>; the nearly contemporary manuscript translation of John -Gyfford, with the title of <i>A book of Venerie, dialogue<a name="FNanchor_i_274:B_514" id="FNanchor_i_274:B_514"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_274:B_514" class="fnanchor">[274:B]</a> wise</i>; -the tract called <i>The Maistre of the Game</i><a name="FNanchor_i_274:C_515" id="FNanchor_i_274:C_515"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_274:C_515" class="fnanchor">[274:C]</a>, in manuscript also, -and written by the chief huntsman of Henry the Fourth, for the -instruction of his son, afterwards Henry the Fifth; the <i>Book of St. -Albans</i>, the first <i>printed</i> treatise on the subject, and written by the -sister of Lord Berners, when prioress at the nunnery of Sopewell, about -1481; the tract on the <i>Noble Art of Venerie</i>, annexed to Turberville on -Falconrie 1575, and supposed to have been written by George Gascoigne, -and the re-impression of the same in 1611, all describe the ceremonies -and preparations necessary for the pursuit of this, now obsolete, mode -of hunting, which, from its luxury and effeminacy, forms a perfect -contrast to the manly fatigues of the <i>open</i> chace.</p> - -<p>This style of hunting, indeed, exhibited great splendour and pomp, and -was certainly a very imposing spectacle; but the slaughter must have -been easy and great, and the sport therefore proportionally less -interesting. When the king, the great barons, or dignified clergy, -selected this mode of the diversion, in which either bows or greyhounds -were used, the masters of the game and the park-keepers prepared all -things essential for the purpose; and, if it were a royal hunt, the -sheriff of the county furnished stabling for the king's horses, and -carts for the dead game. A number of temporary buildings, covered with -green boughs, to shade the company from the heat of the sun or bad -weather, were erected by the foresters in a proper situation, and on the -morning of the day chosen for the sport, the master of the game and his -officers saw the greyhounds duly placed, and a person <!-- Page 275 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_275" id="Page_i_275">[275]</a></span>appointed to -announce, by the different intonations of his horn the species of game -turned out, so that the company might be prepared for its reception when -it broke cover.</p> - -<p>The enclosure being guarded by officers or retainers, placed at equal -distances, to prevent the multitude prematurely rousing the game, the -grand huntsman, as soon as the king, nobility, or gentry had taken their -respective stations, sounded three long mootes or blasts with the horn, -as a signal for the uncoupling of the hart-hounds, when the game, driven -by the manœuvres of the huntsman, passed the lodges where the company -were waiting, and were either shot from their bows, or individuals, -starting from the groupe, pursued the deer with greyhounds.<a name="FNanchor_i_275:A_516" id="FNanchor_i_275:A_516"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_275:A_516" class="fnanchor">[275:A]</a></p> - -<p>We find, from the poems of Gascoigne and Turberville, as they appear in -their Book of Hunting of 1575, that every accommodation which beautiful -scenery and epicurean fare could produce, was thought essential to this -branch of the sport. Turberville, describing the scene chosen for the -company to take their stations, says—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"The place should first be pight, on pleasant gladsome greene,</div> - <div class="line">Yet under shade of stately trees, where little sunne is seene:</div> - <div class="line i1q">And neare some fountaine spring, whose chrystall running streames</div> - <div class="line">May helpe to coole the parching heate, ycaught by Phœbus beames.</div> - <div class="line i1q">The place appoynted thus, it neyther shall be clad</div> - <div class="line">With arras nor with tapystry, such paltrie were too bad:</div> - <div class="line i1q">Ne yet those hote perfumes, whereof proude courtes do smell,</div> - <div class="line">May once presume in such a place, or paradise to dwell.</div> - <div class="line i1q">Away with fayned fresh, as broken boughes or leaves,</div> - <div class="line">Away, away, with forced flowers, ygathered from their greaves:</div> - <div class="line i1q">This place must of itselfe, afforde such sweet delight,</div> - <div class="line">And eke such shewe, as better may content the greedie sight;</div> - <div class="line i1q">Where sundry sortes of hewes, which growe upon the ground,</div> - <div class="line">May seeme, indeede, such tapystry, as we by arte, have found.</div> - <div class="line i1q">Where fresh and fragrant flowers, may skorne the courtier's cost,</div> - <div class="line">Which daubes himselfe with syvet, muske, and many an ointment lost,</div> - <!-- Page 276 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_276" id="Page_i_276">[276]</a></span><div class="line i1q">Where sweetest singing byrdes, may make such melodye,</div> - <div class="line">As Pan, nor yet Apollo's arte, can sounde such harmonye.</div> - <div class="line i1q">Where breath of westerne windes, may calmely yeld content,</div> - <div class="line">Where casements neede not opened be, where air is never pent.</div> - <div class="line i1q">Where shade may serve for shryne, and yet the sunne at hande,</div> - <div class="line">Where beautie need not quake for colde, ne yet with sunne be tande.</div> - <div class="line i1q">In fine and to conclude, where pleasure dwels at large,</div> - <div class="line">Which princes seeke in pallaces, with payne and costly charge.</div> - <div class="line i1q">Then such a place once founde, the <i>Butler</i> first appeares,—</div> - <div class="line i1q">Then comes the captaine <i>Cooke</i>"—</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>These gentlemen of the household, it seems, came well provided; the -farmer, with wines and ales "in bottles and in barrels," and the latter -with <i>colde loynes of veale</i>, <i>colde capon</i>, <i>beefe and goose</i>, <i>pigeon -pyes</i>, <i>mutton colde</i>, <i>neates tongs poudred well</i>, <i>gambones of the -hogge</i>, <i>saulsages</i> and <i>savery knackes</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_276:A_517" id="FNanchor_i_276:A_517"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_276:A_517" class="fnanchor">[276:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of the stag-chace in the <i>open</i> country, and of the ceremonies and -costume attending it, at the castellated mansions of the Baron and -opulent Squire, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a -tolerably accurate idea may be formed from the following statement, -drawn up from the ancient writers on the subject, and from the works of -the ingenious antiquary Strutt.</p> - -<p>The inhabitants of the castle, and the hunters, were usually awakened -very early in the morning by the lively sounding of the bugles, after -which it was not unusual for two or more minstrels to sing an -appropriate roundelay, beneath the windows of the master of the mansion, -accompanied by the deep and mellow chorus of the attending rangers and -falconers. Shakspeare alludes to a song of this kind in his <i>Romeo and -Juliet</i><a name="FNanchor_i_276:B_518" id="FNanchor_i_276:B_518"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_276:B_518" class="fnanchor">[276:B]</a>, which has been preserved entire by Thomas -Ravenscroft<a name="FNanchor_i_276:C_519" id="FNanchor_i_276:C_519"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_276:C_519" class="fnanchor">[276:C]</a>, and commences thus:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line"><!-- Page 277 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_277" id="Page_i_277">[277]</a></span>"The hunt is up, the hunt is up,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sing merrily wee, the hunt is up;</div> - <div class="line indentq">The birds they sing,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The deere they fling;</div> - <div class="line i8h">Hey nony nony-no; &c."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The Yeoman Keepers, with their attendants, called Ragged Robins, to the -number of ten or twelve, next made their appearance, leading the -slow-hounds or brachets, by which the deer were roused. These men were -usually dressed in Kendal green, with bugles and short hangers by their -sides, and quarter-staffs in their hands, and were followed by the -foresters with a number of greyhounds led in leashes for the purpose of -plucking down the game.</p> - -<p>This assemblage in the Court of the castle was soon augmented by a -number of <i>Retainers</i>, or Yeomen who received a small annual pension for -attendance on these occasions; they wore a livery, with the cognisance -of the house to which they belonged, borne, as a badge of adherence, on -their arms, and each man had a buckler on his shoulder, and a burnished -broad sword hanging from his belt. Shortly afterwards appeared the pages -and squires in hunting garbs on horse-back and on foot, and armed with -spears and long and cross bows; and lastly the Baron, his friends, and -the ladies.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 278 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_278" id="Page_i_278">[278]</a></span>The company thus completed, were conducted by the huntsmen to a -thicket, in which, they knew, by previous observation, that a stag had -been harboured all night. Into this cover the keeper entered, leading -his ban-dog (a blood-hound tied in a leam or band), and as soon as the -stag abandoned it, the greyhounds were slipped upon him; these, however, -after running two or three miles, he usually threw out, by again -entering cover, when the slow-hounds and prickers were sent in, to drive -him from his strength. The poor animal now traverses the country for -several miles, and after using every effort and manœuvre in vain, -exhausted and breathless, his mouth embossed with foam, and the tears -dropping from his eyes, he turns in despair upon his pursuers, and in -this situation the boldest hunter of the train generally rides in, and, -at some risque, dispatches him with a short hunting-sword. The -<i>treble-mort</i> is then sounded, accompanied by the shouts of the men and -the yelping of the dogs, and the huntsman ceremoniously presents his -knife to the master of the chase, in order that he may take, as it is -termed, the <i>say</i> of the deer.<a name="FNanchor_i_278:A_520" id="FNanchor_i_278:A_520"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_278:A_520" class="fnanchor">[278:A]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 279 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_279" id="Page_i_279">[279]</a></span>The danger which the ancient hunter incurred, on dealing the death -stroke to the stag when he turned to bay, is strikingly exemplified by -an incident in the life of Wilson the historian, during the time he -formed a part of the household of the Earl of Essex, in the reign of -Elizabeth.</p> - -<p>"Sir Peter Lee, of Lime, in Cheshire, invited my lord one summer, to -hunt the stagg. And having a great stagg in chace, and many gentlemen in -the pursuit, the stagg took soyle. And divers, whereof I was one, -alighted, and stood with swords drawne, to have a cut at him, at his -coming out of the water. The staggs there, being wonderfully fierce and -dangerous, made us youths more eager to be at him. But he escaped us -all. And it was my misfortune to be hindered of my coming nere him, the -way being sliperie, by a fall; which gave occasion to some, who did not -know mee, to speak as if I had falne for feare. Which being told me, I -left the stagg, and followed the gentleman who first spake it. But I -found him of that cold temper, that it seems his words made an escape -from him; as by his denial and repentance it appeared. But this made mee -<!-- Page 280 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_280" id="Page_i_280">[280]</a></span>more violent in pursuit of the stagg, to recover my reputation. And I -happened to be the only horseman in, when the dogs sett him up at bay; -and approaching nere him on horsebacke, hee broke through the dogs, and -run at mee, and tore my horse's side with his hornes, close by my thigh. -Then I quitted my horse, and grew more cunning (for the dogs had sette -him up againe), stealing behind him with my sword, and cut his -hamstrings; and then got upon his back, and cut his throate."<a name="FNanchor_i_280:A_521" id="FNanchor_i_280:A_521"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_280:A_521" class="fnanchor">[280:A]</a></p> - -<p>A still more difficult and gallant feat, however, of this kind, was -performed by John Selwyn, the under-keeper of Queen Elizabeth, who, one -day, animated by the presence of his royal mistress, at a chase, in her -park of Oatlands, pursued the stag with such activity, that, overtaking -it, he sprung from his horse on the animal; when, after most skilfully -maintaining his seat for some time, he drew his hunting-sword, and, just -as he reached the green, plunged it in the throat of the stag, which -immediately dropped down dead at the feet of Elizabeth; an achievement -which is sculptured on his monument in Walton church, Surrey, where he -is represented in the very act of killing the infuriated beast.<a name="FNanchor_i_280:B_522" id="FNanchor_i_280:B_522"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_280:B_522" class="fnanchor">[280:B]</a></p> - -<p>The taking the <i>say</i> of, and the <i>breaking</i> up, the deer, were formerly -attended with many ceremonies and superstitions.<a name="FNanchor_i_280:C_523" id="FNanchor_i_280:C_523"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_280:C_523" class="fnanchor">[280:C]</a> "Touching the -death of a deare, or other wylde beast," says a writer of the sixteenth -century, "yee knowe your selves what ceremonies they use about the same. -Every poore man may cut out an oxe, or a sheepe, whereas such venison -may not be dismembered but of a gentylman; who bareheadded, and set on -knees, with a knife prepared properly to that use, (for every kynde of -knife is not allowable) also with certain jestures, cuttes a sunder -certaine partes of the wild beast, in a certain order very -circumstantly. Which holy misterie, having seen the lyke yet more than a -hundred tymes before. <!-- Page 281 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_281" id="Page_i_281">[281]</a></span>Then (sir) whose happe it bee to eate parte of -the fleshe, marye hee thinkes verily to bee made thereby halfe a -gentilman."<a name="FNanchor_i_281:A_524" id="FNanchor_i_281:A_524"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_281:A_524" class="fnanchor">[281:A]</a></p> - -<p>After the process of dismemberment, and the selection of choice pieces, -the forester, the keeper, and the hounds had their allotted share, and -superstition granted even a portion to the ominous raven. "There is a -little gristle," relates Turberville, "which is upon the spoone of the -brisket, which we call the raven's bone; and I have seen in some places -a raven so wont and accustomed to it, that she would never fail to croak -and cry for it all the time you were in breaking up of the deer, and -would not depart till she had it."</p> - -<p>Of this superstitious observance Jonson has given us a pleasing sketch, -in the most poetical of his works, the Sad Shepherd:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<i>Marian.</i> —————— He that undoes him,</div> - <div class="line">Doth cleave the brisket bone upon the spoon,</div> - <div class="line">Of which a little gristle grows——you call it—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Robin Hood.</i> The raven's bone.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Marian.</i> —————— Now o'er head sat a raven</div> - <div class="line">On a sere bough, a grown, great bird and hoarse,</div> - <div class="line">Who, all the time the deer was breaking up,</div> - <div class="line">So croaked and cried for it, as all the huntsmen,</div> - <div class="line">Especially old Scathlocke, thought it ominous!"<a name="FNanchor_i_281:B_525" id="FNanchor_i_281:B_525"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_281:B_525" class="fnanchor">[281:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In an age, when to hawke and to hunt formed the <i>Gentleman's -Academy</i><a name="FNanchor_i_281:C_526" id="FNanchor_i_281:C_526"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_281:C_526" class="fnanchor">[281:C]</a>, the <i>Falconer</i> and the <i>Huntsman</i> were most important -characters; of the former we have already given an outline from -contemporary authority, and of the latter the following extract -delineates a very curious picture, in which the manners, the dress, and -the accoutrements are marked with singular strength and raciness of -touch.</p> - -<p>"A huntsman is the lieutenant of dogs, and foe to harvest: he is frolick -in a faire morning fit for his pleasure; and alike rejoyceth <!-- Page 282 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_282" id="Page_i_282">[282]</a></span>with the -Virginians, to see the rising sun: he doth worship it as they, but -worships his game more than they; and is in some things almost as -barbarous. A sluggard he contemnes, and thinks the resting time might be -shortened; which makes him rise with day, observe the same pace, and -prove full as happy, if the day be happy. The names of foxe, hare, and -bucke, be all attracting sillables; sufficient to furnish fifteene -meales with long discourse in the adventures of each. Foxe, drawes in -his exploits done against cubbes, bitch-foxes, otters and badgers: hare, -brings out his encounters, platformes, engines, fortifications, and -night worke done against leveret, cony, wilde-cat, rabbet, weasell, and -pole-cat: then bucke, the captaine of all, provokes him (not without -strong passion) to remember hart, hind, stagge, doe, pricket, fawne, and -fallow deere. He uses a dogged forme of governement, which might bee -(without shame) kept in humanity; and yet he is unwilling to be governed -with the same reason: either by being satisfied with pleasure, or -content with ill fortune. Hee hath the discipline to marshall dogs, and -sutably; when a wise herald would rather mervaile, how he could -distinguish their coates, birth, and gentry. Hee carries about him in -his mouth the very soule of Ovid's bodies, metamorphosed into trees, -rockes and waters; for, when he pleases, they shall eccho and distinctly -answere; and when he pleases, be extremely silent. There is little -danger in him towards the common wealth; for his worst intelligence -comes from shepherds or woodmen; and that onely threatens the -destruction of hares; a well knowne dry meate. The spring and he are -still at variance; in mockage therefore, and revenge together of that -season, <i>he weares her livery</i> in winter. Little consultations please -him best; but the best directions he doth love and follow, they are his -dogs. If hee cannot prevaile therefore, his lucke must be blamed, for he -takes a speedy course. He cannot be less than a conquerour from the -beginning, though he wants the booty; for he pursues the flight. His -manhood is <i>a crooked sword with a sawbacke</i>; but the badge of his -generous valour is a home to give notice. Battery and blowing up, he -loves not; to undermine is his stratageme. <!-- Page 283 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_283" id="Page_i_283">[283]</a></span>His physick teaches him not -to drinke sweating; in amends whereof, he liquors himselfe to a heate, -upon coole bloud, if he delights (at least) to emulate his dog in a hot -nose. If a kennel of hounds passant take away his attention and company -from church; do not blame his devotion; for in them consists the nature -of it, and his knowledge. His frailties are, that he is apt to mistake -any dog worth the stealing, and never take notice of the collar. He -dreames of a hare sitting, a foxe earthed, or the bucke couchant: and if -his fancy would be moderate, his actions might be full of -pleasure."<a name="FNanchor_i_283:A_527" id="FNanchor_i_283:A_527"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_283:A_527" class="fnanchor">[283:A]</a></p> - -<p>Making a natural transition from the huntsman to his hounds, we have to -remark, that one great object, at this period, in the construction of -the kennel, was the modulation and harmony of the vocal powers of the -dog. This was carried to a nicety and perfection little practised in the -present day. Gervase Markham seems to write <i>con amore</i> on this subject, -and has penned directions which partake both of the picturesque, and of -the melody on which he is descanting: thus, speaking of the production -of <i>loudness of cry</i>, he says, "if you would have your kennel for -loudness of mouth, you shall not then choose the hollow deep mouth, but -the loud clanging mouth, which spendeth freely and sharply, and as it -were redoubleth in utterance: and if you mix with them the mouth that -roreth, and the mouth that whineth, the cry will be both the louder and -the smarter;—and the more equally you compound these mouths, haveing as -many rorers as spenders, and as many whiners, as of either of the other, -the louder and pleasanter your cry will be, <i>especially, if it be in -sounding tall woods, or under the echo of rocks</i>;" and treating of the -<i>composition</i> of notes in the kennel, he adds, "you shall as nigh as you -can, sort their mouths into three equal parts of musick, that is to say -base, counter-tenor and mean; the base are those mouths which are most -deep and solemn, and are spent out plain and freely, without redoubling: -the counter-tenor are those which are most loud and ringing, whose sharp -sounds pass so swift, that they seem to dole and <!-- Page 284 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_284" id="Page_i_284">[284]</a></span>make division; and the -mean are those which are soft sweet mouths, that though plain, and a -little hollow, yet are spent smooth and freely; yet so distinctly, that -a man may count the notes as they open. Of these three sorts of mouths, -if your kennel be (as near as you can) equally compounded, you shall -find it most perfect and delectable: for though they have not the -thunder and loudness of the great dogs, which may be compared to the -high wind-instruments, yet they will have the tunable sweetness of the -best compounded consorts; and sure a man may find as much art and -delight in a lute as in an organ."<a name="FNanchor_i_284:A_528" id="FNanchor_i_284:A_528"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_284:A_528" class="fnanchor">[284:A]</a></p> - -<p>Shakspeare, who frequently avails himself of the language, imagery, and -circumstances attendant on this diversion, has particularly noticed, in -a passage of much animation and beauty, the care taken to arrange the -notes of the kennel, and the pleasure derivable from the varied -intonations of the hounds. Theseus addressing Hippolyta, exclaims—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"My love shall hear the musick of my hounds.—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Uncouple in the western valley; go:—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Despatch, I say, and find the forester.—</div> - <div class="line indentq">We will, fair queen, up to the mountain's top,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And mark the musical confusion</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of hounds and echo in conjunction.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Hip.</i> —————— Never did I hear</div> - <div class="line indentq">Such gallant chiding; for, besides the groves,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The skies, the fountains, every region near</div> - <div class="line indentq">Seem'd all one mutual cry: I never heard</div> - <div class="line indentq">So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q"><i>The.</i> My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind,</div> - <div class="line indentq">So flew'd<a name="FNanchor_i_284:B_529" id="FNanchor_i_284:B_529"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_284:B_529" class="fnanchor">[284:B]</a>, so sanded<a name="FNanchor_i_284:C_530" id="FNanchor_i_284:C_530"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_284:C_530" class="fnanchor">[284:C]</a>; and their heads are hung</div> - <div class="line indentq">With ears that sweep away the morning dew;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Crook-knee'd, and dew-lap'd like Thessalian bulls;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Slow in pursuit, but <i>match'd in mouth like bells,</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Each under each</i>. A cry more tuneable</div> - <div class="line indentq">Was never holla'd to, nor cheer'd with horn."<a name="FNanchor_i_284:D_531" id="FNanchor_i_284:D_531"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_284:D_531" class="fnanchor">[284:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 285 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_285" id="Page_i_285">[285]</a></span>It appears from a scene in <i>Timon of Athens</i>, and from a passage in -Laneham's Account of the Queen's Entertainment at Killingworth Castle, -1575, that it was a common thing, at this period, to hunt after dinner, -or in the evening. Timon, having been employed, during the morning, in -hunting, says to Alcibiades—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"So soon as dinner's done, we'll forth again;"<a name="FNanchor_i_285:A_532" id="FNanchor_i_285:A_532"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_285:A_532" class="fnanchor">[285:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>and Elizabeth, twice, during her residence with the Earl of Leicester, -is described as pursuing this exercise in the cool of the evening. -Honest Laneham's narrative of one of these royal chases will amuse the -reader.</p> - -<p>"Munday waz hot, and thearfore her Highness kept in till a five a clok -in the eevening: what time it pleazz'd her to ride foorth into the chace -too hunt the Hart of fors; which foound anon, and after sore chased, and -chafed by the hot pursuit of the hooundes, waz fain of fine fors at last -to take soil. Thear to beholl'd the swift fleeting of the deer afore, -with the stately cariage of hiz head in his swimmyng, spred (for the -quantitee) lyke the sail of a ship; the hoounds harroing after, az had -they bin a number of skiphs too the spoyle of a karvell; the ton no -lesse eager in purchaz of his pray, than waz the other earnest in -savegard of hiz life; so az the earning of the hoounds in continuauns of -their crie, the swiftness of the deer, the running of footmen, the -galloping of horsez, the blasting of hornz, the halloing and hewing of -the huntsmen, with the excellent echoz between whilez from the woods and -waters in valliez resounding; moved pastime delectabl in so hy a degree, -az, for ony parson to take pleazure by moost sensez at onez, in mine -opinion, thear can be none ony wey comparable to this; and special in -this place, that of nature iz foormed so feet for the purpoze; in feith, -<i>Master Martin</i>, if ye coold with a wish, I woold ye had bin at it: Wel, -the hart waz kild, a goodly deer."<a name="FNanchor_i_285:B_533" id="FNanchor_i_285:B_533"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_285:B_533" class="fnanchor">[285:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 286 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_286" id="Page_i_286">[286]</a></span>So partial was Her Majesty to this diversion that even in her -seventy-seventh year she still pursued it with avidity; for Rowland -Whyte, one of her courtiers, writing to Sir Robert Sidney on September -12th, 1600, says, "Her majesty is well and excellently disposed to -hunting, for every second day she is on horseback, and continues the -sport long;" and when not disposed to incur the fatigue of joining in -the chase, she was recreated with a sight of the pastime; thus at the -seat of Lord Montecute, in 1591, she saw, after dinner, from a turret, -"sixteen bucks all having fayre lawe, pulled downe with greyhounds in a -laund or lawn."<a name="FNanchor_i_286:A_534" id="FNanchor_i_286:A_534"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_286:A_534" class="fnanchor">[286:A]</a></p> - -<p>Nor was James the First less passionately addicted to the sport; his -journey from Scotland to England, on his accession to the throne of the -latter kingdom, was frequently protracted by his inability to resist the -temptation of joining in the chase; on his road to Withrington, the seat -of Sir Robert Cary, after a hard ride of thirty-seven miles in less than -four hours, "and by the way for a note," says a contemporary writer, -"the miles according to the northern phrase, are a wey bit longer, then -they be here in the south,—His Majesty having a little while reposed -himselfe after his great journey, found new occasion to travell further: -for, as he was delighting himselfe with the pleasure of the parke, hee -suddenly beheld a number of deere neare the place: the game being so -faire before him hee could not forbeare, but <i>according to his wonted -manner</i>, forth he went and slew two of them;" again, "After his -Majesties short repast to Werslop his Majestie rides forward, but by the -way in the parke he was somewhat stayed; for there appeared a number of -huntes-men all in greene; the chiefe of which with a woodman's speech -did welcome him, offering his Majestie to shew him some game, which he -gladly condiscended to see; and with a traine set he hunted a good -space, very much delighted."<a name="FNanchor_i_286:B_535" id="FNanchor_i_286:B_535"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_286:B_535" class="fnanchor">[286:B]</a> This diversion from his direct route -is <!-- Page 287 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_287" id="Page_i_287">[287]</a></span>repeatedly noticed by the same author, and proves the strong -attachment of the monarch to this amusement, which he preferred to -either hawking or shooting; he divided his time, says Wellwood, "betwixt -his standish, his bottle, and his hunting; the last had his fair -weather, the two former his dull and cloudy<a name="FNanchor_i_287:A_536" id="FNanchor_i_287:A_536"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_287:A_536" class="fnanchor">[287:A]</a>;" an assertion which -with regard to hunting is corroborated by Wilson, who, recording his -visit to his native dominions in 1617, informs us, that on his return he -exhibited the same keen relish for the sport which he had shown in 1603: -"The King, in his return from Scotland," he remarks, "made his Progress -through the hunting-countries, (his hounds and hunters meeting him,) -<i>Sherwood-Forest</i>, <i>Need-wood</i>, and all the <i>parks</i> and <i>forests</i> in his -way, were ransacked for his <i>recreation</i>; and every <i>night</i> begat a new -<i>day</i> of <i>delight</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_287:B_537" id="FNanchor_i_287:B_537"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_287:B_537" class="fnanchor">[287:B]</a> In short, James was so engrossed by his -passion for hunting, that he neglected the most important business to -indulge it; and even affected the garb of a hunter when he ought to have -been in that of a king. Osborne calls him a <i>Sylvan Prince</i>, and adds, -"I shall leave him dressed to posterity in the colours I saw him in the -next Progress after his Inauguration, which was as <i>green</i> as the grass -he trod on, with a <i>feather</i> in his <i>cap</i>, and a <i>horn</i> instead of a -sword by his side."<a name="FNanchor_i_287:C_538" id="FNanchor_i_287:C_538"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_287:C_538" class="fnanchor">[287:C]</a></p> - -<p>To these brief notices of hawking and hunting, it may be necessary to -add a very few remarks on the kindred amusements of <i>fowling</i> and -<i>fishing</i>, as far as they deviate, either in manner or estimation, from -the practice or opinions of the present day. In the pursuit of -<i>fowling</i>, indeed, there is little or no discrepancy between the two -periods, if we make an exception for two instances; and these now -obsolete modes of exercising the art, were termed <i>horse-stalking</i> and -<i>bird-batting</i>. The former consisted originally of a horse trained for -the purpose, and so mantled over with trappings as to hide the fowler -completely from the game; a contrivance much improved upon for facility -of usage by substituting a stuffed canvas figure, painted to <!-- Page 288 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_288" id="Page_i_288">[288]</a></span>resemble a -horse grazing; this was so light that the sportsman might move it easily -with one hand, and behind it he could securely take his aim; to this -curious species of deception Shakspeare alludes in <i>As You Like It</i>, -where the Duke, speaking of Touchstone, says, "He uses his folly like a -<i>stalking-horse</i>, and under the presentation of that, he shoots his -wit<a name="FNanchor_i_288:A_539" id="FNanchor_i_288:A_539"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_288:A_539" class="fnanchor">[288:A]</a>;" and again, in <i>Much Ado about Nothing</i>, Claudio exclaims, -"Stalk on, stalk on; the fowl sits."<a name="FNanchor_i_288:B_540" id="FNanchor_i_288:B_540"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_288:B_540" class="fnanchor">[288:B]</a> It appears from Drayton, -that the fowler shot from <i>underneath</i> his horse, where he was concealed -by the mantle-cloth depending to the ground: thus in the <i>Polyolbion</i>.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"One <i>underneath</i> his <i>horse</i> to get a shoot doth <i>stalk</i>;"<a name="FNanchor_i_288:C_541" id="FNanchor_i_288:C_541"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_288:C_541" class="fnanchor">[288:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and in the <i>Muses' Elysium</i>—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Then <i>underneath</i> my horse, I <i>stalk</i> my game to strike."<a name="FNanchor_i_288:D_542" id="FNanchor_i_288:D_542"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_288:D_542" class="fnanchor">[288:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Sometimes, instead of a stuffed canvas figure, the form of a horse -painted on a cloth was carried before the sportsman: "Methinks," says a -writer of this period quoted by Mr. Reed, "I behold the cunning fowler, -such as I have knowne in the fenne countries and els-where, that doe -shoot at woodcockes, snipes, and wilde fowle, by sneaking behind a -<i>painted cloth</i> which they carry before them, having <i>pictured in it the -shape of a horse</i>; which while the silly fowle gazeth on, it is knockt -down with hale shot, and so put in the fowler's budget."<a name="FNanchor_i_288:E_543" id="FNanchor_i_288:E_543"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_288:E_543" class="fnanchor">[288:E]</a></p> - -<p>We have reason to suppose that Henry the Eighth often amused himself in -this manner; for in the inventories of his wardrobes, preserved in the -Harleian MS., are to be found frequent allowances <!-- Page 289 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_289" id="Page_i_289">[289]</a></span>of materials for -making "stalking coats, and stalking hose for the use of his -majesty."<a name="FNanchor_i_289:A_544" id="FNanchor_i_289:A_544"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_289:A_544" class="fnanchor">[289:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of the peculiar mode of netting called <i>bird-batting</i>, the following -account has been given by a once popular authority on these -subjects:—"This sport we call in England most commonly bird-batting, -and some call it low-belling; and the use of it is to go with a great -light of cressets, or rags of linen dipped in tallow, which will make a -good light; and you must have a pan or plate made like a lanthorn, to -carry your light in, which must have a great socket to hold the light, -and carry it before you, on your breast, with a bell in your other hand, -and of a great bigness, made in the manner of a cow-bell, but still -larger; and you must ring it always after one order. If you carry the -bell, you must have two companions with nets, one on each side of you; -and what with the bell, and what with the light, the birds will be so -amazed, that when you come near them, they will turn up their white -bellies: your companions shall then lay their nets quietly upon them, -and take them. But you must continue to ring the bell; for, if the sound -shall cease, the other birds, if there be any more near at hand, will -rise up and fly away."<a name="FNanchor_i_289:B_545" id="FNanchor_i_289:B_545"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_289:B_545" class="fnanchor">[289:B]</a> This method was used to ensnare -wood-cocks, partridges, larks, &c. and it is probable that to a -stratagem of this kind Shakspeare may allude, when he paints Buckingham -exclaiming—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The net has fall'n upon me; I shall perish</div> - <div class="line indentq">Under device and practice."<a name="FNanchor_i_289:C_546" id="FNanchor_i_289:C_546"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_289:C_546" class="fnanchor">[289:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Fishing</span>, as an <i>art</i>, has deviated little, in this country, from the -state to which it had attained three centuries ago; but it is a subject -of interest and amusement, to mark the enthusiasm with which, during the -period that we are considering, and anteriorly, this delightful -recreation has been discussed, and the minutiæ to which its literary -patrons have descended.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 290 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_290" id="Page_i_290">[290]</a></span>Of books written on the <i>Art of Angling</i> previous to, and during the -age of Shakspeare, five, independent of subsequent editions, may be -enumerated; and from three of these, the most curious of their kind, we -shall quote a few passages indicative of the warm attachment alluded to -in the preceding paragraph. The earliest printed production on this -subject is <i>The Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle</i>, included, for the -first time, in, what may be termed, the second edition of the <i>Book of -St. Albans</i>, namely, <i>The Treatyses perteynynge to Hawkynge, Huntynge -and Fisshynge with an angle</i>, printed at Westminster, by Wynkyn De -Worde, 1496. This little tract, which has been attributed, though -perhaps not<a name="FNanchor_i_290:A_547" id="FNanchor_i_290:A_547"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_290:A_547" class="fnanchor">[290:A]</a> correctly, to Dame Juliana Berners, commences with -giving a decided preference to fishing when compared with hunting, -hawking, and fowling, in the course of which the author observes, that -the Angler, if his sport should fail him, "atte the leest, hath his -holsom walke, and mery at his ease, a swete ayre of the swete savoure of -the meede floures, that makyth him hungry; he hereth the melodyous -armony of fowles; he seeth the yonge swannes, heerons, duckes, cotes, -and many other fowles, wyth theyr brodes; wyche me semyth better than -alle the noyse of houndys, the blastes of hornys, and the scrye of -fowlis, that hunters, fawkeners, and foulers can make. And if the Angler -take fysshe; surely, thenne, is there noo man merier than he is in his -spryte<a name="FNanchor_i_290:B_548" id="FNanchor_i_290:B_548"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_290:B_548" class="fnanchor">[290:B]</a>;" and the book concludes in a singularly pleasing strain -of piety and simplicity. "Ye shall not use this forsayd crafty -dysporte," says this lover of fishing, "for no <!-- Page 291 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_291" id="Page_i_291">[291]</a></span>covetysenes, to the -encreasynge and sparynge of your money oonly; but pryncypally for your -solace, and to cause the helthe of your body, and specyally of your -soule: for whanne ye purpoos to goo on your dysportes in fysshynge, ye -woll not desyre gretly many persons wyth you, whyche myghte lette you of -your game. And thenne ye may serve God, devoutly, in sayenge -affectuously youre custumable prayer; and, thus doynge, ye shall eschewe -and voyde many vices."</p> - -<p>Of this impression of the <i>Book of St. Albans</i> by De Worde, numerous -editions were published during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, -and frequently with new titles, as the "Gentleman's Academie" 1595; the -"Jewell for Gentrie" 1614, and the "Gentleman's Recreation" 1674. Two -small tracts, however, on angling, possessing some originality, were -published by Leonard Mascall, and John Taverner, the former in 1590, and -the latter in<a name="FNanchor_i_291:A_549" id="FNanchor_i_291:A_549"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_291:A_549" class="fnanchor">[291:A]</a>1600; but the most important work on the subject, -after the <i>Treatyse on Fysshynge</i>, is a poem written by one John Dennys, -or Davors, with the following title: <i>The Secrets of Angling; teaching -the choicest Tooles, Baytes, and Seasons for the taking of any Fish, in -Pond or River: practised and familiarly opened in three Bookes</i>. By J. -D. Esquire. 8vo. Lond. 1613. This is a production of considerable poetic -merit, as will be evident from the author's eulogium on his art: after -reprobating the pastimes of gaming, wantonness, and drinking, he -exclaims—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 292 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_292" id="Page_i_292">[292]</a></span><div class="line">"O let me rather on the pleasant brinke</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of Tyne and Trent possesse some dwelling place,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where I may see my quill and corke downe sinke</div> - <div class="line indentq">With eager bite of Barbell, Bleike, or Dace:</div> - <div class="line indentq">And on the world and his Creatour thinke,</div> - <div class="line indentq">While they proud Thais painted sheet embrace,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And with the fume of strong tobacco's smoke,</div> - <div class="line i1q">All quaffing round are ready for to choke.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Let them that list these pastimes then pursue,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And on their pleasing fancies feed their fill;</div> - <div class="line indentq">So I the fields and meadows green may view,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And by the rivers fresh may walke at will,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Among the dazies and the violets blew:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Red hyacinth, and yellow daffodill,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Purple narcissus like the morning rayes,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Pale ganderglas, and azor culverkayes.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">I count it better pleasure to behold</div> - <div class="line indentq">The goodly compasse of the lofty skie,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And in the midst thereof like burning gold,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The flaming chariot of the world's great eye;</div> - <div class="line indentq">The watry clouds that in the ayre uprold,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With sundry kinds of painted colours flie;</div> - <div class="line i1q">And faire Aurora lifting up her head,</div> - <div class="line i1q">All blushing rise from old Tithonus bed.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">The hils and mountains raised from the plains,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The plains extended levell with the ground,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The ground divided into sundry vains,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The vains enclos'd with running rivers round,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The rivers making way through nature's chains,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With headlong course into the sea profound:</div> - <div class="line i1q">The surging sea beneath the vallies low,</div> - <div class="line i1q">The vallies sweet, and lakes that lovely flow.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">The lofty woods, the forests wide and long</div> - <div class="line indentq">Adorn'd with leaves and branches fresh and green,</div> - <div class="line indentq">In whose cool brows the birds with chanting song</div> - <div class="line indentq">Do welcome with their quire the Summer's Queen,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The meadows fair where Flora's guifts among,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Are intermixt the verdant grasse between,</div> - <div class="line i1q">The silver skaled fish that softly swim</div> - <div class="line i1q">Within the brooks and crystall watry brim.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 293 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_293" id="Page_i_293">[293]</a></span><div class="line indentq">All these and many more of his creation,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That made the heavens, the Angler oft doth see,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And takes therein no little delectation</div> - <div class="line indentq">To thinke how strange and wonderfull they bee,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Framing thereof an inward contemplation,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To set his thoughts on other fancies free:</div> - <div class="line i1q">And whiles he looks on these with joyfull eye,</div> - <div class="line i1q">His minde is wrapt above the starry skie."<a name="FNanchor_i_293:A_550" id="FNanchor_i_293:A_550"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_293:A_550" class="fnanchor">[293:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The poet has entered so minutely into his task, as to give directions -for the colour of the angler's cloaths, which he wishes should be russet -or gray<a name="FNanchor_i_293:B_551" id="FNanchor_i_293:B_551"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_293:B_551" class="fnanchor">[293:B]</a>; and he opens his third book with a descriptive catalogue -of the moral virtues and qualities of mind necessary to a lover of the -pastime; these, he informs us, are twelve, namely, <i>faith</i>, <i>hope</i>, -<i>charity</i>, <i>patience</i>, <i>humility</i>, <i>courage</i>, <i>liberality</i>, <i>knowledge</i>, -<i>placability</i>, <i>piety</i>, <i>temperance</i>, and <i>memory</i>; an enumeration -sufficiently extensive, it might be supposed, to damp the enthusiasm of -the most eager disciple; yet has Gervase Markham, notwithstanding, -wonderfully augmented the list. This indefatigable author, in an early -edition of his <i>Countrey Contentments</i><a name="FNanchor_i_293:C_552" id="FNanchor_i_293:C_552"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_293:C_552" class="fnanchor">[293:C]</a>, converted the poetry of -Davors into prose, with the following title: "The whole Art of Angling; -as it was written in a small Treatise in Rime, and now for the <!-- Page 294 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_294" id="Page_i_294">[294]</a></span>better -understanding of the Reader put into prose, and <i>adorned</i> and -<i>inlarged</i>." The additions are numerous and entertaining, a specimen of -which, under the marginal notation of <i>Angler's vertues</i>, will convey a -distinct and curious idea of the estimation in which this art was held -in the reign of James the First, and of the moral and mental -qualifications deemed essential, at this period, towards its successful -attainment.</p> - -<p>"Now for the inward qualities of mind, albeit some writers reduce them -to <i>twelve</i> heads, which, indeed, whosoever enjoyeth, cannot chuse but -be very compleat in much perfection, yet I must draw them into many -other branches. The first and most especial whereof is, that a skilful -Angler ought to be a general scholler, and seen in all the liberal -sciences, as a grammarian, to know how either to write or discourse of -his art in true and fitting terms, either without affectation or -rudeness. He should have sweetness of speech, to persuade and intice -others to delight in an exercise so much laudable. He should have -strength of arguments to defend and maintain his profession, against -envy or slander. He should have knowledge in the sun, moon, and stars, -that by their aspects he may guess the seasonableness or -unseasonableness of the weather, the breeding of storms, and from what -coasts the winds are ever delivered. He should be a good knower of -countries, and well used to highwayes, that by taking the readiest paths -to every lake, brook, or river, his journies may be more certain, and -less wearisome. He should have knowledge in proportions of all sorts, -whether circular, square, or diametrical, that when he shall be -questioned of his diurnal progresses, he may give a geographical -description of the angles and channels of rivers, how they fall from -their heads, and what compasses they fetch in their several windings. He -must also have the perfect art of numbring, that in the sounding of -lakes or rivers, he may know how many foot or inches each severally -containeth; and by adding, substracting, or multiplying the same, he may -yield the reason of every river's swift or slow current. He should not -be unskilful in musick, that whensoever either melancholy, heaviness of -his thoughts, or the perturbations of <!-- Page 295 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_295" id="Page_i_295">[295]</a></span>his own fancies, stirreth up -sadness in him, he may remove the same with some godly hymn or anthem, -of which <i>David</i> gives him ample examples.</p> - -<p>"He must be of a well settled and constant belief, to enjoy the benefit -of his expectation; for then to despair, it were better never to be put -in practice: and he must ever think where the waters are pleasant, and -any thing likely, that there the Creator of all good things hath stored -up much of plenty, and though your satisfaction be not as ready as your -wishes, yet you must hope still, that with perseverance you shall reap -the fulness of your harvest with contentment: Then he must be full of -love both to his pleasure and to his neighbour: to his pleasure, which -otherwise will be irksome and tedious, and to his neighbour, that he -neither give offence in any particular, nor be guilty of any general -destruction: then he must be exceeding patient, and neither vex nor -excruciate himself with losses or mischances, as in losing the prey when -it is almost in the hand, or by breaking his tools by ignorance or -negligence, but with pleased sufferance amend errors, and think -mischances instructions to better carefulness.</p> - -<p>"He must then be full of humble thoughts, not disdaining when occasion -commands to kneel, lye down, or wet his feet or fingers, as oft as there -is any advantage given thereby, unto the gaining the end of his labour. -Then must he be strong and valiant, neither to be amazed with storms, -nor affrighted with thunder, but hold them according to their natural -causes, and the pleasure of the highest: neither must he, like the fox -which preyeth upon lambs, employ all his labour against the smaller -frey; but like the lyon that seizeth elephants, think the greatest fish -which swimmeth, a reward little enough for the pains which he endureth. -Then must he be liberal, and not working only for his own belly, as if -it could never be satisfied; but he must with much cheerfulness bestow -the fruits of his skill amongst his honest neighbours, who being -partners of his gain, will doubly renown his triumph, and that is ever a -pleasing reward to vertue.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 296 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_296" id="Page_i_296">[296]</a></span>"Then must he be prudent, that apprehending the reasons why the fish -will not bite, and all other casual impediments which hinder his sport, -and knowing the remedies for the same, he may direct his labours to be -without troublesomeness.</p> - -<p>"Then he must have a moderate contention of the mind to be satisfied -with indifferent things, and not out of any avaritious greediness think -every thing too little, be it never so abundant.</p> - -<p>"Then must he be of a thankful nature, praising the author of all -goodness, and shewing a large gratefulness for the least satisfaction.</p> - -<p>"Then must he be of a perfect memory, quick and prompt to call into his -mind all the needfull things which are any way in this exercise to be -imployed, lest by omission or by forgetfulness of any, he frustrate his -hopes, and make his labour effectless. Lastly, he must be of a strong -constitution of body, able to endure much fasting, and not of a gnawing -stomach, observing hours, in which if it be unsatisfied, it troubleth -both the mind and body, and loseth that delight which maketh the pastime -only pleasing."<a name="FNanchor_i_296:A_553" id="FNanchor_i_296:A_553"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_296:A_553" class="fnanchor">[296:A]</a></p> - -<p>It is impossible to read this elaborate catalogue of qualifications -without a smile; for who would suppose that <i>grammar</i>, <i>rhetoric</i> and -<i>logic</i>, <i>astronomy</i>, <i>geography</i>, <i>arithmetic</i> and <i>music</i>, were -necessary to form an angler: yet we must allow, indeed, even in the -present times, that <i>hope</i>, <i>patience</i>, and <i>contentment</i> are still -articles of indispensable use to him who would catch fish; for though, -as Shakspeare justly observes,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The <i>pleasant'st angling</i> is to see the fish</div> - <div class="line indentq">Cut with her golden oars the silver stream,</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>And greedily devour the treacherous bait</i>,"<a name="FNanchor_i_296:B_554" id="FNanchor_i_296:B_554"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_296:B_554" class="fnanchor">[296:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">yet are we so frequently disappointed of this latter spectacle, that the -art may be truly considered as a school for the temper, and as meriting -the rational encomium of Sir Henry Wotton, a dear lover of the <!-- Page 297 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_297" id="Page_i_297">[297]</a></span>angle in -the days of Shakspeare, and who has declared that, after tedious study, -angling was "a rest to his mind, a cheerer of his spirits, a diverter of -sadness<a name="FNanchor_i_297:A_555" id="FNanchor_i_297:A_555"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_297:A_555" class="fnanchor">[297:A]</a>, a calmer of unquiet thoughts, a moderator of passions, a -procurer of contentedness;" and "that it begat habits of peace and -patience in those that professed and practised it." "Indeed, my friend," -adds the amiable Walton, "you will find angling to be like the virtue of -humility; which has a calmness of spirit, and a world of other -blessings, attending upon it."<a name="FNanchor_i_297:B_556" id="FNanchor_i_297:B_556"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_297:B_556" class="fnanchor">[297:B]</a></p> - -<p>A rural diversion of a kind very opposite to that of angling, namely, -<span class="smcap">Horse-racing</span>, may be considered, during the reigns of Elizabeth and -James, if we compare it with the state to which the rage for gambling -has since carried it, as still in its infancy. It was classed, indeed, -with hawking and hunting, as a liberal pastime, and almost generally -pursued for the mere purposes of exercise or pleasure; hence the moral -satirists of the age, the Puritans of the sixteenth century, have -recommended it as a substitute for cards and dice. That it was, however, -even at this period, occasionally practised in the spirit of the modern -turf, will be evident from the authority of Shakspeare, who says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">——————— "I have heard of <i>riding wagers</i>,</div> - <div class="line">Where horses have been nimbler than the sands</div> - <div class="line">That run i'the clock's behalf;"<a name="FNanchor_i_297:C_557" id="FNanchor_i_297:C_557"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_297:C_557" class="fnanchor">[297:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 298 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_298" id="Page_i_298">[298]</a></span>and Burton, who wrote at the close of the Shakspearean era, mentions -the ruinous consequences of this innovation: "Horse-races," he observes, -"are desports of great men, and good in themselves, though many -gentlemen by such means gallop quite out of their fortunes."<a name="FNanchor_i_298:A_558" id="FNanchor_i_298:A_558"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_298:A_558" class="fnanchor">[298:A]</a></p> - -<p>To encourage, however, a spirit of emulation, prizes were established -for the swiftest horses, and these were usually either silver bells or -silver cups; from the prevalence of the former, the common term for -horse-races in the time of James I. was <i>bell-courses</i>, an amusement -which became very frequent in the reign of this prince, and, though the -value of the prize did not amount to more than eight or ten pounds, and -the riders were for the most part the owners of the horses, attracted a -numerous concourse of spectators.</p> - -<p>The estimation in which the breed of <i>race-horses</i> was held, even in the -age of Elizabeth, may be drawn from a passage in one of the satires of -Bishop Hall, first published in 1597:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">————————— "Dost thou prize</div> - <div class="line">Thy brute beasts worth by their dam's qualities?</div> - <div class="line">Say'st thou this colt shall prove a swift pac'd steed,</div> - <div class="line">Onely because a Jennet did him breed?</div> - <div class="line">Or say'st thou this same horse shall win the prize,</div> - <div class="line">Because his dam was swiftest Trunchifice</div> - <div class="line">Or Runceval his syre; himself a galloway?</div> - <div class="line">While like a tireling jade, he lags half way."<a name="FNanchor_i_298:B_559" id="FNanchor_i_298:B_559"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_298:B_559" class="fnanchor">[298:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>While on this subject, we may remark, that the <i>Art of Riding</i> was, -during the era we are contemplating, carried to a state of great -perfection;</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And witch the world with noble horsemanship,"<a name="FNanchor_i_298:C_560" id="FNanchor_i_298:C_560"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_298:C_560" class="fnanchor">[298:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 299 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_299" id="Page_i_299">[299]</a></span>was the pursuit of every eager and aspiring spirit, and various -treatises were written to facilitate the attainment of an accomplishment -at once so useful and so fashionable. Among these, the pieces of Gervase -Markham may be deemed the best; indeed, his earliest work on the -subject, which is dated 1593, claims to be the first ever written in -this country on the art of training <i>Running-horses</i><a name="FNanchor_i_299:A_561" id="FNanchor_i_299:A_561"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_299:A_561" class="fnanchor">[299:A]</a>; and is -supposed also to be the first production of Markham: it went through -many impressions under various titles, and from one of these termed -<i>Cavelarice</i>, printed in 1607, I shall select a minutely curious picture -of the "horseman's apparel."</p> - -<p>"First, when you begin to learne to ride, you must come to the stable, -in such decent and fit apparel, as is meet for such an exercise, that is -to say, a hat which must sit close and firme upon your heade, with an -indifferent narrow verge or brim, so that in the saults or bounds of the -horse, it may neither through widenesse or unweldinesse fall from your -head, nor with the bredth of the brim fall into your eies, and impeach -your sight, both which are verie grosse errors: About your neck you -shall weare a falling band, and no ruffe, whose depth or thicknesse, -may, either with the winde, or motions of your horse, ruffell about your -face; or, according to the fashion of the Spaniards, daunce -hobby-horse-like about your shoulders, which though in them is taken for -a grace, yet in true judgment it is found an errour. Your doublet shal -be made close and hansome to your bodie, large wasted, so that you may -ever be sure to ride with your points trussed (for to ride otherwise is -most vilde) and in all parts so easye, that it may not take from you the -use of anie part of your <!-- Page 300 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_300" id="Page_i_300">[300]</a></span>bodie. About your waste you must have ever -your girdle and thereon a smal dagger or punniard, which must be so fast -in the sheath that no motion of the horse may cast it forth, and yet so -readie, that upon any occasion you may draw it. Your hose would be -large, rounde, and full, so that they may fill your saddle, which should -it otherwise be emptie and your bodie looke like a small substance in a -great compasse, it were wondrous uncomely. Your bootes must be cleane, -blacke, long, and close to your legge, comming almost up to your middle -thigh, so that they may lie as a defence betwixt your knee and the tree -of your saddle. Your boote-hose must come some two inches higher then -your bootes, being hansomely tied up with pointes. Your spurres must be -strong and flat inward, bending with a compasse under your ancle: the -neck of your spurre must be long and straight, and rowels thereof longe -and sharp, the prickes thereof not standing thicke together, nor being -above five in number. Upon your handes you must weare a hansome paire of -gloves, and in your right hande you must have a long rodde finely -rush-growne, so that the small ende thereof be hardly so great as a -round packe-threed, insomuch that when you move or shake it, the noyse -thereof may be lowde and sharpe."<a name="FNanchor_i_300:A_562" id="FNanchor_i_300:A_562"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_300:A_562" class="fnanchor">[300:A]</a></p> - -<p>Having thus noticed the <i>great rural</i> diversions of this period, as far -as they deviate from modern practice, the remainder of the chapter will -be occupied by such minor amusements of the country as may now justly be -considered obsolete; for it must be recollected, that to enumerate only -what is <i>peculiar</i> to the era under consideration, forms the object of -our research. It should, likewise, here be added, that those amusements -which are <i>equally common</i> to both country and town, will find their -place under the latter head, such as cards, dice, the practice of -archery, baiting, &c. &c.</p> - -<p>Among the amusements generally prevalent in the country, Burton has -included the <i>Quintaine</i>. This was originally a mere martial <!-- Page 301 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_301" id="Page_i_301">[301]</a></span>sport; -and, as Vegetius informs us, familiar to the Romans, from an individual -of which nation, named <i>Quintus</i>, it is supposed to have derived its -etymology. During the early feudal ages of modern Europe it continued to -support its military character, was practised by the higher orders of -society, and preceded, and probably gave origin to, tilting, justs, and -tournaments. These, however, as more elegant and splendid in their -costume, gradually superseded it during the prevalence of chivalry; it -then became an exercise for the middle ranks, for burgesses and -citizens, and at length towards the close of the sixteenth century, -degenerated into a mere rustic sport.</p> - -<p>It would appear, from comparing Stowe with Shakspeare, that about the -year 1600, the Quintain was made use of under two forms; the most simple -consisting of a post fixed perpendicularly in the ground, on the top of -which was a cross-bar turning upon a pivot or spindle, with a broad -board nailed at one end and a bag of sand suspended at the other; at the -board they ran on horseback with spears or staves, and "hee," says -Stowe, "that hit not the broad end of the quinten was of all men laughed -to scorne; and hee that hit it full, if he rid not the faster, had a -sound blow in his necke with a bagge full of sand hanged on the other -end."<a name="FNanchor_i_301:A_563" id="FNanchor_i_301:A_563"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_301:A_563" class="fnanchor">[301:A]</a> A more costly and elaborate machine, resembling the human -form, is alluded to by Shakspeare in <i>As You Like It</i>, where Orlando -says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2">——————— "My better parts</div> - <div class="line">Are all thrown down; and <i>that which here stands up,</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Is but a quintain</i>, a mere lifeless block."<a name="FNanchor_i_301:B_564" id="FNanchor_i_301:B_564"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_301:B_564" class="fnanchor">[301:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In Italy, Germany, and Flanders, a quintain, carved in wood in imitation -of the human form, was, during the sixteenth century, in common -use.<a name="FNanchor_i_301:C_565" id="FNanchor_i_301:C_565"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_301:C_565" class="fnanchor">[301:C]</a> The figure very generally represented a Saracen, armed with -a shield in one hand, and a sword in the other, and, being <!-- Page 302 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_302" id="Page_i_302">[302]</a></span>placed on a -pivot, the skill of those who attacked it, depended on shivering the -lance to pieces between the eyes of the figure; for if the weapon -deviated to the right or left, and especially if it struck the shield, -the quintain turned round with such velocity as to give the horseman a -violent blow on the back with his sword, a circumstance which covered -the performer with ridicule, and excited the mirth of the spectators. -That such a machine, termed the <i>shield quintain</i>, was used in Ireland -during the reign of Richard the Second, we have the authority of -Froissart; it is therefore highly probable, that this species of the -diversion was as common in England, and still lingered here in the reign -of Elizabeth; and that to a quintain of this kind, representing an armed -man, and erected for the purpose of a <i>military</i> exercise, Shakspeare -alludes in the passage just quoted.</p> - -<p>It must, however, be allowed, that at the commencement of the -seventeenth century, and for several years anterior, the quintain had -almost universally become the plaything of the peasantry, and was seldom -met with but at rural weddings, wakes, or fairs; or under any other form -than that which Stowe has described. No greater proof of this can be -given than the fact, that when Elizabeth was entertained at Kenelworth -Castle, in 1575, with an exact representation of a <i>Country Bridale</i>, a -quintain of this construction formed a part of it. "Marvellous," says -Laneham, "were the martial acts that were done there that day; the -bride-groom for pre-eminence had the first course at the Quintaine, -brake his spear treshardiment; but his mare in his manage did a little -so titubate, that much ado had his manhood to sit in his saddle, and to -scape the foil of a fall: With the help of his hand, yet he recovered -himself, and lost not his stirrups (for he had none to his saddle); had -no hurt as it hapt, but only that his girth burst, and lost his pen and -inkhorn that he was ready to weep for; but his handkerchief, as good hap -was, found he safe at his girdle; that cheered him somewhat, and had -good regard it should not be filed. For though heat and coolness upon -sundry occasions made him sometime to sweat, and sometime rheumatic; yet -durst he be bolder to blow his nose and wipe his face with the flappet -of his father's jacket, than with <!-- Page 303 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_303" id="Page_i_303">[303]</a></span>his mother's muffler: 'tis a goodly -matter, when youth is mannerly brought up, in fatherly love and motherly -awe.</p> - -<p>"Now, Sir, after the bride-groom had made his course, ran the rest of -the band a while, in some order; but soon after, tag and rag, cut and -long tail; where the specialty of the sport was to see how some for his -slackness had a good bob with the bag; and some for his haste to topple -down right, and come tumbling to the post: Some striving so much at the -first setting out, that it seemed a question between the man and the -beast, whether the course should be made a horseback or a foot: and put -forth with the spurs, then would run his race by us among the thickest -of the throng, that down came they together hand over head: Another, -while he directed his course to the quintain, his jument would carry him -to a mare among the people; so his horse as amorous as himself -adventurous: An other, too, run and miss the quintain with his staff, -and hit the board with his head!</p> - -<p>"Many such gay games were there among these riders: who by and by after, -upon a greater courage, left their quintaining, and ran one at another. -There to see the stern countenances, the grim looks, the couragious -attempts, the desperate adventures, the dangerous courses, the fierce -encounters, whereby the buff at the man, and the counterbuff at the -horse, that both sometime came toppling to the ground. By my troth, -<i>Master Martin</i>, 'twas a lively pastime; I believe it would have moved -some man to a right merry mood, though it had been told him his wife lay -a dying."<a name="FNanchor_i_303:A_566" id="FNanchor_i_303:A_566"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_303:A_566" class="fnanchor">[303:A]</a></p> - -<p>This passage presents us with a lively picture of what the <i>rural -quintain</i> was in the days of Elizabeth, an exercise which continued to -amuse our rustic forefathers for more than a century after the princely -festival of Kenelworth. Minshieu, who published his Dictionary in 1617, -the year subsequent to Shakspeare's death, informs us that "A -<i>quintaine</i> or quintelle," was "a game in request at marriages, when Jac -and Tom, Dic, Hob and Will, strive for the <!-- Page 304 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_304" id="Page_i_304">[304]</a></span>gay garland." Randolph in -1642, alluding in one of his poems to the diversions of the Spaniards, -says</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Foot-ball with us may be with them balloone;</div> - <div class="line indentq">As they at <i>tilts</i>, so we at <i>quintaine</i> runne;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And those old pastimes relish best with me,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That have least art, and most simplicitie;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Plott in his History of Oxfordshire, first printed in 1677, mentions the -Quintain as the common bridal diversion of the peasantry at Deddington -in that county; "it is now," he remarks, "only in request at marriages, -and set up in the way for young men to ride at as they carry home the -bride, he that breaks the board being counted the best man<a name="FNanchor_i_304:A_567" id="FNanchor_i_304:A_567"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_304:A_567" class="fnanchor">[304:A]</a>;" and -in a satire published about the year 1690, under the title of <i>The Essex -Champion; or the famous History of Sir Billy of Billerecay, and his -Squire Ricardo</i>, intended as a ridicule, after the manner of Cervantes, -on the romances then in circulation, the hero, Sir Billy, is represented -as running at a quintain, such as Stowe has drawn in his Survey, but -with the most unfortunate issue, for "taking his launce in his hand, he -rid with all his might at the Quinten, and hitting the board a full -blow, brought the sand-bag about with such force, as made him measure -his length on the ground."<a name="FNanchor_i_304:B_568" id="FNanchor_i_304:B_568"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_304:B_568" class="fnanchor">[304:B]</a></p> - -<p>Most of the numerous athletic diversions of the country remaining what -they were two centuries ago, cannot, in accordance with our plan, -require any comment or detail; two, however, now, we believe, entirely -obsolete, and which serve to mark the manners of the age, it will be -necessary to introduce. Mercutio, in a contest of pleasantry and banter -with Romeo, exclaims, "Nay, if thy wits run the <i>wild-goose chace</i>, I -have done."<a name="FNanchor_i_304:C_569" id="FNanchor_i_304:C_569"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_304:C_569" class="fnanchor">[304:C]</a></p> - -<p>This barbarous species of horse-race, which has been named from its -resemblance to the flight of <i>wild-geese</i>, was a common diversion <!-- Page 305 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_305" id="Page_i_305">[305]</a></span>among -the country-gentlemen of this period; Burton, indeed, calls it one of -"the disports of great men<a name="FNanchor_i_305:A_570" id="FNanchor_i_305:A_570"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_305:A_570" class="fnanchor">[305:A]</a>;" a confession which does no honour to -the age, for this elegant amusement consisted in two horses starting -together, and he who proved the hindmost rider was obliged to follow the -foremost over whatever ground he chose to carry him, that horse which -could distance the other winning the race.</p> - -<p>Another sport still more extraordinary and rude, and much in vogue in -the south-western counties, was, one of the numerous games with the -ball, and termed <span class="smcap">Hurling</span>. Of this there were two kinds, <i>hurling to the -Goales</i> and <i>hurling to the Country</i>, and both have been described with -great accuracy by Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall. The first is little -more than a species of hand-ball, but the second, when represented as -the amusement of <i>gentlemen</i>, furnishes a curious picture of the -civilisation of the times.</p> - -<p>"In <i>hurling to the country</i>," says Carew, "two or three, or more -parishes agree to hurl against two or three other parishes. The matches -are usually made by <i>gentlemen</i>, and their goales are either those -gentlemen's houses, or some towns or villages three or four miles -asunder, of which either side maketh choice after the nearnesse of their -dwellings; when they meet, there is neyther comparing of numbers nor -matching of men, but a silver ball is cast up, and that company which -can catch and carry it by force or slight to the place assigned, gaineth -the ball and the victory.—Such as see where the ball is played give -notice, crying 'ware east,' 'ware west,' as the same is carried. The -hurlers take their next way over hilles, dales, hedges, ditches; yea, -and thorow bushes, briars, mires, plashes, and rivers whatsoever, so <i>as -you shall sometimes see twenty or thirty lie tugging together in the -water scrambling and scratching for the ball</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_305:B_571" id="FNanchor_i_305:B_571"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_305:B_571" class="fnanchor">[305:B]</a></p> - -<p>The <i>domestic</i>, amusements in the country being nearly, if not -altogether, the same with those which prevailed in the city, we shall, -with <!-- Page 306 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_306" id="Page_i_306">[306]</a></span>one exception, refer the consideration of them to another part of -this work. The pastime for which this distinction is claimed, was known -by the name of <span class="smcap">Shovel-board</span>, or <i>Shuffle-board</i>, and was so universally -prevalent throughout the kingdom, during the era of which we are -treating, that there could scarcely be found a nobleman's or gentleman's -house in the country in which this piece of furniture was not a -conspicuous object. The great hall was the place usually assigned for -its station, though in some places, as, for instance, at Ludlow Castle, -a room was appropriated to this purpose, called <i>The Shovell-Board -Room</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_306:A_572" id="FNanchor_i_306:A_572"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_306:A_572" class="fnanchor">[306:A]</a></p> - -<p>The table necessary for this game, now superseded by the use of -Billiards, was frequently upon a very large and expensive scale. "It is -remarkable," observes Dr. Plott, "that in the hall at Chartley the -shuffle-board table, though ten yards one foot and an inch long, is made -up of about two hundred and sixty pieces, which are generally about -eighteen inches long, some few only excepted, that are scarce a foot; -which, being laid on longer boards for support underneath, are so -accurately joined and glewed together, that no shuffle-board whatever is -freer from rubbs or casting.—There is a joynt also in the shuffle-board -at Madeley Manor exquisitely well done."<a name="FNanchor_i_306:B_573" id="FNanchor_i_306:B_573"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_306:B_573" class="fnanchor">[306:B]</a></p> - -<p>The mode of playing at Shovel-board is thus described by Mr. -Strutt:—"At one end of the shovel-board there is a line drawn across, -parallel with the edge, and about three or four inches from it; at four -feet distance from this line another is made, over which it is necessary -for the weight to pass when it is thrown by the player, otherwise the go -is not reckoned. The players stand at the end of the table, opposite to -the two marks above mentioned, each of them having four flat weights of -metal, which they shove from them, one at a time, alternately: and the -judgment of the play is, to give sufficient impetus to the weight to -carry it beyond the mark nearest to the edge of the board, which -requires great nicety, for if it be too <!-- Page 307 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_307" id="Page_i_307">[307]</a></span>strongly impelled, so as to -fall from the table, and there is nothing to prevent it, into a trough -placed underneath for its reception, the throw is not counted; if it -hangs over the edge, without falling, three are reckoned towards the -player's game; if it lie between the line and the edge, without hanging -over, it tells for two; if on the line, and not up to it, but over the -first line, it counts for one. The game, when two play, is generally -eleven; but the number is extended when four, or more, are jointly -concerned."<a name="FNanchor_i_307:A_574" id="FNanchor_i_307:A_574"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_307:A_574" class="fnanchor">[307:A]</a></p> - -<p>It appears from a passage in the <i>Merry Wives of Windsor</i>, that, in -Shakspeare's time, the broad shillings of Edward VI. were made use of at -shovel-board instead of the more modern weights. Falstaff is enquiring -of Pistol if he picked master Slender's purse, a query to which Slender -thus replies: "Ay, by these gloves, did he, (or I would I might never -come in mine own great chamber again else,) of seven groats in -mill-sixpences, and two <i>Edward shovel-boards</i>, that cost me two -shillings and two pence a-piece of Yead Miller, by these gloves."<a name="FNanchor_i_307:B_575" id="FNanchor_i_307:B_575"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_307:B_575" class="fnanchor">[307:B]</a> -"That Slender means the broad shilling of one of our kings," remarks Mr. -Malone, "appears from comparing these words with the corresponding -passage in the old quarto: 'Ay by this handkerchief did he;—two faire -shovel-board <i>shillings</i>, besides seven groats in -mill-sixpences.'"<a name="FNanchor_i_307:C_576" id="FNanchor_i_307:C_576"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_307:C_576" class="fnanchor">[307:C]</a></p> - -<p>Mr. Douce is of opinion that the game of shovel-board is not much older -than the reign of Edward VI., and that it is only a variation, on a -larger scale, of what was term'd <span class="smcap">Shove-groat</span>, a game invented in the -reign of Henry VIII., and described in the statutes, of his 33d year, as -a <i>new</i> game.<a name="FNanchor_i_307:D_577" id="FNanchor_i_307:D_577"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_307:D_577" class="fnanchor">[307:D]</a> Shove-groat was also played, as the name implies, -with the coin of the age, namely silver groats, then as large as our -modern shillings, and to this pastime and to the instrument used in -performing it, Shakspeare likewise, and Jonson, allude; the first in the -<i>Second Part of King Henry IV.</i>, where Falstaff, threatening <!-- Page 308 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_308" id="Page_i_308">[308]</a></span>Pistol, -exclaims, "Quoit him down, Bardolph, like <i>a Shove-groat -shilling</i>:"<a name="FNanchor_i_308:A_578" id="FNanchor_i_308:A_578"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:A_578" class="fnanchor">[308:A]</a> the second in <i>Every Man in his Humour</i>, where -Knowell, speaking of Brain-worm, says that he has "translated begging -out of the old hackney pace, to a fine easy amble, and made it run as -smooth off the tongue as a <i>shove-groat shilling</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_308:B_579" id="FNanchor_i_308:B_579"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:B_579" class="fnanchor">[308:B]</a> That the game -of <i>Shovel-board</i> is subsequent, in point of time, to the diversion of -<i>Shove-groat</i>, is probable from the circumstance noticed by Mr. Douce, -that no coin termed <i>shovel-groat</i> is any where to be found, and -consequently the era of the broad shilling may be deemed that also of -shovel-board. Mr. Strutt supposes the modern game of <i>Justice Jervis</i> to -resemble, in all essential points, the ancient <i>Shove-groat</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_308:C_580" id="FNanchor_i_308:C_580"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:C_580" class="fnanchor">[308:C]</a></p> - -<p>Between the <i>juvenile</i> sports which were common in the reigns of -Elizabeth and James, and those of the present day, little variation or -discrepancy, worth noticing, can be perceived; they were, under slight -occasional alterations of form and name, equally numerous, trifling, or -mischievous, and Shakspeare has now and then referred to them, for the -purposes of illustration or similitude; he has, in this manner, alluded -to the well-known games of <i>leap-frog</i><a name="FNanchor_i_308:D_581" id="FNanchor_i_308:D_581"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:D_581" class="fnanchor">[308:D]</a>; <i>handy-dandy</i><a name="FNanchor_i_308:E_582" id="FNanchor_i_308:E_582"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:E_582" class="fnanchor">[308:E]</a>; -<i>wildmare</i>, or <i>balancing</i><a name="FNanchor_i_308:F_583" id="FNanchor_i_308:F_583"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:F_583" class="fnanchor">[308:F]</a>; <i>flap-dragons</i><a name="FNanchor_i_308:G_584" id="FNanchor_i_308:G_584"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:G_584" class="fnanchor">[308:G]</a>; <i>loggats</i>, or -<i>kittle-pins</i><a name="FNanchor_i_308:H_585" id="FNanchor_i_308:H_585"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:H_585" class="fnanchor">[308:H]</a>; <i>country-base</i>, or <i>prisoner's bars</i><a name="FNanchor_i_308:I_586" id="FNanchor_i_308:I_586"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:I_586" class="fnanchor">[308:I]</a>; <i>fast -and loose</i><a name="FNanchor_i_308:J_587" id="FNanchor_i_308:J_587"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:J_587" class="fnanchor">[308:J]</a>; <i>nine men's morris</i>, or <i>five-penny morris</i><a name="FNanchor_i_308:K_588" id="FNanchor_i_308:K_588"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:K_588" class="fnanchor">[308:K]</a>; -<i>cat in a bottle</i><a name="FNanchor_i_308:L_589" id="FNanchor_i_308:L_589"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:L_589" class="fnanchor">[308:L]</a>; <i>figure of eight</i><a name="FNanchor_i_308:M_590" id="FNanchor_i_308:M_590"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_308:M_590" class="fnanchor">[308:M]</a>, &c. &c.; games -which, together with those derived from balls, marbles, hoops, &c. -require no description, and which, deviating little in their progress -from age to age, can throw no material light on the costume of early -life. Very few diversions, indeed, peculiar to our <!-- Page 309 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_309" id="Page_i_309">[309]</a></span>youthful days have -become totally obsolete; among these, however, may be mentioned one, -which, from the obscurity resting on it, its peculiarity, and former -popularity, is entitled to some distinction. We allude to the diversion -of <span class="allcapsc">BARLEY-BREAKE</span>, of the mode of playing which, Mr. Strutt confesses -himself ignorant, and merely quotes the following lines from Sidney, as -given by Johnson in his Dictionary:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"By neighbours prais'd, she went abroad thereby,</div> - <div class="line indentq">At <i>barley-brake</i> her sweet swift feet to try."<a name="FNanchor_i_309:A_591" id="FNanchor_i_309:A_591"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_309:A_591" class="fnanchor">[309:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Barley-breake was, however, among young people, one of the most popular -amusements of the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First, and continued -so until the austere zeal of the Puritans occasioned its suppression: -thus Thomas Randall, in "An Eclogue" on the diversions of Cotswold -Hills, complains that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Some melancholy swaines, about have gone,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To teach all zeale, their owne complection—</div> - <div class="line indentq">These teach that dauncing is a Jezabell,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And <i>Barley-breake</i>, the ready way to hell."<a name="FNanchor_i_309:B_592" id="FNanchor_i_309:B_592"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_309:B_592" class="fnanchor">[309:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Before this puritanical revolution took place, <i>barley-breake</i> was a -common theme with the amatory bards of the day, and allusions to it were -frequent in their songs, madrigals, and ballets. With one of these, -written about 1600, we shall present the reader, as a pleasing specimen -of the light poetry of the age:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Now is the month of maying,</div> - <div class="line indentq">When merry lads are playing;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Each with his bonny lasse,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Upon the greeny grasse.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">The spring clad all in gladnesse</div> - <div class="line indentq">Doth laugh at winter's sadnesse;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And to the bagpipe's sound,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The nymphs tread out their ground.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 310 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_310" id="Page_i_310">[310]</a></span><div class="line indentq">Fye then, why sit wee musing,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Youth's sweet delight refusing;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Say daintie Nimphs and speake,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Shall wee play <i>barly-breake</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_310:A_593" id="FNanchor_i_310:A_593"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_310:A_593" class="fnanchor">[310:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>There were two modes of playing at barley-breake, and of these one was -rather more complex than the other. Mr. Gifford, in a note on the -<i>Virgin-Martyr</i> of Massinger, where this game, in its more elaborate -form, is referred to, remarks, that "with respect to the amusement of -barley-break, allusions to it occur repeatedly in our old writers; and -their commentators have piled one parallel passage upon another, without -advancing a single step towards explaining what this celebrated pastime -really was. It was played by six people (three of each sex), who were -coupled by lot. A piece of ground was then chosen, and divided into -three compartments, of which the middle one was called hell. It was the -object of the couple condemned to this division, to catch the others, -who advanced from the two extremities; in which case a change of -situation took place, and hell was filled by the couple who were -excluded by pre-occupation, from the other places. In this "catching," -however, there was some difficulty, as, by the regulations of the game, -the middle couple were not to separate before they had succeeded, while -the others might break hands whenever they found themselves hard -pressed. When all had been taken in turn, the last couple was said <i>to -be in hell</i>, and the game ended."<a name="FNanchor_i_310:B_594" id="FNanchor_i_310:B_594"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_310:B_594" class="fnanchor">[310:B]</a></p> - -<p>That this description, explanatory of the passage in Massinger,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"He is at <i>barley-break</i>, and the last couple</div> - <div class="line indentq">Are now in hell,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">is accurate and full, will derive corroboration from a scarce pamphlet -entitled "Barley-breake, or a Warning for Wantons," published in 1607, -and which contains a curious representation of this amusement.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 311 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_311" id="Page_i_311">[311]</a></span><div class="line">——— "On a time the lads and lasses came,</div> - <div class="line">Entreating Elpin that she<a name="FNanchor_i_311:A_595" id="FNanchor_i_311:A_595"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_311:A_595" class="fnanchor">[311:A]</a> might goe play;</div> - <div class="line">He said she should (Euphema was her name)</div> - <div class="line">And then denyes: yet needs she must away.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">To Barley-breake they roundly then 'gan fall,</div> - <div class="line">Raimon, Euphema had unto his mate;</div> - <div class="line">For by a lot he won her from them all;</div> - <div class="line">Wherefore young Streton doth his fortune hate.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">But yet ere long he ran and caught her out,</div> - <div class="line">And on the back a gentle fall he gave her;</div> - <div class="line">It is a fault which jealous eyes spie out,</div> - <div class="line">A maide to kisse before her jealous father.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Old Elpin smiles, but yet he frets within,</div> - <div class="line">Euphema saith, she was unjustly cast.</div> - <div class="line">She strives, he holds, his hand goes out and in:</div> - <div class="line">She cries, away! and yet she holds him fast.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Till sentence given by an other maid,</div> - <div class="line">That she was caught according to the law;</div> - <div class="line">The voice whereof this civill quarrell staid,</div> - <div class="line">And to his mate each lusty lad 'gan draw.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Euphema now with Streton is in hell,</div> - <div class="line">(For so the middle roome is alwaies cald)</div> - <div class="line">He would for ever, if he might, there dwell;</div> - <div class="line">He holds it blisse with her to be inthrald.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">The other run, and in their running change;</div> - <div class="line">Streton 'gan catch, and then let goe his hold;</div> - <div class="line">Euphema like a doe, doth swiftly range,</div> - <div class="line">Yet taketh none, although full well she could,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">And winkes on Streton, he on her 'gan smile,</div> - <div class="line">And fame would whisper something in her eare;</div> - <div class="line">She knew his mind, and bid him use a wile,</div> - <div class="line">As she ran by him, so that none did heare."<a name="FNanchor_i_311:B_596" id="FNanchor_i_311:B_596"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_311:B_596" class="fnanchor">[311:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 312 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_312" id="Page_i_312">[312]</a></span>The simpler mode of conducting this pastime, as it was practised in -Scotland, has been detailed by Dr. Jamieson, who tells us, that it was -"a game generally played by young people in a corn-yard. One stack is -fixed on as the <i>dule</i>, or goal; and one person is appointed to catch -the rest of the company, who run out from the dule. He does not leave it -till they are all out of his sight. Then he sets off to catch them. Any -one who is taken cannot run out again with his former associates, being -accounted a prisoner; but is obliged to assist his captor in pursuing -the rest. When all are taken, the game is finished; and he who was first -taken is bound to act as catcher in the next game."<a name="FNanchor_i_312:A_597" id="FNanchor_i_312:A_597"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_312:A_597" class="fnanchor">[312:A]</a> It is -evident, from our old poetry, that this style of playing at -barley-breake was also common in England, and especially among the lower -orders in the country.</p> - -<p>It may be proper to add, at the close of this chapter, that a species of -public diversion was, during the Elizabethan period, supported by each -parish, for the purpose of innocently employing the peasantry upon a -failure of work from weather or other causes. To this singular though -laudable custom Shakspeare alludes in the <i>Twelfth Night</i>, where Sir -Toby says, "He's a coward, and a coystril, that will not drink to my -niece, 'till his brains turn o' the toe like a <a name="FNanchor_i_312:B_598" id="FNanchor_i_312:B_598"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_312:B_598" class="fnanchor">[312:B]</a><i>parish-top</i>." -"This," says Mr. Steevens, "is one of the customs now laid aside;" and -he adds, in explanation, that "a large top was kept in every village, to -be whipped in frosty weather, that the peasants might be kept warm by -exercise, and out of mischief, while they could not work;" a diversion -to which Fletcher likewise refers in his <i>Night-Walker</i>, and which has -given rise to the proverbial expression of <i>sleeping like a town-top</i>.</p> - -<p>From this rapid sketch of the diversions of the country, as they existed -in Shakspeare's time, it will be immediately perceived that not many -have become obsolete, and of those which have undergone some change, the -variations have not been such as materially to <!-- Page 313 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_313" id="Page_i_313">[313]</a></span>obscure their origin or -previous constitution. The object of this chapter being, therefore, only -to mark what was peculiar in rural pastime to the age under -consideration, and not to notice what had suffered little or no -modification, its articles, especially if we consider the nature of the -immediately preceding section, (and that nearly all amusements common to -both town and country were referred to a future part,) could not be -either very numerous, or require any very extended elucidation.</p> - -<p>What might be necessary in the minute and isolated task of the -commentator, would be tedious and superfluous in a design which -professes, while it gives a distinct and broad outline of the complexion -of the times, to preserve among its parts an unrelaxed attention to -unity and compression.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_247:A_442" id="Footnote_i_247:A_442"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_247:A_442"><span class="label">[247:A]</span></a> MS. Harl. Libr., No. 2057, apud Strutt's Customs, &c.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_247:B_443" id="Footnote_i_247:B_443"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_247:B_443"><span class="label">[247:B]</span></a> Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, 8th edit. fol. 1676. p. -169, 170.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_247:C_444" id="Footnote_i_247:C_444"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_247:C_444"><span class="label">[247:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 172.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_247:D_445" id="Footnote_i_247:D_445"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_247:D_445"><span class="label">[247:D]</span></a> Ibid. p. 174.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_247:E_446" id="Footnote_i_247:E_446"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_247:E_446"><span class="label">[247:E]</span></a> Ibid. p. 172.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_248:A_447" id="Footnote_i_248:A_447"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_248:A_447"><span class="label">[248:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 22. note 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_249:A_448" id="Footnote_i_249:A_448"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_249:A_448"><span class="label">[249:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 21, 22. 25, 26.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_249:B_449" id="Footnote_i_249:B_449"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_249:B_449"><span class="label">[249:B]</span></a> Pope's Preface to his edition of Shakspeare, vide -Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 183.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_249:C_450" id="Footnote_i_249:C_450"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_249:C_450"><span class="label">[249:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 25, note 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_250:A_451" id="Footnote_i_250:A_451"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_250:A_451"><span class="label">[250:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 26, note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_250:B_452" id="Footnote_i_250:B_452"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_250:B_452"><span class="label">[250:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 130, 131.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_250:C_453" id="Footnote_i_250:C_453"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_250:C_453"><span class="label">[250:C]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 131. note 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_250:D_454" id="Footnote_i_250:D_454"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_250:D_454"><span class="label">[250:D]</span></a> Poetaster, 1601, vide Ben Jonson's Works, fol. edit. of -1640, vol. i. p. 267.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_251:A_455" id="Footnote_i_251:A_455"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_251:A_455"><span class="label">[251:A]</span></a> Apology for Actors, 1612.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_251:B_456" id="Footnote_i_251:B_456"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_251:B_456"><span class="label">[251:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 307.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_251:C_457" id="Footnote_i_251:C_457"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_251:C_457"><span class="label">[251:C]</span></a> Vide Malone's note in Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. -307.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_251:D_458" id="Footnote_i_251:D_458"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_251:D_458"><span class="label">[251:D]</span></a> By the statute of the 39 Eliz. any baron of the realm -might license a company of players; but by the statute of first James I. -"it is declared and enacted, that from thenceforth no authority given, -or to be given or made, by any baron of this realm, or any other -honourable personage of greater degree, unto any interlude players, -minstrels, jugglers, bearward, or any other idle person or persons -whatsoever, using any unlawful games or plays, to play or act, should be -available to free or discharge the said persons, or any of them, from -the pains and punishments of rogues, of vagabonds, and sturdy beggars, -in the said statutes (those of Eliz.) mentioned."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_252:A_459" id="Footnote_i_252:A_459"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_252:A_459"><span class="label">[252:A]</span></a> A character in <i>Gammar Gurtons Needle</i>, says Mr. -Strutt, a comedy supposed to have been written A. D. 1517, declares he -will go "and travel with young Goose, the <i>motion-man</i>, for a -puppet-player."<a name="FNanchor_i_252:E_463" id="FNanchor_i_252:E_463"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_252:E_463" class="fnanchor">[252:E]</a> This reference, however, is inaccurate, for after -a diligent perusal of the comedy in question, no such passage is to be -found.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_252:B_460" id="Footnote_i_252:B_460"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_252:B_460"><span class="label">[252:B]</span></a> Ben Jonson's Works, fol. edit. 1640, vol. ii. p. 77. -act v. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_252:C_461" id="Footnote_i_252:C_461"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_252:C_461"><span class="label">[252:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 112.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_252:D_462" id="Footnote_i_252:D_462"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_252:D_462"><span class="label">[252:D]</span></a> Vide Malone on the Chronological Order of Shakspeare's -Plays. Reed's Shakspeare, vol. 2. p. 304.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_252:E_463" id="Footnote_i_252:E_463"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_252:E_463"><span class="label">[252:E]</span></a> Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 150, note b.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_253:A_464" id="Footnote_i_253:A_464"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_253:A_464"><span class="label">[253:A]</span></a> Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. 323, note <i>s</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_253:B_465" id="Footnote_i_253:B_465"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_253:B_465"><span class="label">[253:B]</span></a> Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 20.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_253:C_466" id="Footnote_i_253:C_466"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_253:C_466"><span class="label">[253:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 304, and Chalmers's -Apology, p. 324, note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_254:A_467" id="Footnote_i_254:A_467"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_254:A_467"><span class="label">[254:A]</span></a> Athenæ Oxon. vol. ii. p. 812.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_254:B_468" id="Footnote_i_254:B_468"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_254:B_468"><span class="label">[254:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 124.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_254:C_469" id="Footnote_i_254:C_469"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_254:C_469"><span class="label">[254:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 16.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_254:D_470" id="Footnote_i_254:D_470"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_254:D_470"><span class="label">[254:D]</span></a> They were given him by Endymion Porter, the King's -servant.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_254:E_471" id="Footnote_i_254:E_471"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_254:E_471"><span class="label">[254:E]</span></a> Biographical History of England, vol. ii. p. 399, 8vo. -edit. of 1775.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_255:A_472" id="Footnote_i_255:A_472"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_255:A_472"><span class="label">[255:A]</span></a> Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 20, and Heath's -Description of Cornwall, 1750.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_255:B_473" id="Footnote_i_255:B_473"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_255:B_473"><span class="label">[255:B]</span></a> "About the year 750, Winifrid, or Boniface, a native of -England, and archbishop of Mons, acquaints Ethelbald, a king of Kent, -that he has sent him, one hawk, two falcons and two shields. And -Hedilbert, a king of the Mercians, requests the same archbishop Winifrid -to send him two falcons which have been trained to kill cranes. See -Epistol. Winifrid. (Bonifac.) Mogunt. 1605. 1629. And in Bibl. Patr. -tom. vi., and tom. xiii. p. 70."—Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. -ii. p. 221.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_256:A_474" id="Footnote_i_256:A_474"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_256:A_474"><span class="label">[256:A]</span></a> Jonson's Works, fol. vol. i. p. 6. act i. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_256:B_475" id="Footnote_i_256:B_475"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_256:B_475"><span class="label">[256:B]</span></a> Brathwait's English Gentleman, 2d edit. 1633. p. 220.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_257:A_476" id="Footnote_i_257:A_476"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_257:A_476"><span class="label">[257:A]</span></a> "The Booke of Faulconrie, or Hawking, for the onely -delight and pleasure of all Noblemen and Gentlemen: collected out of the -best aucthors, as wel Italians as Frenchmen, and some English practises -withall concernyng Faulconrie, the contentes whereof are to be seene in -the next page folowyng. By Geo. Turbervile, Gentleman. Nocet empta -dolore voluptas. Imprinted at London for Chr. Barker, at the signe of -the Grashoper in Paules Church-yarde, 1575." To this was added, the -"Noble Arte of Venerie or Hunting;" and a re-impression of both, "newly -revived, corrected, and augmented with many additions proper to these -present times," was published by Thomas Purfoot, in 1611.</p> - -<p>Gervase Markham published in 1595 the edition of Dame Julyana Barne's -Treatise on Hawking and Hunting, which we have formerly noticed, and -which was first printed by Caxton, and afterwards by Winkin De Worde; -and in 1615, the first edition of his <i>Country Contentments</i>, which -contains a treatise on Hawking; a work so popular, that it reached -thirteen or fourteen editions.</p> - -<p>Edmund Best, who trained and sold hawks, printed a treatise on Hawks and -Hawking in 1619.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_259:A_477" id="Footnote_i_259:A_477"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_259:A_477"><span class="label">[259:A]</span></a> Brathwait's English Gentleman, 2d edit. 1633. p. -201-203.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_259:B_478" id="Footnote_i_259:B_478"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_259:B_478"><span class="label">[259:B]</span></a> Henry Peacham, who remarks of Hawking, that it is a -recreation "very commendable and befitting a Noble or Gentleman to -exercise," adds, that "by the Canon Law, Hawking was forbidden unto -Clergie." The Compleat Gentleman, 2d. edit. p. 212, 213.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_260:A_479" id="Footnote_i_260:A_479"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_260:A_479"><span class="label">[260:A]</span></a> Vide Quaternio, or a Fourefold Way to a Happie Life, -set forth in a Dialogue betweene a Countryman and a Citizen, a Divine -and a Lawyer. Per Tho. Nash, Philopolitean, 1633.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_260:B_480" id="Footnote_i_260:B_480"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_260:B_480"><span class="label">[260:B]</span></a> English Gentleman, p. 200.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_262:A_481" id="Footnote_i_262:A_481"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_262:A_481"><span class="label">[262:A]</span></a> Quaternio, 1633. It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to -add, that the writer of this work must not be confounded with Thos. Nash -the author of <i>Pierce Penniless</i>, who died before 1606.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_262:B_482" id="Footnote_i_262:B_482"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_262:B_482"><span class="label">[262:B]</span></a> To <i>bind with</i> is to <i>tire</i> or <i>seize</i>.—Gentleman's -Recreation.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_263:A_483" id="Footnote_i_263:A_483"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_263:A_483"><span class="label">[263:A]</span></a> <i>To cancelier.</i> "Canceller is when a high-flown hawk in -her stooping, turneth two or three times upon the wing, to recover -herself before she seizeth her prey."—Gentleman's Recreation.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_263:B_484" id="Footnote_i_263:B_484"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_263:B_484"><span class="label">[263:B]</span></a> Gifford's Massinger, vol. iv. p. 136, 137.—The -<i>Guardian</i>, from which this passage is taken, was licensed in October -1633.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_264:A_485" id="Footnote_i_264:A_485"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_264:A_485"><span class="label">[264:A]</span></a> Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 57, -58.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_264:B_486" id="Footnote_i_264:B_486"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_264:B_486"><span class="label">[264:B]</span></a> Hall's Life of Henry VIII. sub an. xvj.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_265:A_487" id="Footnote_i_265:A_487"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_265:A_487"><span class="label">[265:A]</span></a> Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_265:B_488" id="Footnote_i_265:B_488"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_265:B_488"><span class="label">[265:B]</span></a> Anonymous MS., entitled "Merry Passages and Jeasts." -Bibl. Harl. 6395. Art. cccliv.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_265:C_489" id="Footnote_i_265:C_489"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_265:C_489"><span class="label">[265:C]</span></a> Merry Passages and Jeasts, art. ccxxiii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_266:A_490" id="Footnote_i_266:A_490"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_266:A_490"><span class="label">[266:A]</span></a> The Falconer was sometimes denominated the <i>Ostringer</i> -or Sperviter: "they be called Ostringers," says Markham, "which are the -keepers of Goshawkes or Tercelles, and those which keepe Sparrow-hawkes -or Muskets are called <i>Sperviters</i>, and those which keepe any other -kinde of hawke being long-winged are termed <i>Falconers</i>." Gentleman's -Academie or Booke of S. Alban's, fol. 8.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_266:B_491" id="Footnote_i_266:B_491"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_266:B_491"><span class="label">[266:B]</span></a> Satyrical Essayes, Characters, &c., by John Stephens, -1615, 16mo. 1st edit.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_267:A_492" id="Footnote_i_267:A_492"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_267:A_492"><span class="label">[267:A]</span></a> "All hawks," says Markham, "generally are <i>manned</i> -after one manner, that is to say, by watching and keeping them from -sleep, by a continuall carrying them upon your fist, and by a most -familiar stroaking and playing with them, with the wing of a dead fowl, -or such like, and by often gazing and looking them in the face, with a -loving and gentle countenance, and so making them acquainted with the -man.</p> - -<p>"After your hawks are manned, you shall bring them to the <i>Lure</i><a name="FNanchor_i_267:D_495" id="FNanchor_i_267:D_495"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_267:D_495" class="fnanchor">[267:D]</a> -by easie degrees, as first, making them jump unto the fist, after fall -upon the lure, then come to the voice, and lastly, to know the voice and -lure so perfectly, that either upon the sound of the one, sight of the -other, she will presently come in, and be most obedient; which may -easily be performed, by giving her reward when she doth your pleasure, -and making her fast when she disobeyeth: short wing'd hawks shall be -called to the fist only, and not to the lure; neither shall you use unto -them the loudnesse and variety of voice, which you do to the long winged -hawks, but only bring them to the fist by chiriping your lips together, -or else by the whistle." Countrey Contentments, 11th edit. p. 30.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_267:B_493" id="Footnote_i_267:B_493"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_267:B_493"><span class="label">[267:B]</span></a> Country Contentments, p. 29.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_267:C_494" id="Footnote_i_267:C_494"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_267:C_494"><span class="label">[267:C]</span></a> Though it sometimes appears that the jesses were made -of silk.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_267:D_495" id="Footnote_i_267:D_495"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_267:D_495"><span class="label">[267:D]</span></a> An object stuffed like that kind of bird which the hawk -was designed to pursue. The use of the <i>lure</i> was to tempt him back -after he had flown.—Steevens.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_268:A_496" id="Footnote_i_268:A_496"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_268:A_496"><span class="label">[268:A]</span></a> "These observations are taken from 'The Boke of Saint -Albans;' a subsequent edition says, 'at least a note under.'"<a name="FNanchor_i_268:D_499" id="FNanchor_i_268:D_499"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_268:D_499" class="fnanchor">[268:D]</a></p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_268:B_497" id="Footnote_i_268:B_497"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_268:B_497"><span class="label">[268:B]</span></a> "I am told, that silver being mixed with the metal, -when the bells are cast, adds much to the sweetness of the sound; and -hence probably the allusion of Shakspeare, when he says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">'How silver sweet sound lovers tongues by night.'"</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_268:C_498" id="Footnote_i_268:C_498"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_268:C_498"><span class="label">[268:C]</span></a> Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 28.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_268:D_499" id="Footnote_i_268:D_499"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_268:D_499"><span class="label">[268:D]</span></a> This subsequent edition, to which Mr. Strutt alludes, -is probably that by Gervase Markham, who tells us under the head of -"Hawkes belles:" "The bells which your hawke shal weare, looke in any -wise that they be not too heavy, whereby they overloade hir, neither -that one be heavier than an other, but both of like weight: looke also, -that they be well sounding and shrill, yet not both of one sound, <i>but -one at least a note under the other</i>." He adds "of spar-hawkes belles -there is choice enough, and the charge little, by reason that the store -thereof is great. But for goshawks sometimes belles of Millaine were -supposed to bee the best, and undoubtedly they be excellent, for that -they are sounded with silver, and the price of them is thereafter, but -there be <i>now</i>," he observes, "used belles out of the lowe Countries -which are approoved to be <i>passing good</i>, for they are principally -<i>sorted</i>, they are well sounded, and sweet of ringing, with a pleasant -shrilnesse, and excellently well lasting." Gentleman's Academie, fol. -13.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_269:A_500" id="Footnote_i_269:A_500"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_269:A_500"><span class="label">[269:A]</span></a> These technical terms may admit of some explanation, -from the following passage in Markham's edition of the Booke of St. -Alban's, 1595, where speaking of the fowl being found in a river or pit, -he adds, "if shee (the hawk) nyme or take the further side of the river -or pit from you, then she slaieth the foule at <i>fere juttie</i>: but if she -kill it on that side that you are on yourselfe; as many times it -chanceth, then you shall say shee killed the foule at the <i>jutty ferry</i>: -if your hawke nime the foule aloft, you shal say she tooke it <i>at the -mount</i>. If you see store of mallards separate from the river and feeding -in the fielde, if your hawke flee covertly under hedges, or close by the -ground, by which means she nymeth one of them before they can rise, you -shall say, that foule was killed <i>at the querre</i>." Gentleman's Academie, -fol. 12.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_270:A_501" id="Footnote_i_270:A_501"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_270:A_501"><span class="label">[270:A]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 436.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_270:B_502" id="Footnote_i_270:B_502"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_270:B_502"><span class="label">[270:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 387. Act iii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_270:C_503" id="Footnote_i_270:C_503"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_270:C_503"><span class="label">[270:C]</span></a> Ibid., vol. v. p. 339. Act iii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_270:D_504" id="Footnote_i_270:D_504"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_270:D_504"><span class="label">[270:D]</span></a> Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, fol. 8th edit. p. 152.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_271:A_505" id="Footnote_i_271:A_505"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_271:A_505"><span class="label">[271:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 135. Act iv. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_271:B_506" id="Footnote_i_271:B_506"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_271:B_506"><span class="label">[271:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xx. p. 147. Act iii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_271:C_507" id="Footnote_i_271:C_507"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_271:C_507"><span class="label">[271:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 93. Act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_271:D_508" id="Footnote_i_271:D_508"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_271:D_508"><span class="label">[271:D]</span></a> Ibid. vol. v. p. 126. Act iii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_271:E_509" id="Footnote_i_271:E_509"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_271:E_509"><span class="label">[271:E]</span></a> Fairy Queen, book i. cant. 11. stan. 34. "Eyes, or -nias," says Mr. Douce, "is a term borrowed from the French <i>niais</i>, -which means any young bird in the nest, <i>avis in nido</i>. It is the first -of five several names by which a falcon is called during its first -year." Illustrations, vol. i. p. 74.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_272:A_510" id="Footnote_i_272:A_510"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_272:A_510"><span class="label">[272:A]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. x. p. 231.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_273:A_511" id="Footnote_i_273:A_511"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_273:A_511"><span class="label">[273:A]</span></a> Complete Gentleman, 2nd edit., p. 212, 213.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_273:B_512" id="Footnote_i_273:B_512"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_273:B_512"><span class="label">[273:B]</span></a> Dekkar's Villanies discovered by lanthorne and -candle-light, &c. 1616.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_274:A_513" id="Footnote_i_274:A_513"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_274:A_513"><span class="label">[274:A]</span></a> Vide Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 221. -note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_274:B_514" id="Footnote_i_274:B_514"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_274:B_514"><span class="label">[274:B]</span></a> MS. Cotton Library, Vespasianus, B. 12.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_274:C_515" id="Footnote_i_274:C_515"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_274:C_515"><span class="label">[274:C]</span></a> MS. Digb. 182. Bibl. Bodl. Warton, vol. ii. p. 221. -note m.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_275:A_516" id="Footnote_i_275:A_516"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_275:A_516"><span class="label">[275:A]</span></a> The substance of this account is taken from <i>The -Maistre of the Game</i>, written for the use of Prince Henry.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_276:A_517" id="Footnote_i_276:A_517"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_276:A_517"><span class="label">[276:A]</span></a> Vide Censura Literaria, vol. x. p. 237, 238.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_276:B_518" id="Footnote_i_276:B_518"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_276:B_518"><span class="label">[276:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 173. Act iii. sc. 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_276:C_519" id="Footnote_i_276:C_519"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_276:C_519"><span class="label">[276:C]</span></a> In a work entitled "A Briefe Discourse of the true (but -neglected) use of Charact'ring the degrees by their perfection, -imperfection, and diminution, in measurable musicke, against the common -practice and custome of these times. Examples whereof are exprest in the -harmony of 4 voyces, concerning the pleasure of 5 usuall Recreations. 1. -Hunting. 2. Hawking. 3. Dauncing. 4. Drinking. 5. Enamouring. By Thomas -Ravenscroft, Bachelar of Musicke. London, printed by Edw. Allde for Tho. -Adams, 1614. Cum privilegio Regali, 4to."</p> - -<p>Puttenham refers to one Gray as the author of this ballad, who was in -good estimation, he says, with King Henry, "and afterwards with the Duke -of Sommerset Protectour, for making certaine merry ballades, whereof one -chiefly was, <i>The hunte it</i> (is) <i>up</i>, the hunte is up." P. 12.</p> - -<p>Ritson refers to another ballad, as the prototype of Shakspeare's line, -which, he says, is very old, and commences thus:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The hunt is up, the hunt is up,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And now it is almost day;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And he that's a bed with another man's wife,</div> - <div class="line indentq">It's time to get him away."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Remarks critical and illustrative, &c., 1783, p. 183.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_278:A_520" id="Footnote_i_278:A_520"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_278:A_520"><span class="label">[278:A]</span></a> Of the language formerly used by the huntsman to his -dogs, a very curious description is given by Markham, in his modernised -edition of the Booke of St. Albans, 1595.</p> - -<p>"When the Huntsman," says he, "commeth to the kennell in the morning to -couple up his hounds, and shall <i>jubet</i> once or twice to awake the dogs: -opening the kennell doore, the Huntsman useth some gentle rating, lest -in their hasty comming forth they should hurt one another: to which the -Frenchman useth this worde, <i>Arere, Arere</i>, and we, <i>sost, ho ho ho ho</i>, -once or twice redoubling the same, coupling them as they come out of the -kennell. And being come into the field, and having uncoupled, the -Frenchman useth, <i>hors de couple avant avant</i>, onse or twise with <i>soho</i> -three times together: wee use to <i>jubet</i> once or twice to the dogges, -crying, <i>a traile a traile, there dogges there</i>, and the rather to make -the dogs in trailing to hold close together striking uppon some Brake -crie <i>soho</i>. And if the hounds have had rest, and being over lustie, doe -beginne to fling away, the Frenchmen use to crie, <i>swef ames swef</i>, -redoubling the same, with <i>Arere ames ho</i>: nowe we to the same purpose -use to say, <i>sost ho, heere againe ho</i>, doubling the same, sometimes -calling them backe againe with <i>jubet</i> or hallow: poynting with your -hunting staffe upon the ground, saying <i>soho</i>.</p> - -<p>"And if some one of the hounds light upon a pure scent, so that by the -manner of his eager spending you perceive it is very good, yet shall the -same hounds crying, <i>there, now there</i>: and to put the rest of the crie -in to him, you shall crie, <i>ho avant avant, list a Talbot, list list -there</i>. To which the French man useth, <i>Oyes a Talbot le vailant oyes -oyes, trove le coward</i>, in the same manner with little difference. And -if you find by your hounds where a Hare hath beene at relefe, if it be -in the time of greene corne, and if your hounds spend uppon the troile -merily, and make a goodly crie, then shall the Huntsman blow three motes -with his horne, which hee may sundry times use with discretion, when he -seeth the houndes have made away: A double, and make on towards the -seate; now if it be within some field or pasture where the Hare hath -beene at relefe, let the Huntsman cast a ring with his houndes to finde -where she hath gone out, which if the houndes light uppon, he shall -crie, <i>There boyes there, that tat tat, hoe hicke, hicke, hicke avant, -list to him list</i>, and if they chance by their brain sicknesse to -overshoote it, he shall call to his hounds, <i>ho againe ho</i>, doubling the -same twice. And if undertaking it againe, and making it good, hee shall -cheare his hounds: <i>there, to him there, thats he, that tat tat</i>, -blowing a mote. And note, that this word <i>soho</i> is generally used at the -view of any beast of Chase or Venerie: but indeede the word is properly -<i>saho</i>, and not <i>soho</i>, but for the better pronuntiation and fulnes of -the same we say <i>soho</i> not <i>saho</i>. Now the hounds running in full chase, -the Frenchman useth to say, <i>ho ho</i>, or <i>swef alieu douce alieu</i>, and -wee imitating them say, <i>There boies, there avant there, to him there</i>, -which termes are in deede derived from their language."—Gentleman's -Academie, fol. 32, 33. These appear to be the terms in use at the close -of the sixteenth century; for he afterwards mentions that the "olde and -antient Huntsmen had divers termes" which were not in his time "very -needefull."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_280:A_521" id="Footnote_i_280:A_521"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_280:A_521"><span class="label">[280:A]</span></a> Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, vol. ii. p. 164.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_280:B_522" id="Footnote_i_280:B_522"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_280:B_522"><span class="label">[280:B]</span></a> Antiquarian Repertory, vol. i. p. 27.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_280:C_523" id="Footnote_i_280:C_523"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_280:C_523"><span class="label">[280:C]</span></a> To take the <i>assay</i> or <i>say</i>, was to draw the knife -along the belly of the deer, in order to ascertain how fat he was, and -the operation was begun at the brisket.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_281:A_524" id="Footnote_i_281:A_524"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_281:A_524"><span class="label">[281:A]</span></a> Chaloner's Prayze of Follie, 1577. The whole process of -"undoing the Hart," may be seen in Markham's "Gentlemans Academie," fol. -35.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_281:B_525" id="Footnote_i_281:B_525"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_281:B_525"><span class="label">[281:B]</span></a> Jonson apud Whalley, act i. sc. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_281:C_526" id="Footnote_i_281:C_526"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_281:C_526"><span class="label">[281:C]</span></a> Alluding to the Book of St. Albans, republished, under -this title, in 1595, by Gervase Markham.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_283:A_527" id="Footnote_i_283:A_527"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_283:A_527"><span class="label">[283:A]</span></a> Satyrical Essayes, &c. by John Stephens, 1615.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_284:A_528" id="Footnote_i_284:A_528"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_284:A_528"><span class="label">[284:A]</span></a> Countrey Contentments, 1615.—11th edit. 1683, p. 7-9.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_284:B_529" id="Footnote_i_284:B_529"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_284:B_529"><span class="label">[284:B]</span></a> <i>Flews</i>, the large chaps of a hound.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_284:C_530" id="Footnote_i_284:C_530"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_284:C_530"><span class="label">[284:C]</span></a> <i>Sanded</i>, that is, of a sandy colour, the true -denotement of a blood-hound.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_284:D_531" id="Footnote_i_284:D_531"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_284:D_531"><span class="label">[284:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 449-452, -Midsummer-Night's Dream, act iv. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_285:A_532" id="Footnote_i_285:A_532"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_285:A_532"><span class="label">[285:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 60. Act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_285:B_533" id="Footnote_i_285:B_533"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_285:B_533"><span class="label">[285:B]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses of Elizabeth, vol. i. Laneham's -Letter, p. 12, original edition, p. 17, 18.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_286:A_534" id="Footnote_i_286:A_534"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_286:A_534"><span class="label">[286:A]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses, vol. ii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_286:B_535" id="Footnote_i_286:B_535"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_286:B_535"><span class="label">[286:B]</span></a> "The true narration of the Entertainment of his Royall -Majestie, from the time of his departure from Edenbrough, till his -receiving at London; with all or the most special occurrences. Together -with the names of those gentlemen whom his Majestie honoured with -Knighthood." At London printed by Thomas Creede, for Thomas Millington, -1603. 4to.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_287:A_536" id="Footnote_i_287:A_536"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_287:A_536"><span class="label">[287:A]</span></a> Memoirs, p. 35.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_287:B_537" id="Footnote_i_287:B_537"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_287:B_537"><span class="label">[287:B]</span></a> Wilson's History of Great Britain, p. 106. fol. London, -1653.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_287:C_538" id="Footnote_i_287:C_538"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_287:C_538"><span class="label">[287:C]</span></a> Osborn's Works, 8vo. ninth edit. 1689, p. 444.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_288:A_539" id="Footnote_i_288:A_539"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_288:A_539"><span class="label">[288:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 183. Act v. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_288:B_540" id="Footnote_i_288:B_540"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_288:B_540"><span class="label">[288:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. vi. p. 68.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_288:C_541" id="Footnote_i_288:C_541"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_288:C_541"><span class="label">[288:C]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 368. Poly-Olbion, -song xxv.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_288:D_542" id="Footnote_i_288:D_542"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_288:D_542"><span class="label">[288:D]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 458. Nymphal vi.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_288:E_543" id="Footnote_i_288:E_543"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_288:E_543"><span class="label">[288:E]</span></a> New Shreds of the Old Snare, by John Gee, 4to. p. 23. -Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 68. note 9.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_289:A_544" id="Footnote_i_289:A_544"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_289:A_544"><span class="label">[289:A]</span></a> Harleian MS. 2281.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_289:B_545" id="Footnote_i_289:B_545"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_289:B_545"><span class="label">[289:B]</span></a> Jewel for Gentrie, Lond. 1614.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_289:C_546" id="Footnote_i_289:C_546"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_289:C_546"><span class="label">[289:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 24. Henry VIII. act i. -sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_290:A_547" id="Footnote_i_290:A_547"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_290:A_547"><span class="label">[290:A]</span></a> Mr. Haslewood, after much research, attributes to the -pen of this ingenious lady only the following portions of De Worde's -edit. of 1496:</p> - -<ul class="list"> - <li>1. A small portion of the treatise on Hawking.</li> - <li>2. The treatise upon Hunting.</li> - <li>3. A short list of the beasts of chace.</li> - <li>4. And another short one of beasts and fowls.</li> -</ul> - -<p>The public are much indebted to this elegant antiquary for an admirable -fac-simile reprint of De Worde's rare and interesting volume.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_290:B_548" id="Footnote_i_290:B_548"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_290:B_548"><span class="label">[290:B]</span></a> Burton has introduced, in his Anatomy of Melancholy, -though without acknowledgment, the very words of this quotation.—Vide -p. 169. 8th edit.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_291:A_549" id="Footnote_i_291:A_549"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_291:A_549"><span class="label">[291:A]</span></a> The titles of these works are—"A Booke of Fishing with -Hooke and Line, and of all other Instruments thereunto belonginge, made -by L. M. 4to. Lond. 1590:" the 4th edit. of Mascall's Book, was -reprinted in 1606—"Certain Experiments concerning Fish and Fruit, -practised by John Taverner, Gentleman, and by him published for the -benefit of others." 4to. London (printed for Wm. Ponsonby) 1600.—It -would appear, from a note in Walton's Complete Angler, that there was an -impression of Taverner's book of the same date with a different title, -namely, "Approved experiments touching Fish and Fruit, to be regarded by -the lovers of Angling."—Vide Bagster's edit. 1808. Life of Walton, p. -14. note.</p> - -<p>A third was designated "The Pleasures of Princes, or Good Men's -Recreations: containing a Discourse of the general Art of Fishing with -the Angle, or otherwise: and of all the hidden Secrets belonging -thereunto. 4to. Lond. 1614."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_293:A_550" id="Footnote_i_293:A_550"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_293:A_550"><span class="label">[293:A]</span></a> This beautiful encomium has been quoted in Walton's -Complete Angler, with many alterations, and some of them much for the -worse; for instance, the very opening of the quotation is thus given:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Let me live harmlessly; and near the brink</div> - <div class="line i1q">Of Trent or Avon <i>have</i> a dwelling-place—</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and the conclusion of the fourth stanza:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The raging sea, beneath the vallies low,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where lakes, and rills, and rivulets <i>do</i> flow."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Bagster's edit. p. 123.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_293:B_551" id="Footnote_i_293:B_551"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_293:B_551"><span class="label">[293:B]</span></a> Gervase Markham, in his <i>Art of Angling</i>, not only -recommends the same colours, but adds a caution which marks the rural -dress of the day: "Let your apparel," says he, "be close to your body, -without any <i>new fashioned flashes, or hanging sleeves, waving loose, -like sails about you</i>." P. 59.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_293:C_552" id="Footnote_i_293:C_552"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_293:C_552"><span class="label">[293:C]</span></a> The first edition of the Countrey Contentments, 1615, -does not possess the <i>Art of Angling</i>; it probably appeared in the -second, a year or two after; for the work was so popular that it rapidly -ran through several impressions: the fifth is dated 1633.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_296:A_553" id="Footnote_i_296:A_553"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_296:A_553"><span class="label">[296:A]</span></a> Countrey Contentments, 11th edit. p. 59-62.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_296:B_554" id="Footnote_i_296:B_554"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_296:B_554"><span class="label">[296:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 78. Much Ado about -Nothing, act iii. sc 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_297:A_555" id="Footnote_i_297:A_555"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_297:A_555"><span class="label">[297:A]</span></a> To this effect, likewise, Col. Venables gives a decided -testimony; for in the preface to his "Experienc'd Angler," first -published in 1662, he declares, "if example (which is the best proof) -may sway any thing, I know no sort of men less subject to melancholy -than anglers, many have cast off other recreations and embraced it, but -I never knew any angler wholly cast off (though occasions might -interrupt) their affections to their beloved recreation;" and he adds, -"if this art may prove a noble brave rest to my mind, 'tis all the -satisfaction I covet."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_297:B_556" id="Footnote_i_297:B_556"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_297:B_556"><span class="label">[297:B]</span></a> Walton's Complete Angler apud Bagster, p. 122.—"Let me -take this opportunity," says Mr. Bowles, "of recommending the amiable -and venerable Isaac Walton's Complete Angler; a work the most singular -of its kind, breathing the very spirit of contentment, of quiet, and -unaffected philanthropy, and interspersed with some beautiful relics of -poetry, old songs, and ballads." Bowles's Pope, vol. i. p. 135.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_297:C_557" id="Footnote_i_297:C_557"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_297:C_557"><span class="label">[297:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 512. Cymbeline, act -iii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_298:A_558" id="Footnote_i_298:A_558"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_298:A_558"><span class="label">[298:A]</span></a> Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 170. part ii. sat. 2. Mem. -iv.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_298:B_559" id="Footnote_i_298:B_559"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_298:B_559"><span class="label">[298:B]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. v. p. 275. book iv. -satire 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_298:C_560" id="Footnote_i_298:C_560"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_298:C_560"><span class="label">[298:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 381. Henry IV. part i. -act iv. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_299:A_561" id="Footnote_i_299:A_561"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_299:A_561"><span class="label">[299:A]</span></a> The title is as follows: "A Discource of -Horsemanshippe: wherein the breeding and ryding of Horses for service, -in a breefe manner is more methodically sette downe then hath been -heretofore, &c. Also the manner to chuse, trayne, ryde and dyet, both -Hunting-horses and <i>Running-horses</i>: with all the secretes thereto -belonging discovered. <i>An arte never hearetofore written by any author.</i> -Bramo assai, poco spero, nulla chiegio." At London. Printed by John -Charlewood for Richard Smith, 1593, 4to. Dedicated "To the Right -Worshipfull, and his singular good father, Ma. Rob. Markham, of Cotham, -in the County of Nottingham, Esq. by Jervis Markham. Licensed 29 -January, 1592-3." Vide Herbert, v. 2. 1102.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_300:A_562" id="Footnote_i_300:A_562"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_300:A_562"><span class="label">[300:A]</span></a> Cavelarice, or the arte and knowledge belonging to the -Horse-ryder, 1607. Book ii. chap. 24.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_301:A_563" id="Footnote_i_301:A_563"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_301:A_563"><span class="label">[301:A]</span></a> Survey of London, 4to. 1618, p. 145.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_301:B_564" id="Footnote_i_301:B_564"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_301:B_564"><span class="label">[301:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 29.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_301:C_565" id="Footnote_i_301:C_565"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_301:C_565"><span class="label">[301:C]</span></a> Vide Pluvinel sur l'exercise de monter a cheval, part -iii. p. 177. et Traite des Tournois, Joustes, &c. par Claude Fran. -Menestrier, p. 264.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_303:A_566" id="Footnote_i_303:A_566"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_303:A_566"><span class="label">[303:A]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i. and of -Laneham's Letter, p. 30-32.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_304:A_567" id="Footnote_i_304:A_567"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_304:A_567"><span class="label">[304:A]</span></a> Natural Hist. of Oxfordshire, p. 200.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_304:B_568" id="Footnote_i_304:B_568"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_304:B_568"><span class="label">[304:B]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. viii. p. 233, 234.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_304:C_569" id="Footnote_i_304:C_569"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_304:C_569"><span class="label">[304:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 111. Act ii. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_305:A_570" id="Footnote_i_305:A_570"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_305:A_570"><span class="label">[305:A]</span></a> Anatomy of Melancholy, 8th edit. p. 170.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_305:B_571" id="Footnote_i_305:B_571"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_305:B_571"><span class="label">[305:B]</span></a> Carew's Survey of Cornwall, 1602, book i. p. 74.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_306:A_572" id="Footnote_i_306:A_572"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_306:A_572"><span class="label">[306:A]</span></a> Vide Todd's Milton, 2d. edit. vol. vi. p. 192.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_306:B_573" id="Footnote_i_306:B_573"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_306:B_573"><span class="label">[306:B]</span></a> Natural History of Staffordshire, p. 383.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_307:A_574" id="Footnote_i_307:A_574"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_307:A_574"><span class="label">[307:A]</span></a> Sports and Pastimes, p. 264.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_307:B_575" id="Footnote_i_307:B_575"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_307:B_575"><span class="label">[307:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 22.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_307:C_576" id="Footnote_i_307:C_576"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_307:C_576"><span class="label">[307:C]</span></a> Ibid. vol. v. p. 23. note 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_307:D_577" id="Footnote_i_307:D_577"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_307:D_577"><span class="label">[307:D]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 454, -455.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:A_578" id="Footnote_i_308:A_578"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:A_578"><span class="label">[308:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 96.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:B_579" id="Footnote_i_308:B_579"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:B_579"><span class="label">[308:B]</span></a> Whalley's Works of Ben Jonson, vol. i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:C_580" id="Footnote_i_308:C_580"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:C_580"><span class="label">[308:C]</span></a> Vide Sports and Pastimes, p. 267. edit. of 1810.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:D_581" id="Footnote_i_308:D_581"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:D_581"><span class="label">[308:D]</span></a> Henry V., act v. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:E_582" id="Footnote_i_308:E_582"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:E_582"><span class="label">[308:E]</span></a> Lear, act iv. sc. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:F_583" id="Footnote_i_308:F_583"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:F_583"><span class="label">[308:F]</span></a> Second Part of Henry IV., act ii. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:G_584" id="Footnote_i_308:G_584"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:G_584"><span class="label">[308:G]</span></a> Love's Labour Lost, act v. sc. 1. and Second Part of -Henry IV., act ii. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:H_585" id="Footnote_i_308:H_585"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:H_585"><span class="label">[308:H]</span></a> Hamlet, act v. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:I_586" id="Footnote_i_308:I_586"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:I_586"><span class="label">[308:I]</span></a> Cymbeline, act v. sc, 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:J_587" id="Footnote_i_308:J_587"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:J_587"><span class="label">[308:J]</span></a> Anthony and Cleopatra, act iv. sc. 10.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:K_588" id="Footnote_i_308:K_588"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:K_588"><span class="label">[308:K]</span></a> Midsummer-Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:L_589" id="Footnote_i_308:L_589"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:L_589"><span class="label">[308:L]</span></a> Much Ado about Nothing, act i. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_308:M_590" id="Footnote_i_308:M_590"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_308:M_590"><span class="label">[308:M]</span></a> Midsummer-Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_309:A_591" id="Footnote_i_309:A_591"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_309:A_591"><span class="label">[309:A]</span></a> Sports and Pastimes, p. 338.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_309:B_592" id="Footnote_i_309:B_592"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_309:B_592"><span class="label">[309:B]</span></a> Annalia Dubrensia, 1636, c. iii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_310:A_593" id="Footnote_i_310:A_593"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_310:A_593"><span class="label">[310:A]</span></a> Cantus of Thomas Morley, the first booke of ballets to -five voyces.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_310:B_594" id="Footnote_i_310:B_594"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_310:B_594"><span class="label">[310:B]</span></a> Massinger's Works, by Gifford, vol. i. p. 104.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_311:A_595" id="Footnote_i_311:A_595"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_311:A_595"><span class="label">[311:A]</span></a> His daughter.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_311:B_596" id="Footnote_i_311:B_596"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_311:B_596"><span class="label">[311:B]</span></a> "Barley-breake, or a Warning for Wantons. Written by W. -N., Gent. Printed at London by Simon Stafford, dwelling in the -Cloth-fayre, neere the Red Lyon, 1607. 4to. 16 leaves." Vide British -Bibliographer, vol. i. p. 65.—This poem has been attributed, -notwithstanding the initials, to Nicholas Breton.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_312:A_597" id="Footnote_i_312:A_597"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_312:A_597"><span class="label">[312:A]</span></a> Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish -Language, 1808.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_312:B_598" id="Footnote_i_312:B_598"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_312:B_598"><span class="label">[312:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 248.</p> -</div> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 314 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_314" id="Page_i_314">[314]</a></span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_IX" id="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">VIEW OF COUNTRY LIFE DURING THE AGE OF SHAKSPEARE, -CONTINUED—AN ACCOUNT OF SOME OF ITS <i>SUPERSTITIONS</i>.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The popular creed, during the age of Shakspeare, was perhaps more -extended and systematised than in any preceding or subsequent period of -our history. For this effect we are indebted, in a great measure, to the -credulity and superstition of James the First, the publication of whose -Demonology rendered a profession in the belief of sorcery and witchcraft -a matter of fashion and even of interest; for a ready way to the favour -of this monarch was an implicit assumption of his opinions, theological -and metaphysical, as well as political.</p> - -<p>It must not be inferred, however, that at the commencement of the -seventeenth century, the human mind was unwilling or unprepared to shake -off the load which had oppressed it for ages. Among the enlightened -classes of society, now rapidly extending throughout the kingdom, the -reception of these doctrines was rather the effect of court example than -of settled conviction; but as the vernacular bards, and especially the -dramatic, who ever hold unbounded influence over the multitude, thought -proper, and certainly, in a poetical light, with great effect, to adopt -the dogmata and machinery of James, the reign of superstition was, for a -time, not only upheld, but extended among the inferior orders of the -people.</p> - -<p>"Every goblin of ignorance," observes Warton, speaking of this period, -"did not vanish at the first glimmerings of the morning of science. -Reason suffered a few demons still to linger, which she chose to retain -in her service under the guidance of poetry. Men believed, or were -willing to believe, that spirits were yet hovering around, who brought -with them <i>airs from heaven, or blasts from hell</i>, that the ghost was -duely released from his prison of torment at the <!-- Page 315 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_315" id="Page_i_315">[315]</a></span>sound of the curfew, -and that fairies imprinted mysterious circles on the turf by moon-light. -Much of this credulity was even consecrated by the name of science and -profound speculation. Prospero had not yet <i>broken and buried his -staff</i>, nor <i>drowned his book deeper than did ever plummet sound</i>. It -was now that the alchymist, and the judicial astrologer, conducted his -occult operations by the potent intercourse of some preternatural being, -who came obsequious to his call, and was bound to accomplish his -severest services, under certain conditions, and for a limited duration -of time. It was actually one of the pretended feats of these fantastic -philosophers, to evoke the queen of the Fairies in the solitude of a -gloomy grove, who, preceded by a sudden rustling of the leaves, appeared -in robes of transcendent lustre. The Shakspeare of a more instructed and -polished age would not have given us a magician darkening the sun at -noon, the sabbath of the witches, and the cauldron of -incantation."<a name="FNanchor_i_315:A_599" id="FNanchor_i_315:A_599"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_315:A_599" class="fnanchor">[315:A]</a></p> - -<p>The history of the popular mythology, therefore, of this era, at a time -when it was cherished by the throne, and adopted, in its fullest extent, -by the greatest poetical genius which ever existed, must necessarily -occupy a large share of our attention. So extensive, indeed, is the -subject, and so full of interest and curiosity, that to exhaust it in -this division of the work, would be to encroach upon that symmetry of -plan, that relative proportion which we wish to preserve. The four great -subjects, therefore, of <i>Fairies</i>, <i>Witchcraft</i>, <i>Magic</i>, and -<i>Apparitions</i>, will be deferred to the Second Part, and annexed as -Dissertations to our remarks on the <i>Midsummer-Night's Dream</i>, -<i>Macbeth</i>, the <i>Tempest</i>, and <i>Hamlet</i>.</p> - -<p>As a consequent of this decision, the present chapter, after noticing, -in a <i>general</i> way, the various credulities of the country, will dwell, -at some length, on those periods of the year which have been peculiarly -devoted to superstitious rites and observances, and include the residue -of the subject under the heads of <i>omens</i>, <i>charms</i>, <i>sympathies</i>, -<i>cures</i>, and <i>miscellaneous superstitions</i>.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 316 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_316" id="Page_i_316">[316]</a></span>It is from the <i>Winter-Night's Conversation</i> of the lower orders of the -people that we may derive, in any age, the most authentic catalogue of -its superstitions. This fearful pleasure of children and uneducated -persons, and the eager curiosity which attends it, have been faithfully -painted by Shakspeare:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<i>Hermione.</i> <span class="s2">Pray you sit by us,</span></div> - <div class="line">And tell's a tale.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Mamillius.</i> <span class="s1">Merry, or sad, shall't be?</span></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Her.</i> As merry as you will.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Mam.</i> <span class="s7h"> A sad tale's best for winter:</span></div> - <div class="line">I have one of sprites and goblins.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Her.</i> <span class="s9h">Let's have that, sir.</span></div> - <div class="line">Come on, sit down:—Come on, and do your best</div> - <div class="line">To fright me with your sprites: you're powerful at it.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Mam.</i> There was a man,——</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Her.</i> <span class="s10">Nay, come, sit down; then on.</span></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Mam.</i> Dwelt by a church-yard;—I will tell it softly;</div> - <div class="line">Yon crickets shall not hear it.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Her.</i> <span class="s8">Come on then,</span></div> - <div class="line">And give't in mine ear."<a name="FNanchor_i_316:A_600" id="FNanchor_i_316:A_600"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_316:A_600" class="fnanchor">[316:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>For the particulars forming the subject-matter of these tales, and for -their effect on the hearers, we must have recourse to writers -contemporary with the bard, whose object it was to censure or detail -these legendary wonders. Thus Lavaterus, who wrote a book <i>De Spectris</i>, -in 1570, which was translated into English in 1572, remarks that "if -when men sit at the table, mention be made of spirits and elves, many -times wemen and children are so afrayde that they dare scarce go out of -dores alone, least they should meete wyth some evyl thing: and if they -chaunce to heare any kinde of noise, by and by they thinke there are -some spirits behynde them:" and again in a subsequent page, "simple -foolish men—imagine that there be certayne elves or fairies of the -earth, and tell many straunge and marvellous tales of them, which they -have heard of their grandmothers and mothers, howe they have appeared -unto those of the <!-- Page 317 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_317" id="Page_i_317">[317]</a></span>house, have done service, have rocked the cradell, -and (which is a signe of good luck) do continually tary in the -house."<a name="FNanchor_i_317:A_601" id="FNanchor_i_317:A_601"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_317:A_601" class="fnanchor">[317:A]</a> He has the good sense, however, to reprobate the then -general custom, a practice which has more or less prevailed even to our -own times, of frightening children by stories and assumed appearances of -this kind. "It is a common custome," he observes, "in many places, that -at a certaine of time the yeare, one with a nette or visarde on his face -maketh Children afrayde, to the ende that ever after they should laboure -and be obediente to their Parentes: afterward they tel them that those -which they saw, were Bugs, Witches, and Hagges, which thing they verily -believe, and are commonly miserablie afrayde. How be it, it is not -expedient so to terrifie Children. For sometimes through great feare -they fall into dangerous diseases, and in the nyght crye out, when they -are fast asleep. Salomon teacheth us to chasten children with the rod, -and so to make them stand in awe: he doth not say, we must beare them in -hande they shall be devoured of Bugges, Hags of the night, and such lyke -monsters."<a name="FNanchor_i_317:B_602" id="FNanchor_i_317:B_602"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_317:B_602" class="fnanchor">[317:B]</a> But it is to Reginald Scot that we are indebted for -the most curious and extensive enumeration of these fables which haunted -our progenitors from the cradle to the grave. "In our childhood," says -he, "our mother's maids have so terrified us with an <i>ouglie divell</i> -having hornes on his head, fier in his mouth, and a taile in his breech, -eies like a bason, fanges like a dog, clawes like a beare, a skin like a -Niger, and a voice roaring like a lion, whereby we start and are afraid -when we heare one crie Bough: and they have so fraid us with -<i>bull-beggers</i>, <i>spirits</i>, <i>witches</i>, <i>urchens</i>, <i>elves</i>, <i>hags</i>, -<i>fairies</i>, <i>satyrs</i>, <i>pans</i>, <i>faunes</i>, <i>syrens</i>, <i>kit with the -can'sticke</i>, <i>tritons</i>, <i>centaurs</i>, <i>dwarfes</i>, <i>giants</i>, <i>imps</i>, -<i>calcars</i>, <i>conjurors</i>, <i>nymphes</i>, <i>changlings</i>, <i>Incubus</i>, <i>Robin -good-fellowe</i>, the <i>spoorne</i>, <!-- Page 318 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_318" id="Page_i_318">[318]</a></span>the <i>mare</i>, the <i>man in the oke</i>, the -<i>hell-waine,</i> the <i>fierdrake</i>, the <i>puckle Tom thombe</i>, <i>hob gobblin</i>, -<i>Tom tumbler</i>, <i>boneless</i>, and such other bugs, that we are afraid of -our own shadowes: in so much as some never feare the divell, but in a -darke night; and then a polled sheepe is a perillous beast, and manie -times is taken for our father's soule, speciallie in a churchyard, where -a right hardie man heretofore scant durst passe by night, but his haire -would stand upright."<a name="FNanchor_i_318:A_603" id="FNanchor_i_318:A_603"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_318:A_603" class="fnanchor">[318:A]</a></p> - -<p>That this mode of passing away the time, "the long solitary winter -nights," was as much in vogue in 1617 as in 1570 and 1580, is apparent -from Burton, who reckons among the <i>ordinary recreations</i> of <i>winter</i>, -tales of <i>giants</i>, <i>dwarfs</i>, <i>witches</i>, <i>fayries</i>, <i>goblins</i>, and -<i>friers</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_318:B_604" id="FNanchor_i_318:B_604"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_318:B_604" class="fnanchor">[318:B]</a></p> - -<p>The predilection which existed, during this period of our annals for the -marvellous, the terrible, and romantic, especially among the peasantry, -has been noticed by several of our best writers. Addison, in reference -to the genius of Shakspeare for the wild and wonderful in poetry, -remarks, that "our forefathers loved to astonish themselves with the -apprehensions of witchcraft, prodigies, charms, and inchantments. There -was not a village in England that had not a ghost in it; the churchyards -were all haunted; every large common had a circle of fairies belonging -to it; and there was scarce a shepherd to be met with who had not seen a -spirit<a name="FNanchor_i_318:C_605" id="FNanchor_i_318:C_605"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_318:C_605" class="fnanchor">[318:C]</a>;" and Mr. Grose, after enumerating several popular -superstitions, extends the subject in a very entertaining manner. "In -former times," says he, "these notions were so prevalent, that it was -deemed little less than atheism to doubt them; and in many instances the -terrors caused by them embittered the lives of a great number of persons -of all ages; by degrees almost shutting them out of their own houses, -and deterring them from going from one village to another after sun-set. -The room in which the head of a family had died, was for a long time -untenanted; particularly if they died without a will, or were supposed -to <!-- Page 319 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_319" id="Page_i_319">[319]</a></span>have entertained any particular religious opinions. But if any -disconsolate old maiden, or love-crossed bachelor, happened to dispatch -themselves in their garters, the room where the deed was perpetrated was -rendered for ever after uninhabitable, and not unfrequently was nailed -up. If a drunken farmer, returning from market, fell from Old Dobbin and -broke his neck,—or a carter, under the same predicament, tumbled from -his cart or waggon, and was killed by it,—that spot was ever after -haunted and impassable: in short, there was scarcely a bye-lane or -cross-way but had its ghost, who appeared in the shape of a headless cow -or horse; or clothed all in white, glared with its saucer eyes over a -gate or stile. Ghosts of superior rank, when they appeared abroad, rode -in coaches drawn by six headless horses, and driven by a headless -coachman and postilions. Almost every ancient manor-house was haunted by -some one at least of its former masters or mistresses, where, besides -divers other noises, that of telling money was distinctly heard: and as -for the churchyards, the number of ghosts that walked there, according -to the village computation, almost equalled the living parishioners: to -pass them at night, was an achievement not to be attempted by any one in -the parish, the sextons excepted; who perhaps being particularly -privileged, to make use of the common expression, never saw any thing -worse than themselves."<a name="FNanchor_i_319:A_606" id="FNanchor_i_319:A_606"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_319:A_606" class="fnanchor">[319:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of these superstitions, as forming the subject of <i>a country -conversation in a winter's evening</i>, a very interesting detail has been -given by Mr. Bourne; the picture was drawn about a hundred years ago; -but, though even then partially applicable, may be considered as a -faithful general representation of the two preceding centuries.</p> - -<p>"Nothing is commoner in <i>Country Places</i>," says this historian of -credulity, "than for a whole family in a <i>Winter's Evening</i>, to sit -round the fire, and tell stories of <i>apparitions</i> and <i>ghosts</i>. Some of -them have seen spirits in the shapes of cows, and dogs and horses; and -some have seen even the devil himself, with a cloven foot.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 320 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_320" id="Page_i_320">[320]</a></span>"Another part of this conversation generally turns upon <i>Fairies</i>. -These, they tell you, have frequently been heard and seen; nay that -there are some still living who were stolen away by them, and confined -seven years. According to the description they give of them, who pretend -to have seen them, they are in the shape of men, exceeding little: They -are always clad in green, and frequent the woods and fields; when they -make cakes (which is a work they have been often heard at) they are very -noisy; and when they have done, they are full of mirth and pastime. But -generally they dance in Moon-light when mortals are asleep, and not -capable of seeing them, as may be observed on the following morn; their -dancing places being very distinguishable. For as they dance hand in -hand, and so make a <i>circle</i> in their dance, so next day there will be -seen <i>rings</i> and <i>circles</i> on the grass.</p> - -<p>"Another tradition they hold, and which is often talked of, is, that -there are particular places allotted to spirits to walk in. Thence it -was that formerly, such frequent reports were abroad of this and that -particular place being haunted by a spirit, and that the common people -say now and then, such a place is dangerous to be passed through at -night, because a spirit walks there. Nay, they'll further tell you, that -some spirits have lamented the hardness of their condition, in being -obliged to walk in cold and uncomfortable places, and have therefore -desired the person who was so hardy as to speak to them, to gift them -with a warmer walk, by some well grown <i>hedge</i>, or in some <i>shady vale</i>, -where they might be shelter'd from the rain and wind.</p> - -<p>"The last topick of this conversation I shall take notice of, shall be -the tales of <i>haunted</i> houses. And indeed it is not to be wondered at, -that this is never omitted. For formerly almost every place had a house -of this kind. If a house was seated on some melancholy place, or built -in some old romantic manner; or if any particular accident had happened -in it, such as murder, sudden death, or the like, to be sure that house -had a mark set on it, and was afterwards esteemed the habitation of a -ghost. In talking upon this point, <!-- Page 321 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_321" id="Page_i_321">[321]</a></span>they generally show the occasion of -the house's being <i>haunted</i>, the merry pranks of the spirit, and how it -was laid. Stories of this kind are infinite, and there are few villages -which have not either had such an house in it, or near it."<a name="FNanchor_i_321:A_607" id="FNanchor_i_321:A_607"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_321:A_607" class="fnanchor">[321:A]</a></p> - -<p>The quotations which we have now given from writers contemporary with, -and subsequent to, Shakspeare, will point out, in a <i>general</i> way, the -prevalent superstitions of the <i>country</i> at this period, and the topics -which were usually discussed round the fire-side of the cottage or -manorial hall, when the blast blew keen on a December's night, and the -faggot's blaze was seen, by fits, illumining the rafter'd roof.</p> - -<p>The progress of science, of literature, and rational theology, has, in a -very great degree, dissipated these illusions; but there still lingers, -in hamlets remote from general intercourse, a somewhat similar spirit of -credulity, where the legend of unearthly agency is yet listened to with -eager curiosity and fond belief. These vestiges of superstitions which -were once universally prevalent, have been seized upon with avidity by -many modern poets, and form some of the most striking passages in their -works. More particularly the ghostly and traditionary lore of the -cotter's winter-night, has been a favourite subject with them. Thus -Thomson tells us, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">————— "the village rouzes up the fire,</div> - <div class="line">While well attested, and as well believed,</div> - <div class="line">Heard solemn, goes the goblin-story round;</div> - <div class="line">Till superstitious horror creeps o'er all:"<a name="FNanchor_i_321:B_608" id="FNanchor_i_321:B_608"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_321:B_608" class="fnanchor">[321:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Akenside, still more poetically, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————————— "by night</div> - <div class="line">The village-matron round the blazing hearth</div> - <div class="line">Suspends the infant-audience with her tales,</div> - <!-- Page 322 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_322" id="Page_i_322">[322]</a></span><div class="line">Breathing astonishment! of witching rhymes,</div> - <div class="line">And evil spirits; of the death-bed call</div> - <div class="line">Of him who robb'd the widow, and devour'd</div> - <div class="line">The orphan's portion; of unquiet souls</div> - <div class="line">Risen from the grave to ease the heavy guilt</div> - <div class="line">Of deeds in life conceal'd; of shapes that walk</div> - <div class="line">At dead of night, and clank their chains, and wave</div> - <div class="line">The torch of hell around the murderer's bed.</div> - <div class="line">At every solemn pause the crowd recoil,</div> - <div class="line">Gazing each other speechless, and congeal'd</div> - <div class="line">With shivering sighs: till eager for th' event,</div> - <div class="line">Around the beldame all erect they hang,</div> - <div class="line">Each trembling heart with grateful terrors quell'd."<a name="FNanchor_i_322:A_609" id="FNanchor_i_322:A_609"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_322:A_609" class="fnanchor">[322:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">The lamented Kirke White has also happily introduced a similar picture; -having described the day-revels of a Whitsuntide wake, he adds,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——————————— "then at eve</div> - <div class="line">Commence the harmless rites and auguries;</div> - <div class="line">And many a tale of ancient days goes round.</div> - <div class="line">They tell of wizard seer, whose potent spells</div> - <div class="line">Could hold in dreadful thrall the labouring moon,</div> - <div class="line">Or draw the fix'd stars from their eminence,</div> - <div class="line">And still the midnight tempest.—Then anon,</div> - <div class="line">Tell of uncharnel'd spectres, seen to glide</div> - <div class="line">Along the lone wood's unfrequented path,</div> - <div class="line">Startling the nighted traveller; while the sound</div> - <div class="line">Of undistinguished murmurs, heard to come</div> - <div class="line">From the dark centre of the deep'ning glen,</div> - <div class="line">Struck on his frozen ear:"<a name="FNanchor_i_322:B_610" id="FNanchor_i_322:B_610"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_322:B_610" class="fnanchor">[322:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and lastly Mr. Scott, in his highly interesting poem entitled Rokeby, -speaking of the tales of superstition, adds,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"When Christmas logs blaze high and wide,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Such wonders speed the festal tide,</div> - <div class="line indentq">While Curiosity and Fear,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Pleasure and pain, sit crouching near,</div> - <!-- Page 323 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_323" id="Page_i_323">[323]</a></span><div class="line indentq">Till childhood's cheek no longer glows,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And village-maidens lose the rose.</div> - <div class="line indentq">The thrilling interest rises higher,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The circle closes nigh and nigher,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And shuddering glance is cast behind,</div> - <div class="line indentq">As louder moans the wintery wind."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Cant. ii. st. 10.</p> - -<p>After this brief outline of the common superstitions of the country, as -they existed in the days of Shakspeare, and as they still linger among -us, we shall proceed, in conformity with our plan, to notice those Days -which have been peculiarly devoted to superstitious rites and -observances.</p> - -<p>In entering upon this subject, however, it will be necessary to remark, -that as several of these days are still kept by the vulgar in the same -manner, and with the same spirit of credulity which subsisted in the -reign of Elizabeth, it would be superfluous to enter at large into a -detail of their ceremonies, and that to mark the coincidence of usage, -occurring at these periods, will be nearly all that can be deemed -requisite. Thus on <i>St. Paul's Day</i>, on <i>Candlemas Day</i>, and on <i>St. -Swithin's Day</i>, the prognosticators of weather still find as much -employment, and as much credit as ever.<a name="FNanchor_i_323:A_611" id="FNanchor_i_323:A_611"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_323:A_611" class="fnanchor">[323:A]</a> <i>St. Mark's Day</i> is still -beheld with dread, as fixing the destinies of life and death, and -<i>Childermas</i> still keeps in countenance the doctrine of lucky and -unlucky days.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 324 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_324" id="Page_i_324">[324]</a></span>A similarity nearly equal may be observed with regard to the rites of -lovers on <span class="smcap">St. Valentine's Day</span>. The tradition, that birds choosing their -mates on this day, occasioned the custom of drawing valentines, has been -the opinion of our poets from Chaucer to the present hour. Shakspeare -alludes to it in the following passage:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Good-morrow friends. Saint Valentine is past;</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Begin these wood-birds but to couple now</i>?"<a name="FNanchor_i_324:A_612" id="FNanchor_i_324:A_612"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_324:A_612" class="fnanchor">[324:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The ceremony of this day, however, has been attributed to various -sources beside the rural tradition just mentioned. The legend itself of -St. Valentine, a presbyter of the church, who was beheaded under the -Emperor Claudius, we are assured by Mr. Brand, contains nothing which -could give rise to the custom; but it has been supposed by some to have -originated from an observance peculiar to carnival time, which occurred -about this very period. It was usual, on this occasion, for vast numbers -of knights to visit the different courts of Europe, where they -entertained the ladies with pageantry and tournaments. Each lady, at -these magnificent feasts, selected a knight, who engaged to serve her -for a whole year, and to perform whatever she chose to command. One of -the never-failing consequences of this engagement, was an injunction to -employ his muse in the celebration of his mistress.</p> - -<p>Menage, in his Etymological Dictionary, has accounted for the term -<i>Valentine</i>, by stating that Madame Royale, daughter of Henry the Fourth -of France, having built a palace near Turin, which, in <!-- Page 325 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_325" id="Page_i_325">[325]</a></span>honour of the -Saint, then in high esteem, she called <i>the Valentine</i>, at the first -entertainment which she gave in it, was pleased to order that the ladies -should receive their lovers <i>for the year</i> by lots, reserving to herself -the privilege of being independent of chance, and of <i>choosing</i> her own -partner. At the various balls which this gallant princess gave, during -the year, it was directed that each lady should receive a nosegay from -her lover, and that, at every tournament, the knight's trappings for his -horse should be furnished by his allotted mistress, with this proviso, -that the prize obtained should be hers. This custom, says Menage, -occasioned the parties to be called <i>Valentines</i>.</p> - -<p>Mr. Brand, in his observations on Bourne's Antiquities, thinks, that the -usages of this day are the remains of an antient superstition in the -Church of Rome, of choosing <i>patrons</i> for the year ensuing, at this -season; "and that, because ghosts were thought to walk on the night of -this day, or about this time<a name="FNanchor_i_325:A_613" id="FNanchor_i_325:A_613"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_325:A_613" class="fnanchor">[325:A]</a>;" but Mr. Douce, with more -probability, considers them as a relic of paganism. "It was the practice -in ancient Rome," he observes, "during a great part of the month of -February, to celebrate the <i>Lupercalia</i>, which were feasts in honour of -Pan and Juno, whence the latter deity was named <i>februata</i>, <i>februalis</i>, -and <i>februlla</i>. On this occasion, amidst a variety of ceremonies, the -names of young women were put into a box, from which they were drawn by -the men as chance directed. The pastors of the early Christian church, -who by every possible means endeavoured to eradicate the vestiges of -Pagan superstitions, and chiefly by some commutation of their forms, -substituted, in the present instance, the names of particular saints -instead of those of the women: and as the festival of the <i>Lupercalia</i> -had commenced about the middle of February, they appear to have chosen -Saint Valentine's day for celebrating the new feast, because it occurred -nearly at the same time. This is, in part, the opinion of a learned and -rational compiler of the lives of the saints, the Reverend Alban Butler. -It should <!-- Page 326 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_326" id="Page_i_326">[326]</a></span>seem, however, that it was utterly impossible to extirpate -altogether any ceremony to which the common people had been much -accustomed; a fact which it were easy to prove in tracing the origin of -various other popular superstitions: and accordingly the outline of the -ancient ceremonies was preserved, but modified by some adaptation to the -Christian system. It is reasonable to suppose that the above practice of -choosing mates would gradually become reciprocal in the sexes; and that -all persons so chosen would be called <i>Valentines</i>, from the day on -which the ceremony took place."<a name="FNanchor_i_326:A_614" id="FNanchor_i_326:A_614"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_326:A_614" class="fnanchor">[326:A]</a></p> - -<p>The modes of ascertaining the <i>Valentine</i> for the ensuing year, were -nearly the same in Shakspeare's age as at the present period; they -consisted either in drawing lots on Valentine-eve, or in considering the -first person whom you met early on the following morning, as the -destined object. In the former case the names of a certain number of one -sex, were, by an equal number of the other, put into a vase; and then -every one drew a name; which for the time was termed their <i>Valentine</i>, -and was considered as predictive of their future fortune in the nuptial -state; in the second there was usually some little contrivance adopted, -in order that the favoured object, when such existed, might be the first -seen. To this custom Shakspeare refers, when he represents Ophelia, in -her distraction, singing,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Good morrow, 'tis Saint Valentine's day,</div> - <div class="line i1q">All in the morning betime,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And I a maid at your window,</div> - <div class="line i1q">To be your Valentine."<a name="FNanchor_i_326:B_615" id="FNanchor_i_326:B_615"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_326:B_615" class="fnanchor">[326:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The practice of addressing verses, and sending presents, to the person -chosen, has been continued from the days of James I., in <!-- Page 327 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_327" id="Page_i_327">[327]</a></span>which the -gifts of Valentines have been noticed by Moresin<a name="FNanchor_i_327:A_616" id="FNanchor_i_327:A_616"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_327:A_616" class="fnanchor">[327:A]</a>, to modern -times; and we may add a trait, not now observed, perhaps, on the -authority of an old English ballad, in which the lasses are directed to -pray <i>cross-legged</i> to Saint <i>Valentine</i>, for good luck.<a name="FNanchor_i_327:B_617" id="FNanchor_i_327:B_617"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_327:B_617" class="fnanchor">[327:B]</a></p> - -<p>It was a usage of the sixteenth century, in its object laudable and -useful, for the inhabitants of towns and villages, during the -summer-season, to meet after sunset, in the streets, and for the -wealthier sort to recreate themselves and their poorer friends with -banquets and bonefires. Of this custom Stowe has left us a pleasing -account:—"In the moneths of June, and July," he relates, "on the -Vigiles of festivall dayes, and on the same festivall dayes in the -evenings, after the sun-setting, there were usually made bonefires in -the streets, every man bestowing wood or labour towards them. The -wealthier sort also before their dores, neere to the said bonefires, -would set out tables on the vigiles, furnished with sweet bread, and -good drink, and on the festivall dayes with meates and drinks -plentifully, whereunto they would invite their neighbours and passengers -also to sit, and be merry with them in great familiarity, praysing God -for his benefits bestowed on them. These were called bonefires, as well -of amity amongst neighbours, that beeing before at controversie, were -there by the labour of others reconciled, and made of bitter enemies, -loving friends; as also for the virtue that a great fire hath, to purge -<!-- Page 328 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_328" id="Page_i_328">[328]</a></span>the infection of the ayre."<a name="FNanchor_i_328:A_618" id="FNanchor_i_328:A_618"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_328:A_618" class="fnanchor">[328:A]</a> These rites were, however, more -particularly practised on <span class="smcap">Midsummer-Eve</span>, the Vigil of Saint John the -Baptist, a period of the year to which our ancestors paid singular -attention, and combined with it several superstitious observances. "On -the Vigill of Saint John Baptist," continues Stowe, "every man's dore -beeing shadowed with greene Birch, long Fennell, Saint John's Wort, -Orpin, white Lillies, and such like, garnished upon with Garlands of -beautifull flowers, had also Lamps of glasse, with Oyle burning in them -all the night, some hung out branches of yron curiously wrought, -containing hundreds of Lamps lighted at once, which made a goodly -shew."<a name="FNanchor_i_328:B_619" id="FNanchor_i_328:B_619"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_328:B_619" class="fnanchor">[328:B]</a></p> - -<p>Of some of the superstitions connected with this Eve, Barnabe Googe has -left us an account in his translation of Neogeorgius, which was -published, and dedicated to Queen Elizabeth, in 1570:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Then doth the joyfull feast of John the Baptist take his turne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">When bonfires great, with lofty flame, in every towne doe burne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And young men round about with maydes doe daunce in every street,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With garlands wrought of mother-wort, or else of vervaine sweet,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And many other flowers faire, with violets in their hands;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where as they all doe fondly thinke that whosoever stands,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And thorow the flowers behold the flame, his eyes shall feele no paine.</div> - <div class="line indentq">When thus till night they daunced have, they throgh the fire amaine</div> - <div class="line indentq">With striving mindes doe run, and all their herbs they cast therein;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And then, with words devout and prayers, they solemnly begin,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Desiring God that all their illes may there confounded be;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whereby they thinke, through all that yeare, from agues to be free."<a name="FNanchor_i_328:C_620" id="FNanchor_i_328:C_620"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_328:C_620" class="fnanchor">[328:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>This <i>Midsummer-Eve Fire</i> and the rites attending it, appear to be -reliques of pagan worship, for Gebelin in his <i>Allegories Orientales</i> -observes, that at the moment of the Summer Solstice the ancients, from -the most remote antiquity, were accustomed to light fires, in honour of -the New Year, which they believed to have originally commenced in fire. -These fires or Feux de joie were accompanied with vows and sacrifices -for plenty and prosperity, and with dances <!-- Page 329 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_329" id="Page_i_329">[329]</a></span>and leaping over the flames, -"each on his departure snatching a firebrand of greater or less -magnitude, whilst the rest was scattered to the wind, in order that it -might disperse every evil as it dispersed the ashes."<a name="FNanchor_i_329:A_621" id="FNanchor_i_329:A_621"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_329:A_621" class="fnanchor">[329:A]</a></p> - -<p>Many other superstitions, however, than those mentioned by Googe, were -practised on this mysterious eve. To one of the most important -Shakspeare alludes in the <i>First Part of King Henry the Fourth</i>, where -Gadshill says of himself and company, "We have the receipt of -<i>fern-seed</i>, we walk <i>invisible</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_329:B_622" id="FNanchor_i_329:B_622"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_329:B_622" class="fnanchor">[329:B]</a> Jonson and Fletcher have also -ascribed the same wonderful property to this plant, the first in his -<i>New Inn</i>.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————— "I had</div> - <div class="line">No medicine, Sir, to go invisible,</div> - <div class="line">No <i>fern-seed</i> in my pocket;"<a name="FNanchor_i_329:C_623" id="FNanchor_i_329:C_623"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_329:C_623" class="fnanchor">[329:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">the second in the <i>Fair Maid of the Inn</i>,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">————— "had you Gyges' ring,</div> - <div class="line">Or the <i>herb</i> that gives invisibility?"<a name="FNanchor_i_329:D_624" id="FNanchor_i_329:D_624"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_329:D_624" class="fnanchor">[329:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It was the belief of our credulous ancestors, that the <i>fern-seed</i> -became visible only on St. John's Eve, and at the precise moment of the -birth of the Saint; that it was under the peculiar protection of the -Queen of Faery, and that on this awful night, the most <!-- Page 330 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_330" id="Page_i_330">[330]</a></span>tremendous -conflicts took place, for its possession, between sorcerers and spirits; -for</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The wond'rous one-night seeding ferne,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">as Browne calls it<a name="FNanchor_i_330:A_625" id="FNanchor_i_330:A_625"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_330:A_625" class="fnanchor">[330:A]</a>, was conceived not only to confer -<i>invisibility at pleasure</i>, on those who succeeded in procuring it, but -it was also esteemed of sovereign potency in the fabrication of charms -and incantations. Those, therefore, who were addicted to the arts of -magic, and possessed sufficient courage for the enterprise, were -believed to watch in solitude during this solemn period, in order that -they might seize the seed on the instant of its appearance.</p> - -<p>The achievement, however, was accompanied with great danger; for if the -adventurer were not protected by spells of mighty power, he was exposed -to the assaults of demons and spirits, who envied him the possession of -the plant, and who generally took care that he should lose either his -life or his labour in the attempt. "A person who went to gather it, -reported that the spirits whisked by his ears, and sometimes struck his -hat, and other parts of his body; and at length, when he thought he had -got a good quantity of it, and secured it in papers and a box, when he -came home, he found both empty."<a name="FNanchor_i_330:B_626" id="FNanchor_i_330:B_626"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_330:B_626" class="fnanchor">[330:B]</a></p> - -<p>Another superstition, of a nature highly impressive and terrible, -consists in the idea that any person fasting on <i>Midsummer-Eve</i>, and -sitting in the church-porch, will at midnight see the spirits of those -who are to die in the parish during that year, approach and knock at the -church door, precisely in the order of time in which they are doomed to -depart. It is related, by the author of <i>Pandemonium</i>, that one of the -company of watchers, on this night, having fallen into a profound sleep, -his ghost or spirit, whilst he lay in this state, was seen by the rest -of his companions, knocking at the church-door.<a name="FNanchor_i_330:C_627" id="FNanchor_i_330:C_627"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_330:C_627" class="fnanchor">[330:C]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 331 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_331" id="Page_i_331">[331]</a></span>Of these wild traditions of the "olden time" Collins has made a most -striking use in his Ode to Fear:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Ne'er be I found, by thee o'eraw'd,</div> - <div class="line indentq">In that thrice-hallow'd eve, abroad,</div> - <div class="line indentq">When ghosts, as cottage-maids believe,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Their pebbled beds permitted leave;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And goblins haunt, from fire, or fen,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or mine, or flood, the walks of men!"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The observance of <i>Midsummer-Eve</i> by rejoicings, spells, and charms, has -continued until within these fifty years, especially in Cornwall, in the -North of England, and in Scotland. Bourne, in 1725, tells us, that "on -the Eve of St. John Baptist, commonly called <i>Midsummer-Eve</i>, it is -usual in the most of country places, and also here and there in towns -and cities, for both old and young to meet together, and be merry over a -large fire, which is made in the open street. Over this they frequently -leap and play at various games, such as running, wrestling, dancing, &c. -But this is generally the exercise of the younger sort; for the old -ones, for the most part, sit by as spectators, and enjoy themselves and -their bottle. And thus they spend their time till mid-night, and -sometimes till cock-crow<a name="FNanchor_i_331:A_628" id="FNanchor_i_331:A_628"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_331:A_628" class="fnanchor">[331:A]</a>;" and Borlase, in his History of -Cornwall, about thirty years later, states, that "the Cornish make -bonefires in every village on the Eve of St. John Baptist's and St. -Peter's Days."<a name="FNanchor_i_331:B_629" id="FNanchor_i_331:B_629"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_331:B_629" class="fnanchor">[331:B]</a></p> - -<p>It was a common superstition in the days of Shakspeare, and for two -centuries preceding him, that the future husband or wife might be -discovered on this Eve or on St. Agnes' night, by due fasting and <!-- Page 332 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_332" id="Page_i_332">[332]</a></span>by -certain ceremonies; thus, if a maiden, fasting on <i>Midsummer-Eve</i>, laid -a clean cloth at midnight, with bread, cheese, and ale, and sate down, -with the street door open, the person whom she is fated to marry will -enter the room, fill the glass, drink to her, bow and retire.<a name="FNanchor_i_332:A_630" id="FNanchor_i_332:A_630"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_332:A_630" class="fnanchor">[332:A]</a> A -similar effect, as to the visionary appearance of the destined -bridegroom, was supposed to follow the sowing of hempseed on this night, -either in the field or church-yard. Mr. Strutt, depicting the manners of -the fifteenth century, has given this latter superstition, from the -mouth of an imaginary witch, in the following rhymes:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Around the church see that you go,</div> - <div class="line i1q">With kirtle white and girdle blue,</div> - <div class="line indentq">At midnight thrice, and hempseed sow;</div> - <div class="line i1q">Calling upon your lover true,</div> - <div class="line i5q">Thus shalt thou say;</div> - <div class="line i1q">These seeds I sow: swift let them grow,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Till he, who must my husband be,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Shall follow me and mow:"<a name="FNanchor_i_332:B_631" id="FNanchor_i_332:B_631"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_332:B_631" class="fnanchor">[332:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">a charm which appears to have been in vogue even in the time of Gay, -who, in his Shepherd's Week, makes Hobnelia say,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"At <i>eve</i> last <i>midsummer</i> no sleep I sought,</div> - <div class="line indentq">But to the field a bag of hempseed brought;</div> - <div class="line indentq">I scatter'd round the seed on every side,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And three times in a trembling accent cried,</div> - <div class="line indentq">"This hempseed with my virgin hand I sow,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Who shall my true-love be, the crop shall mow."</div> - <div class="line indentq">I straight look'd back, and if my eyes speak truth,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With his keen scythe behind me came the youth."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">The Spell, line 27.</p> - -<p>Another mode, which prevailed in the 16th and 17th centuries, of -procuring similar information on this festival, through the medium of -dreams, consisted in digging for what was called the plantain <!-- Page 333 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_333" id="Page_i_333">[333]</a></span>coal; the -search was to commence exactly at noon, and the material, when found, to -be placed on the pillow at night. Of a wild-goose expedition of this -kind Aubrey reports himself to have been a spectator. "The last summer," -says he, "on the day of St. John Baptist, 1694, I accidentally was -walking in the pasture behind Montague-house: it was twelve o'clock. I -saw there about two or three and twenty young women, most of them well -habited, on their knees, very busy, as if they had been weeding. I could -not presently learn what the matter was; at last, a young man told me -that they were looking for a coal under the root of a plantain, to put -under their heads that night, and they should dream who would be their -husbands: it was to be found that day and hour." He adds, "the women -have several magical secrets handed down to them by tradition for this -purpose, as, on St. Agnes' night, 21st January, take a row of pins, and -pull out every one one after another, saying a paternoster, or 'our -father,' sticking a pin in your sleeve, and you will dream of him or her -you shall marry<a name="FNanchor_i_333:A_632" id="FNanchor_i_333:A_632"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_333:A_632" class="fnanchor">[333:A]</a>;" spells to which Ben Jonson alludes, when he -says,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——— "On sweet St. Agnes' night</div> - <div class="line">Please you with the promis'd sight;</div> - <div class="line">Some of husbands, some of lovers,</div> - <div class="line">Which an empty dream discovers."<a name="FNanchor_i_333:B_633" id="FNanchor_i_333:B_633"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_333:B_633" class="fnanchor">[333:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>That it was the custom, in Elizabeth's and James's days, to tell tales -or perform plays and masques on Christmas-Eve, on Twelfth Night, and on -<i>Midsummer-Eve</i>, may be drawn from the dramas of Shakspeare, and the -masques of Jonson. The <i>Midsummer-Night's Dream</i> of the former, appears -to have been so called, because its exhibition was to take place on that -night, for the <i>time of action</i> of the piece itself, is the vigil of -May-Day, as is that of the <i>Winter's Tale</i> the period of sheep-shearing. -It is probable also, as Mr. Steevens has observed, that Shakspeare might -have been influenced in his choice of the fanciful machinery of this -play, by the recollection of <!-- Page 334 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_334" id="Page_i_334">[334]</a></span>the proverb attached to the season, and -which he has himself introduced in the <i>Twelfth-Night</i>, where Olivia -remarks of Malvolio's apparent distraction, that it "is a very -<i>Midsummer madness</i><a name="FNanchor_i_334:A_634" id="FNanchor_i_334:A_634"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_334:A_634" class="fnanchor">[334:A]</a>;" an adage founded on the common opinion, -that the brain, being heated by the intensity of the sun's rays, was -more susceptible of those flights of imagination which border on -insanity, than at any other period of the year.</p> - -<p>The next season distinguished by any very remarkable tincture of the -popular creed, is Michaelmas, or the Feast of <span class="smcap">St. Michael and All -Angels</span>. When ever this day comes, says Bourne, "it brings into the minds -of the people, that old opinion of <i>Tutelar Angels</i>, that every man has -his <i>Guardian Angel</i>; that is one particular angel who attends him from -his coming in, till his going out of life, who guides him through the -troubles of the world, and strives as much as he can, to bring him to -heaven."<a name="FNanchor_i_334:B_635" id="FNanchor_i_334:B_635"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_334:B_635" class="fnanchor">[334:B]</a></p> - -<p>That the doctrine of the ministry of angels, and their occasional -interference with the affairs of man, is an <i>old opinion</i>, cannot be -denied. It pervades the whole of the Old and New Testaments, and appears -to have been an article of the patriarchal creed; for from the Book of -Job, perhaps the oldest which exists, may be drawn not only the doctrine -of the ministration of angels, but that of their division into certain -distinct orders, such as angels, intercessors, destroyers, &c.<a name="FNanchor_i_334:C_636" id="FNanchor_i_334:C_636"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_334:C_636" class="fnanchor">[334:C]</a> -With this general information we ought to have been content: but -superstition has been busy in promulgating hierarchies, the offspring of -its own heated imagination; in minutely ascertaining the numbers and -offices of angels in heaven and on earth; and in naming and -appropriating certain of them as the guardians and protectors of -kingdoms, cities, families, and individuals. The mythologies of Persia, -Arabia, and Greece, abound with these arbitrary arrangements; Hesiod -declares that the angels appointed to <!-- Page 335 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_335" id="Page_i_335">[335]</a></span>watch over the earth, amount -exactly to thirty-thousand<a name="FNanchor_i_335:A_637" id="FNanchor_i_335:A_637"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_335:A_637" class="fnanchor">[335:A]</a>; and Plato divides the world of -spirits good and bad into nine classes, in which he has been followed by -some of the philosophising Christians. The angelic hierarchy of -Dionysius, however, is the one usually adopted; he professes to -interfere only with good spirits, and divides his angels, perhaps in -imitation of Plato, into nine orders; the first he terms <i>seraphim</i>, the -second <i>cherubim</i>, the third <i>thrones</i>, the fourth <i>dominations</i>, the -fifth <i>virtues</i>, the sixth <i>powers</i>, the seventh <i>principalities</i>, the -eighth <i>archangels</i>, and the ninth <i>angels</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_335:B_638" id="FNanchor_i_335:B_638"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_335:B_638" class="fnanchor">[335:B]</a> Not content with -this he goes still farther, and has assigned to every country, and -almost to every person of eminence, a peculiar angel, thus to Adam he -gives <i>Razael</i>; to Abraham, <i>Zakiel</i>; to Isaiah, <i>Raphael</i>; to Jacob, -<i>Peliel</i>; to Moses, <i>Metraton</i>, &c., speaking, as Calvin observes, not -as if by report, but as though he had slipped down from heaven, and told -of the things which he had seen there.<a name="FNanchor_i_335:C_639" id="FNanchor_i_335:C_639"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_335:C_639" class="fnanchor">[335:C]</a></p> - -<p>Of this systematic hierarchy the greater portion formed, during the age -of Shakspeare, and for nearly a century afterwards, an important part of -the popular creed, as may be ascertained from an inspection of Scot on -Witchcraft in 1584, Heywood's <i>Hierarchie of the Blessed Angells, their -Names, Orders, and Offices</i>, in 1635, and from Burton's Anatomie of -Melancholy, which, though first published in 1617, continued to -re-appear in frequent editions until the close of the seventeenth -century.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 336 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_336" id="Page_i_336">[336]</a></span>The doctrine of <i>Guardian Angels</i>, as appropriated to individuals, more -especially appears to have been entertained by Shakspeare and his -contemporaries; an idea pleasing to the human mind, though, in the -opinion of the most acute theologians, not warranted by Scripture; where -only the general ministry of angels is recorded; and, accordingly, the -collect of the day, in our admirable Liturgy, merely refers to, and -prays for, such general interference in our behalf.</p> - -<p>The assignment of a good angel, or of a good and bad angel to every -individual, as soon as created, is supported by the English Lavaterus in -1572, and recorded as the general object of belief, by the rational -Scot, in his interesting discourse on spirits.</p> - -<p>"Saint Herome in his Commentaries," says Lavaterus, "and other fathers -do conclude, that God doth assigne unto every soule assoone as he -createth him his peculiar Angell, which taketh care of him. But whether -that every one of the elect have hys proper angell, or many angells be -appoynted unto him, it is not expresly sette foorth, yet this is most -sure and certayne, that God hath given his angells in charge to have -regard and care over us. Daniel witnesseth in his tenth chapter, that -angells have also charge of kingdomes, by whom God keepeth and -protecteth them, and hindreth the wicked counsels of the devill. It may -be proved by many places of the Scripture, that all Christian men have -not only one angell, but also many, whome God imployeth to their -service. In the 34 psalm it is sayde, the angell of the Lorde pitcheth -his tentes rounde about them whiche feare the Lorde, and helpeth them: -which ought not to be doubted but that it is also at this daye, albeit -we see them not. We reade that they appearing in sundrye shapes, have -admonished menne, have comforted them, defended them, delivered them -from daunger, and also punished the wicked. Touching this matter, there -are plentiful examples, whiche are not needefull to be repeated in this -place. Somtimes they have eyther appeared in sleep, or in manner of -visions, and sometimes they have perfourmed their office, by some -internall operations: as when a man's mynde foresheweth him, that a -thing shall so happen, and <!-- Page 337 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_337" id="Page_i_337">[337]</a></span>after it happeneth so in deede, which thyng -I suppose is doone by God, through the minesterie of angells. Angells -for the most part take upon them the shapes of men, wherein they -appeare."<a name="FNanchor_i_337:A_640" id="FNanchor_i_337:A_640"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_337:A_640" class="fnanchor">[337:A]</a></p> - -<p>"Monsieur Bodin, M. Mal. and manie other papists," observes Scot, who -gives us his opinion on the nature of angels, "gather upon the seventh -of Daniel, that there are just ten millians of angels in heaven. Manie -saie that angels are not by nature, but by office. Finallie, it were -infinite to shew the absurd and curious collections hereabout. I for my -part thinke with Calvine, that angels are creatures of God; though Moses -spake nothing of their creation, who onelie applied himselfe to the -capacitie of the common people, reciting nothing but things seene. And I -saie further with him, that they are heavenlie spirits, whose -ministration and service God useth: and in that respect are called -angels. I saie yet againe with him, that it is verie certaine, that they -have no shape at all; for they are spirits, who never have anie: and -finallie, I saie with him, that the Scriptures, for the capacitie of our -wit, dooth not in vaine paint out angels unto us with wings; bicause we -should conceive, that they are readie swiftlie to succour us. And -certeinlie all the sounder divines doo conceive and give out, that both -the names and also the number of angels are set downe in the Scripture -by the Holie-ghost, in termes to make us understand the greatnesse and -the manner of their messages; which (I saie) are either expounded by the -number of angels, or signified by their names.</p> - -<p>"Furthermore, the schoole doctors affirme, that foure of the superior -orders of angels never take anie forme or shape of bodies, neither are -sent of anie arrand at anie time. As for archangels, they are sent onlie -about great and secret matters; and angels are common hacknies about -everie trifle; and that these can take what shape or bodie they list: -marie they never take the forme of women or children. Item, they saie -that angels take most terrible shapes: for <i>Gabriel</i> appeared to -<i>Marie</i>, when he saluted hir, <i>facie rutilante, veste <!-- Page 338 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_338" id="Page_i_338">[338]</a></span>coruscante, -ingressu mirabili, aspectu terribili</i>, &c.: that is, with a bright -countenance, shining attire, wonderfull gesture, and a dredfull visage, -&c. <i>It hath beene long, and continueth yet a constant opinion, not -onlie among the papists; but among others also, that everie man hath -assigned him, at the time of his nativitie, a good angell and a bad.</i> -For the which there is no reason in nature, nor authoritie in Scripture. -For not one angell, but all the angels are said to rejoise more of one -convert, than of ninetie and nine just. Neither did one onlie angel -conveie Lazarus into Abraham's bosome. And therefore I conclude with -Calvine, that he which referreth to one angel, the care that God hath to -everie one of us, dooth himselfe great wrong."<a name="FNanchor_i_338:A_641" id="FNanchor_i_338:A_641"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_338:A_641" class="fnanchor">[338:A]</a></p> - -<p>That Shakspeare embraced the doctrine common in his age, which assigns -to every individual, at his birth, a good and bad angel, an idea highly -poetical in itself, and therefore acceptable to a fervid imagination, is -evident from the following remarkable passages:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"There is a good angel about him—but the devil out-bids him too."<a name="FNanchor_i_338:B_642" id="FNanchor_i_338:B_642"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_338:B_642" class="fnanchor">[338:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"You follow the young prince up and down like his ill angel."<a name="FNanchor_i_338:C_643" id="FNanchor_i_338:C_643"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_338:C_643" class="fnanchor">[338:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Thy daemon, that's thy spirit which keeps thee, is</div> - <div class="line indentq">Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where Cæsar's is not; but near him, thy angel</div> - <div class="line indentq">Becomes a Fear, as being o'erpowered——</div> - <div class="line i1q">———————— I say again, thy spirit</div> - <div class="line indentq">Is all afraid to govern thee near him;</div> - <div class="line indentq">But, he away, 'tis noble;"<a name="FNanchor_i_338:D_644" id="FNanchor_i_338:D_644"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_338:D_644" class="fnanchor">[338:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>and in Macbeth the same imagery is repeated—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————— "near him,</div> - <div class="line">My genius is rebuk'd; as, it is said,</div> - <div class="line">Mark Antony's was by Cæsar's."<a name="FNanchor_i_338:E_645" id="FNanchor_i_338:E_645"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_338:E_645" class="fnanchor">[338:E]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 339 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_339" id="Page_i_339">[339]</a></span>These lines from <i>Antony and Cleopatra</i> and <i>Macbeth</i>, which are -founded on a passage in North's Plutarch, where the soothsayer says to -Antony, "thy Demon, (that is to say, the good angell and spirit that -keepeth thee) is affraied of his," sufficiently prove that the Roman -Catholic doctrine of a good and evil angel is <i>immediately</i> drawn from -the belief of Pagan antiquity in the agency of good and evil genii, a -dogma to which we know their greatest philosophers were addicted, as is -apparent from the Demon of Socrates.</p> - -<p>Of the general, and as it may be termed, the patriarchal, doctrine of -the ministry of angels, no poet has made so admirable an use as Milton, -who tells us, in his Paradise Lost, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth</div> - <div class="line indentq">Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep,</div> - <div class="line indentq">All these, with ceaseless praise, his works behold,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Both day and night. How often, from the steep</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of echoing hill or thicket, have we heard</div> - <div class="line indentq">Celestial voices, through the midnight air,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sole or responsive to each other's note,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Singing their great Creator! oft, in bands,</div> - <div class="line indentq">While they keep watch; or, nightly walking round,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With heavenly touch of instrumental sounds,</div> - <div class="line indentq">In full harmonic number join'd; their songs</div> - <div class="line indentq">Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to heaven."<a name="FNanchor_i_339:A_646" id="FNanchor_i_339:A_646"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_339:A_646" class="fnanchor">[339:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>We must be permitted to observe, in this place, that Dr. Horsley has, -with great propriety, drawn a marked distinction between the full-formed -hierarchy of fanciful theologians, and the Scripture-account of angelic -agency; while he reprobates the one, he supports the other; "those," -says he, "who broached this doctrine (of an hierarchy of angels -governing this world) could tell us exactly how many orders there are, -and how many angels in each order; that the different orders have their -different departments in government assigned to them; some, constantly -attending in the presence of God, form his cabinet council; others are -his provincial governors; every kingdom <!-- Page 340 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_340" id="Page_i_340">[340]</a></span>in the world having its -appointed guardian angel, to whose management it is intrusted: others -again are supposed to have the charge and custody of individuals. This -system is, in truth, nothing better than Pagan polytheism." He then -subsequently and most judiciously gives us the following summary of -Biblical information on the subject: "that the holy angels," he remarks, -"are often employed by God in his government of this sublunary world, is -indeed clearly to be proved by holy writ: that they have powers over the -matter of the universe analogous to the powers over it which men -possess, greater in extent, but still limited, is a thing which might -reasonably be supposed, if it were not declared: but it seems to be -confirmed by many passages of holy writ, from which it seems also -evident that they are occasionally, for certain specific purposes, -commissioned to exercise those powers to a prescribed extent. That the -evil angels possessed, before the fall, the like powers, which they are -still occasionally permitted to exercise for the punishment of wicked -nations, seems also evident. That they have a power over the human -sensory (which is part of the material universe), which they are -occasionally permitted to exercise, by means of which they may inflict -diseases, suggest evil thoughts, and be the instruments of temptations, -must also be admitted."<a name="FNanchor_i_340:A_647" id="FNanchor_i_340:A_647"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_340:A_647" class="fnanchor">[340:A]</a></p> - -<p>We shall conclude these observations on St. Michael's Day by adding, -that in both the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it was the custom of -landlords to invite their tenants on this day, and to dine them in their -great halls on <i>Geese</i>; birds which were then only kept by the gentry, -and therefore esteemed a great delicacy. We must consequently set aside -the tradition which attributes the introduction of this bird on the -festival of St. Michael to Queen Elizabeth; the tale avers, that, being -on her road to Tilbury Fort, she dined on Michaelmas Day 1588, at Sir -Neville Umfreville's seat, near that place, and that the knight, -recollecting her partiality for high-seasoned food, had taken care to -procure for her a savoury goose, <!-- Page 341 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_341" id="Page_i_341">[341]</a></span>after eating heartily of which she -called for a <i>half-pint bumper of Burgundy</i>, and had scarcely drank it -off to the destruction of the <i>Spanish Armada</i>, when she received the -news of that joyful event; delighted with the speedy accomplishment of -her toast, she is said to have annually commemorated this day with a -goose, and that, of course, the example was followed by the Court and -through the kingdom at large. The custom, however, must be referred to a -preceding age, in which it will be found that the nobility and gentry -had usually this delicious bird at their tables, both on St. Michael's -and St. Martin's Day.<a name="FNanchor_i_341:A_648" id="FNanchor_i_341:A_648"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_341:A_648" class="fnanchor">[341:A]</a></p> - -<p>We now approach another remarkably superstitious period of the year, the -observance of which took place on the 31st of October, being the <i>Vigil -of All Saints' Day</i>, and has been therefore commonly termed <span class="smcap">All Hallow -Eve</span>. In the North of England, and in Scotland, this was formerly a night -of rejoicing and of the most mysterious rites and ceremonies. As beyond -the Tweed the harvest was seldom completely got in before the close of -October, <i>Halloween</i> became a kind of Harvest-home-feast; thus, Mr. Shaw -informs us, in his History of the Province of Moray, that "a solemnity -was kept, on the Eve of the first of November, as a thanksgiving for the -safe Ingathering of the produce of the fields. This I am told, but have -not seen it, is observed in Buchan, and other countries, by having -<i>Hallow-Eve Fires</i> kindled on some rising ground."<a name="FNanchor_i_341:B_649" id="FNanchor_i_341:B_649"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_341:B_649" class="fnanchor">[341:B]</a> In England -Hallow-eve has been generally called <i>Nut-crack Night</i>, from one of the -numerous spells usually had recourse to at this season; and in -Shakspeare it is alluded to under the customary appellation of -<i>Hallowmas</i>, where Speed tells Valentine in the <i>Two Gentlemen of -Verona</i>, that he knows him to be in love, because he has learnt "to -speak puling, like a beggar at Hallowmas<a name="FNanchor_i_341:C_650" id="FNanchor_i_341:C_650"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_341:C_650" class="fnanchor">[341:C]</a>;" a simile which refers -to a relique of the Roman Catholic Festival of <i>All Souls Day</i> on the 2d -of November, when prayers were offered up for the repose of the <!-- Page 342 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_342" id="Page_i_342">[342]</a></span>souls -of the departed; it being the custom, in Shakspeare's time, and is -still, we believe, observed in some parts of the North, for the poor on -<i>All-Saints-Day</i> to go <i>a souling</i>, as they term it, and in a plaintive -or <i>puling</i> voice to petition for <i>soul-cakes</i>. "In various parts of -England," remarks Brady, "the remembrance of monastic customs is still -preserved by giving oaten cakes to the poor neighbours, conformably to -what was once the general usage, particularly in Lancashire, Yorkshire, -Herefordshire, &c. when, by way of expressing gratitude, the receivers -of this liberality offered the following homely benediction:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"God have your <i>saul</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Bones and all;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">bearing more the appearance, in these enlightened days, of rustic scoff, -than of thankfulness."<a name="FNanchor_i_342:A_651" id="FNanchor_i_342:A_651"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_342:A_651" class="fnanchor">[342:A]</a></p> - -<p>What has rendered All-Hallow-Eve, however, a period of mysterious dread, -is the tradition, that on this night the host of evil spirits, witches, -wizards, &c. are executing their baneful errands, and that the fairy -court holds a grand annual procession, during which, those who have been -carried off by the fairies may be recovered, provided the attempt be -made within a year and a day from the abstraction of the person stolen. -That this achievement, which was attended with great peril, could only -be performed on Hallow-Eve, and that this night was esteemed the -anniversary of the elfin tribe, may be established on the evidence of -our northern poets. Montgomery, in his <i>Flyting against Polwart</i>, -published about 1584, thus mentions the procession:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"In the hinder end of harvest, on All-hallow een,</div> - <div class="line i1q">When our <i>gude neighbours</i> dois ride, if I read right,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Some buckled on a bunewand, and some on a been,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Ay trottand in troups from the twilight;</div> - <!-- Page 343 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_343" id="Page_i_343">[343]</a></span><div class="line indentq">Some saidled a she-ape, all grathed into green,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Some hobland on a hemp stalk, hovard to the hight,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The king of Pharie and his court, with the elf queen,</div> - <div class="line i1q">With many elfish incubus was ridand that night;"<a name="FNanchor_i_343:A_652" id="FNanchor_i_343:A_652"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_343:A_652" class="fnanchor">[343:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and in the ballad called <i>Young Tamlane</i>, whose antiquity is ascertained -from being noticed in the <i>Complaynt of Scotland</i>, the chief incident of -the story is the recovery of Tamlane from the power of the fairies on -this holy eve:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"This night is Hallowe'en, Janet;</div> - <div class="line i1q">The morn is Hallowday;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And, gin ye dare your true love win,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Ye have nae time to stay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">The night it is good Hallowein,</div> - <div class="line i1q">When fairy folk will ride;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And they, that wad their true love win,</div> - <div class="line i1q">At Miles Cross they maun bide."<a name="FNanchor_i_343:B_653" id="FNanchor_i_343:B_653"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_343:B_653" class="fnanchor">[343:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It is still recorded by tradition, relates Mr. Scott, that "the wife of -a farmer in Lothian having been carried off by the fairies, she, during -the year of probation, repeatedly appeared on Sunday, in the midst of -her children, combing their hair. On one of these occasions she was -accosted by her husband; when she related to him the unfortunate event -which had separated them, instructed him by what means he might win her, -and exhorted him to exert all his courage, since her temporal and -eternal happiness depended on the success of his attempt. The farmer, -who ardently loved his wife, set out on Hallowe'en, and, in the midst of -a plot of furze, waited impatiently for the procession of the fairies. -At the ringing of the fairy bridles, and the wild unearthly sound which -accompanied the cavalcade, his heart failed him, and he suffered the -ghostly train to pass by without interruption. When the last had rode -past, the whole troop vanished, with loud shouts of laughter and -exultation; among which <!-- Page 344 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_344" id="Page_i_344">[344]</a></span>he plainly discovered the voice of his wife, -lamenting that he had lost her for ever."<a name="FNanchor_i_344:A_654" id="FNanchor_i_344:A_654"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_344:A_654" class="fnanchor">[344:A]</a></p> - -<p>Numerous have been the ceremonies, spells, and charms, which formerly -distinguished All-Hallow-Eve. In England, except in a few remote places -in the North, they have ceased to be observed for the last half century; -but in the West of Scotland they are still retained with a kind of -religious veneration, as is sufficiently proved by the inimitable poem -of Burns, entitled <i>Halloween</i>, which, in a vein of exquisite poetry and -genuine humour, minutely details the various superstitions, which have -been practised on this night from time immemorial. Of these, as -including all which prevailed in England, and which were, in a great -degree, common to both countries, in the time of Shakspeare, we shall -give a few sketches, nearly in the words of Burns, as annexed in the -notes to his poem, merely observing that one of the spells, that of -sowing hemp-seed, is omitted, as having been already described among the -rites of Midsummer-Eve.</p> - -<p>The <i>first</i> ceremony of Hallow-Eve consisted in the lads and lasses -pulling each a <i>stock</i>, or plant of kail. They were to go out, hand in -hand, with eyes shut, and to pull the first they met with. Its being big -or little, straight or crooked, was prophetic of the size and shape of -the grand object of all their spells—the husband or wife. If any -<i>yird</i>, or earth, stuck to the root, that was considered as the -<i>tocher</i>, or fortune; and the taste of the <i>custoc</i>, that is, the heart -of the stem, was deemed indicative of the natural temper and -disposition. Lastly, the stems, or, to give them their ordinary -appellation, the runts, were placed somewhere above the head of the -door; and the Christian names of the people whom chance brought into the -house, were, according to the priority of placing the <i>runts</i>, the names -in question.</p> - -<p>In the <i>second</i>, the lasses were to go to the barn-yard, and pull each, -at three several times, a stalk of oats. If the third stalk wanted the -<i>top-pickle</i>, that is, the grain at the top of the stalk, the party in -question would come to the marriage-bed any thing but a maid.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 345 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_345" id="Page_i_345">[345]</a></span>The <i>third</i> depended on the burning of nuts, and was a favourite charm -both in England and Scotland. A lad and lass were named to each -particular nut, as they laid them in the fire, and accordingly as they -burnt quietly together, or started from beside each other, the course -and issue of the courtship were to be determined.</p> - -<p>In the <i>fourth</i>, success could only be obtained by strictly adhering to -the following directions. Steal out, all alone, to the <i>kiln</i>, and, -darkling, throw into the <i>pot</i>, a clue of blue yarn; wind it in a new -clue off the old one: and, towards the latter end, something will hold -the thread; demand, who holds it? and an answer will be returned from -the kiln-pot, by naming the christian and sirname of your future spouse.</p> - -<p>To perform the <i>fifth</i>, you were to take a candle, and go alone to a -looking-glass; you were then to eat an apple before it, combing your -hair all the time; when the face of your conjugal companion, <i>to be</i>, -will be seen in the glass, as if peeping over your shoulder.</p> - -<p>The <i>sixth</i> was likewise a solitary charm, in which it was necessary to -go <i>alone</i> and <i>unperceived</i> to the <i>barn</i>, and open both doors, taking -them off the hinges, if possible, least the <i>being</i>, about to appear, -should shut the doors, and do you some mischief. Then you were to take -the machine used in winnowing the corn, and go through all the attitudes -of letting down the grain against the wind; and on the third repetition -of this ceremony, an apparition would be seen passing through the barn, -in at the windy door, and out at the other, having both the figure of -your future companion for life, and also the appearance or retinue, -marking the employment or station in life.</p> - -<p>To secure an effective result from the <i>seventh</i>, you were ordered to -take an opportunity of going, unnoticed, to a <i>Bear-stack</i>, and fathom -it three times round; when during the last fathom of the last time, you -would be sure to catch in your arms the appearance of your destined -yoke-fellow.</p> - -<p>In order to carry the <i>eighth</i> into execution, one or more were injoined -to seek a south running spring or rivulet, where "three lairds lands -meet," and to dip into it the left shirt-sleeve. You were then <!-- Page 346 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_346" id="Page_i_346">[346]</a></span>to go to -bed in sight of a fire, and to hang the wet sleeve before it to dry; it -was necessary, however, to lie awake, when at midnight, an apparition, -having the exact figure of the future husband or wife, would come, and -turn the sleeve, as if to dry the other side of it.<a name="FNanchor_i_346:A_655" id="FNanchor_i_346:A_655"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_346:A_655" class="fnanchor">[346:A]</a></p> - -<p>For the due performance of the <i>ninth</i>, you were directed to take three -dishes; to put clean water in one, foul water in another, and to leave -the third empty: you were then to blindfold a person, and lead him to -the hearth where the dishes were ranged, ordering him to dip the left -hand; when, if this happened to be in the clean water, it was a sign -that the future conjugal mate would come to the bar of matrimony <!-- Page 347 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_347" id="Page_i_347">[347]</a></span>a -maid; if in the foul, a widow; if in the empty dish, it foretold, with -equal certainty, no marriage at all. This ceremony was to be repeated -three times, and every time the arrangement of the dishes was to be -altered.<a name="FNanchor_i_347:A_656" id="FNanchor_i_347:A_656"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_347:A_656" class="fnanchor">[347:A]</a></p> - -<p>Such are the various superstitions which were formerly observed at -peculiar periods of the year, and which still maintain a certain portion -of credit among the peasantry of Scotland and the North of England. To -the catalogue of Saints thus loaded with the rites of popular credulity, -may be added one whose celebrity seems to be entirely founded on the -casual notice of Shakspeare. In his Tragedy of <i>King Lear</i>, Edgar -introduces <i>St. Withold</i> as an opponent, and a protector against the -assaults, of that formidable Incubus, the Night-mare:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Saint Withold footed thrice the wold;</div> - <div class="line indentq">He met the Night-mare, and her nine-fold;</div> - <div class="line i5q">Bid her alight,</div> - <div class="line i5q">And her troth plight,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And, aroint thee, witch, aroint thee!"<a name="FNanchor_i_347:B_657" id="FNanchor_i_347:B_657"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_347:B_657" class="fnanchor">[347:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Warburton informs us, that this agency of the Saint is taken from a -story of him in his legend, and that he was thence invoked as the patron -saint against the distemper, called the night-mare; but Mr. Tyrwhitt -declares, that he could not find this adventure in the common legends of -St. Vitalis, whom he supposes to be synonymous with St. Withold. It is -probable that Shakspeare took the hint, for the ascription of this -achievement to Withold, from Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, where a -similar power is attributed to St. George. That writer, after mentioning -that there are magical cures for the night-mare, gives the following as -an example:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"St. George, S. George, our ladies knight,</div> - <div class="line indentq">He walkt by daie, so did he by night:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Untill such time as he hir found,</div> - <div class="line indentq">He hir beat and he hir bound.</div> - <div class="line indentq"><!-- Page 348 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_348" id="Page_i_348">[348]</a></span>Untill hir troth she to him plight,</div> - <div class="line indentq">She would not come to hir (him) that night:"<a name="FNanchor_i_348:A_658" id="FNanchor_i_348:A_658"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_348:A_658" class="fnanchor">[348:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">a form which is quoted nearly verbatim, and professedly as a -night-spell, in the <i>Monsieur Thomas</i> of Fletcher.<a name="FNanchor_i_348:B_659" id="FNanchor_i_348:B_659"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_348:B_659" class="fnanchor">[348:B]</a> It should be -observed, that the influence over <i>incubi</i> ascribed by our poet to St. -Withold, has <!-- Page 349 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_349" id="Page_i_349">[349]</a></span>been subsequently given to other Calendarian saints, and -especially to that dreaded personage St. Swithin, who is indebted to Mr. -Colman, in his alteration of <i>Lear</i>, for the transference of this -singular power.</p> - -<p>The mass of popular credulity, indeed, is so enormous, that, limited, as -we are in this chapter, to the consideration of only a portion of the -subject, it is still difficult, from the number and variety of the -materials, to present a sketch which shall be sufficiently distinct and -perspicuous. It is highly interesting, however, to observe to what -striking poetical purposes Shakspeare has converted these imbecillities -of mind, these workings of fear and ignorance; how by his management -almost every article which he has selected from the mass of vulgar -delusion, assumes a capability of impressing the strongest and most -cultivated mind with grateful terror or sublime emotion. No branch, for -instance, of the popular creed has been more extended, or more burdened -with folly, than the belief in <span class="smcap">Omens</span>, and yet what noble imagery has not -the poet drawn forth from this accumulation of fear-struck fancy and -childish apprehension.</p> - -<p>With the view of placing the detail of this vast groupe in a clearer -light, it will be necessary to ascertain, what were the principal -<i>omens</i> most accredited in the days of Shakspeare, and after giving a -catalogue of those most worthy of notice, to exhibit a few pictures by -the poet as founded on some of the most remarkable articles in the -enumeration, and afterwards to fill up the outline with additional -circumstances from other resources.</p> - -<p>How prone the subjects of Elizabeth were to pry into futurity, through -the medium of <i>omens</i>, <i>auguries</i>, and <i>prognostications</i>, may be learnt -from the following passage in Scot, taken from his chapter on the -"common peoples fond and superstitious collections and observations." -"Amongst us," says he, "there be manie wemen and effeminat men (manie -papists alwaies, as by their superstition may appeere) that make great -divinations upon the shedding of salt, wine, &c. and for the observation -of daies, and houres use as great <!-- Page 350 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_350" id="Page_i_350">[350]</a></span>witchcraft as in anie thing. For if -one chance to take a fall from a horse, either in a slipperie or -stumbling waie, he will note the daie and houre, and count that time -unlucky for a journie. Otherwise, he that receiveth a mischance, wil -consider whether he met not a cat, or a hare, when he went first out of -his doores in the morning; or stumbled not at the threshold at his going -out; or put not on his shirt the wrong side outwards; or his left shoo -on his right foote.</p> - -<p>"Many will go to bed againe, if the neeze before their shooes be on -their feet; some will hold fast their left thombe in their right hand -when they hickot; or else will hold their chinne with their right hand -whiles a gospell is soong. It is thought verie ill lucke of some, that a -child, or anie other living creature, should passe betweene two friends -as they walke together; for they say it portendeth a division of -freendship.—The like follie is to be imputed unto them, that observe -(as true or probable) old verses, wherein can be no reasonable cause of -such effects: which are brought to passe onlie by God's power, and at -his pleasure. Of this sort be these that follow:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Remember on S. Vincent's daie,</div> - <div class="line indentq">If that the sunne his beames displaie.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">If Paule th' apostles daie be cleare,</div> - <div class="line indentq">It dooth foreshew a luckie yeare.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">If Maries purifieng daie,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Be cleare and bright with sunnie raie,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then frost and cold shall be much more,</div> - <div class="line indentq">After the feast than was before, &c."<a name="FNanchor_i_350:A_660" id="FNanchor_i_350:A_660"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_350:A_660" class="fnanchor">[350:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In the almanacks of Elizabeth's and James's reigns, it was customary, -not only to mark the days supposed to have an influence over the -weather, but to distinguish, likewise, those considered as lucky or -unlucky for making bargains, or transacting business on; and, -accordingly, Webster represents a character in one of his plays -declaring—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 351 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_351" id="Page_i_351">[351]</a></span><div class="line">"By the almanack, I think</div> - <div class="line indentq">To choose good days and shun the critical;"<a name="FNanchor_i_351:A_661" id="FNanchor_i_351:A_661"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_351:A_661" class="fnanchor">[351:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Shakspeare, referring to the same custom and the same doctrine, -makes Constance in <i>King John</i> exclaim,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"What hath this day deserv'd? What hath it done;</div> - <div class="line indentq">That it in golden letters should be set,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Among the high tides, in the kalendar?</div> - <div class="line indentq">Nay rather —————————————</div> - <div class="line i1q">—— if it must stand still, let wives with child</div> - <div class="line indentq">Pray, that their burdens may not fall this day,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Lest that their hopes prodigiously be cross'd:</div> - <div class="line indentq">But (except) on this day, let seamen fear no wreck;</div> - <div class="line indentq">No bargains break, that are not this day made:</div> - <div class="line indentq">This day, all things begun come to an ill end;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Yea, faith itself to hollow falsehood change!"<a name="FNanchor_i_351:B_662" id="FNanchor_i_351:B_662"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_351:B_662" class="fnanchor">[351:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>But of omens predictive of good and bad fortune, or of the common events -in life, the catalogue may be said to have no termination, and we must -refer the reader, for this degrading display of human weakness and -folly, to the Vulgar Errors of Browne, and to the Commentaries of Brand -on Bourne's Antiquities, confining the subject to that class of the -ominous which has been deemed portentive of the great, the dreadful, and -the strange, and which, being surrounded by a certain degree of dignity -and awe, is consequently best adapted to the genius of poetry.</p> - -<p>That danger, death, or preternatural occurrences should be preceded by -warnings or intimations, would appear comformable to the idea of a -superintending providence, and therefore faith in such omens has been -indulged in, by almost every nation, especially in the infancy of its -civilisation. The most usual monitions of this kind are, <i>Lamentings -heard in the air</i>; <i>shakings and tremblings of the earth</i>; <i>sudden gloom -at noon-day</i>; <i>the appearance of meteors</i>; <i>the shooting of stars</i>; -<i>eclipses of the sun and moon</i>; <i>the moon of a bloody <!-- Page 352 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_352" id="Page_i_352">[352]</a></span>hue</i>; <i>the -shrieking of owls</i>; <i>the croaking of ravens</i>; <i>the shrilling of -crickets</i>; <i>the night-howling of dogs</i>; <i>the clicking of the -death-watch</i>; <i>the chattering of pies</i>; <i>the wild neighing of horses, -their running wild and eating each other</i>; <i>the cries of fairies</i>; <i>the -gibbering of ghosts</i>; <i>the withering of bay-trees</i>; <i>showers of blood</i>; -<i>blood dropping thrice from the nose</i>; <i>horrid dreams</i>; <i>demoniacal -voices</i>; <i>ghastly apparitions</i>; <i>winding sheets</i>; <i>corpse-candles</i>; -<i>night-fires</i>, and <i>strange and fearful noises</i>. Of the greater part of -this tremendous list Shakspeare has availed himself; introducing them as -the precursors of murder, sudden death, disasters, and superhuman -events. Thus, previous to the assassination of Julius Cæsar, he tells -us, that—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"In the most high and palmy state of Rome,</div> - <div class="line indentq">A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead</div> - <div class="line indentq">Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets—</div> - <div class="line indentq">—Stars with trains of fire and dews of blood 'appear'd,'</div> - <div class="line indentq">Disasters in the sun; and the moist star,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Was sick almost to dooms-day with eclipse:"<a name="FNanchor_i_352:A_663" id="FNanchor_i_352:A_663"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_352:A_663" class="fnanchor">[352:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and again, as predictive of the same event, he adds, in another place—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">—————— "There is one within,</div> - <div class="line">Besides the things that we have heard and seen,</div> - <div class="line">Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.</div> - <div class="line">A lioness hath whelped in the streets;</div> - <div class="line">And graves have yawn'd and yielded up their dead:</div> - <div class="line">Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds,</div> - <div class="line">In ranks, and squadrons, and right form of war,</div> - <div class="line">Which drizzled blood upon the capitol:</div> - <div class="line">The noise of battle hurtled in the air,</div> - <div class="line">Horses do neigh, and dying men did groan;</div> - <div class="line">And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets."<a name="FNanchor_i_352:B_664" id="FNanchor_i_352:B_664"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_352:B_664" class="fnanchor">[352:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 353 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_353" id="Page_i_353">[353]</a></span>The circumstances which are related as preceding and accompanying the -murder of Duncan are, perhaps, still more awful and impressive. "The -night," says Lennox,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————— "has been unruly: where we lay,</div> - <div class="line">Our chimneys were blown down: and, as they say,</div> - <div class="line">Lamentings heard i' the air; strange screams of death;</div> - <div class="line">And prophecying, with accents terrible,</div> - <div class="line">Of dire combustion, and confus'd events,</div> - <div class="line">New hatch'd to the woeful time. The obscure bird</div> - <div class="line">Clamour'd the livelong night: some say, the earth</div> - <div class="line">Was feverous, and did shake.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Macb.</i> <span class="s7h">'Twas a rough night."</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<i>Old M.</i> Threescore and ten I can remember well:</div> - <div class="line">Within the volume of which time, I have seen</div> - <div class="line">Hours dreadful, and things strange; but this sore night</div> - <div class="line">Hath trifled former knowings.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Rosse.</i> <span class="s8">Ah, good father,</span></div> - <div class="line">Thou see'st the heavens, as troubled with man's act,</div> - <div class="line">Threaten his bloody stage: by the clock, 'tis day,</div> - <div class="line">And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp:</div> - <div class="line">Is it night's predominance, or the day's shame,</div> - <div class="line">That darkness does the face of earth intomb,</div> - <div class="line">When living light should kiss it?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Old M.</i> <span class="s8">'Tis unnatural,</span></div> - <div class="line">Even like the deed that's done. On Tuesday last,</div> - <div class="line">A falcon, tow'ring in her pride of place,</div> - <div class="line">Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at, and kill'd.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Rosse.</i> And Duncan's horses, (a thing most strange and certain,)</div> - <div class="line">Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race,</div> - <div class="line">Turn'd wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out,</div> - <div class="line">Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make</div> - <div class="line">War with mankind.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Old M.</i> <span class="s3">'Tis said, they eat each other.</span></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Posse.</i> Thy did so; to the amazement of mine eyes,</div> - <div class="line">That look'd upon't."<a name="FNanchor_i_353:A_665" id="FNanchor_i_353:A_665"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_353:A_665" class="fnanchor">[353:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In the play of <i>King Richard II.</i> also, the poet has with great taste -and skill selected the following prodigies, as forerunners of the death -or fall of kings:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 354 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_354" id="Page_i_354">[354]</a></span><div class="line">"'Tis thought, the king is dead; we will not stay.</div> - <div class="line indentq">The bay-trees in our country are all wither'd,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven;</div> - <div class="line indentq">The pale-fac'd moon looks bloody on the earth,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance and leap,—</div> - <div class="line indentq">The one, in fear to lose what they enjoy,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The other, to enjoy by rage and war:</div> - <div class="line indentq">These signs forerun the death or fall of kings."<a name="FNanchor_i_354:A_666" id="FNanchor_i_354:A_666"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_354:A_666" class="fnanchor">[354:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Omens of the same portentous kind are said to have attended the births -of Owen Glendower and Richard III., and Shakspeare has accordingly -availed himself of the tradition in a manner equally poetical and -striking; the former says of himself,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">———————— "At my nativity,</div> - <div class="line">The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,</div> - <div class="line">Of burning cressets; and, at my birth,</div> - <div class="line">The frame and huge foundation of the earth</div> - <div class="line">Shak'd like a coward:——</div> - <div class="line">The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds</div> - <div class="line">Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields:"<a name="FNanchor_i_354:B_667" id="FNanchor_i_354:B_667"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_354:B_667" class="fnanchor">[354:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Henry VI., in his interview with Richard in the Tower, reproaching -the tyrant for his cruelties, tells him, as indicative of his future -deeds, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The owl shriek'd at thy birth, an evil sign;</div> - <div class="line indentq">The night-crow cried, aboding luckless time;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Dogs howl'd, and hideous tempests shook down trees;</div> - <div class="line indentq">The raven rook'd her on the chimney's top,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And chattering pies in dismal discords sung."<a name="FNanchor_i_354:C_668" id="FNanchor_i_354:C_668"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_354:C_668" class="fnanchor">[354:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><i>Dreams</i>, considered as prognostics of good or evil, are frequently -introduced by Shakspeare.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"My dreams will sure prove ominous to day,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 355 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_355" id="Page_i_355">[355]</a></span>exclaims Andromache<a name="FNanchor_i_355:A_669" id="FNanchor_i_355:A_669"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_355:A_669" class="fnanchor">[355:A]</a>; while Romeo declares,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"My dreams presage some joyful news at hand."<a name="FNanchor_i_355:B_670" id="FNanchor_i_355:B_670"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_355:B_670" class="fnanchor">[355:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>But it is chiefly as precursors of misfortune that the poet has availed -himself of their supposed influence as omens of future fate. There are -few passages in his dramas more terrific than the dreams of Richard the -Third and Clarence; the latter, especially, is replete with the most -fearful imagery, and makes the blood run chill with horror.</p> - -<p><i>Dæmoniacal voices and shrieks, or monitory intimations and appearances</i> -from the tutelary genius of a family, were likewise imagined to precede -the deaths of important individuals; a superstition to which Shakspeare -alludes in the following lines from his <i>Troilus and Cressida</i>:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<i>Troil.</i> Hark! you are call'd: Some say, the Genius so</div> - <div class="line">Cries, <i>Come!</i> to him that instantly must die."<a name="FNanchor_i_355:C_671" id="FNanchor_i_355:C_671"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_355:C_671" class="fnanchor">[355:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>This superstition was formerly very prevalent in England, and still -prevails in several districts of Ireland, and in the more remote parts -of the Highlands of Scotland. Howell tells us, that he saw at a -lapidary's in 1632, a monumental stone, prepared for four persons of the -name of Oxenham, before the death of each of whom, the inscription -stated a white bird to have appeared and fluttered around the bed, while -the patient was in the last agony<a name="FNanchor_i_355:D_672" id="FNanchor_i_355:D_672"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_355:D_672" class="fnanchor">[355:D]</a>; and Glanville, remarks Mr. -Scott, mentions one family, the members of which received this solemn -sign by music, the sound of which floated from the family-residence, and -seemed to die in a neighbouring<a name="FNanchor_i_355:E_673" id="FNanchor_i_355:E_673"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_355:E_673" class="fnanchor">[355:E]</a> wood. It is related, that several -of the great Highland families are accustomed to receive intimations of -approaching fate by domestic spirits <!-- Page 356 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_356" id="Page_i_356">[356]</a></span>or tutelary genii, who sometimes -assume the form of a bird or of a bloody spectre of a tall woman dressed -in white, shrieking wildly round the house. Thus, observes Mr. Pennant, -the family of Rothmurcas had the <i>Bodach-an-dun</i>, or the Ghost of the -Hill; the Kinchardines, the <i>Spectre of the Bloody Hand</i>; Gartinley -house was haunted by <i>Bodach-Gartin</i>; and Tullock Gorms by -<i>Maug-Moulach</i>, or <i>the Girl with the Hairy Left Hand</i>. In certain -places, he says, the death of the people is supposed to be foretold by -the cries of <i>Benshi</i>, or the <i>Fairy's Wife</i>, uttered along the very -path where the <i>funeral</i> is to pass; and it has been added by others, -that when the Benshi becomes visible, she appears in the shape of an old -woman, with a blue mantle and streaming hair.</p> - -<p>Of this omen, and of another of a similar kind, Mr. Scott has made his -usual poetical use in the <i>Lady of the Lake</i>, where he relates of Brian, -the lone Seer of the Desert, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Late had he heard in prophet's dream,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of charging steeds, careering fast</div> - <div class="line indentq">Along Benharrow's shingly side,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>This last passage, he informs us, "is still believed to announce death -to the ancient Highland family of M'Lean of Lochbuy. The spirit of an -ancestor slain in battle, is heard to gallop along a stony bank, and -then to ride thrice around the family-residence, ringing his fairy -bridle, and thus intimating the approaching calamity."<a name="FNanchor_i_356:A_674" id="FNanchor_i_356:A_674"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_356:A_674" class="fnanchor">[356:A]</a></p> - -<p>That the apparition of the Benshie, and the whole train of spectral and -dæmoniacal warnings, were in full force in Ireland, during the -seventeenth century, we have numerous proofs; the former was commonly -called the <i>Shrieking Woman</i>, and of the latter a most remarkable -instance is given by Mr. Scott, from the MS. Memoirs of the accomplished -Lady Fanshaw. "Her husband, Sir Richard, and <!-- Page 357 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_357" id="Page_i_357">[357]</a></span>she, chanced, during their -abode in Ireland, to visit a friend, the head of a sept, who resided in -his ancient baronial castle, surrounded with a moat. At midnight, she -was awakened by a ghastly and supernatural scream, and looking out of -bed, beheld, by the moon-light, a female face and part of the form, -hovering at the window. The distance from the ground, as well as the -circumstance of the moat, excluded the possibility that what she beheld -was of this world. The face was that of a young and rather handsome -woman, but pale, and the hair, which was reddish, loose and dishevelled. -The dress, which Lady Fanshaw's terror did not prevent her remarking -accurately, was that of the ancient Irish. This apparition continued to -exhibit itself for some time, and then vanished with two shrieks similar -to that which had first excited Lady Fanshaw's attention. In the -morning, with infinite terror, she communicated to her host what she had -witnessed, and found him prepared not only to credit, but to account for -the apparition. 'A near relation of my family,' said he, 'expired last -night in this castle. We disguised our certain expectation of the event -from you, lest it should throw a cloud over the cheerful reception which -was your due. Now, before such an event happens in this family and -castle, the female spectre whom you have seen always is visible. She is -believed to be the spirit of a woman of inferior rank, whom one of my -ancestors degraded himself by marrying, and whom afterwards, to expiate -the dishonour done to his family, he caused to be drowned in the castle -moat.'"<a name="FNanchor_i_357:A_675" id="FNanchor_i_357:A_675"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_357:A_675" class="fnanchor">[357:A]</a></p> - -<p>Another set of omens predictive of disaster, supernatural agency, and -death, was drawn from the appearances of lights, tapers, and fires. When -a flame was seen by night resting on the tops of soldiers' lances, or -playing and leaping by fits among the masts and sails of a ship, it was -deemed the presage of misfortune; of defeat in battle in the one -instance, and of destruction by tempest in the other. As the forerunner -of a storm, Shakspeare has introduced it in his <i>Tempest</i>, where Ariel -says,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 358 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_358" id="Page_i_358">[358]</a></span><div class="line i1">—————— "Sometimes I'd divide</div> - <div class="line">And burn in many places; on the top-mast,</div> - <div class="line">The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly,</div> - <div class="line">Then meet and join."<a name="FNanchor_i_358:A_676" id="FNanchor_i_358:A_676"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_358:A_676" class="fnanchor">[358:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It was also conceived, that the presence of unearthly beings, ghosts, -spirits, and demons, was instantly announced by an alteration in the -tint of the lights which happened to be burning; a very popular notion, -which the poet adopts in his <i>Richard the Third</i>, the tyrant exclaiming, -as he awakens,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>The lights burn blue</i>—it is now dead midnight;</div> - <div class="line">Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.——</div> - <div class="line">Methought, the souls of all that I had murder'd,</div> - <div class="line">Came to my tent."<a name="FNanchor_i_358:B_677" id="FNanchor_i_358:B_677"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_358:B_677" class="fnanchor">[358:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>But, the chief superstition annexed to this branch of omens, was founded -on the idea, that lights and fires, commonly called <i>corpse-candles</i> and -<i>tomb-fires</i>, preceded deaths and funerals; an article of belief which -was equally prevalent among the Celtic and Teutonic nations; and was -cherished therefore with the same credulity in Scotland, Ireland, and -Wales, as in Scandinavia, Germany, and England. In this island, during -the sixteenth century, it was generally credited by the common people, -that when a person was about to die, a pale flame would frequently -appear at the window of the room in which he was laid, and, after -pausing there for a moment, would glide towards the church-yard, -minutely tracing the path where the future funeral was to pass, and -glowing brightly, for a time, on the spot where the body was to be -interred. Sometimes, however, instead of lights, a procession was seen -by the dim light of the moon: "there have bin seene some in the night," -says the English Lavaterus, "when the moone shin'd, going solemnlie with -the corps, according to the custome of the people, or standing before -the dores, as if some bodie were to be caried to the church to -<!-- Page 359 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_359" id="Page_i_359">[359]</a></span>burying."<a name="FNanchor_i_359:A_678" id="FNanchor_i_359:A_678"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_359:A_678" class="fnanchor">[359:A]</a> In Northumberland the fancied appearance of the -corpse-light was termed seeing the <i>Waff</i> (the blast or spirit) of the -person whose death was to take place.</p> - -<p>In Wales this superstition was formerly so general, especially in the -counties of Cardigan, Caermarthen, and Pembroke, that scarcely any -individual was supposed to die without the previous signal of a -corpse-candle. Mr. Davis, a Welshman, in a letter to Mr. Baxter, -observes, that "they are called candles, from their resemblance, not of -the body of the candle, but the fire; because that fire doth as much -resemble material candle-lights, as eggs do eggs: saving that in their -journey, these candles are sometimes visible, and sometimes disappear; -especially if any one comes near to them, or in the way to meet them. On -these occasions they vanish, but presently appear again behind the -observer, and hold on their course. If a little candle is seen, of a -pale or bluish colour, then follows the corpse, either of an abortive, -or some infant; if a large one, then the corpse of some one come to age. -If there be seen two, three, or more, of different sizes,—some big, -some small,—then shall so many corpses pass together, and of such ages -or degrees. If two candles come from different places, and be seen to -meet, the corpses will do the same; and if any of these candles be seen -to turn aside, through some bye-path leading to the church, the -following corpse will be found to take exactly the same way."<a name="FNanchor_i_359:B_679" id="FNanchor_i_359:B_679"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_359:B_679" class="fnanchor">[359:B]</a></p> - -<p>Among the Highlanders of Scotland, likewise, the same species of omen -was so implicitly credited, that it has continued in force even to the -present day. Of this Mrs. Grant has given us, in one of her ingenious -essays, a most remarkable instance, and on the authority, too, of a very -pious and sensible clergyman, who was accustomed, she says, "to go forth -and meditate at even; and this solitary walk he always directed to his -churchyard, which was situated in a shaded spot, on the banks of a -river. There, in a dusky October evening, <!-- Page 360 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_360" id="Page_i_360">[360]</a></span>he took his wonted path, and -lingered, leaning on the churchyard-wall, till it became twilight, when -he saw two small lights rise from a spot within, where there was no -stone, nor memorial of any kind. He observed the course these lights -took, and saw them cross the river, and stop at an opposite hamlet. -Presently they returned, accompanied by a larger light, which moved on -between them, till they arrived at the place from which the first two -set out, when all the three seemed to sink into the earth together.</p> - -<p>"The good man went into the churchyard, and threw a few stones on the -spot where the lights disappeared. Next morning he walked out early, -called for the sexton, and shewed him the place, asking if he remembered -who was buried there. The man said, that many years ago, he remembered -burying in that spot, two young children, belonging to a blacksmith on -the opposite side of the river, who was now a very old man. The pastor -returned, and was scarce sat down to breakfast, when a message came to -hurry him to come over to pray with the smith, who had been suddenly -taken ill, and who died next day."<a name="FNanchor_i_360:A_680" id="FNanchor_i_360:A_680"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_360:A_680" class="fnanchor">[360:A]</a></p> - -<p><i>Fiery and meteorous exhalations</i>, shooting through the lower regions of -the air, and sinking into the ground, were also deemed predictive of -death. The individual was pointed out by these fires either falling on -his lands or garden, or by gleaming with a lurid light over the family -burying-place. Appearances of this kind were called <i>tomb-fires</i> by the -Scandinavians, and <i>tan-we</i> by the Welsh, who believed that no -freeholder died without a meteor having been seen to sparkle and vanish -on his estate. In fact, as Shakspeare has expressed it, there could -happen</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"No natural exhalations in the sky:"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">but were considered as</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 361 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_361" id="Page_i_361">[361]</a></span><div class="line">———————— "prodigies, and signs,</div> - <div class="line">Abortives, presages, and tongues of heaven."<a name="FNanchor_i_361:A_681" id="FNanchor_i_361:A_681"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_361:A_681" class="fnanchor">[361:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The idea that <i>sudden and fearful noises</i> are frequently heard before -death takes place, and are indications of such an event, was very common -at the period of which we are writing, both on the continent and in this -country. "It happeneth many times," says the English Lavaterus, "that -when men lye sicke of some deadly disease, there is something heard -going in the chamber, like as the sicke men were wonte, when they were -in good health: yea and the sicke parties themselves, do many times -heare the same, and by and by gesse what wil come to passe. And divers -times it commeth to passe, that when some of our acquaintaunce or -friends lye a dying, albeit they are many miles off, yet there are some -great stirrings or noises heard. Sometimes we think that the house will -fall on our heads, or that some massie and waightie thing falleth downe -throughout all the house, rendring and making a disordered noise: and -shortlie within few monthes after, we understande that those things -happened, the very same houre that our friends departed in. There be -some men of whose stocke none doth dye, but that they observe and marke -some signes and tokens going before: as that they heare the dores and -windowes open and shut, that some thing runneth up the staires, or -walketh up and downe the house, or doth some one or other such like -thing.</p> - -<p>"There was a certain parishe priest, a very honest and godly man, whom I -knewe well, who in the plague time, could tell before hand, when any of -his parishe should dye. For in the night time he heard a noise over his -bed, like as if one had throwne downe a sacke full of corne from his -shoulders: which when he heard he would say: Nowe an other biddeth me -farewell. After it was day, he used to inquire who died that night, or -who was taken with the plague, to the end he might comfort and -strengthen them, according to the duty of a good pastour.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 362 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_362" id="Page_i_362">[362]</a></span>"In Abbeys, the Monks, servaunts or any other falling sicke, many have -heard in the night, preparation of chests for them, in such sorte as the -coffin makers did afterwards prepare in deede.</p> - -<p>"In some country villages, when one is at death's dore, many times there -are some heard in the evening, or in the night, digging a grave in the -Churcheyarde, and the same the next day is so found digged, as these men -did heare before."<a name="FNanchor_i_362:A_682" id="FNanchor_i_362:A_682"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_362:A_682" class="fnanchor">[362:A]</a></p> - -<p>The next class of superstitions which we shall notice in this chapter, -is that depending on <span class="smcap">CHARMS</span> and <span class="smcap">SPELLS</span>, a fertile source of knavery and -credulity, and which has been chiefly exercised, in our poet's time and -since, by old women. Of this occupation, and its attendant folly and -imposition, the bard has given us a sketch, in his <i>Merry Wives of -Windsor</i>, in the person of the <i>Old Woman of Brentford</i>, who is declared -by <i>Ford</i> to be "a witch, a quean, an old cozening quean!—We are simple -men; we do not know what's brought to pass under the profession of -<i>fortune-telling</i>. She works by <i>charms</i>, by <i>spells</i>, by the figure, -and such daubery as this is; beyond our element: we know -nothing."<a name="FNanchor_i_362:B_683" id="FNanchor_i_362:B_683"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_362:B_683" class="fnanchor">[362:B]</a></p> - -<p>That women of this description, or as Scot has delineated them, in one -instance, indeed, deviating from the <i>portly</i> form of Shakspeare's -cunning Dame, "<i>leane</i>, hollow-eied, old, beetle browed women<a name="FNanchor_i_362:C_684" id="FNanchor_i_362:C_684"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_362:C_684" class="fnanchor">[362:C]</a>," -were, as dealers in charms, spells and amulets, a very numerous tribe, -in the days of Elizabeth and James, we have every reason to believe, -from contemporary evidence; but it appears that the trade of -<i>fortune-telling</i> was then, as now, chiefly exercised by the wandering -horde of <i>gipsies</i>, to whose name and characteristic knavery, our great -poet alludes, in <i>Antony and Cleopatra</i>, where the Roman complains that -Cleopatra,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Like a right <i>gipsy</i>, hath, <i>at fast and loose</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Beguil'd him to the very heart of loss."<a name="FNanchor_i_362:D_685" id="FNanchor_i_362:D_685"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_362:D_685" class="fnanchor">[362:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of this wily people, of the juggle referred to in these lines, and of -<!-- Page 363 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_363" id="Page_i_363">[363]</a></span>their profession of fortune-telling, Scot thus speaks in his thirteenth -book:—"The <span class="smcap">Aegyptians</span> juggling witchcraft or sortilegie standeth much -in <i>fast or loose</i>, whereof though I have written somewhat generallie -already (p. 197), yet having such opportunitie I will here shew some of -their particular feats; not treating of their common tricks which is so -tedious, nor of their <i>fortune-telling</i> which is so impious; and yet -both of them meere cousenages."<a name="FNanchor_i_363:A_686" id="FNanchor_i_363:A_686"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_363:A_686" class="fnanchor">[363:A]</a> He then describes two games of -<i>fast and loose</i>; one with a handkerchief, and the other with whip cords -and beads; but as these much resemble the modern trick of <i>pricking at -the belt or girdle</i>, explained by Sir J. Hawkins, in a note on the -passage just quoted from our poet, it will not be necessary to notice -them further in this place.</p> - -<p>To <i>palmistry</i>, indeed, or the <i>art of Divination by the lines of the -hand</i>, Shakspeare has allotted a great part of the second scene, in the -first act, of <i>Antony and Cleopatra</i>, no doubt induced to this by the -topographical situation of the opening characters, the play commencing -at Alexandria in Egypt.</p> - -<p>He has also occasionally adverted in other dramas to the multitude of -<i>charms</i>, <i>spells</i>, and <i>periapts</i> which were in use in his time; and he -makes La Pucelle, in accordance with the necromantic powers attributed -to her, solemnly invoke their assistance—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Now help, ye charming spells, and periapts;"<a name="FNanchor_i_363:B_687" id="FNanchor_i_363:B_687"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_363:B_687" class="fnanchor">[363:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">but as, to adopt the expression of Scot, he who "should go about to -recite all charmes, would take an infinite worke in hand<a name="FNanchor_i_363:C_688" id="FNanchor_i_363:C_688"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_363:C_688" class="fnanchor">[363:C]</a>," we -shall confine ourselves to an enumeration, from this scarce and curious -writer, of the evils and the powers, against, and for, which, these -charms, were sought; and shall then add a few specimens of their nature, -force, and composition. It appears that they were eagerly enquired after -in the first place against burning, drowning, pestilence, sword, <!-- Page 364 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_364" id="Page_i_364">[364]</a></span>and -famine, against thieves, spirits, witches, and diseases, and of the last -class, especially against the venom of serpents, scorpions and other -reptiles, the epilepsy, the king's evil, and the bite of a mad dog; and -in the second, to enable the wearer to release a woman in travail, to -conjure a thorn out of any member, or a bone out of the throat, to open -all locks and doors, to know what is said and done behind our backs, to -endure the severest tortures without shrinking, &c. &c.</p> - -<p>One of the most efficacious of these charms, was a periapt or tablet, -called an <i>Agnus Dei</i>. This, which was ordered to be constantly worn -round the neck, consisted of a little cake, having the impression of a -lamb carrying a flag on one side, and Christ's head on the other; and in -the centre a concavity sufficiently large to contain the first chapter -of St. John's Gospel, written on fine paper, in a very small character. -It was a spell potent to protect the wearer against thunder and -lightning, fire and water, sin, pestilence, and the perils of -childbirth.<a name="FNanchor_i_364:A_689" id="FNanchor_i_364:A_689"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_364:A_689" class="fnanchor">[364:A]</a></p> - -<p>A charm against shot, or a waistcoat of proof, was thus to be -obtained:—"On Christmas daie at night, a thread must be sponne of flax, -by a little virgine girle, in the name of the divell: and it must be by -hir woven, and also wrought with the needle. In the brest or forepart -thereof must be made with needle worke two heads; on the head at the -right side must be a hat, and a long beard; the left head must have on a -crowne, and it must be so horrible, that it maie resemble Belzebub, and -on each side of the wastcote must be made a crosse."<a name="FNanchor_i_364:B_690" id="FNanchor_i_364:B_690"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_364:B_690" class="fnanchor">[364:B]</a></p> - -<p>That some of these spells, however, were not carried into execution with -quite so much ease, as the two we have just transcribed, will be evident -from the directions annexed to the following, entitled a <i>charm for one -possessed</i>: "The possessed bodie must go upon his or hir knees to the -church, how farre soever it be off from their lodging; and so must -creepe without going out of the waie, being the common <!-- Page 365 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_365" id="Page_i_365">[365]</a></span>high waie, in -that sort, how fowle and durtie soever the same be; or whatsoever lie in -the waie, not shunning anie thing whatsoever, untill he come to the -church, where he must heare masse devoutlie, and then followeth -recoverie."<a name="FNanchor_i_365:A_691" id="FNanchor_i_365:A_691"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_365:A_691" class="fnanchor">[365:A]</a></p> - -<p>It appears, notwithstanding, that, even among the old women of the -sixteenth century, there could be found some who, while they profited -by, could, at the same time, despise, the credulity of their neighbours. -"An old woman," says Scot, "that healed all diseases of cattell (for the -which she never tooke any reward but a penie and a loafe) being -seriouslie examined by what words she brought these things to passe, -confessed that after she had touched the sicke creature, she alwaies -departed immediatlie; saieng:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"My loafe in my lap,</div> - <div class="line i1q">my penie in my pursse;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thou art never the better,</div> - <div class="line i1q">and I am never the wursse."<a name="FNanchor_i_365:B_692" id="FNanchor_i_365:B_692"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_365:B_692" class="fnanchor">[365:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The same author, after relating the terrible curse or charm of St. -Adelbert against thieves, facetiously adds,—"But I will answer this -cruell cursse with another cursse farre more mild and civill, performed -by as honest a man (I dare saie) as he that made the other.—</p> - -<p>"So it was, that a certeine sir <span class="smcap">John</span>, with some of his companie, once -went abroad a jetting, and in a moone light evening robbed a millers -weire, and stole all his éeles. The poore miller made his mone to sir -John himselfe, who willed him to be quiet; for he would so cursse the -theefe, and all his confederates, with bell, booke and candell, that -they should have small joy of their fish. And therefore the next -sundaie, sir John got him to the pulpit, with his surplisse on his -backe, and his stole about his necke, and pronounced these words -following in the audience of the people.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">All you that have stolne the miller's eeles,</div> - <div class="line i1"><i>Laudate Dominum de cœlis</i>,</div> - <!-- Page 366 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_366" id="Page_i_366">[366]</a></span><div class="line">And all they that have consented thereto,</div> - <div class="line i1"><i>Benedicamus Domino</i>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">So (saith he) there is sauce for your éeles my maisters."<a name="FNanchor_i_366:A_693" id="FNanchor_i_366:A_693"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_366:A_693" class="fnanchor">[366:A]</a></p> - -<p>A third portion of the popular creed may be considered as including the -various kinds of superstitious <span class="smcap">Cures</span>, <span class="smcap">Preventatives</span>, and <span class="smcap">Sympathies</span>; a -species of credulity which has suffered little diminution even in the -present day; for, though the materials selected for the purpose be -different, the folly and the fraud are the same. Instead of animal -magnetism and metallic tractors, the public faith, in the days of -Shakspeare, rested, with implicit confidence, on the virtues supposed to -be inherent in bones, precious stones, sympathetic signs, powders, &c.; -and the poet, accordingly, has occasionally introduced imagery founded -on these imaginary qualities. Thus, in the <i>Merchant of Venice</i>, the -high value which Shylock places on his <i>turquoise</i> ring, was derived -from this source, the turquoise or Turkey-stone, being considered as -inestimable for its properties of indicating the health of the wearer by -the increase or decrease of its colour, and for its protective power in -shielding him from enmity and peril. That this was the cause of -Shylock's deep regret for the loss of his ring, will appear probable -from the more direct intimations of his contemporaries, Jonson and -Drayton; the former, in his Sejanus, remarking of two parasites, that -they would,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"—— true, as turkoise in the dear lord's ring,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Look well or ill with him."<a name="FNanchor_i_366:B_694" id="FNanchor_i_366:B_694"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_366:B_694" class="fnanchor">[366:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and the latter declaring, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The turkesse,——who haps to wear,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Is often kept from peril."<a name="FNanchor_i_366:C_695" id="FNanchor_i_366:C_695"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_366:C_695" class="fnanchor">[366:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 367 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_367" id="Page_i_367">[367]</a></span>A more distinct allusion to the sanative virtue of precious stones, is -to be found in the celebrated simile in <i>As You Like It</i>:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Sweet are the uses of adversity;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Wears yet a precious jewel in his head."<a name="FNanchor_i_367:A_696" id="FNanchor_i_367:A_696"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_367:A_696" class="fnanchor">[367:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>This stone or jewel was supposed to secure the possessor from the -effects of poison, and to be, likewise, a sovereign remedy for the -stone.</p> - -<p>These important effects are ascribed to it by numerous writers of -Shakspeare's time,—by Gesner<a name="FNanchor_i_367:B_697" id="FNanchor_i_367:B_697"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_367:B_697" class="fnanchor">[367:B]</a>; by Batman<a name="FNanchor_i_367:C_698" id="FNanchor_i_367:C_698"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_367:C_698" class="fnanchor">[367:C]</a>; by -Maplett<a name="FNanchor_i_367:D_699" id="FNanchor_i_367:D_699"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_367:D_699" class="fnanchor">[367:D]</a>; by Fenton<a name="FNanchor_i_367:E_700" id="FNanchor_i_367:E_700"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_367:E_700" class="fnanchor">[367:E]</a>; by Lupton<a name="FNanchor_i_367:F_701" id="FNanchor_i_367:F_701"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_367:F_701" class="fnanchor">[367:F]</a>; by Topsell, and, -subsequently, by Fuller.<a name="FNanchor_i_367:G_702" id="FNanchor_i_367:G_702"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_367:G_702" class="fnanchor">[367:G]</a> It even formed, very early indeed, a -part of medical treatment; for Lloyd, in his <i>Treasure of helth</i>, -recommends its exhibition for the stone, and orders it, after having -been <i>stampt</i>, to be "geven to the pacyent to drinke in warme -wine."<a name="FNanchor_i_367:H_703" id="FNanchor_i_367:H_703"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_367:H_703" class="fnanchor">[367:H]</a></p> - -<p>To the <i>Bezoar</i> stone also was attributed great potency in expelling the -plague and other pestilential diseases; and Gesner has given it an -origin even more marvellous than the cures for which it has been -celebrated; "when the hart is sick," says he, "and hath eaten many -serpents for his recoverie, he is brought unto so great a heate, that he -hasteth to the water, and there covereth his body unto the very eares -and eyes, at which time distilleth many teares from which the (Bezoar) -stone is gendered."<a name="FNanchor_i_367:I_704" id="FNanchor_i_367:I_704"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_367:I_704" class="fnanchor">[367:I]</a></p> - -<p>The <i>Belemnites</i> or hag-stones, perforated flints hung up at the bed's -head, to prevent the night-mare, or in stables to secure the horses -<!-- Page 368 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_368" id="Page_i_368">[368]</a></span>from being hag-ridden, and their manes elf-knotted, were, at this -period, in common use. To one of the superstitious evils against which -it was held as a protective, Shakspeare alludes, in his <i>Romeo and -Juliet</i>, where Mercutio exclaims—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">———— "This is that very Mab</div> - <div class="line"><i>That plats the manes of horses in the night</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_368:A_705" id="FNanchor_i_368:A_705"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_368:A_705" class="fnanchor">[368:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"It was believed," remarks Mr. Douce, commenting on this passage, "that -certain malignant spirits whose delight was to wander in groves and -pleasant places, assumed occasionally the likenesses of women clothed in -white; that in this character they sometimes haunted stables in the -night-time, carrying in their hands tapers of wax, which they dropped on -the horses' manes, thereby plaiting them in inextricable knots, to the -great annoyance of the poor animals and vexation of their masters. These -hags are mentioned in the works of William of Auvergne, bishop of Paris -in the thirteenth century. There is a very uncommon old print by Hans -Burgmair relating to this subject. A witch enters the stable with a -lighted torch; and, previously to the operation of entangling the -horse's mane, practises her enchantments on the groom, who is lying -asleep on his back, and apparently influenced by the night-mare."<a name="FNanchor_i_368:B_706" id="FNanchor_i_368:B_706"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_368:B_706" class="fnanchor">[368:B]</a></p> - -<p>The most copious account of the preservative and curative virtues which -credulity has ascribed to precious stones, is to be drawn from the pages -of Reginald Scot, who appears faithfully and minutely to have recorded -the superstitions of his day. "An Agat (they saie) hath vertue against -the biting of scorpions or serpents. It is written (but I will not stand -to it) that it maketh a man eloquent, and procureth the favour of -princes; yea, that the fume thereof dooth turn awaie tempests. -Alectorius is a stone about the bignesse of a beane, as cleere as the -christall, taken out of a cocks bellie which hath been gelt or made a -capon foure yeares. If it be held in ones mouth, it assuageth <!-- Page 369 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_369" id="Page_i_369">[369]</a></span>thirst, -it maketh the husband to love the wife, and the bearer -invincible:——Chelidonius is a stone taken out of a swallowe, which -cureth melancholie: howbeit, some authors saie, it is the hearbe whereby -the swallowes recover the sight of their yoong, even if their eies be -picked out with an instrument. Geranites is taken out of a crane, and -Draconites out of a dragon. But it is to be noted, that such stones must -be taken out of the bellies of the serpents, beasts, or birds, (wherein -they are) whiles they live: otherwise, they vanish awaie with the life, -and so they reteine the vertues of those starres under which they are. -Amethysus maketh a droonken man sober, and refresheth the wit. The -corall preserveth such as beare it from fascination or bewitching, and -in this respect they are hanged about children's necks. But from whence -that superstition is derived, and who invented the lie, I knowe not: but -I see how redie the people are to give credit thereunto, by the -multitude of coralls that waie emploied. Heliotropius stancheth bloud, -driveth awaie poisons, preserveth health: yea, and some write that it -provoketh raine, and darkeneth the sunne, suffering not him that beareth -it to be abused. Hyacinthus dooth all that the other dooth, and also -preserveth from lightening. Dinothera hanged about the necke, collar, or -yoke of any creature, tameth it presentlie. A Topase healeth the -lunatike person of his passion of lunacie. Aitites, if it be shaken, -soundeth as if there were a little stone in the bellie thereof: it is -good for the falling sicknesse, and to prevent untimelie birth. -Chalcedonius maketh the bearer luckie in lawe, quickeneth the power of -the bodie, and is of force also against the illusions of the divell, and -phantasticall cogitations arising of melancholie. Corneolus mitigateth -the heate of the mind, and qualifieth malice, it stancheth bloudie -fluxes. Iris helpeth a woman to speedie deliverance, and maketh -rainebowes to appeere. A Saphire preserveth the members, and maketh them -livelie, and helpeth agues and gowts, and suffereth not the bearer to be -afraid: it hath vertue against venome, and staieth bleeding at the nose, -being often put thereto. A Smarag is good for the eiesight, and maketh -one rich and eloquent. Mephis (as Aaron and Hermes report out of -<!-- Page 370 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_370" id="Page_i_370">[370]</a></span>Albertus Magnus) being broken into powder, and droonke with water, -maketh insensibilitie of torture. Heereby you may understand, that as -God hath bestowed upon these stones, and such other like bodies, most -excellent and woonderfull vertues: so according to the abundance of -humane superstitions and follies; manie ascribe unto them either more -virtues, or others than they have."<a name="FNanchor_i_370:A_707" id="FNanchor_i_370:A_707"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_370:A_707" class="fnanchor">[370:A]</a></p> - -<p>This passage has been closely imitated by Drayton, in the ninth Nymphal -of his Muse's Elysium<a name="FNanchor_i_370:B_708" id="FNanchor_i_370:B_708"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_370:B_708" class="fnanchor">[370:B]</a>; he has made, however, some additions to -the catalogue, one of which we have already noticed, and another will be -shortly quoted.</p> - -<p>Virtues of a kind equally miraculous were attributed to bones and horns; -thus Scot tells us, that a bone taken out of a carp's head staunches -blood; that the bone in a hare's foot mitigates the cramp, and that the -unicorn's horn is inestimable<a name="FNanchor_i_370:C_709" id="FNanchor_i_370:C_709"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_370:C_709" class="fnanchor">[370:C]</a>; and were we to enumerate the -wonders performed by herbs, we might fill a volume. Many of them, -indeed, were considered of such potency as to render the persons who -rightly used them, either invisible or invulnerable, and, therefore, to -those who were engaged to fight a legal duel, an oath was administered, -purporting "that they had ne charme, ne herbe of vertue" about them.</p> - -<p>Several diseases were held to be incurable, by ordinary means; such as -wens, warts, the king's evil, agues, rickets, and ruptures; and the -remedies which were adopted present a most deplorable instance of human -folly. Tumours were to be dispelled by stroking them nine times with a -dead man's hand, and the evil by the royal touch, a miraculous power -supposed to have been first exercised by Edward the Confessor, and to -have been since hereditary in the royal line, at least to the period of -the decease of Queen Anne. Of the discharge of this important function -by the Confessor, and of its regal descent, our poet has left us a -pretty accurate description:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 371 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_371" id="Page_i_371">[371]</a></span><div class="line i1">"<i>Malcolm.</i> ——— Comes the king forth, I pray you?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Doctor.</i> Ay, Sir: there are a crew of wretched souls,</div> - <div class="line">That stay his cure: their malady convinces</div> - <div class="line">The great assay of art; but, at his touch,</div> - <div class="line">Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand,</div> - <div class="line">They presently amend.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Macduff.</i> What's the disease he means?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Mal.</i> <span class="s13">'Tis call'd the evil:</span></div> - <div class="line">A most miraculous work in this good king;</div> - <div class="line">Which often, since my here-remain in England,</div> - <div class="line">I have seen him do. How he solicits heaven,</div> - <div class="line">Himself best knows; but strangely-visited people,</div> - <div class="line">All swoln and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye,</div> - <div class="line">The mere despair of surgery, he cures;</div> - <div class="line">Hanging a golden stamp<a name="FNanchor_i_371:A_710" id="FNanchor_i_371:A_710"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_371:A_710" class="fnanchor">[371:A]</a> about their necks,</div> - <div class="line">Put on with holy prayers: and 'tis spoken,</div> - <div class="line">To the succeeding royalty he leaves</div> - <div class="line">The healing benediction."<a name="FNanchor_i_371:B_711" id="FNanchor_i_371:B_711"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_371:B_711" class="fnanchor">[371:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>That Shakspeare had frequently witnessed Queen Elizabeth's exercise of -this extraordinary gift, is very probable; for it appears from Laneham, -that even on her visits to her nobility, she was in the habit of -exerting this sanative power. In his <i>Account of the Entertainment at -Kenelworth Castle</i>, he records "by her highness accustomed mercy and -charitee, nyne cured of the peynful and dangerous diseaz called the -King's Evil, for that kings and queens of this realm without oother -medsin (than by touching and prayer) only doo it."<a name="FNanchor_i_371:C_712" id="FNanchor_i_371:C_712"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_371:C_712" class="fnanchor">[371:C]</a></p> - -<p>Most of the superstitious cures for warts and agues remain as articles -of popular credulity; but the mode of removing ruptures and the rickets -which prevailed at this period, and for some centuries before, is now -nearly, if not altogether extinct. A young tree was split -<!-- Page 372 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_372" id="Page_i_372">[372]</a></span>longitudinally, and the diseased child, being stripped naked, was -passed, with the head foremost, thrice through the fissure. The wounded -tree was then drawn together with a cord so as to unite it perfectly, -and as the tree healed, the child was to acquire health and strength. -The same result followed if the child crept through a stone perforated -by some operation of Nature; of stones of this kind there are some -instances in Cornwall, and Mr. Borlase tells us, in his History of that -County, that there was one of this description in the parish of Marden, -which had a perforation through it fourteen inches in diameter, and was -celebrated for its cures on those who ventured, under these complaints, -to travel through its healing aperture.</p> - -<p>The doctrine of <i>sympathetic</i> indications and cures was very prevalent -during the era of Elizabeth and James, and is repeatedly insisted upon -by the writers of that age. One of the most generally credited of these -was, that a murdered body bled upon the touch or approach of the -murderer; an idea which has not only been adopted by our elder bards as -poetically striking, but has been adduced, as a truth, by some of our -very grave writers in prose. Among the Dramatists it will be sufficient -to produce Shakspeare, who represents the corpse of Henry the Sixth as -bleeding on the approach of the Tyrant Richard:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"O, gentlemen, see, see! dead Henry's wounds</div> - <div class="line indentq">Open their congeal'd mouths, and bleed afresh!</div> - <div class="line indentq">Blush, blush, thou lump of foul deformity;</div> - <div class="line indentq">For 'tis thy presence that exhales this blood</div> - <div class="line indentq">From cold and empty veins, where no blood dwells;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thy deed, inhuman and unnatural,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Provokes this deluge most unnatural:"<a name="FNanchor_i_372:A_713" id="FNanchor_i_372:A_713"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_372:A_713" class="fnanchor">[372:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Drayton seems to have been a firm believer in the same preternatural -effect; for he informs us in his forty sixth <i>Idea</i>, that,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"In making trial of a murther wrought,</div> - <div class="line indentq">If the vile actors of the heinous deed,</div> - <!-- Page 373 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_373" id="Page_i_373">[373]</a></span><div class="line indentq">Near the dead body happily be brought,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Oft't hath been prov'd the breathless corps will bleed."<a name="FNanchor_i_373:A_714" id="FNanchor_i_373:A_714"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_373:A_714" class="fnanchor">[373:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of the prose authorities, besides Lupton, and Sir Kenelm Digby mentioned -in the notes of the Variorum Edition of our author, Lavaterus, Reginald -Scot, and King James may be quoted, as reposing an implicit faith in the -miracle. The <i>first</i> of these writers tells us, in his English dress, of -1572, that "some men beeing slayne by theeves, when the theeves come to -the dead body, by and by there gusheth out freshe blood, or else there -is declaration by other tokens, that the theefe is there present;" and -he then adds, "touching these and other such marvellous things there -might be many histories and testimonies alleaged. But whosoever readeth -this booke, may call to their remembraunce, that they have scene these -and suche like things themselves, or that they have heard them of their -freends and acquaintaunce and of such as deserve sufficient -credit."<a name="FNanchor_i_373:B_715" id="FNanchor_i_373:B_715"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_373:B_715" class="fnanchor">[373:B]</a> The <i>second</i>, in 1584, justifying what he terms common -experience, says, "I have heard by credible report, and I have read many -grave authors constantlie affirme, that the wound of a man murthered -reneweth bleeding; at the presence of a deere freend, or of a mortall -enimie<a name="FNanchor_i_373:C_716" id="FNanchor_i_373:C_716"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_373:C_716" class="fnanchor">[373:C]</a>;" and the third, in 1603, asserts, that "in a secret -murther, if the dead carkasse bee at any time thereafter handled by the -murtherer, it will gush out of bloud, as if the bloud were crying to the -heaven for revenge of the murtherer, God having appointed that secret -supernaturall signe, for triall of that secret unnaturall crime."<a name="FNanchor_i_373:D_717" id="FNanchor_i_373:D_717"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_373:D_717" class="fnanchor">[373:D]</a></p> - -<p>The influence of sympathy or <i>affection</i> as it was termed, at the period -of which we are writing, over the passions and feelings of the human -mind, is curiously, though correctly exemplified by the poet, in the -character of Shylock, who tells the Duke—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 374 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_374" id="Page_i_374">[374]</a></span><div class="line">"Some men there are, love not a gaping pig;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Some, that are mad, if they behold a cat;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And others, when the bag-pipe sings i' the nose,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Cannot contain their urine; for <i>affection</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of what it likes and loaths."<a name="FNanchor_i_374:A_718" id="FNanchor_i_374:A_718"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_374:A_718" class="fnanchor">[374:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Another sympathy mentioned by Shakspeare, but of a nature wholly -superstitious, relates to the Mandrake, a vegetable, the root of which -was supposed to be endued with animal life, and to shriek so horribly -when drawn out of the ground, as to occasion madness, and even death, in -those who made the attempt:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">—————— "What with loathsome smells,</div> - <div class="line">And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth,</div> - <div class="line">That living mortals, hearing them, run mad;</div> - <div class="line">O! if I wake, shall I not be distraught?"<a name="FNanchor_i_374:B_719" id="FNanchor_i_374:B_719"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_374:B_719" class="fnanchor">[374:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">exclaims Juliet; and Suffolk, in King Henry the Sixth, declares that -every joint of his body should curse and ban his enemies,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan."<a name="FNanchor_i_374:C_720" id="FNanchor_i_374:C_720"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_374:C_720" class="fnanchor">[374:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>To avoid these dreadful effects, it was the custom of those who -collected this root, to compel some animal to be the instrument of -extraction, and consequently the object of punishment. "They doe -affyrme," says Bulleine, "that this herbe (the Mandragora) commeth of -the seede of some convicted dead men: and also without the death of some -lyvinge thinge it cannot be drawnen out of the earth to man's use. -Therefore they did tye some dogge or other lyving beast unto the roote -thereof wyth a corde, and digged the earth in compasse round about, and -in the meane tyme stopp'd their own eares for feare of the terrible -shriek and cry of this Mandrack. In whych cry it doth not only dye -itselfe, but the feare thereof kylleth the dogge or beast which pulleth -it out of the earth."<a name="FNanchor_i_374:D_721" id="FNanchor_i_374:D_721"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_374:D_721" class="fnanchor">[374:D]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 375 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_375" id="Page_i_375">[375]</a></span>One of the most fantastic sympathies which yet lingers in the popular -creed, is founded on the idea that when a person is seized with a sudden -shivering, some one is walking over his future grave. "Probably," -remarks Mr. Grose, "all persons are not subject to this sensation; -otherwise the inhabitants of those parishes, whose burial grounds lie in -the common foot-path, would live in one continual fit of -shaking."<a name="FNanchor_i_375:A_722" id="FNanchor_i_375:A_722"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_375:A_722" class="fnanchor">[375:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of all the modes of sympathetic credulity, however, none was more -prevalent in the reign of James the First, than that which pretended to -the cure of wounds and diseases; no stronger proof, indeed, can be given -of the credulity of that age, than that Bacon was a believer in the -sympathetic cure of warts<a name="FNanchor_i_375:B_723" id="FNanchor_i_375:B_723"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_375:B_723" class="fnanchor">[375:B]</a>, and, with James and his court, in the -efficacy of Sir Kenelm Digby's sympathetic powder. To this far-famed -medicine, the secret of which King James obtained from Sir Kenelm, it is -said, by the Knight himself, in his Discourse on Sympathy, that Mr. -James Howel, the well-known author of the Letters, was indebted for a -cure, when his hand was severely wounded in endeavouring to part two of -his friends engaged in a duel. The King, out of regard to Howel, sent -him his own surgeon; but a gangrene being apprehended, from the violence -of the inflammation, the sufferer was induced to apply to Sir Kenelm, of -whose mode of treatment he had heard the most wonderful accounts.</p> - -<p>"I asked him," relates Digby, "for any thing that had the blood upon it; -so he presently sent for his garter, wherewith his hand was first bound; -and as I called for a bason of water, as if I would wash my hands, I -took a handfull of powder of vitriol, which I had in my study, and -presently dissolved it. As soon as the bloody garter was brought me, I -put it within the bason, observing in the interim, what Mr. Howel did, -who stood talking with a gentleman in a corner of my chamber, not -regarding at all what I was doing; but he started suddenly as if he had -found some strange alteration in himself. I asked <!-- Page 376 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_376" id="Page_i_376">[376]</a></span>him what he ailed? 'I -know not what ailes me; but I finde that I feel no more pain. Methinks -that a pleasing kinde of freshnesse, as it were a wet cold napkin, did -spread over my hand, which hath taken away the inflammation that -tormented me before.' I reply'd, 'Since then that you feel already so -good effect of my medicament, I advise you to cast away all your -playsters; only keep the wound clean, and in a moderate temper betwixt -heat and cold.' This was presently reported to the Duke of Buckingham, -and a little after to the king, who were both very curious to know the -circumstance of the businesse, which was, that after dinner I took the -garter out of the water, and put it to dry before a great fire. It was -scarce dry, but Mr. Howel's servant came running that his master felt as -much burning as ever he had done, if not more: for the heat was such as -if his hand were twixt coles of fire. I answered, although that had -happened at present, yet he should find ease in a short time; for I knew -the reason of this new accident, and would provide accordingly; for his -master should be free from that inflammation, it may be before he could -possibly return to him: but in case he found no ease, I wished him to -come presently back again; if not, he might forbear coming. Thereupon he -went; and at the instant I did put again the garter into the water, -thereupon he found his master without any pain at all. To be brief, -there was no sense of pain afterward; but within five or six dayes the -wounds were cicatrized, and entirely healed."<a name="FNanchor_i_376:A_724" id="FNanchor_i_376:A_724"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_376:A_724" class="fnanchor">[376:A]</a></p> - -<p>To this marvellous cure, which may in truth be attributed to the -dismission of the plasters, we may add that a similar sanative and -sympathetic power was conceived to subsist between the wounds and the -instrument which inflicted them. Thus anointing the weapon with a salve, -or stroking it in a peculiar manner, had an immediate effect on the -wounded person. "They can remedie," says Scot, "anie stranger, and him -that is absent, with that <i>verie sword</i> wherewith they are wounded. Yea, -and that which is beyond all <!-- Page 377 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_377" id="Page_i_377">[377]</a></span>admiration, if they stroke the sworde -upwards with their fingers, the partie shall feele no paine: whereas if -they drawe their finger downewards thereupon, the partie wounded shall -feele intollerable paine."<a name="FNanchor_i_377:A_725" id="FNanchor_i_377:A_725"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_377:A_725" class="fnanchor">[377:A]</a></p> - -<p>Independent of the superstitions which we have thus classed under -distinct heads, there remain several to be noticed, not clearly -referrible to any part of the above arrangement; but which cannot with -propriety be omitted. These may, therefore, be collected under the term -<span class="allcapsc">MISCELLANEOUS</span>, which will be found to include many curious particulars, -in no slight degree illustrative of the subject under consideration.</p> - -<p>In the <i>Tempest</i>, towards the close of the fourth act, the poet -represents Prospero and Ariel setting on spirits, in the shape of -hounds, to hunt Stephano and Trinculo, while, at the same time, a noise -of hunters is heard.<a name="FNanchor_i_377:B_726" id="FNanchor_i_377:B_726"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_377:B_726" class="fnanchor">[377:B]</a> This species of diabolical or spectral chase -was a popular article of belief, and is mentioned or alluded to in many -of the numerous books which were written, during this period, on devils -and spectres. Lavaterus, treating of the various modes in which spirits -act, says, "heereunto belongeth those things which are reported touching -the <i>chasing or hunting of Divels</i>, and also of the daunces of dead men, -which are of sundrie sortes. I have heard of some which have avouched, -that they have seene them<a name="FNanchor_i_377:C_727" id="FNanchor_i_377:C_727"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_377:C_727" class="fnanchor">[377:C]</a>;" and in a translation from the French -of Peter de Loier's <i>Treatise of Spectres</i>, published in 1605, a chase -of this kind is mentioned under the appellation of <i>Arthur's Chace</i>, -"which many," observes this writer, "believe to be in France, and think -that it is a kennel of black dogs, followed by unknown huntsmen, with an -exceeding great sound of horns, as if it was a very hunting of some wild -beast."<a name="FNanchor_i_377:D_728" id="FNanchor_i_377:D_728"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_377:D_728" class="fnanchor">[377:D]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 378 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_378" id="Page_i_378">[378]</a></span>Of a chase of this supernatural description, Boccacio, in the -fourteenth century, made an admirable use in his terrific tale of -Theodore and Honoria; a narrative which has received new charms and -additional horrors from the masterly imitation of Dryden; and in our own -days the same impressive superstition has been productive of a like -effect in the spirited ballad of Burger.</p> - -<p>The hell-hounds of Shakspeare appear to be sufficiently formidable; for, -not merely commissioned to hunt their victims, they are ordered, -likewise, as goblins, to</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">————————— "grind their joints</div> - <div class="line">With dry convulsions; shorten up their sinews</div> - <div class="line">With aged cramps; and more pinch-spotted make them,</div> - <div class="line">Than pard, or cat o'mountain.</div> - <div class="line i6">Hark, (<i>exclaims Ariel</i>) they roar.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line"><i>Prospero.</i> Let them be hunted soundly."<a name="FNanchor_i_378:A_729" id="FNanchor_i_378:A_729"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_378:A_729" class="fnanchor">[378:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The punishments which our poet has assigned to sinners in the infernal -regions, are most probably founded on the fictions of the monks, who, -not content with the infliction of mere fire as a source of torment, -condemn the damned to suffer the alternations of heat and cold; to -experience the cravings of extreme hunger and thirst, and to be driven -by whirlwinds through the immensity of space. In correspondence with -these legendary horrors, are the descriptions attributed to Claudio in -<i>Measure for Measure</i>, and to the Ghost in <i>Hamlet</i>:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<i>Claudio.</i> Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;</div> - <div class="line">To lie in cold obstruction, and to rot:</div> - <div class="line">This sensible warm motion to become</div> - <div class="line">A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit</div> - <div class="line">To <i>bathe in fiery floods</i>, or to reside,</div> - <div class="line"><i>In thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice</i>;</div> - <div class="line">To be <i>imprison'd in the viewless winds,</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>And blown with restless violence round about</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>The pendent world</i>; or to be worse than worst</div> - <div class="line"><!-- Page 379 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_379" id="Page_i_379">[379]</a></span>Of those, that lawless and uncertain thoughts</div> - <div class="line">Imagine howling!—'tis too horrible!"<a name="FNanchor_i_379:A_730" id="FNanchor_i_379:A_730"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_379:A_730" class="fnanchor">[379:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">————— "I am thy father's spirit;</div> - <div class="line">Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night;</div> - <div class="line">And, for the day, <i>confined to fast in fires</i>,</div> - <div class="line">Till the foul crimes, done in my days of nature,</div> - <div class="line">Are burnt and purg'd away."<a name="FNanchor_i_379:B_731" id="FNanchor_i_379:B_731"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_379:B_731" class="fnanchor">[379:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Imagery somewhat similar to this may be found in the vulgar Latin -version of Job xxiv. 19.<a name="FNanchor_i_379:C_732" id="FNanchor_i_379:C_732"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_379:C_732" class="fnanchor">[379:C]</a>, and in the Inferno and Purgatorio of -Dante<a name="FNanchor_i_379:D_733" id="FNanchor_i_379:D_733"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_379:D_733" class="fnanchor">[379:D]</a>; but Shakspeare had sufficient authorities in his own -language. An old homily, quoted by Dr. Farmer, speaking of the pains of -hell, says "the fyrste is fyre that ever brenneth, and never gyveth -lighte; the seconde is passying cold, that yf a greate hylle of fyre -were cast therein, it shold torne to yce<a name="FNanchor_i_379:E_734" id="FNanchor_i_379:E_734"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_379:E_734" class="fnanchor">[379:E]</a>;" and Chaucer, in his -<i>Assemblie of Foules</i>, describing the situation of souls in hell, -declares that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">—— "breakers of the lawe, sothe to saine,</div> - <div class="line">And lickerous folke, after that they been dede</div> - <div class="line"><i>Shall whirle about the world</i>, alway in paine</div> - <div class="line">Till many a world be passed."<a name="FNanchor_i_379:F_735" id="FNanchor_i_379:F_735"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_379:F_735" class="fnanchor">[379:F]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 380 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_380" id="Page_i_380">[380]</a></span>The same doctrine is taught in that once popular and curious old work -<i>The Shepherd's Calendar</i>, which so frequently issued from the presses -of Wynkyn De Worde, Pynson, and Julian Notary. Among the torments of the -damned, the first enumerated</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">——— "is fire so hote to rekenne</div> - <div class="line">That no manere of thynge may slekenne,</div> - <div class="line">The secunde is colde as seith some</div> - <div class="line">That no hete of fire may over come;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Lazarus, describing the punishment of the <span class="smcap">Envious</span>, says,—"I have -seen in hell a flood frozen as ice, wherein the <i>envious</i> men and women -were plunged unto the navel; and then suddenly came over them a right -cold and a great wind, that grieved and pained them right sore, and when -they would evite and eschew the wonderful blasts of the wind, they -plunged into water with great shouts and cries, lamentable to -hear<a name="FNanchor_i_380:A_736" id="FNanchor_i_380:A_736"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_380:A_736" class="fnanchor">[380:A]</a>;" and again in the eighteenth chapter of the same work, it -is related, as the reward of them that keep the ten commandments of the -Devil, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">—— "a <i>great froste</i> in a water rounes</div> - <div class="line">And after a <i>bytter wynde</i> comes</div> - <div class="line">Whiche gothe through the soules with yre."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In the <i>Songes and Sonnets</i>, also, by Lord Surrey, and others, which -were first published in 1557, the pains of hell are depicted as -partaking of the like vicissitude:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The soules that lacked grace</div> - <div class="line indentq">Which lye in bitter paine,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Are not in suche a place,</div> - <div class="line indentq">As foolish folke do faine;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Tormented all with <i>fyre</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And boyle in leade againe—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Then cast in <i>frozen pites</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To <i>freze</i> there certein howres."<a name="FNanchor_i_380:B_737" id="FNanchor_i_380:B_737"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_380:B_737" class="fnanchor">[380:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 381 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_381" id="Page_i_381">[381]</a></span>Hunger and thirst, as forming part of the sufferings of the damned, are -alluded to by Chaucer in his Parson's Tale<a name="FNanchor_i_381:A_738" id="FNanchor_i_381:A_738"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_381:A_738" class="fnanchor">[381:A]</a>, and by Nash in one of -his numerous pamphlets: "Whether," says he, speaking of hell, "it be a -place of horror, stench, and darkness, where men see <i>meat, but can get -none, and are ever thirsty</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_381:B_739" id="FNanchor_i_381:B_739"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_381:B_739" class="fnanchor">[381:B]</a></p> - -<p>Heywood in his <i>Hierarchie of Angels</i><a name="FNanchor_i_381:C_740" id="FNanchor_i_381:C_740"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_381:C_740" class="fnanchor">[381:C]</a>, and Milton in his -<i>Paradise Lost</i>, have adopted Claudio's description of the infernal -abode with regard to the interchange of heat and cold; the picture which -the latter has drawn completely fills up the outline of Shakspeare:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Beyond —— a frozen continent</div> - <div class="line">Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms</div> - <div class="line">Of whirlwind and dire hail——</div> - <div class="line">Thither by harpy-footed furies hal'd,</div> - <div class="line">At certain revolutions, all the damn'd</div> - <div class="line">Are brought; and feel by turns the bitter change</div> - <div class="line">Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce,</div> - <div class="line">From beds of raging fire, to starve in ice</div> - <div class="line">Their soft ethereal warmth, and there to pine</div> - <div class="line">Immovable, infix'd, and frozen round,</div> - <div class="line">Periods of time, thence hurried back to fire."<a name="FNanchor_i_381:D_741" id="FNanchor_i_381:D_741"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_381:D_741" class="fnanchor">[381:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The Platonic doctrine or superstition relative to the harmony of the -spheres, and of the human soul, was a favourite embellishment, both in -prose and poetry, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. -Spenser, Shakspeare, Hooker, Milton, have all adopted it as a mode of -illustration, and it forms, in the works of our great Dramatist, one of -his most splendid and beautiful passages:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"How sweet the moon-light sleeps upon this bank!</div> - <div class="line indentq">Here will we sit, and let the sounds of musick</div> - <div class="line indentq">Creep in our ears; soft stillness, and the night,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Become the touches of sweet harmony.</div> - <div class="line indentq"><!-- Page 382 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_382" id="Page_i_382">[382]</a></span>Sit, Jessica: Look, how the floor of heaven</div> - <div class="line indentq">Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold;</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>There's not the smallest orb, which thou behold'st,</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>But in his motion like an angel sings,</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Still quiring to the young-ey'd cherubins:</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Such harmony is in immortal souls;</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_382:A_742" id="FNanchor_i_382:A_742"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_382:A_742" class="fnanchor">[382:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The opinion of Plato, as expressed in the tenth book of his -<i>Republic</i><a name="FNanchor_i_382:B_743" id="FNanchor_i_382:B_743"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_382:B_743" class="fnanchor">[382:B]</a> and in his <i>Timæus</i>, represents the music of the -spheres as so rapid, sweet, and variously inflected, as to exceed all -power in the human ear to measure its proportions, and consequently it -is not to be heard of man, while resident in this fleshly mould. The -same species of harmony is averred by Hooker<a name="FNanchor_i_382:C_744" id="FNanchor_i_382:C_744"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_382:C_744" class="fnanchor">[382:C]</a> and Shakspeare to -reside in the human soul; but, says the latter, "whilst this muddy -vesture of decay doth grossly close this musick in, we cannot hear it:" -that is, whilst the soul is immured in the body, it is neither conscious -of its own harmony, nor of that existing in the spheres; but no sooner -shall it be freed from this incumbrance, and become a <i>pure spirit</i>, -than it shall be sensible both to its <i>own concord of sweet sounds</i>, and -to that <i>diapason</i> or concentus which is addressed by the nine muses or -syrens to the Supreme Being,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"That undisturbed song of <i>pure concent</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Aye sung before the sapphire-colour'd throne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To <i>Him</i> that sits thereon."<a name="FNanchor_i_382:D_745" id="FNanchor_i_382:D_745"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_382:D_745" class="fnanchor">[382:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of the various superstitions relative to the <i>Moon</i>, which prevailed in -the days of Shakspeare, a few are still retained. The most common is -that founded on the idea of a human creature being <!-- Page 383 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_383" id="Page_i_383">[383]</a></span>imprisoned in this -beautiful planet. The culprit was generally supposed to be the sinner -recorded in Numbers, chap. xv. v. 32., who was found gathering sticks -upon the sabbath day; a crime to which Chaucer has added the iniquity of -theft; for he describes this singular inhabitant as</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Bearing a bush of thornes on his backe,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Which for his <i>theft</i> might clime no ner the heven."<a name="FNanchor_i_383:A_746" id="FNanchor_i_383:A_746"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_383:A_746" class="fnanchor">[383:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">The Italians, however, appropriate this luminary for the residence of -Cain, and one of their early poets even speaks of the planet under the -term of <i>Caino e le spine</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_383:B_747" id="FNanchor_i_383:B_747"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_383:B_747" class="fnanchor">[383:B]</a> Shakspeare, with his usual attention -to propriety of character, attributes a belief in this superstition to -the monster Caliban:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<i>Calib.</i> Hast thou not dropped from heaven?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Steph.</i> Out o'the moon, I do assure thee: I was the man in the moon, when time was.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Cal.</i> I have seen thee in her, and I do adore thee;</div> - <div class="line">My mistress shewed me thee, thy dog and bush."<a name="FNanchor_i_383:C_748" id="FNanchor_i_383:C_748"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_383:C_748" class="fnanchor">[383:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The influence of the moon over diseases bodily and intellectual; its -virtue in all magical rites; its appearances as predictive of evil and -good, and its power over the weather and over many of the minor concerns -of life, such as the gathering of herbs, the killing of animals for the -table, &c. &c. were much more firmly and universally accredited in the -sixteenth century than at present; although we must admit, that traces -of all these credulities may still be found; and that in medical -science, the doctrine of lunar influence still, and to a certain extent, -perhaps with probability, exists.</p> - -<p>Shakspeare addresses the moon as the "sovereign mistress of true -melancholy<a name="FNanchor_i_383:D_749" id="FNanchor_i_383:D_749"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_383:D_749" class="fnanchor">[383:D]</a>;" tells us, that when "she comes more near to the -earth than she was wont," she "makes men mad<a name="FNanchor_i_383:E_750" id="FNanchor_i_383:E_750"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_383:E_750" class="fnanchor">[383:E]</a>;" and that, when she -is <!-- Page 384 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_384" id="Page_i_384">[384]</a></span>"pale in her anger—rheumatic diseases do abound."<a name="FNanchor_i_384:A_751" id="FNanchor_i_384:A_751"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_384:A_751" class="fnanchor">[384:A]</a> He tells -us, also, through the medium of Hecate, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Upon the corner of the moon</div> - <div class="line indentq">There hangs a vaporous drop profound"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">of power to compel the obedience of infernal spirits<a name="FNanchor_i_384:B_752" id="FNanchor_i_384:B_752"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_384:B_752" class="fnanchor">[384:B]</a>; and that -its eclipses<a name="FNanchor_i_384:C_753" id="FNanchor_i_384:C_753"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_384:C_753" class="fnanchor">[384:C]</a>, its sanguine colour<a name="FNanchor_i_384:D_754" id="FNanchor_i_384:D_754"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_384:D_754" class="fnanchor">[384:D]</a>, and its apparent -multiplication<a name="FNanchor_i_384:E_755" id="FNanchor_i_384:E_755"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_384:E_755" class="fnanchor">[384:E]</a>, are certain prognostics of disaster.</p> - -<p>To kill hogs, to collect herbs, and to sow seed, when the moon was -increasing, was deemed a most essential observance; the bacon was -better, the plants more effective, and the crops more abundant in -consequence of this attention. Implicit confidence was also placed in -the new moon as a prognosticator of the weather, according to its -position, or the curvature of its horns; and it was hailed by blessings -and supplications; the women especially, both in England and Scotland, -were accustomed to curtesy to the new moon, and on the first night of -its appearance the unmarried part of the sex would frequently, sitting -astride on a gate or stile, invoke its influence in the following -curious terms:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"All hail to the Moon, all hail to thee,</div> - <div class="line indentq">I prithee good Moon declare to me,</div> - <div class="line indentq">This night who my husband shall be."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The credulity of the country was particularly directed at this period, -including the close of the sixteenth century, and the beginning of the -seventeenth century, towards the numerous relations of the existence of -<span class="allcapsc">MONSTERS</span> of various kinds; and Shakspeare, who more than any other poet, -availed himself of the superstitious follies of his time, hath -repeatedly both introduced, and satirized, these objects, as articles -of, and exciters of the popular belief. His Caliban, a monster <!-- Page 385 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_385" id="Page_i_385">[385]</a></span>of his -own creation, and, poetically considered, one of the most striking -products of his imagination, will be noticed at length in another place, -and we shall here confine ourselves to his description of the monsters -which, as objects of historical record, had lately become the theme of -credulous wonder, and general speculation.</p> - -<p>Othello, in his speech before the senators, familiarly alludes to</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—— "the Cannibals that each other eat,</div> - <div class="line">The <i>Anthropophagi, and men whose heads</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Do grow beneath their shoulders</i>:"<a name="FNanchor_i_385:A_756" id="FNanchor_i_385:A_756"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_385:A_756" class="fnanchor">[385:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Gonzaga, in the <i>Tempest</i>, exclaims:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Who would believe that there were mountaineers,</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Dewlapp'd like bulls, whose throats had hanging at them</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Wallets of flesh</i>? or that there were such <i>men,</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Whose heads stood in their breasts</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_385:B_757" id="FNanchor_i_385:B_757"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_385:B_757" class="fnanchor">[385:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>These monsters, and many others, which had been described in the -editions of Maundeville's Travels, published by Wynkyn De Worde and -Pynson in 1499-1503, &c. were revived, with fresh claims to belief, by -the voyagers and natural historians of the poet's age. In 1581, -Professor Batman printed his "Doome, warning all men to the judgemente," -in which not only the <i>Anthropophagi, who eat man's flesh</i>, are -mentioned, but various other races, such as the <i>Œthiopes</i> with four -eyes, the <i>Hippopodes</i>, with their nether parts like horses, the -<i>Arimaspi</i> with one eye in the forehead, &c. &c., and to these he adds -"men called <i>Monopoli</i>, who <i>have no head, but a face in their -breaste</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_385:C_758" id="FNanchor_i_385:C_758"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_385:C_758" class="fnanchor">[385:C]</a> In 1596 these marvels were corroborated by Sir Walter -Ralegh's <i>Discoverie of Guiana</i><a name="FNanchor_i_385:D_759" id="FNanchor_i_385:D_759"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_385:D_759" class="fnanchor">[385:D]</a>, an empire, which, he affirms, -was productive of a similar generation; and Hackluyt, in 1598, tells us -that, "on that branch which is called Caora, are a nation of a <!-- Page 386 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_386" id="Page_i_386">[386]</a></span>people -<i>whose heades appeare not above their shoulders</i>: they are reported to -have their eyes in their shoulders, and their mouthes in the middle of -their breasts."</p> - -<p>With the mere English scholar, classical authority was given to these -tales by Philemon Holland's Translation of Pliny's Natural History in -1601, where are the following descriptions both of the <i>Anthropophagi</i> -and of the men <i>whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders</i>:—"The -Anthropophagi or eaters of man's flesh whom we have placed about the -North pole, tenne daies journey by land above the river Borysthenes, use -to drinke out of the sculs of men's heads, and to weare the scalpes, -haire and all, in steed of mandellions or stomachers before their -breasts."<a name="FNanchor_i_386:A_760" id="FNanchor_i_386:A_760"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_386:A_760" class="fnanchor">[386:A]</a> "The Blemmyi, by report, have no heads, but mouth and -eies both in their breast<a name="FNanchor_i_386:B_761" id="FNanchor_i_386:B_761"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_386:B_761" class="fnanchor">[386:B]</a>;" and again, "beyond these westward, -some there bee without heads standing upon their neckes, who carrie eies -in their shoulders."<a name="FNanchor_i_386:C_762" id="FNanchor_i_386:C_762"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_386:C_762" class="fnanchor">[386:C]</a></p> - -<p>It is, also, very probable that the attention of Shakspeare was still -further drawn to these headless monsters by the labours of the engraver; -for in Este's edition of Maundeville's Travels, an attempt is made to -delineate one of these deformities, who is represented with the eyes, -nose, and mouth situated on the breast and stomach; and in a translation -of Ralegh's Guiana into Latin, by Hulse, in 1599, a similar plate is -given.<a name="FNanchor_i_386:D_763" id="FNanchor_i_386:D_763"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_386:D_763" class="fnanchor">[386:D]</a></p> - -<p>That our author viewed this partiality in the public mind for wonders -and strange spectacles, with a smile of contempt, and was willing to -seize an opportunity for ridiculing the mania, appears evident from a -passage in his <i>Tempest</i>, where Trinculo, discovering Caliban extended -on the ground, supposes him to be a species of fish, and observes, "Were -I in England now (as once I was) and had <!-- Page 387 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_387" id="Page_i_387">[387]</a></span>but this <i>fish</i> painted, not a -holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver: there would this -monster make a man; any strange beast there makes a man: when they will -not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a -dead Indian."<a name="FNanchor_i_387:A_764" id="FNanchor_i_387:A_764"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_387:A_764" class="fnanchor">[387:A]</a></p> - -<p><i>Wild Indians</i>, <i>curious fishes</i>, and <i>crocodiles</i>, seem to have been -singularly numerous in London at this epoch, having been brought thither -by several of our enterprising navigators; and by those who crowded from -every part of the country to view them, many superstitious marvels were -connected with their natural history. Of <i>three</i> or <i>four savages</i> which -Frobisher took in his first voyage, one, we are told, "for very choler -and disdain bit his tong in twaine within his mouth: notwithstanding he -died not thereof, but lived untill he came in Englande, and then he died -of colde, which he had taken at sea<a name="FNanchor_i_387:B_765" id="FNanchor_i_387:B_765"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_387:B_765" class="fnanchor">[387:B]</a>;" the survivors, there is -every reason to suppose, were exhibited; for in the year 1577, there was -entered on the books of the Stationers' Company, "A description of the -portrayture and shape of those strange kinde of people which the worthie -Mr. Martin Fourbosier brought into England in Ao 1576<a name="FNanchor_i_387:C_766" id="FNanchor_i_387:C_766"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_387:C_766" class="fnanchor">[387:C]</a>;" and Mr. -Chalmers relates, that "Lord Southampton, and Sir Francis Gorges, -engaging in voyages of discovery, sent out, in 1611, two vessels under -the command of Harlie, and Nicolas, who sailed along the New England -coast, where they were sometimes well, and often ill, received, by the -natives; and returned to England, in the same year, with <i>five savages</i>, -on board. In 1614, Captain Smith carried out to New England one of those -savages, named <i>Tantum</i>; Captains Harlie and Hopson transported, in the -same year, two others of those savages, called <i>Epenow</i>, and <i>Manawet</i>; -one of those savages adventured to the European continent; and the -<i>fifth Indian</i>, of whom no account is given, we may easily suppose died -in London, and was exhibited for a show."<a name="FNanchor_i_387:D_767" id="FNanchor_i_387:D_767"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_387:D_767" class="fnanchor">[387:D]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 388 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_388" id="Page_i_388">[388]</a></span>We learn from a publication of Churchyard's in 1578, that Frobisher's -crew found a "<i>straunge fish</i> dead, that had been caste from the sea on -the shore, who had a boane in his head like an Unicorne, which they -brought awaye, and presented to our Prince, when thei came home<a name="FNanchor_i_388:A_768" id="FNanchor_i_388:A_768"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_388:A_768" class="fnanchor">[388:A]</a>;" -and from the Stationers' Books, that, in 1604, an account was printed -"of a monstrous <i>fish</i>, that appeared in the form of a woman from her -waist upward, seene in the sea."<a name="FNanchor_i_388:B_769" id="FNanchor_i_388:B_769"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_388:B_769" class="fnanchor">[388:B]</a> That the credulity of the public -in Elizabeth's days was remarkably great in swallowing the most -marvellous details in natural history, is proved by a curious scene in -the "City Match" of Jasper Mayne, which, though first acted in 1639, -refers to the age of Elizabeth, as to a period fertile in these wondrous -exhibitions. A set of knaves are described as <i>hanging out the picture -of a strange fish</i>, which they affirm is the <i>fifth</i> they have shown; -and the following dialogue takes place relative to the inscription on -the place which included the monster:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<i>Holland.</i> Pray, can you read that? Sir, I warrant</div> - <div class="line">That tells where it was caught, and what fish 'tis.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Plotwell.</i> <i>Within this place is to be seen,</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>A wonderous fish. God save——the Queen.</i></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Hol.</i> Amen! She is my customer, and I</div> - <div class="line">Have sold her bone-lace often.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Bright.</i> Why the Queen? 'Tis writ the King.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Plot.</i> That was to make the rhime.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Bright.</i> 'Slid, thou did'st read it as twere some picture of</div> - <div class="line">An <i>Elizabeth-fish</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_388:C_770" id="FNanchor_i_388:C_770"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_388:C_770" class="fnanchor">[388:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 389 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_389" id="Page_i_389">[389]</a></span>A boy is then introduced, who sings a song upon the fish, commencing -with these lines:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"We show no monstrous <i>crocodile</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Nor any prodigy of Nile;"<a name="FNanchor_i_389:A_771" id="FNanchor_i_389:A_771"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_389:A_771" class="fnanchor">[389:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">which again alludes to the monster-loving propensities of good Queen -Bess's subjects; for Batman in his work upon Bartholome, published in -1582, says,—"Of late years there hath been brought into England, the -cases or skinnes of such <i>crocodiles</i>, to be seene, and much money given -for the sight thereof; the policy of strangers," he adds, in the spirit -of Shakspeare, "laugh at our folly, either that we are too wealthy, or -else that we know not how to bestow our money<a name="FNanchor_i_389:B_772" id="FNanchor_i_389:B_772"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_389:B_772" class="fnanchor">[389:B]</a>;" and Bullokar, in -his <i>English Expositor</i> of 1616, confirms the charge by telling us, that -a dead <i>crocodile</i>, "but in perfect forme," and nine feet long, had -lately been exhibited in London, a fact to which he annexes the -following tradition:—"It is written," he remarks, "that he will weep -over a man's head when he hath devoured the body, and then he will eat -up the head too. Wherefore—crocodiles tears signifie such tears as are -fained, and spent only with intent to deceive or doe harme."<a name="FNanchor_i_389:C_773" id="FNanchor_i_389:C_773"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_389:C_773" class="fnanchor">[389:C]</a> Of -this superstition Shakspeare has made a poetical use in two of his -dramas: Margaret in <i>Henry VI.</i> Part 2. complains that Gloucester -beguiles the king,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————— "as the mournful crocodile</div> - <div class="line">With sorrow snares relenting passengers:"<a name="FNanchor_i_389:D_774" id="FNanchor_i_389:D_774"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_389:D_774" class="fnanchor">[389:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Othello, execrating the supposed duplicity of Desdemona, exclaims,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"If that the earth could teem with woman's tears,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile."<a name="FNanchor_i_389:E_775" id="FNanchor_i_389:E_775"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_389:E_775" class="fnanchor">[389:E]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 390 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_390" id="Page_i_390">[390]</a></span>Many superstitions relative to the <span class="smcap">Dying</span>, existed at this time, among -all ranks of people, and a few of these have been preserved by our poet. -One of the most general was built on the belief, that Satan, or some of -his infernal host, watched the death-bed of every individual, and, if -impenitence or irreligion appeared, immediately took possession of the -soul. The death-scene of Cardinal Beaufort is an admirable -exemplification of this appalling idea; Henry is appealing to the -Almighty in behalf of the agonised sinner, and utters the following -pious petition:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"O thou eternal Mover of the heavens,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch!</div> - <div class="line indentq">O, beat away the busy meddling fiend</div> - <div class="line indentq">That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And from his bosom purge this black despair!"<a name="FNanchor_i_390:A_776" id="FNanchor_i_390:A_776"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_390:A_776" class="fnanchor">[390:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The powerful delineation of this scene from the pencil of Sir Joshua -Reynolds, in which the "meddling fiend" is personified in all his -terrors, must be considered in strict accordance with the credulity of -the age; for "in an ancient manuscript book of devotions," relates Mr. -Douce, "written in the reign of Henry VI., there is a prayer addressed -to Saint George, with the following very singular passage: 'Judge for me -whan the moste hedyous and damnable dragons of helle shall be redy to -take my poore soule and engloute it in to theyr infernall -belyes'<a name="FNanchor_i_390:B_777" id="FNanchor_i_390:B_777"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_390:B_777" class="fnanchor">[390:B]</a>;" and the books on demonology and spirits, written in the -reigns of Elizabeth and James, clearly prove that this relic of popish -superstition was still a portion of the popular creed.</p> - -<p>Another singular conception was, that it was necessary in the agonies of -death, to</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Pluck—men's pillows from below their heads,"<a name="FNanchor_i_390:C_778" id="FNanchor_i_390:C_778"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_390:C_778" class="fnanchor">[390:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 391 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_391" id="Page_i_391">[391]</a></span>in order that they might die the easier; a practice founded on the -ridiculous supposition that, if pigeons' feathers formed a part of the -materials of the pillow, it was impossible the sufferer should expire -but in great misery, and that he would probably continue to struggle for -a prodigious length of time in exquisite torture.</p> - -<p>It was common at this period, and the practice, indeed, continued until -the middle of the last century, to consider <span class="smcap">Wells</span> and <span class="smcap">Fountains</span> as -peculiarly sacred and holy, and to visit them as a species of -pilgrimage, or for the healing virtues which superstition had fondly -attributed to them. Many of these wells, which had been much frequented -in London, during the days of Fitzstephen, were closed, or neglected, -when Stowe wrote<a name="FNanchor_i_391:A_779" id="FNanchor_i_391:A_779"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_391:A_779" class="fnanchor">[391:A]</a>; but in the <i>country</i> the habit of resorting to -such springs, and for purposes similar to those which existed in papal -times, was generally preserved. Bourne, who published in 1725, speaks in -language peculiarly descriptive of this superstitious regard for wells -and fountains, not only as it was observed in ancient times, but at the -period in which he lived. "In the dark ages of popery," he says, "it was -a custom, if any <i>well</i> had an awful situation, and was seated in some -lonely melancholy vale; if its water was clear and limpid, and -beautifully margin'd with the tender grass; or if it was look'd upon, as -having a medicinal quality; to gift it to some <i>Saint</i>, and honour it -with his name. Hence it is that we have at this day wells and fountains -called, some <i>St. John's, St. Mary Magdalen's, St. Mary's Well, &c.</i></p> - -<p>"To these kind of wells, the common people are accustomed to go, on a -summer's evening, to refresh themselves with a walk after the toil of -the day, to drink the water of the fountain, and enjoy the pleasing -prospect of shade and stream.</p> - -<p>"Now this custom (though, <i>at this time of day</i>, very commendable, and -harmless, and innocent) seems to be the remains of that superstitious -practice of the Papists, of paying adoration to wells and <!-- Page 392 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_392" id="Page_i_392">[392]</a></span>fountains; -for they imagined there was some holiness and sanctity in them, and so -worshipped them."<a name="FNanchor_i_392:A_780" id="FNanchor_i_392:A_780"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_392:A_780" class="fnanchor">[392:A]</a></p> - -<p>It was in the north especially, where Mr. Bourne resided, that wells of -this description were most frequently to be found, possessing the -advantages of a romantic situation, and preserved with care through the -influence of the traditionary legends of the neighbouring village; for -these retreats were supposed to be the haunts of fairies and good -spirits who were accustomed to meet</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————— "in dale, forest, or mead,</div> - <div class="line">By paved fountain, or by rushy brook."<a name="FNanchor_i_392:B_781" id="FNanchor_i_392:B_781"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_392:B_781" class="fnanchor">[392:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>At these wells offerings were frequently made, either owing to the -conceived sanctity of the place, or from gratitude for imagined benefit -received through the waters of the spring; and as those who had -<!-- Page 393 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_393" id="Page_i_393">[393]</a></span>recourse to these fountains were usually of the lower class, small -pieces of money were given, or even <i>rags</i> suspended on the trees or -bushes which overhung the stream; whence these fountains in many places -obtained the name of <i>Rag-wells</i>. One thus termed is mentioned, by Mr. -Brand, as still exhibiting these tributary shreds at the village of -Benton near Newcastle; Mr. Pennant records two at Spey and Drachaldy in -Scotland; and Mr. Shaw tells us, that in the province of Moray -<i>pilgrimages to wells</i> are not yet obsolete.<a name="FNanchor_i_393:A_782" id="FNanchor_i_393:A_782"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_393:A_782" class="fnanchor">[393:A]</a> In many places in -the North, indeed, there are wells still remaining which were manifestly -intended for the refreshment of the way-worn traveller, and are yet held -in veneration. We have seen some of these with ladles of brass affixed -to the stone-work by a chain, a convenience probably as ancient as the -Anglo-Saxon era.</p> - -<p>Several traditions of a peculiarly superstitious hue, have been -cherished in this country with regard to the <i>bird-tribe</i>, and most of -them have been introduced by our great poet as accessory either to the -terrible, or the pathetic. The ominous croaking of the raven and the -crow have been already mentioned, and we shall therefore, under the -present head, merely advert to a few additional notices relative to the -<i>owl</i> and the <i>ruddock</i>, the former the supposed herald of horror and -disaster, the latter the romantic minister of charity and pity.</p> - -<p>To the fearful bodings of the clamorous owl, which we have already -introduced when treating of omens, may now be added a superstition which -formerly rendered this unlucky bird the peculiar dread of mothers and -nurses. It was firmly believed, that the screech-owl was in the habit of -destroying infants by sucking out their blood and breath as they laid in -the cradle. "Lamiæ," observes Lavaterus, "are things that make children -afrayde. Lamiæ are also called <i>Striges</i>. <i>Striges</i> (as they saye) are -unluckie-birds, whiche sucke out the blood of infants lying in their -cradles. And hereof some men will have witches take their name, who also -are called <a name="FNanchor_i_393:B_783" id="FNanchor_i_393:B_783"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_393:B_783" class="fnanchor">[393:B]</a><i>Volaticæ</i>." <!-- Page 394 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_394" id="Page_i_394">[394]</a></span>This credulity relative to the Strix or -screech-owl may be traced to Ovid<a name="FNanchor_i_394:A_784" id="FNanchor_i_394:A_784"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_394:A_784" class="fnanchor">[394:A]</a>, and is alluded to by -Shakspeare in the following lines:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"We talk of goblins, <i>owls</i>, and elvish sprites;</div> - <div class="line indentq">If we obey them not, this will ensue,</div> - <div class="line indentq">They'll <i>suck out breath</i>, and pinch us black and blue."<a name="FNanchor_i_394:B_785" id="FNanchor_i_394:B_785"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_394:B_785" class="fnanchor">[394:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Another strange legend in the history of the owl is put into the mouth -of the hapless Ophelia:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Well, God 'ield you! They say the owl was a baker's daughter;"<a name="FNanchor_i_394:C_786" id="FNanchor_i_394:C_786"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_394:C_786" class="fnanchor">[394:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">a metamorphosis of which Mr. Douce has given us the origin; he tells us -that it is yet a common story among the vulgar in Gloucestershire, and -is thus related:—"Our Saviour went into a baker's shop where they were -baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop -immediately put a piece of dough into the oven to bake for him; but was -reprimanded by her daughter, who insisting that the piece of dough was -too large, reduced it to a very small size. The dough, however, -immediately afterwards began to swell, and presently became of a most -enormous size. Whereupon the baker's daughter cried out 'Heugh, heugh, -heugh,' which owl-like noise, probably induced our Saviour for her -wickedness to transform her into that bird." He adds that this story was -often related to children, in order to deter them from such illiberal -behaviour to poor people.<a name="FNanchor_i_394:D_787" id="FNanchor_i_394:D_787"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_394:D_787" class="fnanchor">[394:D]</a></p> - -<p>The partiality shown to the <i>ruddock</i> or <i>red-breast</i> seems to have been -founded on the popular ballad of <i>The Children in the Wood</i>, and the -play of <i>Cymbeline</i>. The charitable office, however, which these -productions have ascribed to <i>Robin</i>, has an earlier origin than their -date; for in Thomas Johnson's <i>Cornucopia</i>, 4to. 1596, it is related -that "the robin redbrest if he find a man or woman dead, will cover all -<!-- Page 395 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_395" id="Page_i_395">[395]</a></span>his face with mosse, and some thinke that if the body should remaine -unburied that he would cover the whole body also."<a name="FNanchor_i_395:A_788" id="FNanchor_i_395:A_788"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_395:A_788" class="fnanchor">[395:A]</a> It is highly -probable that this anecdote might give birth to the burial of the babes, -whom no one heeded,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Till <i>Robin-red-breast</i> painfully</div> - <div class="line i1q">Did <i>cover them with leaves</i>;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">for, according to Dr. Percy<a name="FNanchor_i_395:B_789" id="FNanchor_i_395:B_789"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_395:B_789" class="fnanchor">[395:B]</a>, this pathetic narrative was built -upon a play published by Rob. Yarrington in 1601. It is likewise -possible that the same passage occasioned the beautiful lines in the -play of <i>Cymbeline</i>, performed about 1606, where Arviragus, mourning -over Imogen, exclaims—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————— "With fairest flowers,</div> - <div class="line">Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,</div> - <div class="line">I'll sweeten thy sad grave: Thou shalt not lack</div> - <div class="line">The flower, that's like thy face, pale primrose; nor</div> - <div class="line">The azur'd hare-bell, like thy veins; no, nor</div> - <div class="line">The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander,</div> - <div class="line">Out-sweeten'd not thy breath: the <i>ruddock</i> would,</div> - <div class="line">With charitable bill—bring thee <i>all this</i>;</div> - <div class="line">Yea, and furr'd <i>moss</i> besides, when flowers are none,</div> - <div class="line">To winter-ground thy corse."<a name="FNanchor_i_395:C_790" id="FNanchor_i_395:C_790"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_395:C_790" class="fnanchor">[395:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>These interesting pictures of the red-breast would alone be sufficient -to create an affectionate feeling for him; the attachment however has -been ever since kept alive by delineations of a similar kind. In our -author's time Drayton, Webster, and Dekker, have all alluded to this -pleasing tradition: the first in his <i>Owl</i> 1604—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Cov'ring with moss the deads unclosed eye,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The little <i>red-breast</i> teacheth charitie;"<a name="FNanchor_i_395:D_791" id="FNanchor_i_395:D_791"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_395:D_791" class="fnanchor">[395:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">the second in his Tragedy, called <i>The White Devil, or Vittoria -Corombona</i>, 1612—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 396 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_396" id="Page_i_396">[396]</a></span><div class="line">"Call for the <i>robin red-breast</i> and the wren,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Since o'er shady groves they hover,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And with leaves and flowers do cover</div> - <div class="line indentq">The friendless bodies of unburied men;"<a name="FNanchor_i_396:A_792" id="FNanchor_i_396:A_792"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_396:A_792" class="fnanchor">[396:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and the third in one of his pamphlets printed in 1616—"They that cheere -up a prisoner but with their sight, are <i>Robin red-breasts</i> that bring -strawes in their bils to cover a dead man in extremitie."<a name="FNanchor_i_396:B_793" id="FNanchor_i_396:B_793"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_396:B_793" class="fnanchor">[396:B]</a></p> - -<p>Some wonderful properties relative to an imaginary gem, called a -<i>carbuncle</i>, formed likewise a part of the popular creed. It was -supposed to be the most transparent of all the precious stones, and to -possess a native intrinsic lustre so powerful as to illuminate the -atmosphere to a considerable distance around it. It was, therefore, very -appositely adopted by the writers of romance, as an ornament and source -of light for their subterranean palaces, and almost all our elder poets -have gifted it with a similar brilliancy; thus Chaucer, in his <i>Romaunt -of the Rose</i><a name="FNanchor_i_396:C_794" id="FNanchor_i_396:C_794"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_396:C_794" class="fnanchor">[396:C]</a>; Gower, in his <i>Confessio Amantis</i><a name="FNanchor_i_396:D_795" id="FNanchor_i_396:D_795"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_396:D_795" class="fnanchor">[396:D]</a>; Lydgate, -in his <i>Description of King Priam's Palace</i><a name="FNanchor_i_396:E_796" id="FNanchor_i_396:E_796"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_396:E_796" class="fnanchor">[396:E]</a>; and Stephen Hawes, -in his <i>Pastime of Pleasure</i><a name="FNanchor_i_396:F_797" id="FNanchor_i_396:F_797"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_396:F_797" class="fnanchor">[396:F]</a>, have all celebrated it as a kind of -second sun, and the most valuable of earthly products. Chaucer, more -particularly, mentions it as so clear and bright,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"That al so sone as it was night,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Men mightin sene to go for nede</div> - <div class="line indentq">A mile, or two in length and brede,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Such light ysprange out of that stone."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>That this fiction was credited in the days of Elizabeth and James, may -be conceded, not only from the familiar allusions of the poets, but from -the philosophic writers on the superstitions of the age. <!-- Page 397 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_397" id="Page_i_397">[397]</a></span>To the -<i>unborrowed</i> light of the carbuncle, Shakspeare has referred in <i>King -Henry the Eighth</i>, where the Princess Elizabeth is prophetically termed,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————— "a gem</div> - <div class="line">To lighten all this isle;"<a name="FNanchor_i_397:A_798" id="FNanchor_i_397:A_798"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_397:A_798" class="fnanchor">[397:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and in Titus Andronicus, (if that play can be deemed his,) upon the -discovery of Bassianus slaughtered in a pit;</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Martius.</i> Upon his bloody finger he doth wear</div> - <div class="line i4hq">A precious ring, that lightens all the hole,</div> - <div class="line i4hq">——like a taper in some monument;"<a name="FNanchor_i_397:B_799" id="FNanchor_i_397:B_799"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_397:B_799" class="fnanchor">[397:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">He also mentions this "rich jewel" by way of comparison in -Coriolanus<a name="FNanchor_i_397:C_800" id="FNanchor_i_397:C_800"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_397:C_800" class="fnanchor">[397:C]</a>; appropriates it as an ornament to the wheels of -Phœbus's chariot in Cymbeline<a name="FNanchor_i_397:D_801" id="FNanchor_i_397:D_801"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_397:D_801" class="fnanchor">[397:D]</a>; and in the Player's speech in -Hamlet, the eyes of Pyrrhus are said to be "like carbuncles."<a name="FNanchor_i_397:E_802" id="FNanchor_i_397:E_802"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_397:E_802" class="fnanchor">[397:E]</a></p> - -<p>Drayton describes this fabled stone with nearly as much precision as -Chaucer; he calls it</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"——— that admired, mighty stone,</div> - <div class="line">The <i>carbuncle</i> that's named;</div> - <div class="line">Which from it such a flaming light</div> - <div class="line">And radiancy ejecteth,</div> - <div class="line">That in the very darkest night</div> - <div class="line">The eye to it directeth."<a name="FNanchor_i_397:F_803" id="FNanchor_i_397:F_803"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_397:F_803" class="fnanchor">[397:F]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>A modern poet, remarkable for his powers of imagination, has -beautifully, and very happily availed himself of these marvellous -attributes, in describing the magnificent palace of Shedad, a passage -which we shall transcribe, as it leads to an illustrative extract from a -writer of Shakspeare's age:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i2"><!-- Page 398 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_398" id="Page_i_398">[398]</a></span>"Here self-suspended hangs in air,</div> - <div class="line">As its pure substance loathed material touch,</div> - <div class="line i3">The living carbuncle;</div> - <div class="line i3">Sun of the lofty dome,</div> - <div class="line">Darkness has no dominion o'er its beams;</div> - <div class="line">Intense it glows, an ever-flowing tide</div> - <div class="line">Of glory, like the day-flood in its source."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"I have no where seen," says Mr. Southey in a note on these lines, "so -circumstantial an account of its (the carbuncle's) wonderful properties -as in a passage of Thuanus, quoted by Stephanius in his notes to -Saxo-Grammaticus.</p> - -<p>"Whilst the King was at Bologna, a stone, wonderful in its species and -nature, was brought to him from the East Indies, by a man unknown, who -appeared by his manners to be a Barbarian. It sparkled as though all -burning, with an incredible splendour; flashing radiance, and shooting -on every side its beams, it filled the surrounding air to a great -distance with a light scarcely by any eyes endurable. In this also it -was wonderful, that being most impatient of the earth, if it was -confined, it would force its way, and immediately fly aloft; neither -could it be contained by any art of man in a narrow place, but appeared -only to love those of ample extent. It was of the utmost purity, stained -by no soil nor spot. Certain shape it had none, for its figure was -inconstant, and momentarily changing, and though at a distance it was -beautiful to the eye, it would not suffer itself to be handled with -impunity, but hurt those who obstinately struggled with it, as many -persons before many spectators experienced. If by chance any part of it -was broken off, for it was not very hard, it became nothing -less."<a name="FNanchor_i_398:A_804" id="FNanchor_i_398:A_804"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_398:A_804" class="fnanchor">[398:A]</a></p> - -<p>An account equally minute, and in terms nearly similar, occurs in Scot's -Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584, and both were probably taken from the -same source, the writings of Fernel or Fernelius. This physician died in -1558; and his description, as copied by Scot, contributed, no doubt, to -prolong the public credulity in this kingdom; <!-- Page 399 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_399" id="Page_i_399">[399]</a></span>though the English -philosopher attempts to explain the phenomenon by supposing that actual -flame was concentrated and burning in the centre of the gem.</p> - -<p>"Johannes Fernelius writeth of a strange stone latelie brought out of -India, which hath in it such a marvellous brightnes, puritie and -shining, that therewith the aire round about is so lightned and cleared, -that one may see to read thereby in the darknes of night. It will not be -conteined in a close roome, but requireth an open and free place. It -would not willingly rest or staie here belowe on the earth, but alwaies -laboureth to ascend up into the aire. If one presse it downe with his -hand, it resisteth, and striveth verie sharplie. It is beautifull to -behold, without either spot or blemish, and yet verie unpleasant to -taste or feele. If any part thereof be taken awaie, it is never a whit -diminished, the forme thereof being inconstant, and at everie moment -mutable."<a name="FNanchor_i_399:A_805" id="FNanchor_i_399:A_805"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_399:A_805" class="fnanchor">[399:A]</a></p> - -<p>The carbuncle was believed to be an animal substance generated in the -body of a serpent, to possess a sexual distinction, the males having a -star-formed burning nucleus, while the females dispersed their -brilliancy on all sides in a formless blaze; and, like other transparent -gems, to have the power of expelling evil spirits.</p> - -<p>While on the subject of superstitious notions relative to luminous -bodies, we may remark, that in the age of Shakspeare, the wandering -lights, termed <i>Will-o-wisp</i> and <i>Jack-o-Lantern</i>, were supposed by the -common people to be occasioned by demons and malignant fairies, with the -view of leading the benighted traveller to his destruction. "Many -tymes," says Lavaterus, "candles and small fiers appeare in the night, -and seeme to run up and downe;—those fiers some time seeme to come -togither, and by and by to be severed and run abroade, and at the last -to vanish clean away. Somtime these fiers go alone in the night season, -and put such as see them, as they travel by night, in great fear. But -these things, and many suche lyke, have <!-- Page 400 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_400" id="Page_i_400">[400]</a></span>their natural causes: <i>and yet -I will not denye, but that many tymes Dyvels delude men in this -manner</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_400:A_806" id="FNanchor_i_400:A_806"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_400:A_806" class="fnanchor">[400:A]</a></p> - -<p>Stephano, in the <i>Tempest</i>, attributes this phenomenon to the agency of -a mischievous fairy: "Monster, your fairy, which, you say, is a harmless -fairy, has done little better than <i>played the Jack with us</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_400:B_807" id="FNanchor_i_400:B_807"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_400:B_807" class="fnanchor">[400:B]</a></p> - -<p>Various causes have been assigned for the appearance of the <i>ignis -fatuus</i>; modern chemistry asserts it to be occasioned by hydrogen gas, -evolving from decaying vegetables, and the decomposition of pyritic -coal; and when seen hovering on the surface of burial grounds, to -originate from the same gas in a higher state of volatility, through the -agency of phosphoric impregnation.</p> - -<p>The <i>partial</i> view which we have now taken of the superstitions of the -country, as they existed in the age of Shakspeare, will, in part, -demonstrate how great was the credulity subsisting at this period; how -well calculated were many of these popular delusions for the purposes of -the dramatic writer, and how copiously and skilfully have these been -moulded and employed by the great poet of our stage. A considerable -portion also of the manners, customs, and diversions of the country, -which had been necessarily omitted in the preceding chapters, will be -found included in this sketch of a part of the popular creed, and will -contribute to heighten the effect of a picture, which can only receive -its completion through the mutual aid of various subsequent departments -of the present work.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_315:A_599" id="Footnote_i_315:A_599"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_315:A_599"><span class="label">[315:A]</span></a> Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 496.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_316:A_600" id="Footnote_i_316:A_600"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_316:A_600"><span class="label">[316:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 255, 256. Winter's Tale, -act ii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_317:A_601" id="Footnote_i_317:A_601"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_317:A_601"><span class="label">[317:A]</span></a> "Of Ghostes and spirites walking by nyght, and of -strange noyses, crackes, and sundry forewarnynges, whiche commonly -happen before the death of menne, great slaughters, and alterations of -kyngdomes. One Booke, Written by Lewes Lavaterus of Tigurine. And -translated into Englyshe by R. H." Printed at London by Henry Benneyman, -for Richard Watkyns, 1572. Vide p. 14. and 49.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_317:B_602" id="Footnote_i_317:B_602"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_317:B_602"><span class="label">[317:B]</span></a> Lavaterus, p. 21.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_318:A_603" id="Footnote_i_318:A_603"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_318:A_603"><span class="label">[318:A]</span></a> Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1580, p. 152, 153.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_318:B_604" id="Footnote_i_318:B_604"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_318:B_604"><span class="label">[318:B]</span></a> Vide Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 172.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_318:C_605" id="Footnote_i_318:C_605"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_318:C_605"><span class="label">[318:C]</span></a> Spectator, No. 419., vol. vi. p. 118. of Sharpe's -edition. See also Nos. 12. 110. and 117.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_319:A_606" id="Footnote_i_319:A_606"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_319:A_606"><span class="label">[319:A]</span></a> Grose's Provincial Glossary, p. 242, 243.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_321:A_607" id="Footnote_i_321:A_607"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_321:A_607"><span class="label">[321:A]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquities of the Common People apud Brand, -p. 113, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_321:B_608" id="Footnote_i_321:B_608"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_321:B_608"><span class="label">[321:B]</span></a> Seasons, Winter, line 617.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_322:A_609" id="Footnote_i_322:A_609"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_322:A_609"><span class="label">[322:A]</span></a> Pleasures of Imagination, book i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_322:B_610" id="Footnote_i_322:B_610"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_322:B_610"><span class="label">[322:B]</span></a> The Remains of Henry Kirke White, vol. i. p. 311.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_323:A_611" id="Footnote_i_323:A_611"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_323:A_611"><span class="label">[323:A]</span></a> Gay, in his Trivia, notices, at some length, the -prognostications attendant on these days, and which equally apply to -ancient and to modern times:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"All superstition from thy breast repel;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Let cred'lous boys and prattling nurses tell</div> - <div class="line indentq">How if the <i>Festival of Paul</i> be <i>clear</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Plenty</i> from lib'ral horn shall strow the <i>year</i>:</div> - <div class="line indentq">When the dark skies dissolve in <i>snow</i> and <i>rain</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The lab'ring <i>kind</i> shall <i>yoke</i> the <i>steer</i> in <i>vain</i>;</div> - <div class="line indentq">But if the threat'ning <i>winds</i> in tempest roar,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then <i>war</i> shall bathe her wasteful sword in gore.</div> - <div class="line indentq">How if, on <i>Swithen</i>'s feast the welkin lours,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And ev'ry penthouse streams with hasty show'rs,</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Twice twenty days</i> shall clouds their fleeces drain,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And wash the pavements with <i>incessant rain</i>:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Let no such vulgar tales debase thy mind,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Nor <i>Paul</i>, nor <i>Swithin</i>, rule the <i>clouds</i> and <i>wind</i>."</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_324:A_612" id="Footnote_i_324:A_612"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_324:A_612"><span class="label">[324:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 453. Midsummer-Night's -Dream, act iv. sc. 1. Buchanan also beautifully records the same -traditionary imagery:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Festa Valentino rediit lux——</div> - <div class="line indentq">Quisque sibi sociam jam legit ales avem.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Inde sibi dominam per sortes quærere in annum</div> - <div class="line indentq">Mansit ab antiquis mos repetitus avis;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Quisque legit dominam, quam casto observet amore,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Quam nitidis sertis obsequioque colat:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Mittere cui possit blandi munuscula Veris."</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_325:A_613" id="Footnote_i_325:A_613"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_325:A_613"><span class="label">[325:A]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 253.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_326:A_614" id="Footnote_i_326:A_614"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_326:A_614"><span class="label">[326:A]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 252, -253.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_326:B_615" id="Footnote_i_326:B_615"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_326:B_615"><span class="label">[326:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 281. Mr. Gay has more -distinctly recorded this ceremony in the following lines:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Last Valentine, the day when birds of kind</div> - <div class="line indentq">Their paramours with mutual chirpings find;</div> - <div class="line indentq">I early rose, just at the break of day,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Before the sun had chas'd the stars away;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Afield I went, amid the morning dew,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To milk my kine (for so should housewives do),</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Thee First</i> I spied, and <i>the first swain we see</i></div> - <div class="line indentq">In spite of fortune <i>shall our true Love be</i>."</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_327:A_616" id="Footnote_i_327:A_616"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_327:A_616"><span class="label">[327:A]</span></a> "Et vere ad Valentini festum à viris habent fœminæ; -munera, et alio temporis viris dantur." Moresini Deprav. Relig. 160.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_327:B_617" id="Footnote_i_327:B_617"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_327:B_617"><span class="label">[327:B]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. -258.—"I have found unquestionable authority," remarks Mr. Brand, "to -evince that the custom of chusing Valentines was a sport practised in -the houses of the gentry in England as early as the year 1476." Brand -apud Ellis, vol. i. p. 48.</p> - -<p>The authority alluded to by Mr. Brand, is a letter, in Fenn's Paston -Letters, vol. ii. p. 211., dated February 1476.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_328:A_618" id="Footnote_i_328:A_618"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_328:A_618"><span class="label">[328:A]</span></a> Survey of London, 1618, p. 159.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_328:B_619" id="Footnote_i_328:B_619"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_328:B_619"><span class="label">[328:B]</span></a> Ibid.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_328:C_620" id="Footnote_i_328:C_620"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_328:C_620"><span class="label">[328:C]</span></a> Vide Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 317.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_329:A_621" id="Footnote_i_329:A_621"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_329:A_621"><span class="label">[329:A]</span></a> "L'origine de ce feu que tant de nations conservent -encore, et qui se perd dans l'antiquité, est très simple. C'etoit un feu -de joie allumé au moment où l'année commençoit; car la première de -toutes les Annes, la plus ancienne donc on ait quelque connoissance, -s'ouvroit au mois de Juin.—</p> - -<p>"Ces feux-de-joie étoient accompagnés en même tems de Vœux et de -sacrifices pour la prospérité de peuples et des biens de la terre: on -dansoit aussi autour de ce feu; car ya-t-il quelque fête sans danse? et -les plus agiles santoient par dessus. En se retirant, chacun empartoit -un tison plus ou moins grand, et le reste étoit jetté au vent, afin -qu'il emportât tout malheur comme il emportoit ces cendres." Hist. -d'Hercule, p. 203.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_329:B_622" id="Footnote_i_329:B_622"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_329:B_622"><span class="label">[329:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 249. act ii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_329:C_623" id="Footnote_i_329:C_623"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_329:C_623"><span class="label">[329:C]</span></a> Jonson's Works, act i. sc. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_329:D_624" id="Footnote_i_329:D_624"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_329:D_624"><span class="label">[329:D]</span></a> Beaumont and Fletcher's Works apud Colman.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_330:A_625" id="Footnote_i_330:A_625"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_330:A_625"><span class="label">[330:A]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 281. Britannia's -Pastorals, book ii. song 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_330:B_626" id="Footnote_i_330:B_626"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_330:B_626"><span class="label">[330:B]</span></a> Grose's Provincial Glossary, p. 299.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_330:C_627" id="Footnote_i_330:C_627"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_330:C_627"><span class="label">[330:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 285.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_331:A_628" id="Footnote_i_331:A_628"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_331:A_628"><span class="label">[331:A]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquities, p. 301.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_331:B_629" id="Footnote_i_331:B_629"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_331:B_629"><span class="label">[331:B]</span></a> Stowe also mentions, that bonefires and rejoicings were -observed on the Eve of St. Peter and Paul the Apostles; he gives -likewise a curious account of the <i>Marching Watches</i> which had been -regularly kept on Midsummer-Eve, time out of mind, by the citizens of -London and other large towns; but these had ceased before the age of -Shakspeare, the last having been appointed by Sir John Gresham, in 1548, -though an attempt was made to procure their revival, by John Montgomery -in 1585, who published a book on the subject, dedicated to Sir Thos. -Pullison, then Lord Mayor; this offer however did not succeed.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_332:A_630" id="Footnote_i_332:A_630"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_332:A_630"><span class="label">[332:A]</span></a> Grose's Provincial Glossary, p. 285.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_332:B_631" id="Footnote_i_332:B_631"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_332:B_631"><span class="label">[332:B]</span></a> Queenhoo-Hall, vol. i. p. 136.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_333:A_632" id="Footnote_i_333:A_632"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_333:A_632"><span class="label">[333:A]</span></a> Aubrey's Miscellanies, p. 103.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_333:B_633" id="Footnote_i_333:B_633"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_333:B_633"><span class="label">[333:B]</span></a> Jonson's Works, fol. edit. vol. i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_334:A_634" id="Footnote_i_334:A_634"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_334:A_634"><span class="label">[334:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 359. act iii. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_334:B_635" id="Footnote_i_334:B_635"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_334:B_635"><span class="label">[334:B]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquities, p. 320, 321.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_334:C_636" id="Footnote_i_334:C_636"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_334:C_636"><span class="label">[334:C]</span></a> Vide Job, chap. xxxiii. v. 22, 23.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_335:A_637" id="Footnote_i_335:A_637"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_335:A_637"><span class="label">[335:A]</span></a> Opera et Dies, vol. i. 246.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_335:B_638" id="Footnote_i_335:B_638"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_335:B_638"><span class="label">[335:B]</span></a> Dionys. in Cælest. Hierarch. cap. ix. x.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_335:C_639" id="Footnote_i_335:C_639"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_335:C_639"><span class="label">[335:C]</span></a> Calv. Lib. Instit. I. c. xiv. It is worthy of remark, -that Reginald Scot, from whose <i>Discoverie of Witchcraft</i>, p. 500., this -account of the hierarchy of Dionysius is taken, has brought forward a -passage from his kinsman Edward Deering, which broaches the same -doctrine as that held by Bishop Horsley in the last sermon which he ever -wrote. "If you read Deering," says Scot, "upon the first chapter to the -Hebrues, you shall see this matter (the angelic theory of Dionysius) -notablie handled; where he saith, <i>that whensoever archangell is -mentioned in the Scriptures it signifieth our saviour Christ, and no -creature</i>." p. 501.—Now in the sermon alluded to by Horsley, the text -of which is Dan. iv. 17., he affirms, that the term "Michael," or -"Michael the Archangel," wherever it occurs, is nothing more than a name -for our Saviour. Vide Sermons, vol. ii. p. 376.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_337:A_640" id="Footnote_i_337:A_640"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_337:A_640"><span class="label">[337:A]</span></a> Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght; p. 160, 161.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_338:A_641" id="Footnote_i_338:A_641"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_338:A_641"><span class="label">[338:A]</span></a> Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 505, 506.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_338:B_642" id="Footnote_i_338:B_642"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_338:B_642"><span class="label">[338:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 109. Henry IV. Part ii. -act ii. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_338:C_643" id="Footnote_i_338:C_643"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_338:C_643"><span class="label">[338:C]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xii. p. 36. Henry IV. Part ii. act i. sc. -2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_338:D_644" id="Footnote_i_338:D_644"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_338:D_644"><span class="label">[338:D]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xvii. p. 94, 95. Antony and Cleopatra, act -ii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_338:E_645" id="Footnote_i_338:E_645"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_338:E_645"><span class="label">[338:E]</span></a> Ibid. vol. x. p. 149.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_339:A_646" id="Footnote_i_339:A_646"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_339:A_646"><span class="label">[339:A]</span></a> Book iv. line 677.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_340:A_647" id="Footnote_i_340:A_647"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_340:A_647"><span class="label">[340:A]</span></a> Sermons, vol. ii. p. 412. 415, 416.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_341:A_648" id="Footnote_i_341:A_648"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_341:A_648"><span class="label">[341:A]</span></a> Vide Brady's Clavis Calendaria, vol. ii. p. 180.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_341:B_649" id="Footnote_i_341:B_649"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_341:B_649"><span class="label">[341:B]</span></a> Brand's Appendix to Bourne's Antiquities, p. 382.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_341:C_650" id="Footnote_i_341:C_650"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_341:C_650"><span class="label">[341:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 205. act ii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_342:A_651" id="Footnote_i_342:A_651"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_342:A_651"><span class="label">[342:A]</span></a> Clavis Calendaria, vol. ii. p. 229.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_343:A_652" id="Footnote_i_343:A_652"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_343:A_652"><span class="label">[343:A]</span></a> Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. ii. p. -221.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_343:B_653" id="Footnote_i_343:B_653"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_343:B_653"><span class="label">[343:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. ii. p. 238.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_344:A_654" id="Footnote_i_344:A_654"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_344:A_654"><span class="label">[344:A]</span></a> Scott's Minstrelsy, vol. ii. p. 221, 222.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_346:A_655" id="Footnote_i_346:A_655"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_346:A_655"><span class="label">[346:A]</span></a> The powers of description which Burns has evinced in -one of the stanzas, while relating the effects of this spell, are truly -great:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"A wanton widow Leezie was</div> - <div class="line i1q">As canty as a kittlen;</div> - <div class="line indentq">But och! that night, among the shaws,</div> - <div class="line i1q">She got a fearfu' settlin!</div> - <div class="line indentq">She thro' the whins, an' by the cairn,</div> - <div class="line i1q">An' owre the hill gaed scrievin,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where three lairds lands met at a burn,</div> - <div class="line i1q">To dip her left sark-sleeve in,</div> - <div class="line i11 indentq">Was bent that night.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Whyles owre a linn the burnie plays</i></div> - <div class="line i1q"><i>As thro' the glen it wimpl't;</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Whyles round a rocky scar it strays;</i></div> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Whyles in a wiel it dimpl't;</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Whyles glitter'd to the nightly rays,</i></div> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Wi' bickering, dancing dazzle;</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Whyles cookit underneath the braes,</i></div> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Below the spreading hazle,</i></div> - <div class="line i11 indentq"><i>Unseen that night.</i></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Among the brachens, on the brae,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Between her an' the moon,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The deil, or else an outler quey,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Gat up an' gae a croon:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Poor Leezie's heart maist lap the hool;</div> - <div class="line i1q">Near lav'rock-height she jumpit,</div> - <div class="line indentq">But mist a fit, an' in the pool,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Out-owre the lugs she plumpit,</div> - <div class="line i11 indentq">Wi' a plunge that night."</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_347:A_656" id="Footnote_i_347:A_656"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_347:A_656"><span class="label">[347:A]</span></a> Burns's Works, Currie's edit. vol. iii. p. 126. et -seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_347:B_657" id="Footnote_i_347:B_657"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_347:B_657"><span class="label">[347:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 472-474.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_348:A_658" id="Footnote_i_348:A_658"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_348:A_658"><span class="label">[348:A]</span></a> Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 87.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_348:B_659" id="Footnote_i_348:B_659"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_348:B_659"><span class="label">[348:B]</span></a> See Beaumont and Fletcher apud Colman.</p> - -<p>It would appear from the passage just quoted from Shakspeare, that he -considered St. Withold as commanding this <i>female</i> incubus to alight -from those <i>she</i> was riding and tormenting; but Fuseli and Darwin, in -their delineations, appear to have mounted a <i>male</i> fiend, or incubus, -on <i>her</i> back, who descending from his steed, sate on the breasts of -those whom <i>he</i> had selected for his victims. The personifications of -the painter and the modern poet are forcibly drawn and highly -terrific:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"So on his <span class="smcap">Nightmare</span> through the evening fog</div> - <div class="line indentq">Flits the squab Fiend o'er fen, and lake, and bog;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Seeks some love-wilder'd Maid with sleep oppress'd,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Alights, and grinning sits upon her breast.</div> - <div class="line indentq">—— Such as of late amid the murky sky</div> - <div class="line indentq">Was mark'd by <span class="smcap">Fuseli's</span> poetic eye;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whose daring tints, with <span class="smcap">Shakspeare's</span> happiest grace,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Gave to the airy phantom form and place—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Back o'er her pillow sinks her blushing head,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Her snow-white limbs hang helpless from the bed;</div> - <div class="line indentq">While with quick sighs, and suffocative breath,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Her interrupted heart-pulse swims in death.</div> - <div class="line indentq">—— Then shrieks of captur'd towns, and widow's tears,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Pale lovers stretch'd upon their blood-stain'd biers,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The headlong precipice that thwarts her flight,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The trackless desert, the cold starless night,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And stern-eye'd Murderer with his knife behind,</div> - <div class="line indentq">In dread succession agonize her mind.</div> - <div class="line indentq">O'er her fair limbs convulsive tremors fleet,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Start in her hands, and struggle in her feet;</div> - <div class="line indentq">In vain to scream with quivering lips she tries,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And strains in palsy'd lids her tremulous eyes:</div> - <div class="line indentq">In vain she <i>wills</i> to run, fly, swim, walk, creep;</div> - <div class="line indentq">The <span class="smcap">Will</span> presides not in the bower of <span class="smcap">Sleep</span>.</div> - <div class="line indentq">—— On her fair bosom sits the Demon-Ape</div> - <div class="line indentq">Erect, and balances his bloated shape;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Rolls in their marble orbs his Gorgon-eyes,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And drinks with leathern ears her tender cries."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Botanic Garden, 4to. edit. p. 101-103.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_350:A_660" id="Footnote_i_350:A_660"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_350:A_660"><span class="label">[350:A]</span></a> Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 203-205.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_351:A_661" id="Footnote_i_351:A_661"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_351:A_661"><span class="label">[351:A]</span></a> The Dutchesse of Malfy, act iii. sc. 3. Vide Ancient -British Drama, vol. iii. p. 526.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_351:B_662" id="Footnote_i_351:B_662"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_351:B_662"><span class="label">[351:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 418, 419.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_352:A_663" id="Footnote_i_352:A_663"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_352:A_663"><span class="label">[352:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 16. Hamlet, act i. -sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_352:B_664" id="Footnote_i_352:B_664"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_352:B_664"><span class="label">[352:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xvi. p. 315. Julius Cæsar, act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_353:A_665" id="Footnote_i_353:A_665"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_353:A_665"><span class="label">[353:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 127. Macbeth, act ii. sc. -3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_354:A_666" id="Footnote_i_354:A_666"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_354:A_666"><span class="label">[354:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 82, 83. Act ii. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_354:B_667" id="Footnote_i_354:B_667"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_354:B_667"><span class="label">[354:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xi. p. 317. First Part of King Henry IV. act -iii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_354:C_668" id="Footnote_i_354:C_668"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_354:C_668"><span class="label">[354:C]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xiv. p. 202, 203. Third Part of King Henry -VI. act v. sc. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_355:A_669" id="Footnote_i_355:A_669"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_355:A_669"><span class="label">[355:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 448. Troilus and -Cressida, act v. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_355:B_670" id="Footnote_i_355:B_670"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_355:B_670"><span class="label">[355:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xx. p. 225. Act v. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_355:C_671" id="Footnote_i_355:C_671"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_355:C_671"><span class="label">[355:C]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xv. p. 395. Act iv. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_355:D_672" id="Footnote_i_355:D_672"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_355:D_672"><span class="label">[355:D]</span></a> Familiar Letters, edit. 1726. p. 247.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_355:E_673" id="Footnote_i_355:E_673"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_355:E_673"><span class="label">[355:E]</span></a> Lady of the Lake, p. 348.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_356:A_674" id="Footnote_i_356:A_674"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_356:A_674"><span class="label">[356:A]</span></a> Lady of the Lake, p. 106. 347.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_357:A_675" id="Footnote_i_357:A_675"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_357:A_675"><span class="label">[357:A]</span></a> Lady of the Lake, p. 348.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_358:A_676" id="Footnote_i_358:A_676"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_358:A_676"><span class="label">[358:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 28. Act i. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_358:B_677" id="Footnote_i_358:B_677"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_358:B_677"><span class="label">[358:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xiv. p. 506. Act v. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_359:A_678" id="Footnote_i_359:A_678"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_359:A_678"><span class="label">[359:A]</span></a> Of Ghostes and Spirites, 1572. p. 79.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_359:B_679" id="Footnote_i_359:B_679"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_359:B_679"><span class="label">[359:B]</span></a> Vide Grose's Provincial Glossary, article Popular -Superstitions, p. 282, 283.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_360:A_680" id="Footnote_i_360:A_680"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_360:A_680"><span class="label">[360:A]</span></a> Grant's Essays on the Superstitions of the Highlanders -of Scotland, vol. i. p. 259-261.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_361:A_681" id="Footnote_i_361:A_681"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_361:A_681"><span class="label">[361:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 459.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_362:A_682" id="Footnote_i_362:A_682"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_362:A_682"><span class="label">[362:A]</span></a> Of Ghostes and Spirites, p. 77-79.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_362:B_683" id="Footnote_i_362:B_683"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_362:B_683"><span class="label">[362:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 169. Act iv. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_362:C_684" id="Footnote_i_362:C_684"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_362:C_684"><span class="label">[362:C]</span></a> Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 279.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_362:D_685" id="Footnote_i_362:D_685"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_362:D_685"><span class="label">[362:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 230. Act iv. sc. 10.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_363:A_686" id="Footnote_i_363:A_686"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_363:A_686"><span class="label">[363:A]</span></a> Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 336.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_363:B_687" id="Footnote_i_363:B_687"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_363:B_687"><span class="label">[363:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xiii. p. 152. First Part of -King Henry VI. act v. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_363:C_688" id="Footnote_i_363:C_688"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_363:C_688"><span class="label">[363:C]</span></a> Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 279.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_364:A_689" id="Footnote_i_364:A_689"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_364:A_689"><span class="label">[364:A]</span></a> Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 230. 270.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_364:B_690" id="Footnote_i_364:B_690"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_364:B_690"><span class="label">[364:B]</span></a> Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 231.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_365:A_691" id="Footnote_i_365:A_691"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_365:A_691"><span class="label">[365:A]</span></a> Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 247.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_365:B_692" id="Footnote_i_365:B_692"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_365:B_692"><span class="label">[365:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 245.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_366:A_693" id="Footnote_i_366:A_693"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_366:A_693"><span class="label">[366:A]</span></a> Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 265, 266.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_366:B_694" id="Footnote_i_366:B_694"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_366:B_694"><span class="label">[366:B]</span></a> See Whalley's Works of Ben Jonson.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_366:C_695" id="Footnote_i_366:C_695"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_366:C_695"><span class="label">[366:C]</span></a> Chalmers's Poets, vol. iv. p. 465.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_367:A_696" id="Footnote_i_367:A_696"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_367:A_696"><span class="label">[367:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 41. Act ii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_367:B_697" id="Footnote_i_367:B_697"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_367:B_697"><span class="label">[367:B]</span></a> De Quadrup. Ovip., p. 65.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_367:C_698" id="Footnote_i_367:C_698"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_367:C_698"><span class="label">[367:C]</span></a> Batman uppon Bartholome his booke De proprietatibus -rerum, 1582, fol. article Botrax.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_367:D_699" id="Footnote_i_367:D_699"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_367:D_699"><span class="label">[367:D]</span></a> A Green Forest, or a Natural History, 1567.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_367:E_700" id="Footnote_i_367:E_700"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_367:E_700"><span class="label">[367:E]</span></a> Secrete Wonders of Nature, 4to. 1569.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_367:F_701" id="Footnote_i_367:F_701"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_367:F_701"><span class="label">[367:F]</span></a> First Book of Notable Things, 4to.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_367:G_702" id="Footnote_i_367:G_702"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_367:G_702"><span class="label">[367:G]</span></a> Topsell's History of Serpents, 1608. fol., p. 188. and -Fuller's Church History, p. 151.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_367:H_703" id="Footnote_i_367:H_703"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_367:H_703"><span class="label">[367:H]</span></a> Printed by Copland, but without date, 12mo.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_367:I_704" id="Footnote_i_367:I_704"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_367:I_704"><span class="label">[367:I]</span></a> Quoted by Batman on Bartholome, L. xviii. c. 30.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_368:A_705" id="Footnote_i_368:A_705"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_368:A_705"><span class="label">[368:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 59. Act i. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_368:B_706" id="Footnote_i_368:B_706"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_368:B_706"><span class="label">[368:B]</span></a> Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 180, 181.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_370:A_707" id="Footnote_i_370:A_707"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_370:A_707"><span class="label">[370:A]</span></a> Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 293-295.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_370:B_708" id="Footnote_i_370:B_708"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_370:B_708"><span class="label">[370:B]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 465.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_370:C_709" id="Footnote_i_370:C_709"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_370:C_709"><span class="label">[370:C]</span></a> Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 305.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_371:A_710" id="Footnote_i_371:A_710"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_371:A_710"><span class="label">[371:A]</span></a> This <i>golden stamp</i> was the coin called an angel, from -the figure which it bore, and was worth ten shillings.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_371:B_711" id="Footnote_i_371:B_711"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_371:B_711"><span class="label">[371:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 242, 243. Macbeth, act -iv. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_371:C_712" id="Footnote_i_371:C_712"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_371:C_712"><span class="label">[371:C]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i.: and -Scot, speaking of the pretensions of the French monarchs to cure the -evil, observes of Elizabeth's practice, that "if the French king use it -no woorsse than our Princesse doth, God will not be offended thereat: -for hir majestie onelie useth godlie and divine praier, with some almes, -and referreth the cure to God and to the physician," p. 304., a report -which reflects great credit on her majesty's judgment and good sense.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_372:A_713" id="Footnote_i_372:A_713"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_372:A_713"><span class="label">[372:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xiv. p. 285. Richard the Third, -act i. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_373:A_714" id="Footnote_i_373:A_714"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_373:A_714"><span class="label">[373:A]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 405.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_373:B_715" id="Footnote_i_373:B_715"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_373:B_715"><span class="label">[373:B]</span></a> Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght, p. 80.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_373:C_716" id="Footnote_i_373:C_716"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_373:C_716"><span class="label">[373:C]</span></a> Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 303.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_373:D_717" id="Footnote_i_373:D_717"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_373:D_717"><span class="label">[373:D]</span></a> The Workes of the Most High and Mighty Prince James, -fol. edit. 1616. p. 136. The Dæmonologie was first printed at Edinburgh -in 1597, and next in London, 1603, 4to.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_374:A_718" id="Footnote_i_374:A_718"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_374:A_718"><span class="label">[374:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 344. Merchant of -Venice, act iv. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_374:B_719" id="Footnote_i_374:B_719"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_374:B_719"><span class="label">[374:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xx. p. 208. Romeo and Juliet, act iv. sc. -3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_374:C_720" id="Footnote_i_374:C_720"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_374:C_720"><span class="label">[374:C]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xiii. p. 297. Act iii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_374:D_721" id="Footnote_i_374:D_721"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_374:D_721"><span class="label">[374:D]</span></a> Bulwarke of Defence against Sickness, fol. 1579, p. -41.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_375:A_722" id="Footnote_i_375:A_722"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_375:A_722"><span class="label">[375:A]</span></a> Grose's Provincial Glossary, p. 291.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_375:B_723" id="Footnote_i_375:B_723"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_375:B_723"><span class="label">[375:B]</span></a> Vide Bacon's Natural History, Century x. No. 997, 998.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_376:A_724" id="Footnote_i_376:A_724"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_376:A_724"><span class="label">[376:A]</span></a> Digby's Discourse upon the Sympathetic Powder, p. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_377:A_725" id="Footnote_i_377:A_725"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_377:A_725"><span class="label">[377:A]</span></a> Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 280.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_377:B_726" id="Footnote_i_377:B_726"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_377:B_726"><span class="label">[377:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 146.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_377:C_727" id="Footnote_i_377:C_727"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_377:C_727"><span class="label">[377:C]</span></a> Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght, p. 96.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_377:D_728" id="Footnote_i_377:D_728"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_377:D_728"><span class="label">[377:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 146. note 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_378:A_729" id="Footnote_i_378:A_729"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_378:A_729"><span class="label">[378:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 147.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_379:A_730" id="Footnote_i_379:A_730"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_379:A_730"><span class="label">[379:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 303-305.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_379:B_731" id="Footnote_i_379:B_731"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_379:B_731"><span class="label">[379:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 78.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_379:C_732" id="Footnote_i_379:C_732"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_379:C_732"><span class="label">[379:C]</span></a> "Ad nimium calorem transeat ab aquis nivium." In the -paraphrase on Genesis, by Cedmon the Saxon poet, the same imagery may be -found.</p> - -<p>Of this venerable poet and monk, who flourished in the seventh century, -Mr. Turner has given us a very interesting account, together with a -version of some parts of his paraphrase. One of these is a picture of -the infernal regions, in which he says,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"There comes at last</div> - <div class="line indentq">the eastern wind,</div> - <div class="line indentq">the <i>cold frost</i></div> - <div class="line indentq">mingling with the fires."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Hist. of the Anglo-Saxons, 2d edit.<br /> -4to. 1807, vol. ii. p. 309. et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_379:D_733" id="Footnote_i_379:D_733"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_379:D_733"><span class="label">[379:D]</span></a> Infer. c. iii. 86. Purgat. c. iii. 31.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_379:E_734" id="Footnote_i_379:E_734"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_379:E_734"><span class="label">[379:E]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 305, note 9.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_379:F_735" id="Footnote_i_379:F_735"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_379:F_735"><span class="label">[379:F]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. i. p. 330.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_380:A_736" id="Footnote_i_380:A_736"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_380:A_736"><span class="label">[380:A]</span></a> Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 534. -598.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_380:B_737" id="Footnote_i_380:B_737"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_380:B_737"><span class="label">[380:B]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. ii. p. 424.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_381:A_738" id="Footnote_i_381:A_738"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_381:A_738"><span class="label">[381:A]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. i. p. 149.—"The mesere -of helle shalbe in defaute of mete and drink. For God sayth thus by -Moyses: They shal be wasted with honger, &c."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_381:B_739" id="Footnote_i_381:B_739"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_381:B_739"><span class="label">[381:B]</span></a> Pierce Penniless, his Supplication to the Devil, 1595.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_381:C_740" id="Footnote_i_381:C_740"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_381:C_740"><span class="label">[381:C]</span></a> Folio, 1635. p. 345.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_381:D_741" id="Footnote_i_381:D_741"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_381:D_741"><span class="label">[381:D]</span></a> Paradise Lost, book ii. l. 587, et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_382:A_742" id="Footnote_i_382:A_742"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_382:A_742"><span class="label">[382:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 374.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_382:B_743" id="Footnote_i_382:B_743"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_382:B_743"><span class="label">[382:B]</span></a> Εκ πασῶν δε, &c. De Republ. lib. x. p. 520, Lugd. 1590. -Vide Todd's Milton, vol. vii. p. 53.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_382:C_744" id="Footnote_i_382:C_744"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_382:C_744"><span class="label">[382:C]</span></a> "Such, notwithstanding, is the force there of (musical -harmony), and so pleasing effects it hath in that very part of man which -is most divine, that some have been thereby induced to think, that the -soul itself by nature is or hath in it harmony."—Fifth Book of -Ecclesiastical Polity, published singly in 1597.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_382:D_745" id="Footnote_i_382:D_745"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_382:D_745"><span class="label">[382:D]</span></a> Todd's Milton, vol. vii. p. 53.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_383:A_746" id="Footnote_i_383:A_746"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_383:A_746"><span class="label">[383:A]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. i. p. 296. col. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_383:B_747" id="Footnote_i_383:B_747"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_383:B_747"><span class="label">[383:B]</span></a> Dante's Inferno, cant. xx.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_383:C_748" id="Footnote_i_383:C_748"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_383:C_748"><span class="label">[383:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 89, 90.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_383:D_749" id="Footnote_i_383:D_749"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_383:D_749"><span class="label">[383:D]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xvii. p. 222. Antony and Cleopatra, act iv. -sc. 9.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_383:E_750" id="Footnote_i_383:E_750"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_383:E_750"><span class="label">[383:E]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xix. p. 409. Othello, act v. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_384:A_751" id="Footnote_i_384:A_751"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_384:A_751"><span class="label">[384:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 361. Midsummer-Night's -Dream, act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_384:B_752" id="Footnote_i_384:B_752"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_384:B_752"><span class="label">[384:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. x. p. 194. Macbeth, act iii. sc. 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_384:C_753" id="Footnote_i_384:C_753"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_384:C_753"><span class="label">[384:C]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xvii. p. 195. 342. Lear, act i. sc. 2.; vol. -xix. p. 499. Othello, act v. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_384:D_754" id="Footnote_i_384:D_754"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_384:D_754"><span class="label">[384:D]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xi. p. 83. Richard the Second, act ii. sc. -4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_384:E_755" id="Footnote_i_384:E_755"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_384:E_755"><span class="label">[384:E]</span></a> Ibid. vol. x. p. 480. K. John, act iv. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_385:A_756" id="Footnote_i_385:A_756"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_385:A_756"><span class="label">[385:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 271.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_385:B_757" id="Footnote_i_385:B_757"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_385:B_757"><span class="label">[385:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. iv. p. 114.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_385:C_758" id="Footnote_i_385:C_758"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_385:C_758"><span class="label">[385:C]</span></a> Doome, p. 389.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_385:D_759" id="Footnote_i_385:D_759"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_385:D_759"><span class="label">[385:D]</span></a> The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire -of Guiana, with a relation of the Great and Golden Citie of Manoa, which -the Spaniards call El Dorado. Performed in 1595, by Sir W. Ralegh. -Imprinted at London by Rob. Robinson, 1596.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_386:A_760" id="Footnote_i_386:A_760"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_386:A_760"><span class="label">[386:A]</span></a> The Historie of the World. Commonly called, The Natural -Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. Translated into English by Philemon -Holland, Doctor in Physicke. London, printed by Adam Islip. 1601. vol. -i. p. 154. book vii. chap. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_386:B_761" id="Footnote_i_386:B_761"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_386:B_761"><span class="label">[386:B]</span></a> Holland's Pliny, vol. i. p. 96. book v. chap. 8.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_386:C_762" id="Footnote_i_386:C_762"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_386:C_762"><span class="label">[386:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 156.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_386:D_763" id="Footnote_i_386:D_763"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_386:D_763"><span class="label">[386:D]</span></a> The title of this work is, <i>Brevis et admiranda -Descriptio Regni Gvianæ, auri abundantissimi, in America</i>. It is -accompanied by a map, engraved by <i>Hondius</i>, on which are drawn men -hunting, with their heads beneath their shoulders.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_387:A_764" id="Footnote_i_387:A_764"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_387:A_764"><span class="label">[387:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 83. Act i. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_387:B_765" id="Footnote_i_387:B_765"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_387:B_765"><span class="label">[387:B]</span></a> Frobisher's <i>First Voyage for the Discoverie of -Cataya</i>. 4to. 1578.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_387:C_766" id="Footnote_i_387:C_766"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_387:C_766"><span class="label">[387:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 83, note 9.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_387:D_767" id="Footnote_i_387:D_767"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_387:D_767"><span class="label">[387:D]</span></a> Chalmers's Apology, p. 586.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_388:A_768" id="Footnote_i_388:A_768"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_388:A_768"><span class="label">[388:A]</span></a> Prayse and Reporte of Maister Martyne Forboisher's -Voyage to Meta Incognita, &c. bl. l. 12mo. 1578. Vide Reed's Shakspeare, -vol. iv. p. 83. note 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_388:B_769" id="Footnote_i_388:B_769"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_388:B_769"><span class="label">[388:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 83. note 7.—The -existence of <i>mermaids</i> has, within these few years, been asserted by -numerous testimonies; some of which are so clear, minute, and -respectable, as to stagger the most sceptical. It is not only possible, -but from the evidence alluded to it appears indeed somewhat probable, -that a creature partially resembling the human form exists in the ocean, -and occasionally, though rarely, approaches so near the shore as to -become an object of wonder and superstitious horror. The sea round the -Isle of Man was formerly reputed to abound in these monsters, which were -conceived to be of two kinds, the one malignant, the other benevolent -and kind.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_388:C_770" id="Footnote_i_388:C_770"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_388:C_770"><span class="label">[388:C]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 377, 378.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_389:A_771" id="Footnote_i_389:A_771"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_389:A_771"><span class="label">[389:A]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 379.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_389:B_772" id="Footnote_i_389:B_772"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_389:B_772"><span class="label">[389:B]</span></a> Batman upon Bartholome, p. 359.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_389:C_773" id="Footnote_i_389:C_773"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_389:C_773"><span class="label">[389:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 449. note 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_389:D_774" id="Footnote_i_389:D_774"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_389:D_774"><span class="label">[389:D]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xiii. p. 268. Act iii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_389:E_775" id="Footnote_i_389:E_775"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_389:E_775"><span class="label">[389:E]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xix. p. 449.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_390:A_776" id="Footnote_i_390:A_776"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_390:A_776"><span class="label">[390:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xiii. p. 306. Act iii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_390:B_777" id="Footnote_i_390:B_777"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_390:B_777"><span class="label">[390:B]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 20.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_390:C_778" id="Footnote_i_390:C_778"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_390:C_778"><span class="label">[390:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 135. Timon of Athens, -act iv. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_391:A_779" id="Footnote_i_391:A_779"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_391:A_779"><span class="label">[391:A]</span></a> Stowe's Survey of London, p. 18. edit. of 1618.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_392:A_780" id="Footnote_i_392:A_780"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_392:A_780"><span class="label">[392:A]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 90.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_392:B_781" id="Footnote_i_392:B_781"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_392:B_781"><span class="label">[392:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 356.—A fountain of this -hallowed and mysterious nature, has been described by Mr. Southey in -language most graphically and beautifully descriptive:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"There is a fountain in the forest call'd</div> - <div class="line indentq">The fountain of the Fairies; when a child,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With most delightful wonder I have heard</div> - <div class="line indentq">Tales of the Elfin tribe that on its banks</div> - <div class="line indentq">Hold midnight revelry. An ancient oak,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The goodliest of the forest, grows beside,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Alone it stands, upon a green grass plat,</div> - <div class="line indentq">By the woods bounded like some little isle.</div> - <div class="line indentq">It ever hath been deem'd their favourite tree,</div> - <div class="line indentq">They love to lie and rock upon its leaves,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And bask them in the moon-shine. Many a time</div> - <div class="line indentq">Hath the woodman shown his boy where the dark round</div> - <div class="line indentq">On the green-sward beneath its boughs, bewrays</div> - <div class="line indentq">Their nightly dance, and bade him spare the tree.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Fancy had cast a spell upon the place</div> - <div class="line indentq">And made it holy; and the villagers</div> - <div class="line indentq">Would say that never evil thing approached</div> - <div class="line indentq">Unpunished there. The strange and fearful pleasure</div> - <div class="line indentq">That fill'd me by that solitary spring,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Ceas'd not in riper years; and now it woke</div> - <div class="line indentq">Deeper delight, and more mysterious awe."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Joan of Arc, vol. i. b. i. p. 126.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_393:A_782" id="Footnote_i_393:A_782"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_393:A_782"><span class="label">[393:A]</span></a> Bourne's Antiquities apud Brand, p. 94, 95.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_393:B_783" id="Footnote_i_393:B_783"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_393:B_783"><span class="label">[393:B]</span></a> Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght, p. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_394:A_784" id="Footnote_i_394:A_784"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_394:A_784"><span class="label">[394:A]</span></a> Fast. lib. vi.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_394:B_785" id="Footnote_i_394:B_785"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_394:B_785"><span class="label">[394:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 383, 384. Comedy of -Errors, act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_394:C_786" id="Footnote_i_394:C_786"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_394:C_786"><span class="label">[394:C]</span></a> Hamlet, act 4. sc. 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_394:D_787" id="Footnote_i_394:D_787"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_394:D_787"><span class="label">[394:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 280. note 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_395:A_788" id="Footnote_i_395:A_788"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_395:A_788"><span class="label">[395:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 577. note 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_395:B_789" id="Footnote_i_395:B_789"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_395:B_789"><span class="label">[395:B]</span></a> Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 171. -4to. edit.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_395:C_790" id="Footnote_i_395:C_790"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_395:C_790"><span class="label">[395:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 576.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_395:D_791" id="Footnote_i_395:D_791"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_395:D_791"><span class="label">[395:D]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 408.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_396:A_792" id="Footnote_i_396:A_792"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_396:A_792"><span class="label">[396:A]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. iii. p. 41.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_396:B_793" id="Footnote_i_396:B_793"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_396:B_793"><span class="label">[396:B]</span></a> Villanies discovered by lanthorn and candle light, -chap. xv.—For some modern tributes to the supposed charity of this -domestic little bird, I refer my readers to the first volume of Literary -Hours, 3d. edit. p. 65. et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_396:C_794" id="Footnote_i_396:C_794"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_396:C_794"><span class="label">[396:C]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. i. p. 179.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_396:D_795" id="Footnote_i_396:D_795"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_396:D_795"><span class="label">[396:D]</span></a> Ibid. vol. ii. p. 177.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_396:E_796" id="Footnote_i_396:E_796"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_396:E_796"><span class="label">[396:E]</span></a> Description of King Priam's Palace, lib. ii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_396:F_797" id="Footnote_i_396:F_797"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_396:F_797"><span class="label">[396:F]</span></a> Vide Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. -229.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_397:A_798" id="Footnote_i_397:A_798"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_397:A_798"><span class="label">[397:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 84. Act ii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_397:B_799" id="Footnote_i_397:B_799"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_397:B_799"><span class="label">[397:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xxi. p. 56.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_397:C_800" id="Footnote_i_397:C_800"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_397:C_800"><span class="label">[397:C]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xvi. p. 39. Act i. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_397:D_801" id="Footnote_i_397:D_801"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_397:D_801"><span class="label">[397:D]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 632. Act v. sc. 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_397:E_802" id="Footnote_i_397:E_802"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_397:E_802"><span class="label">[397:E]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 151. Act ii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_397:F_803" id="Footnote_i_397:F_803"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_397:F_803"><span class="label">[397:F]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 465.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_398:A_804" id="Footnote_i_398:A_804"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_398:A_804"><span class="label">[398:A]</span></a> Thalaba the Destroyer, vol. i. p. 39-41. edit. 1801.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_399:A_805" id="Footnote_i_399:A_805"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_399:A_805"><span class="label">[399:A]</span></a> Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 306.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_400:A_806" id="Footnote_i_400:A_806"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_400:A_806"><span class="label">[400:A]</span></a> Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght, p. 51.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_400:B_807" id="Footnote_i_400:B_807"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_400:B_807"><span class="label">[400:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 142, 143. Act iv. sc. -1.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 401 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_401" id="Page_i_401">[401]</a></span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_X" id="i_PART_I_CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">BIOGRAPHY OF SHAKSPEARE RESUMED—HIS -IRREGULARITIES—DEER-STEALING IN SIR THOMAS LUCY'S -PARK—ACCOUNT OF THE LUCY FAMILY—DAISY-HILL, THE KEEPER'S -LODGE, WHERE SHAKSPEARE WAS CONFINED ON THE CHARGE OF STEALING -DEER—SHAKSPEARE'S REVENGE—BALLAD ON LUCY—SEVERE PROSECUTION -OF SIR THOMAS—NEVER FORGOTTEN BY SHAKSPEARE—THIS CAUSE, AND -PROBABLY ALSO DEBT, AS HIS FATHER WAS NOW IN REDUCED -CIRCUMSTANCES, INDUCED HIM TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY FOR LONDON -ABOUT 1586—REMARKS ON THIS REMOVAL.</p> -</div> - - -<p>After the slight sketch of rural life which we have just given; of its -manners, customs, diversions, and superstitions, as they existed during -the latter part of the sixteenth century, we shall now proceed with the -biographical narrative of our author, resuming it from the close of the -fourth chapter.</p> - -<p>To regulate the workings of an ardent imagination, and to control the -effervescence of the passions in early life, experience has uniformly -taught us to consider as a task of great difficulty; and seldom, indeed, -capable of being achieved without the advice and direction of those, -who, under the guidance of similar admonition, have successfully borne -up against the numerous temptations to which human frailty is subjected. -That Shakspeare possessed powers of fancy greatly beyond the common lot -of humanity, and that with these is almost constantly connected a -correspondent fervency of temperament and passion, will not probably be -denied; and if it be recollected that the poet became the arbitrator of -his own conduct at the early age of eighteen, not much wonder will be -excited, although he was a married man, and a father, if we have to -record some juvenile irregularities. Tradition affirms, and the report -has been repeated by Mr. Rowe, that he had the misfortune, shortly after -his settlement in Stratford, to form an intimacy with some young men of -thoughtless and dissipated character, who, among other illegalities, had -been in the habit of deer-stealing, <!-- Page 402 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_402" id="Page_i_402">[402]</a></span>and by whom, more than once, he was -induced, under the idea of a frolic, to join in their reprehensible -practice.</p> - -<p>The scene of depredation when Shakspeare and his companions were -detected, was Fulbroke Park, at that time belonging to Sir Thomas Lucy, -Knight. This gentleman, who has obtained celebrity principally, if not -solely, as the prosecutor of Shakspeare, was descended from a family, -whose pedigree has been deduced, by Dugdale, from the reign of Richard -the First; the name of Lucy, however, was not assumed by his ancestors -until the thirty-fourth of Henry the Third. Sir Thomas, in the first -year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, built a noble mansion at -Charlcott, near Stratford, but on the opposite side of the Avon; this -edifice, which still exists, is constructed of brick with stone coins, -and though somewhat modernized, still preserves, as a whole, its ancient -Gothic character, especially the grand front, which exhibits pretty -accurately its pristine state. Fuller has recorded Sir Thomas as sheriff -for the county of Warwickshire in the tenth year of Elizabeth, and -informs us, that his armorial bearings were Gul. Crusulee Or, 3 Picks -(or Lucies) Hauriant Ar.<a name="FNanchor_i_402:A_808" id="FNanchor_i_402:A_808"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_402:A_808" class="fnanchor">[402:A]</a></p> - -<p>That the rich woods, sequestered lawns, and romantic recesses of -Fulbroke Park, would very frequently attract the footsteps of our -youthful bard, independent of any lure which the capture of its game -might afford, we may justly surmise; and still more confidently may we -affirm, that his meditations or diversions in this forest laid the -foundation of a part of the beautiful scenery which occurs in <i>As You -Like It</i>. The woodland pictures in this delightful play are faithful -transcripts of what he had felt and seen in those secluded haunts, -particularly the description of the wounded deer, the pathos and -accuracy of which are no doubt referrible to the actual contemplation of -such an incident, in the shades of Fulbroke; they strikingly prove, -indeed, that the habits of the chase, though fostered in the morn of -youth, had not, <!-- Page 403 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_403" id="Page_i_403">[403]</a></span>even in respect to the objects of their sport, in the -smallest degree impaired the native tenderness and humanity of the poet. -The expressions of pity, in fact, for the sufferings of a persecuted -animal were never uttered in words more impressive than what the ensuing -dialogue exhibits:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<i>Duke.</i> Come, shall we go and kill us venison?</div> - <div class="line">And yet it irks me, the poor dappled fools,—</div> - <div class="line">Being native burghers of this desert city,—</div> - <div class="line">Should, in their own confines, with forked head</div> - <div class="line">Have their round haunches gor'd.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Lord.</i> <span class="s9">Indeed, my lord,</span></div> - <div class="line">The melancholy Jaques grieves at that;</div> - <div class="line">And, in that kind, swears you do more usurp</div> - <div class="line">Than doth your brother that hath banish'd you.</div> - <div class="line">To-day, my lord of Amiens, and myself,</div> - <div class="line">Did steal behind him, as he lay along</div> - <div class="line">Under an oak, whose antique root peeps out</div> - <div class="line">Upon the brook that brawls along this wood:</div> - <div class="line">To the which place a poor sequester'd stag,</div> - <div class="line">That from the hunter's aim had ta'en a hurt,</div> - <div class="line">Did come to languish; and, indeed, my lord,</div> - <div class="line">The wretched animal heav'd forth such groans,</div> - <div class="line">That their discharge did stretch his leathern coat</div> - <div class="line">Almost to bursting; and the big round tears</div> - <div class="line">Cours'd one another down his innocent nose</div> - <div class="line">In piteous chase: and thus the hairy fool,</div> - <div class="line">Much marked of the melancholy Jaques,</div> - <div class="line">Stood on the extremest verge of the swift brook,</div> - <div class="line">Augmenting it with tears."<a name="FNanchor_i_403:A_809" id="FNanchor_i_403:A_809"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_403:A_809" class="fnanchor">[403:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The detection of Shakspeare in his adventurous amusement, was followed, -it is said, by confinement for a short time in the keeper's lodge, until -the charge had been substantiated against him. A farm-house in the park, -situated on a spot called Daisy Hill, is still pointed out as the very -building which sheltered the delinquent on this unfortunate -occasion.<a name="FNanchor_i_403:B_810" id="FNanchor_i_403:B_810"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_403:B_810" class="fnanchor">[403:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 404 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_404" id="Page_i_404">[404]</a></span>That Sir Thomas had reason to complain of this violation of his -property, and was warranted in taking proper steps to prevent its -recurrence, who will deny? and yet it appears from tradition, that a -reprimand and public exposure of his conduct constituted all the -punishment that was at <i>first</i> inflicted on the offender. Here the -matter would have rested, had not the irritable feelings of our young -bard, inflamed by the disgrace which he had suffered, induced him to -attempt a retaliation on the magistrate. He had recourse to his talents -for satire, and the ballad which he produced for this purpose was -probably his earliest effort as a writer.</p> - -<p>Of this pasquinade, which the poet took care should be affixed to Sir -Thomas's park-gates, and extensively circulated through his -neighbourhood, three stanzas have been brought forward as genuine -fragments. The preservation of the whole would certainly have been a -most entertaining curiosity; but even the authenticity of what is said -to have been preserved, becomes a subject of interest, when we -recollect, that the fate and fortunes of our author hinged upon the -consequences of this juvenile production.</p> - -<p>The first of these fragments, which is the opening stanza, rests upon -testimony of considerable weight and respectability; upon the authority -of a Mr. Thomas Jones, who was born about 1613 and resided at Tarbick, a -village in Worcestershire, eighteen miles from Stratford, where he died, -aged upwards of ninety, in 1703. He is considered by Mr. Malone, as the -grandson of a Mr. Thomas Jones, who dwelt in Stratford during the period -that Shakspeare was an inhabitant of it, and who had four sons between -the years 1581 and 1590, one of whom, settling at Tarbick, became the -father of the preserver of the fragment.<a name="FNanchor_i_404:A_811" id="FNanchor_i_404:A_811"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_404:A_811" class="fnanchor">[404:A]</a> This venerable old man -could remember having heard from several very aged people at Stratford -the whole history of the poet's transgression, and could repeat the -first stanza of the ballad which he had written in ridicule of Sir -Thomas. A friend of his to whom he was one day repeating this <!-- Page 405 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_405" id="Page_i_405">[405]</a></span>stanza, -which was the whole that he could recollect, had the precaution to take -a copy of it from his recitation, and the grandson of the person thus -favoured, a Mr. Wilkes, presented a transcript of it to Mr. Oldys and -Mr. Capell. Among the collections for a <i>Life of Shakspeare</i> left by the -former of these gentlemen, this stanza was found, "faithfully -transcribed," says its possessor, "from the copy which his (Mr. Jones's) -relation very courteously communicated to me<a name="FNanchor_i_405:A_812" id="FNanchor_i_405:A_812"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_405:A_812" class="fnanchor">[405:A]</a>;" and of Mr. Oldys's -veracity it is important to add, that Mr. Steevens considered it as -unimpeachable, remarking, at the same time, that "it is not very -probable that a ballad should be forged, from which an undiscovered wag -could derive no triumph over antiquarian credulity."<a name="FNanchor_i_405:B_813" id="FNanchor_i_405:B_813"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_405:B_813" class="fnanchor">[405:B]</a> It must be -confessed that neither the wit nor the poetry of these lines, which we -are about to communicate, deserve much praise, and that the greater part -of the point, if it can be termed such, depends upon provincial -pronunciation; for in a note on the copy which Mr. Capell possessed, it -is said, that "the people of those parts pronounce <i>lowsie</i> like -Lucy<a name="FNanchor_i_405:C_814" id="FNanchor_i_405:C_814"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_405:C_814" class="fnanchor">[405:C]</a>:" but let us listen to the commencement of this once -important libel:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"A parliamente member, a justice of peace,</div> - <div class="line indentq">At home a poor scare-crowe, at London an asse,</div> - <div class="line indentq">If lowsie is Lucy, as some volke miscalle it,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then Lucy is lowsie whatever befall it:</div> - <div class="line i2q">He thinks himself greate,</div> - <div class="line i2q">Yet an asse in his state</div> - <div class="line indentq">We allowe by his ears but with asses to mate.</div> - <div class="line indentq">If Lucy is lowsie, as some volke miscalle it,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sing lowsie Lucy, whatever befall it."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Upon the next fragment of this composition, including two stanzas, an -equal degree of confidence cannot be reposed; for it occurs in a -manuscript <i>History of the Stage</i>, written between the years 1727 and -1730, in which many falsehoods have been detected; but still the -internal evidence is such as to render its genuineness <!-- Page 406 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_406" id="Page_i_406">[406]</a></span>far from -improbable. The narrative of its acquisition informs us, that "the -learned Mr. Joshua Barnes, late Greek Professor of the University of -Cambridge, baiting about forty years ago at an inn in Stratford, and -hearing an old woman singing part of the above said song, such was his -respect for Mr. Shakspeare's genius, that he gave her a new gown for the -two following stanzas in it; and could she have said it all, he would -(as he often said in company, when any discourse has casually arose -about him) have given her ten guineas:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Sir Thomas was too covetous</div> - <div class="line i1q">To covet so much <i>deer</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">When horns enough upon his head,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Most plainly did appear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Had not his Worship one <i>deer</i> left?</div> - <div class="line i1q">What then? He had a wife</div> - <div class="line indentq">Took pains enough to find him horns</div> - <div class="line i1q">Should last him during life."<a name="FNanchor_i_406:A_815" id="FNanchor_i_406:A_815"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_406:A_815" class="fnanchor">[406:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The quibble upon the word <i>deer</i> in these lines strongly tends to -authenticate them as a genuine production of our bard; for he has in -more places than one of his dramas amused himself with a similar jingle: -thus in the <i>First Part of Henry the Sixth</i>, allowing this play to have -issued from his pen, Talbot, encouraging his forces, exclaims</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Sell every man his life as <i>dear</i> as mine,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And they shall find <i>dear deer</i> of us my friends;"<a name="FNanchor_i_406:B_816" id="FNanchor_i_406:B_816"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_406:B_816" class="fnanchor">[406:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and again in the <i>First Part of King Henry the Fourth</i>, the Prince, -lamenting over Falstaff, says</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Death hath not struck so fat a <i>deer</i> to-day,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Though many <i>dearer</i>, in this bloody fray."<a name="FNanchor_i_406:C_817" id="FNanchor_i_406:C_817"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_406:C_817" class="fnanchor">[406:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Whiter, who first applied these corroborating passages to the -subject before us, adds, "With respect to the verses in question, <!-- Page 407 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_407" id="Page_i_407">[407]</a></span>I -cannot but observe that, however suspicious their external evidence may -appear, they contain within themselves some very striking features of -authenticity; and may, I think, be readily conceived to have proceeded -from the pen of our young Bard, before he was removed from the little -circle of his native place, when his powers, unformed and unpractised, -were roused only by resentment to a Country Justice, and destined merely -to delight the rustic companions of his deer-stealing adventure.—As an -additional evidence to the quibble on the word <i>deer</i>, which appears to -be intended in these verses, we may observe that there is no topic, to -which our author so delights to allude, as the Horns of the -Cuckold.—Let me be permitted to remark in general, that the anecdotes, -which have been delivered down to us respecting our poet, appear to me -neither improbable, nor, when duly examined, inconsistent with each -other: even those, which seem least allied to probability, contain in my -opinion the <i>adumbrata</i>, if not <i>expressa signa veritatis</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_407:A_818" id="FNanchor_i_407:A_818"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_407:A_818" class="fnanchor">[407:A]</a></p> - -<p>Whatever might be the merits of this ballad as a poetical composition, -its effect as a satire was severely felt; nor can we greatly blame the -conduct of Sir Thomas Lucy, if we consider, on the one hand, the lenity -which was at first shown to the young offender, and, on the other, the -publicity which was industriously given to this provoking libel; for it -is recorded by Mr. Jones of Tarbick, that it was the placarding of this -piece of sarcasm "which exasperated the knight to apply to a lawyer at -Warwick to proceed against<a name="FNanchor_i_407:B_819" id="FNanchor_i_407:B_819"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_407:B_819" class="fnanchor">[407:B]</a> him." More magnanimity, it must be -confessed, would have been displayed by altogether neglecting this -splenetic retaliation; but still the provocation was sufficiently bitter -to excite the resentment of a man who might not be entitled to the -appellations so liberally bestowed on Sir Thomas by one of the poet's -commentators of "vain, weak, and vindictive<a name="FNanchor_i_407:C_820" id="FNanchor_i_407:C_820"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_407:C_820" class="fnanchor">[407:C]</a>." The protection of -property and character, provided the means resorted to for security be -proportioned to the <!-- Page 408 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_408" id="Page_i_408">[408]</a></span>offence, can neither be deemed foolish nor -oppressive, and that the bounds of moderation were exceeded in this -instance, we have no sufficient grounds for asserting. Of the character -of the magistrate nothing certain has transpired; but if we may be -allowed to form an opinion of his temper and abilities, from the only -trait which can be considered as indicatory, we must pronounce them to -have been neither despicable nor unamiable. In the church at Charlcott -there are still remaining several monuments of the Lucy family, among -which is one to the memory of Sir Thomas and his lady; the effigies of -the knight affords a very pleasing idea of his countenance, but is -unaccompanied by date or inscription; over his wife, however, who -reposes by his side, at the age of sixty-three, is a very striking -encomium <i>written by himself</i>, the conclusion of which is attested in -the following emphatic terms; after much apparently sincere eulogy, he -adds, that she was, "when all is spoken that can be said, a woman so -furnished and garnished with vertue as not to be bettered, and hardly to -be equalled by any. As she lived most vertuously, so she dyed most -godly. <i>Set down by him</i> that best did know what hath been written to be -true. <span class="smcap">Thomas Lucy.</span>"</p> - -<p>This may very justly be considered, we think, as a proof, not only of -the conjugal happiness of our knight, but of his possession of an -intellect far from contemptible; yet is it very possible that -resentment, even in a mind of still superior order, should for a time -excite undue warmth and animosity, especially under the lash of satire; -and we are the more willing to believe this to have been the case in the -present instance, both from the known benevolence of the poet's -character, and from the pertinacity with which he continued to remember -the injury; for it is generally agreed that the opening scene of the -<i>Merry Wives of Windsor</i> is intended to ridicule Sir Thomas, under the -character of Justice Shallow. Now the representation of this comedy in -its new-modelled and enlarged state, certainly did not take place until -after the accession of King James, and as the prosecutor of our bard -died on the 18th of August, 1600, it is not probable that the resentment -of the <!-- Page 409 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_409" id="Page_i_409">[409]</a></span>poet would have survived the death of Sir Thomas, had not the -severity of the magistrate been originally pushed too far.</p> - -<p>This dialogue also between Shallow, Slender, and Sir Hugh Evans, serves -strongly to confirm the authenticity of the commencing stanza of the -ballad; for the Welsh parson plays upon the word <i>luce</i> in the same -manner as that fragment has done upon the sir-name <i>Lucy</i>. Justice -Shallow, it should likewise be remembered, is complaining of Falstaff -for beating his men, <i>killing his deer</i>, and breaking open his lodge, -and he threatens that "if he were twenty Sir John Falstaffs, he shall -not abuse Robert Shallow, esquire," to which Slender adds,—"In the -county of Gloster, justice of peace, and <i>coram</i>.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"<i>Shal.</i> Ay, cousin Slender, and <i>Cust-alorum</i>.</p> - -<p><i>Slen.</i> Ay, and <i>ratolorum</i> too, and a gentleman born, master -parson; who writes himself <i>armigero</i>; in any bill, warrant, -quittance, or obligation, <i>armigero</i>.</p> - -<p><i>Shal.</i> Ay, that we do; and have done any time these three -hundred years.</p> - -<p><i>Slen.</i> All his successors, gone before him, have done't; and -all his ancestors, that come after him, may: they may give the -dozen white luces in their coat.</p> - -<p><i>Shal.</i> It is an old coat.</p> - -<p><i>Evans.</i> The dozen white <i>louses</i> do become an old coat well; -it agrees well, passant: it is a familiar beast to man, and -signifies—love.</p> - -<p><i>Shal.</i> The luce is the fresh fish; the salt fish is an old -coat.</p> - -<p><i>Slen.</i> I may quarter, coz?</p> - -<p><i>Shal.</i> You may, by marrying.</p> - -<p><i>Evans.</i> It is marring, indeed, if he quarter it.</p> - -<p><i>Shal.</i> Not a whit.</p> - -<p><i>Evans.</i> Yes, py'r-lady; if he has a quarter of your coat, -there is but three skirts for yourself, in my simple -conjectures; but this all one: if Sir John Falstaff have -committed disparagements unto you, I am of the church, and -will be glad to do my benevolence, to make atonements and -compromises between you.</p> - -<p><i>Shal.</i> The Council shall hear it; it is a riot."<a name="FNanchor_i_409:A_821" id="FNanchor_i_409:A_821"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_409:A_821" class="fnanchor">[409:A]</a></p> -</div> - -<p>Though the portrait thus given of Sir Thomas Lucy (in the person of -Shallow) represent him as <i>weak</i> and <i>vain</i>, yet we must recollect that -it is still drawn in the spirit of retaliation and satire, and was most -undoubtedly meant for a caricature.</p> - -<p>It appears then more than probable, indeed from the testimony of Mr. -Jones it appears to be the fact, that the prosecution, which, <!-- Page 410 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_410" id="Page_i_410">[410]</a></span>there is -little doubt, had been threatened on the detection of the trespass, was -only carried into execution in consequence of the <i>poetical</i> assault on -the part of our author, who, possibly, thought nothing serious could -occur from such a mode of revenge.</p> - -<p>The circumstances, therefore, of the prosecution being threatened in the -first instance, and taking place in the second, might occasion the -report which Mr. Rowe has inserted in his Life of Shakspeare, where, -speaking of the ballad as his first essay in poetry, he adds, "it is -said to have been so very bitter, that it <i>redoubled</i> the prosecution -against him to that degree, that he was obliged to leave his business -and family in Warwickshire, for some time, and shelter himself in -London."<a name="FNanchor_i_410:A_822" id="FNanchor_i_410:A_822"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_410:A_822" class="fnanchor">[410:A]</a></p> - -<p>That Shakspeare left Stratford for London, about the year 1586 or 1587, -and that the prosecution commenced by Sir Thomas Lucy contributed to -this change of situation, are events which we may with safety admit; but -that the libel was the <i>sole</i> cause of the removal appears not very -probable; and we are inclined to believe with Mr. Chalmers, that debt -added wings to his flight. "While other boys," remarks this ingenious -controversialist, "are only snivelling at school, and thinking nothing -of life, Shakspeare entered the world, with little but his love to make -him happy, and little but his genius to prevent the intrusion of misery. -An increasing family, and pressing wants, obliged him to look beyond the -limits of Stratford, for subsistence, and for fame. He felt, doubtless, -emotions of genius, and he saw, certainly, persons, who had not better -pretensions, than his own, rising to eminence in a higher scene. By -these motives was he probably induced to remove to London, in the -period, between the years 1585, and 1588; chased from his home, by the -terriers of the law, for debt, rather than for deer-stealing, or for -libelling."<a name="FNanchor_i_410:B_823" id="FNanchor_i_410:B_823"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_410:B_823" class="fnanchor">[410:B]</a></p> - -<p>The probability of this having been the case, will be much heightened, -when we recollect, that between the years 1579 and 1586 the father of -Shakspeare had fallen into distressed circumstances; <!-- Page 411 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_411" id="Page_i_411">[411]</a></span>that during the -first of these periods, he had been excused paying a weekly contribution -of 4<i>d.</i>, and that during the latter he was under the necessity of -resigning his office as alderman, not being able to defray the expense -of attendance at the common halls; facts, which while they ascertain his -impoverished state, at the same time prove his utter inability to assist -his son, now burdened with a family, and anxiously looking round for the -means of its support.</p> - -<p>For the adoption of the year 1586 or 1587, as the era of our author's -emigration to town, several powerful, and almost convincing, arguments -may be given, and these it will be necessary here to state.</p> - -<p>It is well ascertained that Shakspeare married in the year 1582, and Mr. -Rowe has affirmed that "in this kind of settlement he continued <i>for -some time</i>, till an extravagance (the deer-stealing frolic) that he was -guilty of, forced him both out of his country, and that way of living -which he had taken up."<a name="FNanchor_i_411:A_824" id="FNanchor_i_411:A_824"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_411:A_824" class="fnanchor">[411:A]</a> Now that this <i>settlement for some time</i> -was the period which elapsed between the years 1582 and 1586, will -almost certainly appear, when we recollect the domestic events which -occurred during its progress; that, according to tradition, he had -embraced his father's business, on entering into the marriage-state; and -that the family of the poet in short was increased in this interval, by -the birth of three children, baptized at Stratford; Susanna, May 26th, -1583, and Hamnet and Judith, Feb. 2d, 1584-5.</p> - -<p>That the removal was not likely to have taken place later than 1587, -will be generally admitted, when we advert to the commencement of his -literary labours. The issue of research has rendered it highly probable -that our bard was a corrector and improver of old plays for the stage in -1589; it has discovered from evidence amounting almost to certainty, -that he was a writer for the theatre on a plan of greater originality in -1591, and that, even so early as 1592, he was noticed as a dramatic poet -of some celebrity. Now, if we compare <!-- Page 412 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_412" id="Page_i_412">[412]</a></span>these facts, which will be -noticed more fully hereafter, with the poet's own assertion, that the -<i>Venus and Adonis</i> was "<i>the first heir of his invention</i><a name="FNanchor_i_412:A_825" id="FNanchor_i_412:A_825"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_412:A_825" class="fnanchor">[412:A]</a>," it -will go far to prove, that this poem, which is not a short one, and is -elaborated with great care, must have been composed between his -departure from Stratford, and his commencement as a writer for the -stage, (that is between the years 1586 and 1589;) for while there is no -ground to surmise that it was written on the banks of the Avon, there is -sufficient evidence to assert that it was finished, though not published -before he was known to fame.</p> - -<p>It is impossible to contemplate the flight of Shakspeare from his family -and native town, without pausing to reflect upon the consequences which -followed that event; consequences most singularly propitious, not only -to the intellectual character of his country in particular, but to the -excitation and progress of genius throughout the world. Had not poverty -and prosecution united in driving Shakspeare from his humble occupation -in Warwickshire, how many matchless lessons of wisdom and morality, how -many unparalleled displays of wit and imagination, of pathos and -sublimity, had been buried in oblivion; pictures of emotion, of -character, of passion, more profound than mere philosophy had ever -conceived, more impressive than poetry had ever yet embodied; strains -which shall now sound through distant posterity with increasing energy -and interest, and which shall powerfully and beneficially continue to -influence and to mould both national and individual feeling.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_402:A_808" id="Footnote_i_402:A_808"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_402:A_808"><span class="label">[402:A]</span></a> Fuller's Worthies, part iii. p. 132. The Luce or Pike -is very abundant in this part of the Avon, and there may still be seen -in the kitchen of Charlecot-house, the representation of a pike, -weighing forty pounds, a native of this stream, and caught in the year -1640.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_403:A_809" id="Footnote_i_403:A_809"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_403:A_809"><span class="label">[403:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 42, 43. Act ii. sc. -1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_403:B_810" id="Footnote_i_403:B_810"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_403:B_810"><span class="label">[403:B]</span></a> Ireland's Views on the Avon, p. 154.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_404:A_811" id="Footnote_i_404:A_811"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_404:A_811"><span class="label">[404:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 128. note 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_405:A_812" id="Footnote_i_405:A_812"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_405:A_812"><span class="label">[405:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 62. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_405:B_813" id="Footnote_i_405:B_813"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_405:B_813"><span class="label">[405:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 62.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_405:C_814" id="Footnote_i_405:C_814"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_405:C_814"><span class="label">[405:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 63.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_406:A_815" id="Footnote_i_406:A_815"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_406:A_815"><span class="label">[406:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 63.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_406:B_816" id="Footnote_i_406:B_816"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_406:B_816"><span class="label">[406:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xiii. p. 127. Act iv. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_406:C_817" id="Footnote_i_406:C_817"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_406:C_817"><span class="label">[406:C]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xi. p. 426. Act v. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_407:A_818" id="Footnote_i_407:A_818"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_407:A_818"><span class="label">[407:A]</span></a> Whiter's Specimen of a Commentary on Shakspeare, p. 94, -95.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_407:B_819" id="Footnote_i_407:B_819"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_407:B_819"><span class="label">[407:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 62.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_407:C_820" id="Footnote_i_407:C_820"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_407:C_820"><span class="label">[407:C]</span></a> Ibid.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_409:A_821" id="Footnote_i_409:A_821"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_409:A_821"><span class="label">[409:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 7. et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_410:A_822" id="Footnote_i_410:A_822"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_410:A_822"><span class="label">[410:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 63.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_410:B_823" id="Footnote_i_410:B_823"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_410:B_823"><span class="label">[410:B]</span></a> Chalmers's Apology, p. 47, 48.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_411:A_824" id="Footnote_i_411:A_824"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_411:A_824"><span class="label">[411:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 61.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_412:A_825" id="Footnote_i_412:A_825"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_412:A_825"><span class="label">[412:A]</span></a> Vide Dedication of the Poem to the Earl of -Southampton.</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 413 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_413" id="Page_i_413">[413]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_II" id="i_PART_II"></a>PART II.<br /> - -<small><i>SHAKSPEARE IN LONDON.</i></small></h2> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_II_CHAPTER_I" id="i_PART_II_CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">SHAKSPEARE'S ARRIVAL IN LONDON ABOUT THE YEAR 1586, WHEN -TWENTY-TWO YEARS OF AGE—LEAVES HIS FAMILY AT STRATFORD, -VISITING THEM OCCASIONALLY—HIS INTRODUCTION TO THE STAGE—HIS -MERITS AS AN ACTOR.</p> -</div> - - -<p>No era in the annals of Literary History ever perhaps occurred of -greater importance, than that which witnessed the entrance of Shakspeare -into the metropolis of his native country; a position which will readily -be granted, if we consider the total revolution which this event -produced in the Literature of the Stage, and the vast influence which, -through the medium of the most popular branch of our poetry, it has -subsequently exerted on the minds, manners, and taste of our countrymen. -Friendless, persecuted, poor, about the early age of twenty-two, was the -greatest poet which the world has ever seen, compelled to desert his -home, his wife, his children, to seek employment from the hands of -strangers. Rich, however, in talent, beyond all the sons of men, blessed -with a cheerful disposition, an active mind, and a heart conscious of -integrity, soon did the clouds which overspread his youth break away, -and unveil a character which has ever since been the delight, the pride, -the boast of England.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 414 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_414" id="Page_i_414">[414]</a></span>We have assigned some strong reasons, at the close of the last chapter, -for placing the epoch of Shakspeare's arrival in London, about 1586 or -1587; and we shall now bring forward some presumptive proofs that he not -only left his wife and family at Stratford on his first visit to the -capital, but that his native town continued to be their settled -residence during his life.</p> - -<p>Mr. Rowe has affirmed upon a tradition which we have no claim to -dispute, that he "was obliged to <i>leave</i> his <i>family</i> for some time;" a -fact in the highest degree probable from the causes which led to his -removal; for it is not to be supposed, situated as he then was, that he -would be willing to render his wife and children the companions and -partakers of the disasters and disappointments which it was probable he -had to encounter. Tradition further says, as preserved in the -manuscripts of Aubrey, that "he was wont to go to his native country -once a yeare<a name="FNanchor_i_414:A_826" id="FNanchor_i_414:A_826"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_414:A_826" class="fnanchor">[414:A]</a>;" and Mr. Oldys, in his collections for a life of -our author, repeats this report with an additional circumstance, -remarking, "if tradition may be trusted, Shakspeare often baited at the -Crown Inn or Tavern in Oxford, in his journey to and from -London."<a name="FNanchor_i_414:B_827" id="FNanchor_i_414:B_827"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_414:B_827" class="fnanchor">[414:B]</a> It is true that these traditions, if insulated from -other circumstances, might merely prove that he visited the place of his -birth annually, without necessarily inferring that his family was also -resident there; but if we consult the parish-register of Stratford, -their testimony will indeed be strong, and powerfully confirm the -deduction; for it appears on that record that, merely including his -children, there is a succession of baptisms, marriages, and deaths in -his family at Stratford, from the year 1583 to 1616.<a name="FNanchor_i_414:C_828" id="FNanchor_i_414:C_828"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_414:C_828" class="fnanchor">[414:C]</a> This -evidence, <!-- Page 415 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_415" id="Page_i_415">[415]</a></span>so satisfactory in itself, will be strengthened when we -recollect that the poet in his mortgage, dated the 10th of March, -1612-13, is described as William Shakspeare of <i>Stratford-upon-Avon</i>, -gentleman; and that by his contemporaries he was frequently stiled the -<i>Sweet Swan of Avon</i>, designations which, when combined with the -testimony already adduced, must be considered as implying the -family-residence of the poet.<a name="FNanchor_i_415:A_829" id="FNanchor_i_415:A_829"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_415:A_829" class="fnanchor">[415:A]</a></p> - -<p>It was this concatenation of circumstances which induced Mr. Chalmers, -than whom a more indefatigable enquirer with regard to our author has -not existed, to conclude that Shakspeare had no "fixed residence in the -metropolis," nor "ever considered London, as his home<a name="FNanchor_i_415:B_830" id="FNanchor_i_415:B_830"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_415:B_830" class="fnanchor">[415:B]</a>;" but had -"resolved that his wife and family should remain through life" at -Stratford, "though he himself made frequent excursions to London, the -scene of his profit, and the theatre of his fame<a name="FNanchor_i_415:C_831" id="FNanchor_i_415:C_831"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_415:C_831" class="fnanchor">[415:C]</a>;" adding, in a -note, that the evidence from the parish-register of Stratford had -compelled even <i>scepticism</i> to admit his position to be <i>very -probable</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_415:D_832" id="FNanchor_i_415:D_832"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_415:D_832" class="fnanchor">[415:D]</a></p> - -<p>While discussing this subject in his first Apology, he has introduced a -novel and most curious fact, for the purpose of guarding the reader -against an apparently opposing, but too hasty inference. "If documents," -he observes, "be produced to prove, that <i>one</i> Shakspeare, a player, -resided in St. Saviour's parish, Southwark, at the end of the sixteenth, -or the beginning of the seventeenth, century, <!-- Page 416 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_416" id="Page_i_416">[416]</a></span>this evidence will not be -conclusive proof of the settled residence of Shakspeare: For, it is a -fact, as new, as it is curious, that his brother Edmond, who was -baptized on the 3d of May, 1580, became a <i>player</i> at <i>the Globe</i>; lived -in St. Saviour's; and was buried in <i>the church</i> of that parish: the -entry in the register being without a blur; '1607 December 31, (was -buried) <i>Edmond Shakespeare</i>, a <i>player</i>, in the church;' there can be -no dispute about the date, or the name, or the <i>profession</i>. It is -remarkable, that the parish-clerk, who scarcely ever mentions any other -distinction of the deceased, than a <i>man</i>, or a <i>woman</i>, should, by I -know not what inspiration, have recorded Edmond Shakespeare, as a -<i>player</i>. There were, consequently, two Shakspeares on the stage, during -the same period; as there were two Burbadges, who were also brothers, -and who acted on the same theatre."<a name="FNanchor_i_416:A_833" id="FNanchor_i_416:A_833"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_416:A_833" class="fnanchor">[416:A]</a></p> - -<p>Upon the whole, we may with considerable confidence and safety conclude, -that the <i>family-residence</i> of Shakspeare was <i>always</i> at Stratford; -that he himself originally went <i>alone</i> to London, and that he spent the -greater part of every year there <i>alone</i>, annually, however, and -probably for some months, returning to the bosom of his family, and that -this alternation continued until he finally left the capital.</p> - -<p>Having disposed of this question, another, even still more doubtful, -immediately follows, with regard to the employment and mode of life -which the poet was compelled to adopt on reaching the metropolis. Mr. -Rowe, recording the consequences of the prosecution in Warwickshire, -observes,—"It is at <i>this time</i>, and upon <i>this accident</i>, that he is -said to have made his <i>first acquaintance in the play-house</i>. He was -received into the company then in being, at first in a <i>very mean -rank</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_416:B_834" id="FNanchor_i_416:B_834"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_416:B_834" class="fnanchor">[416:B]</a></p> - -<p>From this passage we may in the first place infer, that Shakspeare -<i>immediately</i> on his arrival in town, applied to the theatre for -support; an expedient to which there is reason to suppose he was -induced, by a previous connection or acquaintance with one or more of -the <!-- Page 417 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_417" id="Page_i_417">[417]</a></span>performers. It appears, indeed, from the researches of Mr. Malone, -that the probability of his being known, even while at Stratford, to -Heminge, Burbadge, and Thomas Greene, all of them celebrated comedians -of their day, is very considerable. "I suspect," remarks this acute -commentator, "that both he (namely, John Heminge,) and Burbadge were -Shakspeare's countrymen, and that Heminge was born at Shottery, a -village in Warwickshire, at a very small distance from -Stratford-upon-Avon; where Shakspeare found his wife. I find two -families of this name settled in that town early in the reign of Queen -Elizabeth. Elizabeth, the daughter of <i>John Heming</i> of Shottery, was -baptized at Stratford-upon-Avon, March 12. 1567. This John might have -been the father of the actor, though I have found no entry relative to -his baptism: for he was probably born before the year 1558, when the -Register commenced. In the village of Shottery also lived <i>Richard -Hemyng</i>, who had a son christened by the name of John, March 7. 1570. Of -the Burbadge family the only notice I have found, is, an entry in the -Register of the parish of Stratford, October 12. 1565, on which day -Philip Green was married in that town to Ursula <i>Burbadge</i>, who might -have been sister to James Burbadge, the father of the actor, whose -marriage I suppose to have taken place about that time. If this -conjecture be well founded, our poet, we see, had an easy introduction -to the theatre."<a name="FNanchor_i_417:A_835" id="FNanchor_i_417:A_835"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_417:A_835" class="fnanchor">[417:A]</a></p> - -<p>The same remark which concludes this paragraph is repeated by the -commentator when speaking of <i>Thomas Greene</i>, whom he terms, a -<i>celebrated comedian</i>, the <i>townsman</i> of Shakspeare, and perhaps his -<i>relation</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_417:B_836" id="FNanchor_i_417:B_836"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_417:B_836" class="fnanchor">[417:B]</a> The celebrity of Greene as an actor is fully -ascertained by an address to the reader, prefixed by Thomas Heywood to -his edition of John Cook's <i>Greens Tu Quoque; or, The City Gallant</i>; "as -for Maister Greene," says Heywood, "all that I will speak of him (and -that without flattery) is this (if I were worthy to censure) there was -not an actor of his nature, in his time, of better ability in -performance of what he undertook, more applauded by the audience, of -<!-- Page 418 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_418" id="Page_i_418">[418]</a></span>greater grace at the court, or of more general love in the -city<a name="FNanchor_i_418:A_837" id="FNanchor_i_418:A_837"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_418:A_837" class="fnanchor">[418:A]</a>;" but the townsmanship and affinity rest only on the -inference to be drawn from an entry in the parish-register of Stratford, -and from some lines quoted by Chetwood from the comedy of the <i>Two Maids -of Moreclack</i>, which represent Greene speaking in the character of a -clown, and declaring</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"I pratled poesie in my nurse's arms,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And, born, where late our swan of Avon sung,</div> - <div class="line indentq">In Avon's streams we both of us have lav'd,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And both came out together."<a name="FNanchor_i_418:B_838" id="FNanchor_i_418:B_838"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_418:B_838" class="fnanchor">[418:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">As these lines are not, however, in the play from which they are -pretended to have been taken; as they appear to be a parody on a passage -in Milton's Lycidas, and as Chetwood has been detected in falsifying and -forging many of his dates, little credit can be attached to their -evidence, and we must solely depend upon the import of the register, -which records that <i>Thomas Greene, <span class="smcap">alias Shakspere</span>, was buried there, -March 6th, 1589</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_418:C_839" id="FNanchor_i_418:C_839"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_418:C_839" class="fnanchor">[418:C]</a> If this Thomas were the father of the actor, -and the probability of this being the case cannot be denied, and may -even have led to the attempted imposition of Chetwood, the affinity, as -well as the townsmanship, will be established.<a name="FNanchor_i_418:D_840" id="FNanchor_i_418:D_840"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_418:D_840" class="fnanchor">[418:D]</a></p> - -<p>It seems, therefore, neither rash nor inconsequent to believe, in -failure of more direct evidence, that the channel through which -Shakspeare, immediately on his arrival in town, procured an introduction -to the stage, was first opened by his relationship to Greene, who -possessing, as we have seen, great merit and influence as an actor, -could easily insure him a connection at the theatre, and would naturally -recommend him to his countryman Heminge, who was then about thirty years -of age, and had already acquired considerable reputation as a -performer.<a name="FNanchor_i_418:E_841" id="FNanchor_i_418:E_841"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_418:E_841" class="fnanchor">[418:E]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 419 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_419" id="Page_i_419">[419]</a></span>Mr. Rowe's <i>second</i> assertion that he was received into the company, -then in being, at first in a <i>very mean rank</i>, has given rise to some -reports relative to the nature of his early employment at the theatre, -which are equally inconsistent and degrading. It has been related that -his first office was that of <i>Call-boy</i>, or attendant on the prompter, -and that his business was to give notice to the performers when their -different entries on the stage were required.<a name="FNanchor_i_419:A_842" id="FNanchor_i_419:A_842"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_419:A_842" class="fnanchor">[419:A]</a> Another tradition, -which places him in a still meaner occupation, is said to have been -transmitted through the medium of Sir William Davenant to Mr. Betterton, -who communicated it to Mr. Rowe, and this gentleman to Mr. Pope, by -whom, according to Dr. Johnson, it was related in the following -terms:—"In the time of Elizabeth, coaches being yet uncommon, and hired -coaches not at all in use, those who were too proud, too tender, or too -idle to walk, went on horseback to any distant business or diversion. -Many came on horseback to the play, and when Shakspeare fled to London -from the terror of a criminal prosecution, his first expedient was to -wait at the door of the play-house, and hold the horses of those that -had no servants, that they might be ready again after the performance. -In this office he became so conspicuous for his care and readiness, that -in a short time every man as he alighted called for Will. Shakspeare, -and scarcely any other waiter was trusted with a horse while Will. -Shakspeare could be had. This was the first dawn of better fortune. -Shakspeare, finding more horses put into his hand than he could hold, -hired boys to wait under his inspection, who, when Will. Shakspeare was -summoned, were immediately to present themselves, <i>I am Shakspeare's -boy, Sir</i>. In time, Shakspeare found higher employment: but as long as -the practice of riding to the playhouse continued, the waiters that held -the horses retained the appellation of <i>Shakspeare's boys</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_419:B_843" id="FNanchor_i_419:B_843"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_419:B_843" class="fnanchor">[419:B]</a></p> - -<p>Of this curious anecdote it should not be forgotten, that it made its -<i>first</i> appearance in Cibber's Lives of the Poets<a name="FNanchor_i_419:C_844" id="FNanchor_i_419:C_844"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_419:C_844" class="fnanchor">[419:C]</a>; and that if it -<!-- Page 420 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_420" id="Page_i_420">[420]</a></span>were known to Mr. Rowe, it is evident he thought it so little entitled -to credit that he chose not to risque its insertion in his life of the -poet. In short, if we reflect for a moment that Shakspeare, though he -fled from Stratford to avoid the severity of a prosecution, could not be -destitute either of money or friends, as the necessity for that flight -was occasioned by an imprudent ebullition of wit, and not by any serious -delinquency; that the father of his wife was a yeoman both of -respectability and property; that his own parent, though impoverished, -was still in business; and that he had, in all likelihood, a ready -admission to the stage through the influence of persons of leading -weight in its concerns; we cannot, without doing the utmost violence to -probability, conceive that, under these circumstances, and in the -twenty-third year of his age, he would submit to the degrading -employment of either a <i>horse-holder</i> at the door of a theatre, or of a -<i>call-boy</i> within its walls.</p> - -<p>Setting aside, therefore, these idle tales, we may reasonably conclude -that by the phrase <i>a very mean rank</i>, Mr. Rowe meant to imply, that his -first engagement as an <i>actor</i> was in the performance of characters of -the lowest class. That his fellow-comedians were ushered into the -dramatic world in a similar way, and rose to higher occupancy by -gradation, the history of the stage will sufficiently prove: Richard -Burbadge, for instance, who began his career nearly at the same time -with our author, and who subsequently became the greatest tragedian of -his age, had, in the year 1589, appeared in no character more important -than that of <i>a Messenger</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_420:A_845" id="FNanchor_i_420:A_845"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_420:A_845" class="fnanchor">[420:A]</a> If this were the case with a -performer of such acknowledged merit, we may readily acquiesce in the -supposition that the parts first given to Shakspeare were equally as -insignificant; and as readily allow that an actor thus circumstanced -might very properly be said to have been admitted into the company <i>at -first in a very mean rank</i>.</p> - -<p>As Shakspeare's <i>immediate</i> employment, therefore, on his arrival in -town, appears to have been that of an <i>actor</i>, it cannot be deemed -<!-- Page 421 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_421" id="Page_i_421">[421]</a></span>irrelevant if we should here enquire into his merits and success in -this department.</p> - -<p>Two traditions, of a contradictory complexion, have reached us relative -to Shakspeare's powers as an actor; one on the authority of Mr. Aubrey, -and the other on that of Mr. Rowe. In the manuscript papers of the first -of these gentlemen, we are told that our author, "being inclined -naturally to poetry and acting, came to London,—and was an actor at one -of the play-houses, and <i>did act exceedingly well</i><a name="FNanchor_i_421:A_846" id="FNanchor_i_421:A_846"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_421:A_846" class="fnanchor">[421:A]</a>;" but, in the -life of the poet by the second, it is added, after mentioning his -admission to the theatre in an inferior rank, that "his admirable wit, -and the natural turn of it to the stage, soon distinguished him, <i>if not -as an extraordinary actor</i>, yet as an excellent writer. His name is -printed, as the custom was in those times, amongst those of the other -players, before some old plays, but without any particular account of -what sort of parts he used to play; and though I have enquired, I could -never meet with any further account of him this way, than <i>that the top -of his performance was the Ghost in his own Hamlet</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_421:B_847" id="FNanchor_i_421:B_847"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_421:B_847" class="fnanchor">[421:B]</a></p> - -<p>Of descriptions thus opposed, a preference only can be given as founded -on other evidence; and it happens that subsequent enquiry has enabled us -to consider Mr. Aubrey's account as approximating nearest to the truth.</p> - -<p>Contemporary authority, it is evident, would decide the question, and -happily the researches of Mr. Malone have furnished us with a testimony -of this kind. In the year 1592, Henry Chettle, a dramatic writer, -published a posthumous work of Robert Greene's, under the title of -"Greene's Groatsworth of Wit, bought with a Million of Repentance," in -which the author speaks harshly of Marlowe, and still more so of -Shakspeare, who was then rising into fame. Both these poets were justly -offended, and Chettle, who was of course implicated in their -displeasure, printed, in the December of the same year, a pamphlet, -entitled <i>Kind Harts Dreame</i>, to which is prefixed an <!-- Page 422 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_422" id="Page_i_422">[422]</a></span>address <i>to the -Gentlemen Readers</i>, apologizing, in the following terms, for the offence -which he had given:</p> - -<p>"About three months since died M. Robert Greene, leaving many papers in -sundry booksellers' hands, among others his <i>Groatsworth of Wit</i>, in -which a letter written to divers play-makers is offensively by one or -two of them taken; and because on the dead they cannot be re-avenged, -they wilfully forge in their conceites a living author: and after -tossing it to and fro, no remedy but it must light on me. How I have, -all the time of my conversing in printing, hindered the bitter -inveighing against schollers, it hath been very well known; and how in -that I dealt, I can sufficiently prove. With <i>neither</i> of them that take -offence was I acquainted, and with one of them ('Marlowe') I care not if -I never be. The other ('Shakspeare'), whom at that time I did not so -much spare, as since I wish I had, for that as I have moderated the hate -of living writers, and might have used my own discretion, (especially in -such a case, the author being dead,) that I did not, I am as sorry as if -the original fault had been my fault; because <i>myselfe have seene his -demeanour no less civil than he <span class="allcapsc">EXCELLENT IN THE QUALITIE HE PROFESSES</span>. -Besides, divers of worship have reported his uprightness of dealing, -which argues his honestie, and his facetious grace in writing, that -approves his art.</i> For the first, whose learning I reverence, and at the -perusing of Greene's booke, strooke out what then in conscience I -thought he in some displeasure writ; or had it been true, yet to publish -it was intollerable; him I would wish to use me no worse than I -deserve."<a name="FNanchor_i_422:A_848" id="FNanchor_i_422:A_848"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_422:A_848" class="fnanchor">[422:A]</a></p> - -<p>This curious passage clearly evinces that our author was deemed -<span class="allcapsc">EXCELLENT</span> as an actor, (for the phrase <i>the qualitie he professes</i> -peculiarly denoted at that time the profession of a player,) in the year -1592, only five or six years, at most, after he had entered on the -stage; and consequently that the information which Aubrey had received -was correct, while that obtained by Rowe must be considered as -unfounded.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 423 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_423" id="Page_i_423">[423]</a></span>So well instructed, indeed, was Shakspeare in the duties and qualities -of an <i>actor</i>, that it appears from Downes' book, entitled <i>Roscius -Anglicanus</i>, that he undertook to teach and perfect John Lowin in the -character of King Henry the Eighth, and Joseph Taylor in that of Hamlet.</p> - -<p>Of his competency for this task, several parts of his dramatic works -might be brought forward as sufficient proof. Independent of his -celebrated instructions to the player in Hamlet, which would alone -ascertain his intimate knowledge of the histrionic art, his conception -of the powers necessary to form the accomplished tragedian, may be drawn -from part of a dialogue which occurs between <i>Richard the Third</i> and -<i>Buckingham</i>:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<i>Glo.</i> Come, cousin, <i>can'st thou quake and change thy colour?</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Murther thy breath in middle of a word?</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>And then again begin, and stop again,</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>As if thou wert distraught, and mad with terror?</i></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1"><i>Buck.</i> Tut, I can counterfeit the <i>deep tragedian</i>;</div> - <div class="line">Speak, and look big, and <i>pry on every side,</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Tremble and start at wagging of a straw,</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Intending deep suspicion: ghastly looks</i></div> - <div class="line"><i>Are at my service, like enforced smiles</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_423:A_849" id="FNanchor_i_423:A_849"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_423:A_849" class="fnanchor">[423:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It would be highly interesting to be able to point out what were the -characters which Shakspeare performed, either in his own plays, or in -those of other writers; but the information which we have on this -subject is, unfortunately, very scanty. Mr. Rowe has mentioned, as the -sole result of his enquiries, that the <i>Ghost</i> in <i>Hamlet</i> was his <i>chef -d'oeuvre</i>. That this part, however, in the opinion of the poet, required -some skill and management in the execution, is evident from the -expressions attributed to Hamlet, who exclaims, on the appearance of the -Royal spectre, during the interview between himself and his mother,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————— "Look you how pale he glares!</div> - <div class="line">His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones,</div> - <!-- Page 424 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_424" id="Page_i_424">[424]</a></span><div class="line">Would make them capable. Do not <i>look upon me</i>,</div> - <div class="line">Lest with <i>this piteous action</i>, you convert</div> - <div class="line">My stern effects;"<a name="FNanchor_i_424:A_850" id="FNanchor_i_424:A_850"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_424:A_850" class="fnanchor">[424:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">a description, which, there is reason to suppose, the author would not -have ventured to introduce, unless he had been conscious of the -possession of powers capable of doing justice to his own delineation.</p> - -<p>Another tradition, preserved by Mr. Oldys, and communicated to him, as -Mr. Malone thinks<a name="FNanchor_i_424:B_851" id="FNanchor_i_424:B_851"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_424:B_851" class="fnanchor">[424:B]</a>, by Mr. Thomas Jones of Tarbick, in -Worcestershire, whom we have formerly mentioned, imports, as corrected -by the commentator just mentioned, that a <i>relation</i> of the poet's, then -in advanced age, but who in his youth had been in the habit of visiting -London for the purpose of seeing him act in some of his own plays, told -Mr. Jones<a name="FNanchor_i_424:C_852" id="FNanchor_i_424:C_852"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_424:C_852" class="fnanchor">[424:C]</a>, that he had a faint recollection "of having once seen -him act a part in one of his own comedies, wherein being to personate a -decrepit old man, he wore a long beard, and appeared so weak and -drooping and unable to walk, that he was forced to be supported and -carried by another person to a table, at which he was seated among some -company, who were eating, and one of them sung a song."<a name="FNanchor_i_424:D_853" id="FNanchor_i_424:D_853"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_424:D_853" class="fnanchor">[424:D]</a> That this -part was the character of <i>Adam</i>, in <i>As You Like It</i>, there can be no -doubt, and if we add, that, from the arrangement of the names of the -actors and of the persons of the drama, prefixed to Ben Jonson's play of -<i>Every Man in his Humour</i>, first acted in 1598, there is reason to -imagine that he performed the part of Old Knowell in that comedy, we may -be warranted probably in drawing the conclusion, that the representation -of aged characters was peculiarly his forte.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 425 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_425" id="Page_i_425">[425]</a></span>It appears also, from the first four lines of a small poem, written by -John Davies, about the year 1611, and inscribed, <i>To our English -Terence, Mr. William Shakespeare</i>, that our bard had been accustomed to -perform <i>kingly parts</i>;</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Some say, good Will, which I in sport do sing,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Hadst thou not play'd some <i>kingly parts</i> in sport,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thou hadst been a companion for a king,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And been a king among the meaner sort;"<a name="FNanchor_i_425:A_854" id="FNanchor_i_425:A_854"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_425:A_854" class="fnanchor">[425:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">a passage which leads us to infer, that several of the regal characters -in his own plays, perhaps the parts of King Henry the Eighth, King Henry -the Sixth, and King Henry the Fourth, may have been appropriated to him, -as adapted to the general estimate of his powers in acting.</p> - -<p>From the notices thus collected, it will be perceived, that Shakspeare -attempted not the performance of characters of the first rank; but that -in the representation of those of a second-rate order, to which he -modestly confined his exertions, he was deemed <i>excellent</i>. We have just -grounds also for concluding that of the <i>theory</i> of acting in its very -highest departments, he was a complete master; and though not competent -to carry his own precepts into perfect execution, he was a consummate -judge of the attainments and deficiencies of his fellow-comedians, and -was accordingly employed to instruct them in his own conception of the -parts which they were destined to perform.</p> - -<p>It may be considered, indeed, as a most fortunate circumstance for the -lovers of dramatic poetry, that our author, in point of execution, did -not attain to the loftiest summit of his profession. He would, in that -case, it is very probable, have either sate down content with the high -reputation accruing to him from this source, or would have found little -time for the labours of composition, and consequently we should have -been in a great degree, if not altogether, deprived of what now -constitute the noblest efforts of human genius.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_414:A_826" id="Footnote_i_414:A_826"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_414:A_826"><span class="label">[414:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 214.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_414:B_827" id="Footnote_i_414:B_827"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_414:B_827"><span class="label">[414:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 124.—Antony Wood, it -appears, was the original author of this anecdote, for he tells us in -his Athenæ, that John Davenant, who kept the Crown, was "an admirer and -lover of plays and play-makers, especially Shakspeare, <i>who frequented -his house in his journies between Warwickshire and London</i>." Ath. Oxon. -vol. ii. p. 292.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_414:C_828" id="Footnote_i_414:C_828"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_414:C_828"><span class="label">[414:C]</span></a> The Register informs us,—</p> - -<p>1st. That his daughter Susanna was baptized there on the 26th May 1583.</p> - -<p>2d. That Hamnet and Judith, his twin-son and daughter, were baptized -there the 2d of February 1584.</p> - -<p>3d. That his son Hamnet was buried there, on the 11th of August 1596.</p> - -<p>4th. That his daughter Susanna was there married to John Hall, on the -5th of June 1607.</p> - -<p>5th. That his daughter Judith was there married to Thomas Queeny, on the -10th of February 1615/16.—Vide Chalmers's Apology, p. 247.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_415:A_829" id="Footnote_i_415:A_829"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_415:A_829"><span class="label">[415:A]</span></a> Ben Jonson, in his Poem to the Memory of Shakspeare, -calls him "Sweet Swan of Avon;" and Joseph Taylor, who represented the -part of Hamlet in 1596, in the Dedication which he and his -fellow-players wrote for Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, in 1647, speaks -of "the flowing compositions of the then expired <i>sweet swan of Avon</i>, -Shakspeare."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_415:B_830" id="Footnote_i_415:B_830"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_415:B_830"><span class="label">[415:B]</span></a> Chalmers's Apology, p. 247.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_415:C_831" id="Footnote_i_415:C_831"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_415:C_831"><span class="label">[415:C]</span></a> Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. 227.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_415:D_832" id="Footnote_i_415:D_832"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_415:D_832"><span class="label">[415:D]</span></a> Ibid. p. 227. note <i>d</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_416:A_833" id="Footnote_i_416:A_833"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_416:A_833"><span class="label">[416:A]</span></a> Chalmers's Apology, p. 423. note <i>a</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_416:B_834" id="Footnote_i_416:B_834"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_416:B_834"><span class="label">[416:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 63.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_417:A_835" id="Footnote_i_417:A_835"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_417:A_835"><span class="label">[417:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 233.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_417:B_836" id="Footnote_i_417:B_836"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_417:B_836"><span class="label">[417:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. ii. p. 230.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_418:A_837" id="Footnote_i_418:A_837"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_418:A_837"><span class="label">[418:A]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 539.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_418:B_838" id="Footnote_i_418:B_838"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_418:B_838"><span class="label">[418:B]</span></a> British Theatre, p. 9.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_418:C_839" id="Footnote_i_418:C_839"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_418:C_839"><span class="label">[418:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 230. note 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_418:D_840" id="Footnote_i_418:D_840"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_418:D_840"><span class="label">[418:D]</span></a> Vide Malone's Inquiry, p. 94.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_418:E_841" id="Footnote_i_418:E_841"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_418:E_841"><span class="label">[418:E]</span></a> Mr. Chalmers, speaking of Heminges, says—"There is -reason to believe, that he was, originally, a <i>Warwickshire lad</i>; a -shire, which has produced so many players and poets; the Burbadges; the -Shakspeares; the Greens; and the Harts." Apology, p. 435, 436.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_419:A_842" id="Footnote_i_419:A_842"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_419:A_842"><span class="label">[419:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 63. note 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_419:B_843" id="Footnote_i_419:B_843"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_419:B_843"><span class="label">[419:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 120.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_419:C_844" id="Footnote_i_419:C_844"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_419:C_844"><span class="label">[419:C]</span></a> Lives of the Poets, vol. i. p. 130.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_420:A_845" id="Footnote_i_420:A_845"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_420:A_845"><span class="label">[420:A]</span></a> Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. 158. note <i>n</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_421:A_846" id="Footnote_i_421:A_846"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_421:A_846"><span class="label">[421:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p. 213.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_421:B_847" id="Footnote_i_421:B_847"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_421:B_847"><span class="label">[421:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. i. p. 64.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_422:A_848" id="Footnote_i_422:A_848"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_422:A_848"><span class="label">[422:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 237, 238.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_423:A_849" id="Footnote_i_423:A_849"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_423:A_849"><span class="label">[423:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xiv. p. 403, 404. Act iii. sc. -5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_424:A_850" id="Footnote_i_424:A_850"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_424:A_850"><span class="label">[424:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 249, 250. Act iii. -sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_424:B_851" id="Footnote_i_424:B_851"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_424:B_851"><span class="label">[424:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. i. p. 128. note 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_424:C_852" id="Footnote_i_424:C_852"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_424:C_852"><span class="label">[424:C]</span></a> "Mr. Jones's informer," observes Mr. Malone, "might -have been Mr. Richard Quincy, who lived in London, and died at Stratford -in 1656, at the age of 69; or Mr. Thomas Quincy, our poet's son-in-law, -who lived, I believe, till 1663, and was twenty-seven years old when his -father-in-law died; or some one of the family of Hathaway. Mr. Thomas -Hathaway, I believe Shakspeare's brother-in-law, died at Stratford in -1654-5, at the age of 85."—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 128. note 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_424:D_853" id="Footnote_i_424:D_853"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_424:D_853"><span class="label">[424:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 129, 130.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_425:A_854" id="Footnote_i_425:A_854"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_425:A_854"><span class="label">[425:A]</span></a> The Scourge of Folly, by John Davies of Hereford, no -date.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 426 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_426" id="Page_i_426">[426]</a></span></p> -<h3 class="nobreak"><a name="i_PART_II_CHAPTER_II" id="i_PART_II_CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">SHAKSPEARE COMMENCES A WRITER OF POETRY, PROBABLY ABOUT THE -YEAR 1587, BY THE COMPOSITION OF HIS VENUS AND -ADONIS—HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF POLITE LITERATURE DURING THE AGE -OF SHAKSPEARE.</p> -</div> - - -<p>As the first object of Shakspeare must necessarily have been, from the -confined nature of his circumstances, to procure employment, it is -highly reasonable to conclude that he at first contented himself with -the diligent discharge of those duties which fell to his share as an -actor of inferior rank. That these, however, were calculated to absorb, -for any length of time, a mind so active, ample, and creative, cannot -for a moment be credited; and, indeed, we are warranted, by every fair -inference, to assert, that, no sooner did he consider his situation at -the theatre of Blackfriars as tolerably secured, than he immediately -directed his powers to the cultivation of his favourite art—that of -poetry.</p> - -<p>Of his inclination to this elegant branch of literature, we have an -early proof, in the mode of retaliation which he adopted, in consequence -of his prosecution by Sir Thomas Lucy; and that the Venus and Adonis, -"the first heir of his invention," as he terms it, was commenced, not -long subsequent to this period, and shortly after his arrival in town, a -little enquiry will induce us to consider as an almost established fact.</p> - -<p>It has, indeed, been surmised, by a very intelligent critic, that this -poem may have been written while its author "felt the powerful incentive -of love," and consequently "before he had sallied from Stratford;" -"certainly," he adds, "before he was known to <a name="FNanchor_i_426:A_855" id="FNanchor_i_426:A_855"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_426:A_855" class="fnanchor">[426:A]</a>fame." The first -suggestion we may dismiss as a <i>mere</i> supposition; the second must be -acknowledged as founded on truth.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 427 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_427" id="Page_i_427">[427]</a></span>All the commentators agree in fixing on the year 1591, as the <span class="smcap">LATEST</span> -period for our author's commencement as a <i>dramatic poet</i>: for this -obvious reason, that both Greene and Chettle have mentioned him as a -writer of plays in 1592, and in such a manner, likewise, as proves that -he was <i>even then</i> possessed of some degree of <i>notoriety</i>, the latter -mentioning his "<i>facetious grace in writing</i>," and the former, after -calling him, "<i>an upstart crow beautified with our feathers</i>," and -parodying a line from the Third Part of King Henry VI., concludes by -telling us, that he "<i>is in his own conceit the only <span class="smcap">Shake-scene</span> in the -country</i>;" circumstances which have naturally induced the most sagacious -critics on our bard to infer, that, thus early to have excited so much -envy as this railing accusation evinces, he must without doubt have been -a corrector and improver of plays anterior to 1590, and very probably in -1589.</p> - -<p>Now, though the first edition of the Venus and Adonis was not -<i>published</i> until 1593, yet the author's positive declaration, that it -was "<i>the first heir of his invention</i>," necessarily implies that its -<i>composition</i> had taken place prior to any poetical attempts for the -stage; and as we have seen, that his arrival in town could not have -occurred before 1586; that he was then immediately employed as an actor -in a very inferior rank; and that his earliest efforts as a dramatic -poet may be attributed to the year 1589 or 1590, it will follow, as a -legitimate deduction, if we allow the space of a twelvemonth for his -settlement at the theatre, that the composition of this poem, "the first -heir of his invention," must be given to the interval elapsing between -the years 1587 and 1590, a period not too extended, the nature of his -other engagements being considered, for the completion of a poem very -nearly amounting to twelve hundred lines.</p> - -<p>Having thus conducted Shakspeare to his entrance on the career of -authorship and fame, it will now be necessary, in conformity with our -plan, to take a general and cursory survey of <span class="smcap">Literature</span>, as it existed -in the reigns of Elizabeth and James. The remainder of this chapter will -therefore be devoted to a broad outline on this subject, reserving, -however, the topics of Romance and Miscellaneous Poetry, <!-- Page 428 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_428" id="Page_i_428">[428]</a></span>for distinct -and immediately subsequent consideration, as these will form an apposite -prelude to an estimate of the patronage which our author enjoyed, to a -critique on his poems, and to critical notices of contemporary -<i>miscellaneous</i> poets, enquiries which, while they embrace, in one view, -the merits of Shakspeare as a <i>miscellaneous</i> poet, are, at the same -time, in their preliminary and collateral branches, in some degree -preparatory to his introduction as a <i>dramatic</i> writer; preparatory also -to a sketch of the manners, customs, and diversions of the metropolis, -during his age, and to a discussion of his transcendent powers as the -bard of fancy and of nature.</p> - -<p>The literary period of which we are proceeding to give a slight sketch, -may be justly considered as the most splendid in our annals; for in what -equal portion of our history can we bring forward three such mighty -names as <i>Spenser</i>, <i>Bacon</i>, and <i>Shakspeare</i>, each, in their respective -departments, remaining without a rival. As the field, however, is so -ample that even to do justice to an outline will require much attention -to arrangement, it will be necessary to distribute what we have to -offer, in this stage of our work, under the heads of <i>Bibliography</i>, -<i>Philology</i>, <i>Criticism</i>, <i>History</i>, General, Local, and Personal, and -<i>Miscellaneous Literature</i>; premising that as we confine ourselves, in -the strictest sense, to <i>elegant</i> literature, or what has been termed -the <i>Belles Lettres</i>, science, theology, and politics, will, of course, -be excluded.</p> - -<p>Literature, which had for some centuries been confined to ecclesiastics -and scholars by profession, was, at the commencement of Elizabeth's -reign, thrown open to the higher classes of general society. The example -was given by the Queen herself; and the nobility, the superior orders of -the gentry, and even their wives and daughters, became enthusiasts in -the cause of letters. The novelty which attended these studies, the -eager desire to possess what had been so long studiously and jealously -concealed, and the curiosity to explore and rifle the treasures of the -Greek and Roman world, which mystery and imagination had swelled into -the marvellous, contributed to excite an absolute passion for study, and -for books. <!-- Page 429 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_429" id="Page_i_429">[429]</a></span>The court, the ducal castle, and the baronial hall, were -suddenly converted into academies, and could boast of splendid -libraries, as well as of splendid tapestries. In the first of these, -according to Ascham, might be seen the Queen reading "more <i>Greeke</i> -every day, than some prebendarie of this church doth read <i>Latin</i> in a -whole week<a name="FNanchor_i_429:A_856" id="FNanchor_i_429:A_856"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_429:A_856" class="fnanchor">[429:A]</a>," and while she was translating Isocrates or Seneca, -it may be easily conceived that her maids of honour found it convenient -to praise and to adopt the disposition of her time. In the second, -observes Warton, the daughter of a duchess was taught not only to distil -strong waters, but to construe Greek<a name="FNanchor_i_429:B_857" id="FNanchor_i_429:B_857"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_429:B_857" class="fnanchor">[429:B]</a>; and in the third, every -young lady who aspired to be fashionable was compelled, in imitation of -the greater world, to exhibit similar marks of erudition.</p> - -<p>If such were the studious manners of the ladies, it will readily be -credited, that an equal, if not a greater attachment to literature -existed in the other sex; in short, an intimacy with Greek, Latin, and -Italian, was deemed essential to the character of the nobleman and the -courtier; and learning was thus rendered a passport to promotion and -rank. That this is not an exaggerated statement, but founded on -contemporary authority, will be evident from a passage in Harrison's -Description of England, where, after delineating the court, he -adds,—"This further is not to be omitted, to the singular commendation -of both sorts and sexes of our courtiers here in England, that there are -verie few of them, which have not the use and skill of sundrie speaches, -beside an excellent veine of writing before time not regarded.—Trulie -it is a rare thing with us now, to heare of a courtier which hath but -his owne language. And to saie how many gentlewomen and ladies there -are, that beside sound knowledge of the Greeke and Latine toongs, are -thereto no lesse skilfull in the Spanish, Italian, and French, or in -some one of them, it resteth not in me: sith I am persuaded, that as the -noblemen and gentlemen do surmount in this behalfe, so these come verie -little or nothing at <!-- Page 430 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_430" id="Page_i_430">[430]</a></span>all behind them for their parts, which industrie -God continue, and accomplish that which otherwise is wanting!" Again, a -few lines below, he remarks of the ladies of the court, that some of -them employ themselves "in continuall reading either of the holie -scriptures, or histories of our owne or forren nations about us, and -diverse in writing volumes of their owne, or translating of other mens -into our English and Latine toongs<a name="FNanchor_i_430:A_858" id="FNanchor_i_430:A_858"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_430:A_858" class="fnanchor">[430:A]</a>;" employments which now appear -to us very extraordinary as the daily occupations of a court, but were, -then, the natural result of that ardent love of letters, which had -somewhat suddenly been diffused through the higher classes.</p> - -<p>Were we, however, to conclude, that the same erudite taste pervaded the -bulk of the people, or even the middle orders of society, we should be -grossly mistaken. Literature, though cultivated with enthusiasm in the -metropolis, was confined even there to persons of high rank, or to those -who were subservient to their education and amusement. In the country, -to read and write were still esteemed rare accomplishments, and among -the rural gentry of not the first degree, little difference, in point of -literary information, was perceptible between the master and his menial -attendant. Of this several of the plays of Shakspeare and Jonson will -afford evidence, especially the comedies of the <i>Merry Wives of -Windsor</i>, and <i>Every Man in his Humour</i>, to which a striking proof may -be added from Burton, who wrote just at the close of the Shaksperian -<a name="FNanchor_i_430:B_859" id="FNanchor_i_430:B_859"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_430:B_859" class="fnanchor">[430:B]</a>period; and, in treating of study, as a cause of melancholy, -says, "I may not deny, but that we have a sprinkling of our Gentry, -here, and there one, excellently well learned;—but they are but few in -respect of the multitude, the major part (and some again excepted, that -are indifferent) are wholly bent for Hawks and Hounds, and carried away -many times with intemperate lust, gaming, and drinking. If they read a -book at any time, 'tis an English Chronicle, Sir Huon of Bordeaux, -Amadis de Gaul, &c. a play-book, or some pamphlet of <!-- Page 431 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_431" id="Page_i_431">[431]</a></span>News, and that at -such seasons only, when they cannot stir abroad, to drive away time, -their sole discourse is dogs, hawks, horses, and what News? If some one -have been a traveller in Italy, or as far as the Emperour's Court, -wintered in Orleance, and can court his mistris in broken French, wear -his clothes neatly in the newest fashion, sing some choice out-landish -tunes, discourse of lords, ladies, towns, palaces, and cities, he is -compleat and to be admired: otherwise he and they are much at one; <i>no -difference betwixt the master and the man</i>, but worshipful titles: wink -and choose betwixt him that sits down (clothes excepted) and him that -holds the trencher behind him."<a name="FNanchor_i_431:A_860" id="FNanchor_i_431:A_860"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_431:A_860" class="fnanchor">[431:A]</a></p> - -<p>It is to the court, therefore, and its attendants, to the nobility, -higher gentry, and their preceptors, that we are to look for that ardent -love of books and learning which so remarkably distinguished the reigns -of Elizabeth and James, and which was destined, in another century, to -descend into, and illuminate the larger masses of our population. -Nothing, indeed, can more forcibly paint Elizabeth's passion for books -and learning, than a passage in Harrison's unadorned but faithful -description of her court:—"Finallie," says that interesting pourtrayer -of ancient manners, "to avoid idlenesse, and prevent sundrie -transgressions, otherwise likelie to be committed and doone, such order -is taken, that everie office hath either a bible, or the booke of the -acts and monuments of the church of England, or both, beside some -histories and chronicles lieing therein, for the exercise of such as -come into the same: <i>whereby the stranger that entereth into the court -of England upon the sudden, shall rather imagine himselfe to come into -some publike schoole of the universities, where manie give eare to one -that readeth, than into a princes palace, if you conferre the same with -those of other nations</i>. Would to God all honorable personages would -take example of hir graces godlie dealing in this behalfe, and shew -their conformitie unto these hir so good beginnings! which if they -would, then should manie grievous offenses (wherewith God is <!-- Page 432 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_432" id="Page_i_432">[432]</a></span>highlie -displeased) be cut off and restrained, which now doo reigne -exceedinglie, in most noble and gentlemen's houses, whereof they see no -paterne within hir graces gates."<a name="FNanchor_i_432:A_861" id="FNanchor_i_432:A_861"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_432:A_861" class="fnanchor">[432:A]</a> Well might Mr. Dibdin -apostrophize this learned Queen in the following picturesque and -characteristic terms:—"All hail to the sovereign, who, bred up in -severe habits of reading and meditation, loved books and scholars to the -very bottom of her heart! I consider <span class="smcap">Elizabeth</span> as a royal bibliomaniac -of transcendant fame!—I see her, in imagination, wearing her favorite -little <i>Volume of Prayers</i><a name="FNanchor_i_432:B_862" id="FNanchor_i_432:B_862"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_432:B_862" class="fnanchor">[432:B]</a>, the composition of Queen Catharine -Parr, and Lady Tirwit, 'bound in solid gold, and hanging by a gold chain -at her side,' at her morning and evening devotions—afterwards, as she -became firmly seated upon her throne, taking an interest in the -embellishments of the <i>Prayer Book</i><a name="FNanchor_i_432:C_863" id="FNanchor_i_432:C_863"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_432:C_863" class="fnanchor">[432:C]</a>, which goes under her own -name; and then indulging her strong bibliomaniacal appetites in -fostering the institution for the erecting of <i>a Library, and an Academy -for the study of Antiquities and History</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_432:D_864" id="FNanchor_i_432:D_864"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_432:D_864" class="fnanchor">[432:D]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 433 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_433" id="Page_i_433">[433]</a></span>The example of Elizabeth, whose taste for books had been fostered under -the tuition of Ascham, was speedily followed by some of the first -characters in the kingdom; but by none with more ardent zeal then by -Archbishop Parker, who was such an indefatigable admirer and collector -of curious and precious books, and of every thing that appertained to -them, that, according to Strype, he kept constantly in his house -"drawers of pictures, wood-cutters, painters, limners, writers, and -book-binders,—one of these was <i>Lylye</i>, an excellent writer, that could -counterfeit any antique writing. Him the archbishop customarily used to -make old books compleat."<a name="FNanchor_i_433:A_865" id="FNanchor_i_433:A_865"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_433:A_865" class="fnanchor">[433:A]</a> No expense, in short, was spared, by -this amiable and accomplished divine, in procuring the most rare and -valuable articles; his library was daily increased through the medium of -numerous agents, whom he employed, both at home and abroad, and among -these was Batman the author of the <i>Doome</i> and the commentator <i>uppon -Bartholome</i>, who, we are told, purchased for him not less than 6700 -books "in the space of no more than four years."<a name="FNanchor_i_433:B_866" id="FNanchor_i_433:B_866"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_433:B_866" class="fnanchor">[433:B]</a></p> - -<p>To Parker succeeded the still more celebrated names of <i>Sir Robert -Cotton</i> and <i>Sir Thomas Bodley</i>, men to whom the nation is indebted for -two of the most extensive and valuable of its public libraries. The -enthusiasm which animated these illustrious characters in their -bibliographical researches is almost incredible, and what gives an -imperishable interest to their biography is, that their morals were as -pure as their literary zeal was glowing.</p> - -<p>Sir Thomas Bodley was singularly fortunate in the selection of <i>Dr. -Thomas James</i> for the keeper of his library, whom Camden terms <i>vir -eruditus, et vere</i> φιλόβιβλος<a name="FNanchor_i_433:C_867" id="FNanchor_i_433:C_867"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_433:C_867" class="fnanchor">[433:C]</a>, and of whom Fuller says, that "on -serious consideration one will conclude the Library made for <i>him</i>, and -<i>him</i> for it, like <i>tallies</i> they so fitted one another. Some men live -like mothes in libraries, not being better for the books, but the books -the worse for them, which they only soile with their fingers. Not <!-- Page 434 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_434" id="Page_i_434">[434]</a></span>so -Dr. James, who made use of books for his own and the publique good. He -knew the age of a manuscript, by looking upon the face thereof, and by -the form of the character could conclude the time wherein it was -written."<a name="FNanchor_i_434:A_868" id="FNanchor_i_434:A_868"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_434:A_868" class="fnanchor">[434:A]</a></p> - -<p>Among the lovers and collectors of curious books, during the reign of -Elizabeth, may be mentioned Dr. <span class="smcap">John Dee</span>, notorious for his magical and -astrological lore, and who, according to his own account, possessed a -library of "four thousand volumes, printed and unprinted, bound and -unbound, valued at 2000<i>l.</i>," beside numerous boxes and cases of very -rare evidences Irish and Welsh<a name="FNanchor_i_434:B_869" id="FNanchor_i_434:B_869"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_434:B_869" class="fnanchor">[434:B]</a>; and <i>Captain Cox of Coventry</i>, -whose boudoir of romances and ballads we shall have occasion to notice, -at some length, in the succeeding chapter.</p> - -<p>It is remarkable that the two sovereigns included in the era of -Shakspeare, should have felt an equally unbounded inclination to study -and to books. So attached was James to bibliothecal delights, that when -he visited the Bodleian Library in 1605, he is said by Burton to have -exclaimed on his departure, "<i>if it were so that I must be a prisoner, -if I might have my wish, I would desire to have no other prison than -this library, and to be chained together with so many good -authors</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_434:C_870" id="FNanchor_i_434:C_870"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_434:C_870" class="fnanchor">[434:C]</a> Burton himself was one of the most inveterate -bibliomaniacs of his day; Hearne tells us that he was a collector of -"ancient popular little pieces," which, together with a multitude of -books of the best kind, he gave to the Bodleian Library.<a name="FNanchor_i_434:D_871" id="FNanchor_i_434:D_871"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_434:D_871" class="fnanchor">[434:D]</a> In the -preface to his curious folio, he speaks of his eyes aking with reading, -and his fingers with turning the leaves<a name="FNanchor_i_434:E_872" id="FNanchor_i_434:E_872"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_434:E_872" class="fnanchor">[434:E]</a>; and in the body of his -work, under the article of study, he expatiates, in the highest strain -of enthusiasm, on the luxury of possessing numerous books: "we have -thousands of authors of all sorts," he observes; "many great libraries -full well furnished, like so many dishes of meat, served out for several -palates: <!-- Page 435 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_435" id="Page_i_435">[435]</a></span>and he is a very block that is affected with none of them.—I -could even live and dye with—and take more delight, true content of -mind in them, than thou hast in all thy wealth and sport, how rich -soever thou art.——Nicholas Gerbelius, that good old man, was so much -ravished with a few Greek authors restored to light, with hope and -desire of enjoying the rest, that he exclaims forthwith, Arabibus atque -Indis omnibus erimus ditiores, We shall be richer than all the Arabick -or Indian Princes; of such esteem they were with him, in comparable -worth and value."—He then adopts the emphatic language of <i>Heinsius</i>: -"<i>I no sooner come into the Library, but I bolt the door to me, -excluding lust, ambition, avarice, and all such vices, whose nurse is -idleness, their mother Ignorance, and Melancholy herself, and in the -very lap of eternity, amongst so many divine souls, I take my seat, with -so lofty a spirit and sweet content, that I pity all our great ones, and -rich men that know not this happiness.</i> I am not ignorant in the mean -time," he adds, "notwithstanding this which I have said, how barbarously -and basely for the most part our <i>ruder Gentry</i> esteem of libraries and -books, how they neglect and contemn so great a treasure, so inestimable -a benefit.—For my part I pity these men,—how much, on the other side, -are all we bound that are scholars, to those munificent <i>Ptolomies</i>, -bountiful <i>Mæcenates</i>, heroical patrons, divine spirits,—<i>qui nobis hæc -otia fecerunt, Namque erit ille mihi semper Deus</i>—that have provided -for us so many well furnished libraries as well in our publick Academies -in most cities, as in our private Colledges? How shall I remember <i>Sir -Thomas Bodley</i>, amongst the rest, <i>Otho Nicholson</i>, and the right -reverend <i>John Williams</i> Lord Bishop of <i>Lincolne</i>, (with many other -pious acts) who besides that at <i>St. John's</i> College in <i>Cambridge</i>, -that in <i>Westminster</i>, is now likewise in <i>Fieri</i> with a Library at -<i>Lincolne</i> (a noble president for all corporate towns and cities to -imitate) <i>O quam te memorem (vir illustrissime) quibus elogiis?</i>"<a name="FNanchor_i_435:A_873" id="FNanchor_i_435:A_873"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_435:A_873" class="fnanchor">[435:A]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 436 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_436" id="Page_i_436">[436]</a></span>The passion for letters and for books, which was thus diffused among -the higher classes, necessarily occasioned much attention to be paid to -the preservation and decoration of libraries, the volumes of which, -however, were not arranged on the shelves in the manner that we are now -accustomed to see them. The <i>leaves</i>, and not the back, were placed in -front, in order to exhibit the <i>silk strings</i> or <i>golden clasps</i> which -united the sides of the cover. Thus Bishop Earl, describing the -character of a young gentleman of the University, says,—"His study has -commonly handsome shelves, his books neat silk strings, <i>which he shews -to his father's man, and is loth to unty or take down for fear of -misplacing</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_436:A_874" id="FNanchor_i_436:A_874"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_436:A_874" class="fnanchor">[436:A]</a></p> - -<p>To the most costly of these embellishments, the <i>golden clasps</i>, -Shakspeare has referred, both in a metaphorical and literal sense. In -the <i>Twelfth Night</i> the Duke, addressing the supposed Cesario, -exclaims—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">————————— "I have <i>unclasp'd</i></div> - <div class="line">To thee the <i>book</i> even of my secret soul;"<a name="FNanchor_i_436:B_875" id="FNanchor_i_436:B_875"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_436:B_875" class="fnanchor">[436:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and in <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, Lady Capulet observes,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"That book in many's eyes doth share the glory,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That in <i>gold clasps</i> locks in the golden story."<a name="FNanchor_i_436:C_876" id="FNanchor_i_436:C_876"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_436:C_876" class="fnanchor">[436:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It appears, indeed, that the art of ornamenting the exterior of books -was carried, at this period, to a lavish extent, jewels, as well as -gold, being employed to enhance their splendour. Let us listen to the -directions of the judicious Peacham, on this head, a contemporary -authority, who has thought it not unnecessary to subjoin the best mode -of keeping books, and the best scite for a library. "Have a care," says -he, "of keeping your bookes handsome, and well bound, not casting away -over much in their gilding or stringing for ostentation sake, like the -prayer-bookes of girles and gallants, which <!-- Page 437 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_437" id="Page_i_437">[437]</a></span>are carried to Church but -for their out-sides. Yet for your owne use spare them not for noting or -interlining (if they be printed) for it is not likely you meane to be a -gainer by them, when you have done with them: neither suffer them -through negligence to mold and be moath-eaten, or want their strings or -covers.—Suffer them not to lye neglected, who must make you regarded; -and goe in torn coates, who must apparell your mind with the ornaments -of knowledge, above the roabes and riches of the most magnificent -Princes.</p> - -<p>"To avoyde the inconvenience of moathes and moldinesse, let your study -be placed, and your windowes open if it may be, towards the East, for -where it looketh South or West, the aire being ever subject to moisture, -moathes are bred and darkishnesse encreased, whereby your maps and -pictures will quickly become pale, loosing their life and colours, or -rotting upon their cloath, or paper, decay past all helpe and -recovery."<a name="FNanchor_i_437:A_877" id="FNanchor_i_437:A_877"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_437:A_877" class="fnanchor">[437:A]</a></p> - -<p>The interior, also, as well as the exterior, of books, had acquired a -high degree of richness and finishing during the era of which we are -treating. The black-letter, Roman, and Italic, types were, in general, -clear, sharp, and strong, and though the splendid art of illumination -had ceased to be practised, in the sixteenth century, in consequence of -the establishment of printing, the loss was compensated for, by more -correct ornamental capital initials, cut with great taste and spirit on -wood and copper, and by engraved <i>borders</i> and <i>title-pages</i>. Portraits -were also frequently introduced in the initials, especially by the -celebrated printers Jugge, and Day, the latter of whom, patronised by -Archbishop Parker, became in his turn the patron of Fox the -martyrologist, in the first edition of whose book, 1563, and in Day's -edition of Dee's <i>General and Rare Memorials pertayning to the perfecte -Arte of Navigation</i>, folio, 1577, may be found an admirable specimen of -this style of decoration, the capital initial C including a portrait of -Elizabeth sitting in state, and attended by three of her -ministers.<a name="FNanchor_i_437:B_878" id="FNanchor_i_437:B_878"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_437:B_878" class="fnanchor">[437:B]</a> A similar mode of costly ornamenture issued from the -<!-- Page 438 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_438" id="Page_i_438">[438]</a></span>presses of Grafton, Whitchurch, Bill, and Barker, and perhaps in no -period of <i>our</i> annals has this species of decorative typography been -carried to a higher state of perfection. Some very grotesque ornaments, -it is true, and some degree of affectation were occasionally exhibited -in title-pages, and to one of the latter class, very common in this age, -Shakspeare alludes in the <i>Second Part of King Henry IV.</i>, where -Northumberland, describing the approach of a messenger, says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—— "This man's brow, like to a title-leaf,</div> - <div class="line">Foretells the nature of a tragick volume;"<a name="FNanchor_i_438:A_879" id="FNanchor_i_438:A_879"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_438:A_879" class="fnanchor">[438:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">imagery drawn from the custom of printing elegiac poems with the -title-page, and every intermediate leaf, entirely black; but, upon the -whole, valuable books, and especially the Bible, had more splendid and -minutely ornamental finishing bestowed upon their pages, than has since -occurred, in this country, until towards the close of the eighteenth -century.</p> - -<p>It had been fortunate, if <i>accuracy</i> in typography had kept pace with -the taste for decoration; but this, with few exceptions, may be said -never to have been the case, and about the termination of Elizabeth's -reign, the era of total incorrectness, as Mr. Steevens remarks, -commenced, when "works of all kinds appeared with the disadvantage of -more than their natural and inherent imperfections<a name="FNanchor_i_438:B_880" id="FNanchor_i_438:B_880"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_438:B_880" class="fnanchor">[438:B]</a>;" an assertion -sufficiently borne out by the state in which the dramatic poetry of this -period was published. It may be added that the Black-letter continued to -be the prevailing type during the days of Elizabeth, but seems to have -nearly deserted the English press before the demise of her successor.</p> - -<p>Of what extent was the Library of Shakspeare, and of what its chief -treasures consisted, can now only be the subject of conjecture. That he -was a lover and collector of books more particularly within the pale of -his own language, and in the range of elegant literature, is -sufficiently evidenced by his own works. A <i>Bibliotheca Shakspeariana</i> -may, in fact, be drawn, from the industry of his commentators, who <!-- Page 439 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_439" id="Page_i_439">[439]</a></span>have -sought for, and quoted, almost every book to which he has been directly -or remotely indebted. The disquisitions indeed into which we are about -to enter will pretty accurately point out the species of books which -principally ornamented his shelves, and may preclude any other remark -here, than that the chief wealth of his collection consisted of -Historic, Romantic, and Poetic Literature, in all their various -branches.</p> - -<p><i>Philological</i> or grammatical literature, as applied to the English -language, appears to have made little progress until after the middle of -the sixteenth century. We are told by Roger Ascham in 1544, the period -of the publication of his Toxophilus, that "as for the Latine or Greeke -tongue, everye thinge is so excellentlye done in them, that none can do -better; in the <i>Englishe</i> tongue, contrary, everye thinge in a maner so -meanlye both for the matter and handelinge, that no man can do worse. -For therein the least learned, for the most part, have bene alwayes most -readye to write."<a name="FNanchor_i_439:A_881" id="FNanchor_i_439:A_881"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_439:A_881" class="fnanchor">[439:A]</a> The Toxophilus of this useful and engaging -writer, was written in his native tongue, with the view of presenting -the public with a specimen of a purer and more correct <i>English</i> style -than that to which they had hitherto been accustomed; and with the hope -of calling the attention of the learned, from the exclusive study of the -Greek and Latin, to the cultivation of their vernacular language. The -result which he contemplated was attained, and, from the period of this -publication, the shackles of Latinity were broken, and composition in -<i>English</i> prose became an object of eager and successful attention.</p> - -<p>Previous to the exertions of Ascham, very few writers can be mentioned -as affording any model for English style. If we except the Translation -of Froissart by Bourchier, Lord Berners, in 1523, and the History of -Richard III. by Sir Thomas More, certainly compositions of great merit, -we shall find it difficult to produce an author of much value for his -vernacular prose. On the contrary, very soon after the appearance of the -Toxophilus, we find harmony and beauty <!-- Page 440 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_440" id="Page_i_440">[440]</a></span>in English style emphatically -praised and enjoined. Thus, in <i><span class="smcap">The Arte of Rhetorike</span> for the use of all -suche as are studious of Eloquence, sette forthe in Englishe by <span class="smcap">Thomas -Wilson</span></i>, 1553, we are informed that many now aspired to write English -elegantly. "When we have learned," remarks this critic, "usuall and -accustomable wordes to set forthe our meanynge, we ought to joyne them -together in apte order, that the eare maie delite in hearynge the -harmonie. I knowe some Englishemen, that in this poinct have suche a -gift in the Englishe as fewe in Latin have the like; and therefore -delite the Wise and Learned so muche with their pleasaunte composition, -that many rejoyce when thei maie heare suche, and thinke muche learnyng -is gotte when thei maie talke with them."<a name="FNanchor_i_440:A_882" id="FNanchor_i_440:A_882"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_440:A_882" class="fnanchor">[440:A]</a> The <i>Treatise</i> of -Wilson powerfully assisted the cause which Ascham had been advocating; -it displays much sagacity and good sense, and greatly contributed to -clear the language from the affectation consequent on the introduction -of foreign words and idiom. The licentiousness, in this respect, was -carried, indeed, at this time, to such a height, that those who affected -more than ordinary refinement, either in conversation or writing, so -Italianated or Latinized their English, as to be scarcely intelligible -to the common people. Wilson severely satirizes this absurd practice. -"Some," says he, "seke so farre for outlandishe Englishe, that they -forget altogether their mother's language. And I dare sweare this, if -some of their mothers were alive, thei were not able to tel what thei -saie: and yet these fine Englishe clerkes wil saie thei speake in their -mother tongue, if a man should charge them for counterfeityng the kinges -Englishe.—He that cometh lately out of Fraunce, will talke Frenche -Englishe, and never blushe at the matter. Another choppes in with -Englishe Italianated, and applieth the Italian phraise to our Englishe -speakyng.—The unlearned or folishe phantasticall, that smelles but of -learnyng (suche fellowes as have seene learned men in their daies) <!-- Page 441 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_441" id="Page_i_441">[441]</a></span>will -so Latine their tongues, that the simple cannot but wonder at their -talke, and thinke surely thei speake by some revelacion. I know them, -that thinke Rhetorike to stande wholie upon darke wordes; and he that -can catche an ynkehorne terme by the taile, hym thei compt to be a fine -Englishman and a good rhetorician." He then adds a specimen of this -style from a letter "devised by a Lincolneshire man for a voide -benefice," addressed to the Lord Chancellor:—"Ponderyng, expendyng, and -revolutyng with myself, your ingent affabilitie, and ingenious -capacitie, for mundane affaires, I cannot but celebrate and extoll your -magnificall dexteritie above all other. For how could you have adapted -suche illustrate prerogative, and dominiall superioritie, if the -fecunditie of your ingenie had not been so fertile and wonderfull -pregnaunt, &c."<a name="FNanchor_i_441:A_883" id="FNanchor_i_441:A_883"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_441:A_883" class="fnanchor">[441:A]</a> That the same species of pedantry continued to -prevail in 1589, we have the testimony of Puttenham, who, in his chapter -<i>Of Language</i>, observes that "we finde in our English writers many -wordes and speaches amendable, and ye shall see in some many <i>inkhorne</i> -termes so ill affected brought in by men of learning as preachers and -schoole-masters: and many straunge termes of other languages by -Secretaries and Marchaunts and travailours, and many darke wordes and -not usual nor well sounding, though they be dayly spok in Court."<a name="FNanchor_i_441:B_884" id="FNanchor_i_441:B_884"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_441:B_884" class="fnanchor">[441:B]</a></p> - -<p>Before Puttenham, however, had published, another and a still more -dangerous mode of corruption had infected English composition. In 1581, -John Lilly, a dramatic poet, published a Romance in two parts, of which -the first is entitled, <i>Euphues</i>, The Anatomy of Wit, and the second, -<i>Euphues and his England</i>. This production is a tissue of antithesis and -alliteration, and therefore justly entitled to the appellation of -<i>affected</i>; but we cannot with Berkenhout consider it as a most -<i>contemptible piece of nonsense</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_441:C_885" id="FNanchor_i_441:C_885"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_441:C_885" class="fnanchor">[441:C]</a> The moral is uniformly good; -the vices and follies of the day are attacked with much force and -keenness; there is in it much display of the manners of the times, and -though, <!-- Page 442 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_442" id="Page_i_442">[442]</a></span>as a composition, it is very meretricious, and sometimes absurd -in point of ornament, yet the construction of its sentences is -frequently turned with peculiar neatness and spirit, though with much -monotony of cadence. William Webbe, no mean judge, speaking of those who -had attained a good grace and sweet vein in eloquence, adds,—"among -whom I think there is none that will gainsay but Master John Lilly hath -deserved most high commendations, as he who hath stepped one step -farther therein than any since he first began the witty discourse of his -<span class="smcap">Euphues</span>, whose works surely in respect of his singular eloquence and -brave composition of apt words and sentences, let the learned examine, -and make a tryal thereof through all parts of rhetoric in fit phrases, -in pithy sentences, in gallant tropes, in flowing speech, in plain -sense; and surely in my judgment I think he will yield him that verdict, -which Quintilian giveth of both the best orators, Demosthenes and Tully; -that from the one nothing may be taken away, and to the other nothing -may be added<a name="FNanchor_i_442:A_886" id="FNanchor_i_442:A_886"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_442:A_886" class="fnanchor">[442:A]</a>;" an encomium that was repeated by Nash<a name="FNanchor_i_442:B_887" id="FNanchor_i_442:B_887"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_442:B_887" class="fnanchor">[442:B]</a>, -Lodge<a name="FNanchor_i_442:C_888" id="FNanchor_i_442:C_888"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_442:C_888" class="fnanchor">[442:C]</a>, and Meres<a name="FNanchor_i_442:D_889" id="FNanchor_i_442:D_889"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_442:D_889" class="fnanchor">[442:D]</a>, but which should be contrasted with the -sounder opinion of Drayton, who, in his Epistle of Poets and Poesy, -mentioning the noble Sidney,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"That heroe for numbers and for prose,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">observes that he</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——— "thoroughly pac'd our language as to show</div> - <div class="line">The plenteous English hand in hand might go</div> - <div class="line">With Greek and Latin, and did first reduce</div> - <div class="line">Our tongue from <i>Lilly</i>'s writing then in use;</div> - <div class="line">Talking of stones, stars, plants, of fishes, flies,</div> - <div class="line">Playing with words, and idle similies,</div> - <div class="line">As th' English apes, and very zanies be</div> - <div class="line">Of every thing, that they do hear and see,</div> -<!-- Page 443 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_443" id="Page_i_443">[443]</a></span> <div class="line">So imitating his ridiculous tricks,</div> - <div class="line">They speak and write, all like mere lunatics."<a name="FNanchor_i_443:A_890" id="FNanchor_i_443:A_890"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_443:A_890" class="fnanchor">[443:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Yet the most correct description of the merits and defects of this once -celebrated author has been given by Oldys, in his Librarian, who remarks -that "Lilly was a man of great reading, good memory, ready faculty of -application, and uncommon eloquence; but he ran into a vast excess of -allusion; in sentence and conformity of style he seldom speaks directly -to the purpose, but is continually carried away by one odd allusion or -simile or other (out of natural history, that is yet fabulous and not -true in nature), and that still overborne by more, thick upon the back -of one another; and through an eternal affectation of sententiousness -keeps to such a formal measure of his periods as soon grows tiresome; -and so, by confining himself to shape his sense so frequently into one -artificial cadence, however ingenious or harmonious, abridges that -variety which the style should be admired for."<a name="FNanchor_i_443:B_891" id="FNanchor_i_443:B_891"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_443:B_891" class="fnanchor">[443:B]</a></p> - -<p>So greatly was the style of <i>Euphues</i> admired in the court of Elizabeth, -and, indeed, throughout the kingdom, that it became a proof of refined -manners to adopt its phraseology. Edward Blount, who republished six of -Lilly's plays, in 1632, under the title of <i>Sixe Court Comedies</i>, -declares that "Our nation are in his debt for a new English which hee -taught them. <i>Euphues</i> and his <i>England</i>," he adds, "began first that -language. All our ladies were then his scollers; and that beautie in -court who could not parley Euphuesme, was as little regarded as shee -which now there speakes not French;" a representation certainly not -exaggerated; for Ben Jonson, describing, a fashionable lady, makes her -address her gallant in the following terms:—"O master Brisk, (as it is -in <i>Euphues</i>) <i>hard is the choice when one is compell'd, either by -silence to die with grief, or by speaking, to live with shame</i>:" upon -which Mr. Whalley observes, that the court ladies in Elizabeth's time -had all the phrases of <i>Euphues by heart</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_443:C_892" id="FNanchor_i_443:C_892"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_443:C_892" class="fnanchor">[443:C]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 444 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_444" id="Page_i_444">[444]</a></span>Scarcely had corruption from this source ceased to violate the purity -and propriety of our language, when the fashion of interlarding -composition with a perpetual series of Latin quotations commenced; a -custom which continued until the close of the reign of James, and gave -to the style of this period a complexion the most heterogeneous and -absurd, being, in fact, composed of two languages, half Latin and half -English. Of this barbarous and pedantic habit, the works of Bishop -Andrews afford the most flagrant instance; an example which, we have -reason to regret, was followed too closely by Robert Burton, who, when -he trusts to his native tongue, has written in a style at once simple -and impressive.</p> - -<p>These affectations, arising from the use of <i>inkhorn terms</i>, of -<i>antithesis</i>, <i>alliteration</i>, arbitrary orthography, and the <i>perpetual -intermixture of Latin phraseology</i>, have been deservedly and powerfully -ridiculed by Sir Philip Sidney and Shakspeare; by the former under the -character of <i>Rombus</i>, a village schoolmaster, in a masque presented to -Her Majesty in Wansted Garden, and by the latter in the person of -<span class="smcap">Holofernes</span> in <i>Love's Labour's Lost</i>. The satire of Sir Philip is -supported with humour; Her Majesty is supposed to have parted, by her -presence, a violent contest between two shepherds for the affection of -the Lady of the May, on which event <i>Rombus</i> comes forward with a -learned oration.</p> - -<p>"Now the thunder-thumping <i>Jove</i> transfused his dotes into your -excellent formositie, which have with your resplendent beames thus -segregated the enmity of these rurall animals; I am <i>Potentissima -Domina</i>, a Schoole-master, that is to say, a Pedagogue, one not a little -versed in the disciplinating of the juvenall frie, wherin (to my laud I -say it) I use such geometrical proportions, as neither wanted mansuetude -nor correction, for so it is described.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Parcare subjectos, et debellire superbos.</i>"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"Yet hath not the pulchritude of my vertues protected me from the -contaminating hands of these Plebeians; for coming <i>solummodo</i>, to have -parted their sanguinolent fray, they yeelded me no more <!-- Page 445 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_445" id="Page_i_445">[445]</a></span>reverence, than -if I had been some <i>Pecorius Asinus</i>. I, even I, that am, who am I? -<i>Dixi verbus sapiento satum est.</i> But what said that Troian <i>Æneas</i>, -when he sojourned in the surging sulkes of the sandiferous seas, <i>Hæc -olim memonasse juvebit</i>. Well, well, <i>ad propositos revertebo</i>, the -puritie of the verity is that a certaine <i>Pulchra puella profecto</i>, -elected and constituted by the integrated determination of all this -topographicall region as the soveraigne Ladie of this Dame Maies month, -hath beene <i>quodammodo</i> hunted, as you would say, pursued by two, a -brace, a couple, a cast of young men, to whom the crafty coward <i>Cupid</i> -had <i>inquam</i> delivered his dire-dolorous dart;" here the May-Lady -interfering calls him a tedious fool, and dismisses him; upon which in -anger he exclaims,—</p> - -<p>"<i>O Tempori, O Moribus!</i> in profession a childe, in dignitie a woman, in -yeares a Ladie, in <i>cæteris</i> a maide, should thus turpifie the -reputation of my doctrine, with the superscription of a foole, <i>O -Tempori, O Moribus!</i>"<a name="FNanchor_i_445:A_893" id="FNanchor_i_445:A_893"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_445:A_893" class="fnanchor">[445:A]</a></p> - -<p>The Schoolmaster of Shakspeare appears, from the researches of Warburton -and Dr. Farmer, to have been intended as a satire upon John Florio, -whose <i>First Fruits</i>, or Dialogues in Italian and English, were -published in 1578, his <i>Second</i> in 1591, and his "<i>Worlde of Wordes</i>" in -1598. He was ludicrously pedantic, dogmatic, and assuming, and gave the -first affront to the dramatic poets of his day, by affirming that "the -plaies that they plaie in England, are neither <i>right comedies</i>, nor -<i>right tragedies</i>; but representations of <i>histories</i> without any -decorum."<a name="FNanchor_i_445:B_894" id="FNanchor_i_445:B_894"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_445:B_894" class="fnanchor">[445:B]</a> The character of <i>Holofernes</i>, however, while it -caricatures the peculiar folly and ostentation of Florio, holds up to -ridicule, at the same time, the general pedantry and literary -affectations of the age; and amongst these very particularly the absurd -innovations which Lilly had introduced. Sir Nathaniel, praising the -specimen of alliteration which Holofernes exhibits in his "extemporal -epitaph," calls it "a rare talent;" upon which the <!-- Page 446 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_446" id="Page_i_446">[446]</a></span>schoolmaster -comments on the compliment in a manner which pretty accurately describes -the fantastic genius of the author of Euphues:—"This is a gift that I -have, simple, simple; <i>a foolish extravagant spirit, full of forms, -figures, shapes, objects, ideas, apprehensions, motions, revolutions</i>: -these are begot in the ventricle of memory, nourished in the womb of -<i>pia mater</i>; and deliver'd upon the mellowing of occasion;" and -subsequently in a strain of good sense not very common from the mouth of -this imperious pedant, he still more definitely points out the foppery -of Lilly both in style and pronunciation,—"He is too picked," he -remarks, "too spruce, too affected, too odd, as it were, too -peregrinate, as I may call it.—He draweth out the thread of his -verbosity finer than the staple of his argument. I abhor such fanatical -phantasms, such insociable and point devise companions; such rackers of -orthography, as to speak, dout, fine, when he should say, doubt; det, -when he should pronounce, debt; d, e, b, t; not d, e, t: he clepeth a -calf, cauf; half, hauf; neighbour, <i>vocatur</i> nebour; neigh, abbreviated, -ne: This is abhominable, (which he would call abominable,) it -insinuateth me of insanie; <i>Ne intelligis domine?</i> to make frantick, -lunatick."<a name="FNanchor_i_446:A_895" id="FNanchor_i_446:A_895"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_446:A_895" class="fnanchor">[446:A]</a></p> - -<p>Yet, notwithstanding these various attempts, all tending to corrupt the -purity of our language, and originating from the pedantic taste of the -age, and from a love of novelty and over-refinement, English style more -rapidly improved during the reigns of Elizabeth and James, than has been -the case in any previous, or subsequent period of our annals. To -establish this assertion, we have only to appeal to the great writers of -this era, and among these, it will be sufficient to mention the names of -<i>Ralegh</i>, <i>Hooker</i>, <i>Bacon</i> and <i>Daniel</i>, masters of a style, at once -vigorous, perspicuous, and often richly modulated. If to this brief -catalogue, though adequate to our purpose, we add the prose of <i>Ascham</i>, -<i>Sidney</i>, <i>Southwell</i>, <i>Knolles</i>, <i>Hakewell</i>, and <i>Peacham</i>, still -omitting many authors of much merit, it may justly be affirmed, that no -specimens of excellence in dignified and serious <!-- Page 447 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_447" id="Page_i_447">[447]</a></span>composition could be -wanting as exemplars. That the good sense of the age was aware of the -value of these writers, in point of style, though surrounded by -innovations supported by rank and fashion, may be concluded from the -admonitions of Peacham, who in his chapter "Of stile, in speaking and -writing," not only describes the style which ought to be adopted, but -enumerates the authors who have afforded the best examples of it for the -student. "Let your style," he admirably observes, "bee furnished with -solid matter, and compact of the best, choice, and most familiar words; -taking heed of speaking, or writing such words, as men shall rather -admire than understand.—Flowing at one and the selfe same height, -neither taken in and knit up too short, that, like rich hangings of -Arras or Tapistry, thereby lose their grace and beautie, as Themistocles -was wont to say: nor suffered to spread so farre, like soft Musicke in -an open field, whose delicious sweetnesse vanisheth, and is lost in the -ayre.</p> - -<p>"To helpe yourselfe herein, make choice of those authors in prose, who -speake the best and purest English. I would commend unto you (though -from more antiquity) the Life of <i>Richard</i> the third, written by <i>Sir -Thomas Moore</i>; the <i>Arcadia</i> of the noble <i>Sir Philip Sidney</i>, whom Du -Bartas makes one of the foure columnes of our language; the <i>Essayes</i>, -and other peeces of the excellent master of eloquence, my Lord of <i>S. -Albanes</i>, who possesseth not onely eloquence, but all good learning, as -hereditary both by father and mother. You have then <i>M. Hooker</i>, his -<i>Policy</i>: <i>Henry</i> the fourth, well written by <i>S. John Heyward</i>; that -first part of our English Kings, by <i>M. Samuel Daniel</i>. There are many -others I know, but these will tast you best, as proceeding from no -vulgar judgment."<a name="FNanchor_i_447:A_896" id="FNanchor_i_447:A_896"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_447:A_896" class="fnanchor">[447:A]</a></p> - -<p>With regard to the state of colloquial language during this epoch, it -may safely be asserted, that a reference to the works of Shakspeare will -best acquaint us with the "diction of common life," with the tone of -conversation which prevailed both in the higher and lower <!-- Page 448 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_448" id="Page_i_448">[448]</a></span>ranks of -society; for the dialogue of his most perfect comedies is, by many -degrees, more easy, lively, and perspicuous, than that of any other -contemporary dramatic writer.</p> - -<p>It is by no means, however, our wish to infer, from what has been said -in praise of the prose writers of this period, that they are to be -considered as perfect models in the nineteenth century; on the contrary, -it must be confessed, that the best of them exhibit abundant proofs of -quaintness and prolixity, of verbal pedantry and inverted phraseology; -and though the language, through their influence, made unparalleled -strides, and fully unfolded its copiousness, energy, and strength, it -remained greatly deficient in correctness and polish, in selection of -words, and harmony of arrangement.<a name="FNanchor_i_448:A_897" id="FNanchor_i_448:A_897"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_448:A_897" class="fnanchor">[448:A]</a></p> - -<p>These defects, especially the two latter, are to be attributed, in a -great measure, to philological studies being almost exclusively confined -to the learned languages, a subject of complaint with a few individuals, -who lamented the neglect which this classical enthusiasm entailed on -their native tongue. Thus Arthur Golding, in some verses prefixed to -Baret's Alviarie, after observing that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">———————— "all good inditers find</div> - <div class="line">Our Inglishe tung driven almost out of kind,</div> - <div class="line i2">Dismembred, hacked, maymed, rent and torne,</div> - <div class="line i2">Defaced, patched, mard, and made a skorne,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">adds with great truth and good sense,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"No doubt but men should shortly find there is</div> - <div class="line indentq">As perfect order, as firm certeintie,</div> - <div class="line indentq">As grounded rules to trie out things amisse,</div> - <div class="line indentq">As much sweete grace, as great varietie</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of wordes and phrazes, as good quantitie</div> - <div class="line i1q">For verse or proze in Inglish every waie,</div> - <div class="line i1q">As any comen language hath this daie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><!-- Page 449 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_449" id="Page_i_449">[449]</a></span><i>And were wée given as well to like our owne,</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>And for to clense it from the noisome wéede</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Of affectation which hath overgrowne</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Ungraciously the good and native séede,</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>As for to borrowe where wée have no néede:</i></div> - <div class="line i1q"><i>It would pricke néere the learned tungs in strength,</i></div> - <div class="line i1q"><i>Perchance, and match mée some of them at length.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_i_449:A_898" id="FNanchor_i_449:A_898"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_449:A_898" class="fnanchor">[449:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The ardour for classical acquisition was, at this time, indeed, so -prevalent among the learned and the great, that the mythology as well as -the diction of the ancients became fashionable. The amusements, and even -the furniture of the opulent, their shows, and masques, the hangings and -the tapestries of their houses, and their very cookery, assumed an -erudite, and what would now be termed, a pedantic cast. "Every thing," -says Warton, speaking of this era, "was tinctured with ancient history -and mythology.—When the Queen paraded through a country town, almost -every pageant was a pantheon. When she paid a visit at the house of any -of her nobility, at entering the hall she was saluted by the Penates, -and conducted to her privy-chamber by Mercury. Even the pastry-cooks -were expert mythologists. At dinner, select transformations of Ovid's -metamorphoses were exhibited in confectionary: and the splendid iceing -of an immense historic plumb-cake, was embossed with a delicious -basso-relievo of the destruction of Troy. In the afternoon, when she -condescended to walk in the garden, the lake was covered with Tritons -and Nereids: the pages of the family were converted into Wood-nymphs, -who peeped from every bower: and the footmen gamboled over the lawns in -the figure of Satyrs."<a name="FNanchor_i_449:B_899" id="FNanchor_i_449:B_899"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_449:B_899" class="fnanchor">[449:B]</a></p> - -<p>In the course of a few years the same taste descended to the inferior -orders of society, owing to the numerous versions which rapidly appeared -of the best writers of Greece and Rome. The rich catalogue of -translations to which Shakspeare had access, may be <!-- Page 450 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_450" id="Page_i_450">[450]</a></span>estimated from the -very accurate list which is inserted in the Variorum editions of the -poet, and before the death of James the First, not a single classic, we -believe, of any value, remained unfamiliarized to the English reader.</p> - -<p>The height which classical learning had attained about the year 1570, -may be estimated from the testimony of Ascham, a most consummate judge, -who, quoting Cicero's assertion with regard to Britain, that "there is -not one scruple of silver in that whole isle; or any one that knoweth -either learnyng or letter<a name="FNanchor_i_450:A_900" id="FNanchor_i_450:A_900"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_450:A_900" class="fnanchor">[450:A]</a>," thus apostrophizes the Roman Orator:</p> - -<p>"But now, master <i>Cicero</i>, blessed be God, and his sonne Jesus Christ, -whom you never knew, except it were as it pleased him to lighten you by -some shadow; as covertlie in one place ye confesse, saying, <i>Veritatis -tantum umbram consectamur</i><a name="FNanchor_i_450:B_901" id="FNanchor_i_450:B_901"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_450:B_901" class="fnanchor">[450:B]</a>, as your master Plato did before you: -blessed be God, I say, that sixten hundred yeare after you were dead and -gone, it may trewly be sayd, that for silver, there is more comlie plate -in one citie of <i>Englande</i>, than is in four of the proudest cities in -all <i>Italie</i>, and take <i>Rome</i> for one of them: and for learning, beside -the knowledge of all learned tonges and liberal sciences, even your owne -bookes, Cicero, be as well read, and your excellent eloquence is as well -liked and loved, and as trewly folowed in <i>Englande</i> at this day, as it -is now, or ever was since your own tyme, in any place of Italie, either -at Arpinum, where you was borne, or els at Rome, where you was brought -up. And a little to brag with you, Cicero, where you yourselfe, by your -leave, halted in some point of learning in your own tongue, many in -Englande at this day go streight up, both in trewe skill, and right -doing therein."<a name="FNanchor_i_450:C_902" id="FNanchor_i_450:C_902"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_450:C_902" class="fnanchor">[450:C]</a></p> - -<p>Nor can this progress in the learned languages be considered as -surprising, when we recollect the vast encouragement given to these -<!-- Page 451 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_451" id="Page_i_451">[451]</a></span>studies, not only by the nobility but by the Queen herself; who was, in -fact, a most laborious and erudite author, who wrote a Commentary on -Plato, translated from the Greek two of the Orations of Isocrates, a -play of Euripides, the Hiero of Xenophon, and Plutarch de Curiositate; -from the Latin, Sallust de Bello Jugurthino, Horace de Arte Poetica, -Boethius de Consolatione Philosophiæ, a long chorus from the Hercules -Œtæus of Seneca, one of Cicero's epistles, and another of Seneca's; who -wrote many Latin letters, many English original works, both in prose and -poetry, and who spoke five languages with facility.<a name="FNanchor_i_451:A_903" id="FNanchor_i_451:A_903"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_451:A_903" class="fnanchor">[451:A]</a> The British -Solomon, it is well known, was equally zealous and industrious in the -cause of learning, and both not only patronized individuals, but founded -and endowed public seminaries; Elizabeth was the founder of -Westminster-School, and of Jesus-College, Oxford, and to James the -University of Edinburgh owes its existence. This laudable spirit was not -confined to regal munificence; in 1584, Emanuel-College, Cambridge, rose -on the site of the Dominican convent of Black Friars, through the -exertions of Sir Walter Mildmay; and in 1594, Sidney-Sussex College, in -the same University, sprung from the patronage of the Dowager of Thomas -Radcliffe, Earl of Sussex.</p> - -<p>Of the <i>modern</i> languages cultivated at this period, the <i>Italian</i> took -the lead, and became so fashionable at the court of Elizabeth, and among -all who had pretensions to refinement, that it almost rivalled the -<i>classical mania</i> of the day. The Queen spoke it with great purity, and -among those who professed to teach it, Florio, whom we have formerly -mentioned as the object of Shakspeare's satire, was the most eminent. He -was pensioned by Lord Southampton, and on the accession of James, was -appointed reader of the Italian language to Queen Anne, with a stipend -of 100<i>l.</i> a-year.<a name="FNanchor_i_451:B_904" id="FNanchor_i_451:B_904"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_451:B_904" class="fnanchor">[451:B]</a> So popular were the writers of this -fascinating country, that the English language was absolutely inundated -with versions of the Italian poets and <!-- Page 452 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_452" id="Page_i_452">[452]</a></span>novellists, a consequence of -which Roger Ascham bitterly complains; for, lamenting the diffusion of -Italian licentiousness, he exclaims,—"These be the inchantmentes of -Circe, brought out of <i>Italie</i>, to marre men's maners in <i>Englande</i>; -much by example of ill life, but more by precepts of fond books, of late -translated out of <i>Italian</i> into <i>Englishe</i> sold in every shop in -London:—there be moe of these ungratious bookes set out in printe -within these few monethes, than have been sene in <i>Englande</i> many score -yeares before.—Then they have in more reverence the triumphes of -<i>Petrarche</i>, than the Genesis of <i>Moses</i>; they make more account of a -tale in <i>Boccace</i>, than a storie of the Bible."<a name="FNanchor_i_452:A_905" id="FNanchor_i_452:A_905"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_452:A_905" class="fnanchor">[452:A]</a></p> - -<p>It must be allowed, we think, that the censure of Ascham partakes too -much of puritanic sourness; for these "ungratious bookes" we find to -have been the great classics of Italy, Petrarca, Boccacio, &c. writers -who, though occasionally romantic in their incidents, and gross in their -imagery, yet presented many just views of life and manners, and many -rich examples of harmonious style and fervid imagination. They -contributed also very powerfully by the variety and fertility of their -fictions, to stimulate the poets of our country, and especially the -dramatic, who have been indebted to this source more than to any other -for the ground-work of their plots. It is, indeed, sufficiently -honourable to Italian literature, that we shall find our unrivalled -Shakspeare occasionally indebted to it for the hints which awakened his -muse.</p> - -<p>We are not to conclude, however, that the labours of our translators -were confined to the poetry and romance of Italy, and that its moral, -historical, and didactic compositions were utterly neglected. This was -so far from being the case, that most of the esteemed productions in -these departments were as speedily naturalized as those of the lighter -class; and among them we may mention two works which must have had no -inconsiderable influence in polishing and refining the manners of our -countrymen. In 1576, Robert Peterson, <!-- Page 453 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_453" id="Page_i_453">[453]</a></span>of Lincolne's-Inn, translated the -<i>Galateo</i> of John de la Casa, a system of politeness to which -Chesterfield has been much indebted<a name="FNanchor_i_453:A_906" id="FNanchor_i_453:A_906"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_453:A_906" class="fnanchor">[453:A]</a>; and in 1588, Thomas Hobby -published a version of the <i>Cortigiano</i> of Baldassar Castiglione, a work -in equal estimation as a manuel of elegance, and termed by the Italians -"the Golden Book."<a name="FNanchor_i_453:B_907" id="FNanchor_i_453:B_907"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_453:B_907" class="fnanchor">[453:B]</a></p> - -<p>The philological attainments of this age, with respect to Greek, Latin, -and English, will be placed in a still more compendiously clear light, -by a mere enumeration of those who greatly excelled in rendering their -acquisition more systematic and correct. Both Greek and English -literature were early indebted to the labours of Sir <i>Thomas Smith</i>, who -was appointed public lecturer at Cambridge on the first of these -languages, the study of which he much facilitated by a new method of -accentuation and pronunciation; publishing at the same time an improved -system of orthography for his native tongue. These useful works were -printed together in 4to. in 1568, under the titles of <i>De recta et -emendata linguæ Græcæ pronunciatione</i>, and <i>De recta et emendata linguæ -Anglicæ scriptione</i>.</p> - -<p>Another equally eminent Grecian philologer appeared at the same time, in -the person of Sir <i>Henry Savile</i>, who was Greek preceptor to Elizabeth, -warden of Merton-College, and provost of Eton. He was editor of the -works of Chrysostom, with notes, in 8 vols. folio, 1613, the most -elaborate Greek production which had hitherto issued from an English -press: of Xenophon's Cyropædia, and of the <i>Steliteutici</i> of Nazianzen. -He translated also into English, as early as 1581, the first four books -of the History of Tacitus, and his Life of <!-- Page 454 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_454" id="Page_i_454">[454]</a></span>Agricola, accompanied by -very valuable annotations, which were afterwards published in a Latin -version, by Gruter, at Amsterdam.</p> - -<p>To his able assistant, also, in editing the works of Chrysostom, the -<i>Rev. John Boys</i>, much gratitude is due for his enthusiasm in the cause -of Grecian lore. So attached was he to this study, that during his -fellowship of St. John's College, Cambridge, he voluntarily gave a Greek -lecture every morning in his own room at four o'clock; and, what affords -a still more striking picture of the learned enthusiasm of the times, it -is recorded that this very early prelection was regularly attended by -nearly all the fellows of his college!</p> - -<p>Latin Literature appears to have been cultivated with greater purity and -success in the prior than in the latter portion of Elizabeth's reign. It -is scarcely necessary to mention the great names of <i>George Buchanan</i> -and <i>Walter Haddon</i>, who divided the attention of the classical world, -and drew from Elizabeth the following terse expression on their -comparative merits:—<i>Buchananum omnibus antepono; Haddonum nemini -postpono.</i><a name="FNanchor_i_454:A_908" id="FNanchor_i_454:A_908"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_454:A_908" class="fnanchor">[454:A]</a></p> - -<p>Nor can we fail to recollect the truly admirable production of <i>Ascham</i>, -the "Schole Master; or plaine and perfite Way of teaching Children, to -understand, write, and speake, the <i>Latin</i> Tonge:" than which a more -interesting and judicious treatise has not appeared upon the subject in -any language.</p> - -<p>Among the most eminent Latin philologers who witnessed the close of the -sixteenth century, may be mentioned the name of <i>Edward Grant</i>, Master -of Westminster-School, who was celebrated for his Latin poetry, and who -published, in 1577, <i>Oratio de vita et obitu Rogeri Aschami, ac -dictionis elegantia, cum adhortatione ad adolescentulos</i>. He died in -1601.</p> - -<p>With Grant should be classed the master of the free-school of Taunton in -Somersetshire, <i>John Bond</i>, who subsequently practised as a physician, -and died in 1612. He published, in 1606, some valuable commentaries, in -the Latin language, on the poems of Horace, and, in 1614, on the Six -Satires of Persius.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 455 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_455" id="Page_i_455">[455]</a></span>Roman literature, however, in this country was under yet higher -obligations to <i>John Rider</i>, than to either of the preceding -philologers; this learned prelate being the compiler of the first -dictionary in our language, in which the English is placed before the -Latin. It is entitled <i>A Dictionary Engl. and Latin, and Latin and -English</i>. Oxon. 1589. 4to. Rider was promoted to the See of Killaloe in -1612, and died in 1632.</p> - -<p>In our observations on the state of the <i>English</i> language we have -noticed the labours of <i>Ascham</i> and <i>Wilson</i> as pre-eminently conducive -to its improvement; the first of these writers having published two -excellent models for English composition, and the second having -presented us with a valuable treatise on rhetoric. To these should be -added the efforts of <i>Richard Mulcaster</i>, first master of the -Merchant-Taylors School, who, in 1581, published his "Positions, wherein -those primitive circumstances be examined which are necessarie for the -training up of Children, either for skill in theire Booke or Health in -their Bodie;" a work which was followed, in the subsequent year, by "The -first Part of the <i>Elementarie</i>, which entreateth chefely of the right -Writing of the English Tung."</p> - -<p>The <i>Positions</i> and the <i>Elementarie</i> of Mulcaster, though inferior in -literary merit to the Scholemaster of Ascham, contributed materially to -the progress of English philology, as they contain many valuable and -acute observations on our language.</p> - -<p>It appears, from the assertion of <i>William Bullokar</i>, an able -co-operator in the work of education, that he was the author of the -<i>first</i> English Grammar. In 1586 he printed his "Bref grammar for -English," which is likewise entitled in fol. 1. "W. Bullokar's -abbreviation of his Grammar for English extracted out of his Grammar at -larg for the spedi parcing of English spech, and the eazier coming to -the knowledge of grammar for other langages;" and Warton adds, in his -account of Bullokar's writings, that among Tanner's books was found "a -copy of his <i>bref grammar</i> above mentioned, interpolated and corrected -with the author's own hand, as it appears, for a new impression. In one -of these manuscript insertions, he <!-- Page 456 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_456" id="Page_i_456">[456]</a></span>calls this, 'the first grammar for -Englishe that ever waz, except my <i>grammar at large</i>.'"<a name="FNanchor_i_456:A_909" id="FNanchor_i_456:A_909"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_456:A_909" class="fnanchor">[456:A]</a></p> - -<p>It is not exactly ascertained in what year the Grammar of <i>Ben Jonson</i> -was written, as it did not appear until after his death; but it may be -safely affirmed that to this production of the once celebrated rival and -contemporary of Shakspeare, the English language has been more indebted -than to the labours certainly of any previous, and we may almost add, of -any subsequent, grammarian, Lowth's and Murray's even not excepted.</p> - -<p>The next branch of our present subject embraces the department of -<span class="smcap">Criticism</span>, which was cultivated in this period to a great extent, and we -are sorry to add not seldom with uncommon bitterness and malignity. -Numerous are the writers who complain of the very severe and sarcastic -tone in which the critics of the age indulged; but one instance or two -will be sufficient to prove both the frequency and asperity of the art. -Robert Armin, in his Address <i>Ad Lectorem hic et ubique</i>, prefixed to -<i>The Italian Taylor and his Boy</i>, says, speaking of his pen, "I wander -with it now in a strange time of taxation, wherein every pen and -inck-horne Boy will throw up his cap at the hornes of the Moone in -censure, although his wit hang there, not returning unlesse monthly in -the wane: such is our ticklish age, and the itching braine of -abon̄dance<a name="FNanchor_i_456:B_910" id="FNanchor_i_456:B_910"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_456:B_910" class="fnanchor">[456:B]</a>;" and in the <i>Troia Britannica</i> of Thomas Heywood, the -author, saluting his various readers under the titles of the Courteous, -the Criticke, and the Scornefull, tells the latter, "I am not so -unexperienced in the envy of this Age, but that I knowe I shall -encounter most sharpe, and severe Censurers, such as continually carpe -at other mens labours, and superficially perusing them, with a kind of -negligence and skorne, quote them by the way, Thus: This is an error, -that was too much streacht, this too slightly neglected, heere many -things might have been added, there it might have been better followed: -<!-- Page 457 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_457" id="Page_i_457">[457]</a></span>this superfluous, that ridiculous. These indeed knowing no other meanes -to have themselves opinioned in the ranke of understanders, but by -calumniating other mens industries."<a name="FNanchor_i_457:A_911" id="FNanchor_i_457:A_911"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_457:A_911" class="fnanchor">[457:A]</a></p> - -<p>If such proved the strain of general, we need not be surprised if -controversial, criticism assumed a still more tremendous aspect. Between -the Puritans, in the reign of Elizabeth, who carried on their warfare -under the fictitious appellative of <i>Martin Mar-prelate</i>, and the -members of the episcopal church, a torrent of libels broke forth, which -inundated the country with a deluge of distorted ridicule and rancorous -abuse. Nor were the quarrels of literary men conducted with less -ferocity, though perhaps with more wit. The republic of letters was, -indeed, infested for near twenty years, from the year 1580 to 1600, with -a set of Town-wits, who, void of all moral principle or decent -restraint, employed their pens in lashing to death, with indiscriminate -rage, the objects of their envy or their spleen. Of this description -were those noted characters, Christopher Marlow, Robert Greene, Thomas -Decker, and Thomas Nash; men possessed of genius, learning, and -unquestioned ability, as poets, satirists, and critics; but excessively -debauched in their manners, intemperate in their passions, and heedless -of what they inflicted. The treatment which Gabriel Harvey, the -bosom-friend of Spenser and Sidney, received from the scurrilous -criticism of Greene and Nash, was, though not altogether unprovoked, -beyond all measure gross, cruel, and vindictive. The literature and the -moral character of Harvey were highly respectable; but he was vain, -credulous, affected, and pedantic; he published a collection of -panegyrics on himself; he turned astrologer and almanack-maker, he was -perfectly <i>Italianated</i> in his dress and manner, in his style he was -pompously elaborate, and he boasted himself the inventor and introducer -of <!-- Page 458 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_458" id="Page_i_458">[458]</a></span>English Hexameters.<a name="FNanchor_i_458:A_912" id="FNanchor_i_458:A_912"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_458:A_912" class="fnanchor">[458:A]</a> These foibles, together with the -obscurity of his parentage, his father being a rope-maker at -Saffron-Walden, in Essex, a circumstance of which he had the folly to be -ashamed, furnished to his adversaries an inexhaustible fund of ridicule -and wit; and had these legitimate ingredients been unmingled with -personal invective and brutal sarcasm, Gabriel, who was no mean railer -himself, had not been sinned against; but the malignity of Greene and -Nash was unbounded; and Harvey, who was morbidly irritable and bled at -every pore, catching a portion of their spirit, the controversy became -so outrageously virulent, that the prelates of Canterbury and London, -Whitgift and Bancroft, interfering, issued an order, "that all Nashe's -books and Dr. Harveys bookes be taken wheresoever they may be found, and -that none of the said bookes be ever printed hereafter;" an injunction -which has rendered most of the pamphlets on this literary quarrel -extremely scarce, particularly Harvey's "Four Letters And Certaine -Sonnets. Especially touching Robert Greene and other Poets by him -abused. Imprinted by John Wolfe 1592;" a very curious work, which we -shall have occasion to quote hereafter; and Nash's "Have with you to -Saffron-Walden, or Gabriel Harvey's hunt is up," 1596, which includes a -humorous but unmerciful representation of Gabriel's life and character, -the bitter satirist exulting in the idea that he had brought on his -adversary, by the poignancy of his invectives, the effects of premature -old age. "I <!-- Page 459 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_459" id="Page_i_459">[459]</a></span>have brought him low," he exclaims, "and shrewly broken -him; look on his head, and you shall find a gray haire for everie line I -have writ against him; and you shall have all his beard white too by the -time he hath read over this booke."<a name="FNanchor_i_459:A_913" id="FNanchor_i_459:A_913"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_459:A_913" class="fnanchor">[459:A]</a></p> - -<p>How great a nuisance this bevy of lampooning critics was considered, and -to what a height their shameless effrontery was carried, may be learnt -from a passage in a pamphlet by Dr. Lodge, a contemporary physician of -great learning and good sense, who, though he terms Nash, and perhaps -very justly, "the true English Aretine," has drawn a picture which -applies to him as accurately as to any individual of the class; "a -fellow," to adopt the words of an old play with respect to this very -man, "that carried the deadly stocke in his pen, whose muze was armed -with a jag tooth, and his pen possest with Hercules furyes."<a name="FNanchor_i_459:B_914" id="FNanchor_i_459:B_914"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_459:B_914" class="fnanchor">[459:B]</a> "You -shall know him" (the envious critic), says Lodge, "by this; he is a -foule lubber, his tongue tipt with lying, his heart steeled against -charity; he walks, for the most part, in black, under colour of gravity, -and <i>looks as pale as y<sup>e</sup> wizard of the ghost which cried so miserably -at y<sup>e</sup> theater, like an oister wife, Hamlet revenge</i>: he is full of -infamy and slander, insomuch as if he ease not his stomach in detracting -somewhat or some man before noontide, he fals into a fever that holds -him while supper time; he is alwaies devising of epigrams or scoffes and -grumbles, necromances continually, although nothing crosse him, he never -laughs but at other men's harms, briefly in being a tyrant over men's -fames; he is a very Titius (as Virgil saith) to his owne thoughtes.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Titiique vultus inter</div> - <div class="line indentq">Qui semper lacerat comestque mentem.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"The mischiefe is, that by grave demeanour and newes bearing, he hath -got some credite with the greater sort, and manie fowles there <!-- Page 460 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_460" id="Page_i_460">[460]</a></span>bee, -that because he can pen prettilee, hold it gospell whatever he writes or -speakes, his custome is to preferre a foole to credite, to despight a -wise man, and no poet lives by him that hath not a flout of him. Let him -spie a man of wit in a taverne, he is a hare brained quareller. Let a -scholler write, Tush (saith he) I like not these common fellowes; let -him write well, he hath stolen it out of some note booke; let him -translate, tut it is not of his owne; let him be named for preferment, -he is insufficient because poore; no man shall rise in his world, except -to feed his envy; no man can continue in his friendship who hateth all -men." He then adds the following judicious advice, predicting what would -be the consequence of neglecting to pursue it:—"Divine wits for many -things as sufficient as all antiquity (I speake it not on slight -surmise, but considerate judgment) to you belongs the death that doth -nourish this poison; to you the paine that endure the reproofe. <span class="smcap">Lilly</span>, -the famous for facility in discourse; <span class="smcap">Spencer</span>, best read in ancient -poetry; <span class="smcap">Daniel</span>, choice in word and invention; <span class="smcap">Draiton</span>, diligent and -formall; <span class="smcap">Th. Nash</span>, true English Aretine. All you unnamed professors, or -friends of poetry (but by me inwardly honoured) knit your industries in -private to unite your fames in publicke; let the strong stay up the -weake, and the weake march under conduct of the strong; and all so -imbattle yourselfes, that hate of vertue may not imbase you. But if -besotted with foolish vain glory, emulation and contempt, you fall to -neglect one another, <i>Quod Deus omen avertat</i>, doubtless it will be as -infamous a thing shortly to present any book whatsoever learned to any -Mæcenas in England, as it is to be headsman in any free city in -Germanie."<a name="FNanchor_i_460:A_915" id="FNanchor_i_460:A_915"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_460:A_915" class="fnanchor">[460:A]</a></p> - -<p>Turning, however, from this abuse of critical and satiric talent, let us -direct our attention exclusively to those productions of the art which -are distinguished as well by moderation and urbanity, as by learning and -acumen.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 461 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_461" id="Page_i_461">[461]</a></span>It is worthy of remark that in <i>English</i> literature, during this era, -nearly all the professed critical treatises, if we except those of -Wilson and Ascham, were employed on the subject of poetry. We shall -confine ourselves, therefore, to a chronological enumeration, -accompanied by a few observations, of these interesting pieces. The -first, in the order of time, is a production of <i>George Gascoigne</i> the -poet, and was published at the close of the second edition of "The -Posies of George Gascoigne Esquire, Corrected, perfected, and augmented -by the Authour, 1575. <i>Tam Marti, quam Mercurio.</i> Imprinted at London by -H. Bynneman for Richard Smith." It is entitled, "Certayne notes of -Instruction concerning the making of verse or ryme in English, written -at the request of Master Edovardo Donati;" and was again printed in "The -whole workes of George Gascoign Esquyre: newlye compyled into one -volume," small 4to. b. l. 1587. This little tract is more didactic than -critical; but contains several judicious directions, and some sensible -remarks.</p> - -<p>Ten years after, appeared a treatise on "Scottis Poesie," from the pen -of King James the First, when only eighteen years of age. This learned -monarch commenced his career of authorship with "The Essayes of a -Premise, in the Divine art of Poesie. Imprinted at Edinburgh, by Thomas -Vautroullier, 1585, 4to. Cum privilegio Regali." The fifth article in -this miscellany includes the criticism in question, under the title of -"Ane schort Treatise, containing some reulis and cautelis to be observit -and eschewit in Scottis poesie." This is a production highly curious, as -well for its manner as matter; for, not content with mere precept, the -royal critic has given us copious specimens of the several kinds of -verse then in use. The eighth chapter of this short treatise is devoted -to this purpose, detailing rules and examples, 1st, For <i>lang -histories</i>. 2dly, For <i>heroic acts</i>. 3dly, For <i>heich and grave -subjects</i>. 4thly, For <i>tragic matters</i>. 5thly, For <i>flyting or -invectives</i>. 6thly, For <i>Sonnet verse</i>. 7thly, For <i>Matters of love</i>; -and 8thly, For <i>Tenfoot verse</i>.</p> - -<p>Under the fifth head is given as an <i>exemplar</i> of the <i>Rouncefalles</i>, or -<i>Tumbling</i> verse, the lines formerly quoted from the <i>Flyting</i> of -<!-- Page 462 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_462" id="Page_i_462">[462]</a></span><i>Montgomery</i> as illustrative of a superstition peculiar to -Allhallow-Eve; and under the seventh, on "love materis," is introduced -as an example of "cuttit and broken verse, quhairof new formes are -daylie inventit according to the Poetis pleasour," the following stanza, -which has been rendered familiar to an English ear by the genius of -Burns:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Quha wald have tyrde to heir that tone,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Quhilk birds corroborat ay abone,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Through schouting of the larkis!</div> - <div class="line indentq">They sprang sa heich into the skyes,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Quhill Cupide walknis with the cryis</div> - <div class="line i1q">Of Nature's chapell clerkis.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then leaving all the heavins above,</div> - <div class="line i2q">He lichted on the card;</div> - <div class="line i1q">Lo! how that lytill god of love</div> - <div class="line i2q">Before me then appeard.</div> - <div class="line i4q">So mylde-like</div> - <div class="line i4q">And child-like,</div> - <div class="line i2q">With bow thre quarters skant,</div> - <div class="line i4q">So moilie</div> - <div class="line i4q">And coylie</div> - <div class="line i2q">He lukit lyke a Sant."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It is observable that James, in assigning his "twa caussis" for -composing this work, tells us that "albeit <i>sindrie hes written of it</i> -(poesie) <i>in English</i>, quhilk is lykest to our language, zit we differ -from thame in sindrie reulis of poesie, as ze will find be experience;" -but who these <i>sundry writers</i> were, has not, with the exception of -Gascoigne's "Notes of Instruction," been hitherto discovered.<a name="FNanchor_i_462:A_916" id="FNanchor_i_462:A_916"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_462:A_916" class="fnanchor">[462:A]</a></p> - -<p>It is barely possible that the royal critic may have included in his -"sindrie," the next work which we have to record on the subject, the -production of our immortal Spenser, and entitled "The English <!-- Page 463 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_463" id="Page_i_463">[463]</a></span>Poet," a -work which we lament should have been suffered to perish in manuscript. -Its existence was first intimated to the public in 1579, by E. K., in -his argument to the tenth Aeglogue of the <i>Shepheard's Calender</i>, with a -promise, which unfortunately proved faithless, of committing it to the -press. Poetry, observes this commentator, is "no art, but a divine gift -and heavenly instinct not to be gotten by labour and learning, but -adorned with both; and poured into the witte by a certaine Enthusiasmos -and celestial inspiration, as the Author hereof elsewhere at large -discourseth in his booke called <i>The English Poet</i>, which booke being -lately come to my handes, I minde also by God's grace, upon further -advisement, to publish."<a name="FNanchor_i_463:A_917" id="FNanchor_i_463:A_917"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_463:A_917" class="fnanchor">[463:A]</a> That the taste and erudition of Spenser -had rendered this critical essay highly interesting, there is every -reason to conclude, and though the only positive testimony to its -composition rests on the single authority which we have quoted, it is -extremely probable, from the manner in which its acquisition by the -commentator is mentioned, that the MS. had circulated, and continued to -circulate, among the friends and admirers of the poet, for some years.</p> - -<p>Scarcely had the British Solomon published his juvenile criticisms, when -a kindred work issued from the London press, under the title of "A -Discourse of English Poetrie, together with the Author's Judgment -touching the reformation of our English verse. By William Webbe, -Graduate. Imprinted at London by John Charlewood. 4to, 1586." Black -letter.</p> - -<p>The chief purport of this pamphlet, now so rare that only three copies -are known to exist<a name="FNanchor_i_463:B_918" id="FNanchor_i_463:B_918"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_463:B_918" class="fnanchor">[463:B]</a>, is to propose, what the author terms, a -"perfect platform, or prosodia of versifying, in imitation of the Greeks -and Latins," a scheme which, though supported by Sidney, Dyer, Spenser, -and Harvey, happily miscarried. "The hexameter verse," says Nash, with -great good sense, in his controversy with Harvey, "I graunt to be a -gentleman of an auncient house, (so is <!-- Page 464 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_464" id="Page_i_464">[464]</a></span>many an English beggar,) yet -this clyme of ours hee cannot thrive in; our speech is too craggy for -him to set his plough in; hee goes twitching and hopping in our -language, like a man running upon quagmires, up the hill in one syllable -and downe the dale in another, retaining no part of that stately smooth -gate which he vaunts himself with amongst the Greeks and Latins."<a name="FNanchor_i_464:A_919" id="FNanchor_i_464:A_919"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_464:A_919" class="fnanchor">[464:A]</a></p> - -<p>Webbe's "Discourse," however, is valuable on account of the characters -which he has drawn of the English poets, from Chaucer to his own time. -He notices, also, "Gaskoynes Instructions for versifying;" and, after -declaring the Shepherd's Calender inferior neither to Theocritus nor -Virgil, he expresses an ardent wish that the other works of Spenser -might get abroad, and especially his "English Poet, which his friend E. -K. did once promise to publish." The tract concludes with the author's -assertion, that his "onely ende" in compiling it was "not as an -exquisite censure concerning the matter," but "that it might be an -occasion to have the same thoroughly, and with greater discretion taken -in hande, and laboured by some other of greater abilitie, of whom I know -there be manie among the famous poets in London, who both for learning -and leysure may handle the argument far more pythelie."<a name="FNanchor_i_464:B_920" id="FNanchor_i_464:B_920"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_464:B_920" class="fnanchor">[464:B]</a></p> - -<p>In 1588, <i>Abraham Fraunce</i>, another encourager and writer of English -Hexameter and Pentameter verses, published in octavo, a critical -treatise, a mixture of prose and verse, under the quaint title of "The -Arcadian Rhetoricke, or the Precepts of Rhetoricke made plain by -example, Greeke, Latyne, Englishe, Italyan, and Spanishe." This rare -volume is in the library of Mr. Malone, and is valuable, observes -Warton, for its English examples.<a name="FNanchor_i_464:C_921" id="FNanchor_i_464:C_921"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_464:C_921" class="fnanchor">[464:C]</a></p> - -<p>In the same year which produced Fraunce's work, appeared the -<i>Touch-Stone of Wittes</i>, written by <i>Edward Hake</i>, and printed at -<!-- Page 465 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_465" id="Page_i_465">[465]</a></span>London by Edmund Botifaunt. This little tract is employed in sketching -the features of the chief poets of the day; but differs not materially -from <i>Webbe's Discourse of English Poetrie</i>, from which, indeed, it is -principally compiled. Hake describes himself (in another of his -productions called "<i>A Touchstone</i> for this time present,") as an -"attorney of the Common Pleas;" mentions his having been educated under -John Hopkins, whom he terms a learned and exquisite teacher, and when -criticising the <i>Mirrour of Magistrates</i> in his <i>Touchstone of Wittes</i>, -speaks of its augmentor, John Higgins, as his particular friend.<a name="FNanchor_i_465:A_922" id="FNanchor_i_465:A_922"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_465:A_922" class="fnanchor">[465:A]</a></p> - -<p>But by far the most valuable work which was published in the province of -criticism, during the life-time of Shakspeare, was written by <i>George -Puttenham</i>, and entitled "The Arte of English Poesie, Contrived into -three Bookes: The first of Poets and Poesie, the second of Proportion, -the third of Ornament. At London Printed by Richard Field, dwelling in -the black-Friers neere Ludgate. 1589."</p> - -<p>This book, which seems to have been composed considerably anterior to -its publication, was printed anonymously, and has been ascribed to -Spenser and Sidney.<a name="FNanchor_i_465:B_923" id="FNanchor_i_465:B_923"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_465:B_923" class="fnanchor">[465:B]</a> Bolton, whose <i>Hypocritica</i> was written in -the reign of James I., though not printed until 1722, mentions -Puttenham, however, as the reputed author; and a reference to Bolton's -manuscript, preserved in the archives at Oxford, enabled Anthony Wood to -announce this fact to the public. "There is," says he, "a book in being -called <i>The Art of English Poesie</i>, not written by Sydney, as some have -thought, but rather by one <i>Puttenham</i>, sometime a Gentleman Pensioner -to Qu. Elizab."<a name="FNanchor_i_465:C_924" id="FNanchor_i_465:C_924"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_465:C_924" class="fnanchor">[465:C]</a></p> - -<p>An elegant reprint of this old critic has been lately (1811) edited by -Mr. Haslewood, in which, with indefatigable industry and <!-- Page 466 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_466" id="Page_i_466">[466]</a></span>research, he -has collected all that could throw light on the personal and literary -history of his author. His opinion of the critical acumen of Puttenham, -though favourable, is not too highly coloured. "Puttenham," he remarks, -"was a candid but sententious critic. What his observations want in -argument, is made up for by the soundness of his judgment; and his -conclusions, notwithstanding their brevity, are just and pertinent. He -did not hastily scan his author, to indulge in an untimely sneer, and -his opinions were adopted by contemporary writers, and have not been -dissented from by the moderns."<a name="FNanchor_i_466:A_925" id="FNanchor_i_466:A_925"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_466:A_925" class="fnanchor">[466:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of the same tenour are the sentiments of Mr. Gilchrist, who opens his -analysis of the <i>Arte of English Poesie</i>, with asserting that it "is on -many accounts one of the most curious and entertaining, and, -intrinsically, one of the most valuable books of the age of Elizabeth;" -infinitely superior, he adds, as an elementary treatise on the arts, to -the volumes of Wilson and Webbe, "as being formed on a more -comprehensive scale, and illustrated by examples; while the copious -intermixture of contemporary anecdote, tradition, manners, opinions, and -the numerous specimens of coeval poetry, no where else preserved, -contribute to form a volume of infinite amusement, curiosity, and -value."<a name="FNanchor_i_466:B_926" id="FNanchor_i_466:B_926"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_466:B_926" class="fnanchor">[466:B]</a></p> - -<p>To various parts of this interesting treatise, we shall have occasion -frequently to refer, when discussing the subjects of miscellaneous -poetry and metropolitan manners. It is indeed a store-house of poetical -erudition.</p> - -<p>The next work which, in the order of publication, falls under our -notice, is <span class="smcap">Sir John Harrington's</span> <i>Apologie of Poetry</i>, prefixed in 1591 -to his Version of the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto. It is a production of -some merit, displaying both judgment and ingenuity; but is most -remarkable for the earliest notice of Puttenham's Arte of Poesie, and -for affording a striking proof of the obscurity in which <!-- Page 467 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_467" id="Page_i_467">[467]</a></span>that critic -had enveloped himself with regard to its parentage; for though two years -had elapsed since its publication, it appears that neither the Queen, -her courtiers, nor the literary world, had the slightest idea of its -origin, and Sir John speaks of the author under the appellation of -"<i>Ignoto</i>." "Neither," says he, "do I suppose it to be greatly -behoovefull for this purpose, to trouble you with the curious -definitions of a poet and poesie, and with the subtill distinctions of -their sundrie kinds; nor to dispute how high and supernatural the name -of a Maker is, so christened in English by that <i>unknowne Godfather</i>, -that this last yeare save one, viz. 1589, set forth a booke called the -Art of English Poetrie: and least of all do I purpose to bestow any long -time to argue, whether Plato, Zenophon, and Erasmus, writing fictions -and dialogues in prose, may justly be called poets, or whether Lucan -writing a story in verse be an historiographer, or whether Master Faire -translating Virgil, Master Golding translating Ovid's Metamorphosis, and -my selfe in this worke that you see, be any more than versifiers, as the -same <i>Ignoto</i> termeth all translators."<a name="FNanchor_i_467:A_927" id="FNanchor_i_467:A_927"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_467:A_927" class="fnanchor">[467:A]</a></p> - -<p>Poetry, soon after the birth of this Apology, had to boast of a champion -of still greater prowess, in the person of <span class="smcap">Sir Philip Sidney</span>, whose -<i>Defence of Poesie</i> was first made public in 1595. It had, however, been -previously circulated in manuscript for some years; thus Sir John -Harrington refers to it in his Apology 1591, and there is reason to -believe, that it was written so early as 1581 or 1582. This delightful -piece of criticism exhibits the taste and erudition of Sir Philip in a -striking light; the style is remarkable for amenity and simplicity; the -laws of the Drama and Epopœa are laid down with singular judgment and -precision, and the cause of poetry is strenuously and successfully -supported against the calumny and abuse of the puritanical scowlers, one -of whom had the effrontery to dedicate to him his collection of -scurrility, in the very title-page of which he <!-- Page 468 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_468" id="Page_i_468">[468]</a></span>classes poets with -pipers and jesters, and terms them the "caterpillars of the -commonwealth."<a name="FNanchor_i_468:A_928" id="FNanchor_i_468:A_928"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_468:A_928" class="fnanchor">[468:A]</a></p> - -<p>A very ingenious "<i>Comparative Discourse of our English Poets, with the -Greeke, Latine, and Italian Poets</i>," was published by <span class="smcap">Francis Meres</span>, in -1598, under the title of <i>Palladis Tamia, Wit's Treasury</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_468:B_929" id="FNanchor_i_468:B_929"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_468:B_929" class="fnanchor">[468:B]</a> Meres -is certainly much indebted to the thirty-first chapter of the first book -of Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie; but he has considerably extended -the catalogue of poets, and it should be added, that his comparisons are -drawn with no small portion of skill and felicity, and that his -criticisms are, for the most part, just and tersely expressed.</p> - -<p>Another attempt was made, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, -to introduce the Roman measures into English verse, in a duodecimo -entitled, "Observations in the Art of English Poesie, by <span class="smcap">Thomas Campion</span>, -wherein it is demonstratively proved, and by example confirmed, that the -English toong will receive eight severall kinds of numbers, proper to -itselfe, which are all in this book set forth, and were never before -this time by any man attempted." London; printed by Richard Field, for -Andrew Wise. 1602.</p> - -<p>The object of this tract, which is dedicated to Lord Buckhurst, whom he -terms, "the noblest judge of poesie," was not only to recommend the -adoption of classical metres, but to abolish, if possible, the use of -rhime. "For this end," says he in his preface, "have I studyed to induce -a true forme of versefying into our language, for <!-- Page 469 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_469" id="Page_i_469">[469]</a></span>the vulgar and -unartificial custome of riming hath, I know, detered many excellent wits -from the exercise of English Poesy."</p> - -<p>In consequence of this determination, he has enforced his "Observations" -by examples on the classic model, without rhime; and among them, at p. -12. is a specimen of what he calls <i>Lincentiate Iambicks</i>, which is, in -fact, our present blank verse.</p> - -<p>This systematic attack upon rhime speedily called forth a consummate -master of the art in its defence; for in 1603 appeared, "A Defence of -Ryme, against a pamphlet intituled, Observations in the Art of Poesie, -wherein is demonstratively proved that ryme is the fittest harmonie of -wordes that comports with our language." By Samuel Daniel.</p> - -<p>It need scarcely be said that the elegant and correct poet has obtained -a complete victory over his opponent, whom he censures, not so much for -attempting the introduction of new measures, as for his abuse of rhime; -he might have shown his skill, he justly and eloquently observes, -"without doing wrong to the honour of the dead, wrong to the fame of the -living, and wrong to England, in seeking to lay reproach upon her native -ornaments, and to turn the fair stream and full course of her accents, -into the shallow current of a loose uncertainty, clean out of the way of -her known delight.—Therefore here stand I forth," he adds in a -subsequent paragraph, "only to make good the place we have thus taken -up, and to defend the sacred monuments erected therein, which contain -the honour of the dead, the fame of the living, the glory of peace, and -the best power of our speech, and wherein so many honourable spirits -have sacrificed to memory their dearest passions, showing by what divine -influence they have been moved, and under what stars they lived."<a name="FNanchor_i_469:A_930" id="FNanchor_i_469:A_930"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_469:A_930" class="fnanchor">[469:A]</a></p> - -<p>Great modesty and good sense distinguish this pamphlet, in which the -author candidly allows that rhime has been sometimes too lavishly used -and where blank verse might have been substituted with <!-- Page 470 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_470" id="Page_i_470">[470]</a></span>better effect, -and he concludes his "Defence" with some excellent remarks on -affectation in the choice and collocation of words, a vice from which he -was more free than any of his contemporaries, simplicity and purity, in -fact, being the leading features of his style.</p> - -<p>The last critic of the era to which we are limited, is <span class="smcap">Edward Bolton</span>, -whose "<i>Hypercritica</i>; Or a Rule of Judgment for writing or reading our -Historys," a small collection of tracts or essays, "occasioned," says -Warton, "by a passage in Sir Henry Seville's Epistle prefixed to his -edition of our old Latin historians, 1596,"<a name="FNanchor_i_470:A_931" id="FNanchor_i_470:A_931"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_470:A_931" class="fnanchor">[470:A]</a> was supposed by Wood, -in a note on the MS. preserved in the Ashmolean Museum, to have been -written about 1610. But that this date is too early is evident from the -work itself; for in the fourth essay, which is entitled "Prime Gardens -for gathering English: according to the true gage or standard of the -tongue about fifteen or sixteen years ago," King James's poetry is -spoken of in the following manner:—"I dare not presume to speak of his -Majesty's exercises in this heroick kind, because I see them all left -out in that which Montague lord bishop of Winchester hath given us of -his royal writings."<a name="FNanchor_i_470:B_932" id="FNanchor_i_470:B_932"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_470:B_932" class="fnanchor">[470:B]</a> Now Bishop Montague's edition of James's -Works was not published until 1616.</p> - -<p>The principal writers in prose and poetry, anterior to 1600, are noticed -in this fourth division of the <i>Hypercritica</i>, and the judgment passed -upon them is, in general, correct and satisfactory, and does credit to -the "sensible old English critic," as Warton emphatically terms -him.<a name="FNanchor_i_470:C_933" id="FNanchor_i_470:C_933"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_470:C_933" class="fnanchor">[470:C]</a></p> - -<p>It is remarkable that the <i>Hypercritica</i> should have been suffered to -continue in its manuscript state until 1722, at which period it was -printed by Anthony Hall at the end of Trivet's "Annalium Continuatio." -Oxford, 8vo.</p> - -<p>Bolton, whom Ritson calls "a profound scholar and eminent -critic<a name="FNanchor_i_470:D_934" id="FNanchor_i_470:D_934"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_470:D_934" class="fnanchor">[470:D]</a>," was certainly a man of considerable learning, and -occupied <!-- Page 471 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_471" id="Page_i_471">[471]</a></span>no small space in the public eye as an historian, philologer, -and antiquary.</p> - -<p>To this enumeration it may be necessary to add some notice of that -industrious race of critics, termed <i>Commentators</i>; a species which, for -the last half century, has been employed as laboriously on old English, -as formerly were the German Literati on ancient classical, literature. -Of this mode of illustration, which has lately thrown so much light on -the manners and learning of our poet's age, two early and very ingenious -specimens may be mentioned under the reign of Elizabeth and James. The -first is the Commentary of E. K. on the Shepheards Calender of Spenser, -in 1579; and the second, the learned Notes of Selden on the first -eighteen Songs of the Polyolbion of Drayton, 1612; both productions of -great merit, but especially the last, which exhibits a large portion of -acumen and research, united to an equal share of discrimination and -judgment.</p> - -<p>Such are the chief critics on English literature who flourished during -the life-time of Shakspeare. That some of them contributed very -materially towards the improvement of polite literature, and especially -of poetry, by stimulating the genius and guiding the taste of their -contemporaries, must be readily granted, and more particularly may these -benefits be attributed to the labours of <i>Webbe</i>, <i>Puttenham</i>, <i>Sidney</i>, -and <i>Meres</i>. How far the manuscripts of <i>Spenser</i> and <i>Bolton</i>, at the -commencement and termination of our critical era, assisted to enlighten -the public mind, cannot now be ascertained; but as the circulation of -works in this state is generally very confined, we cannot suppose, even -admitting the industry and admiration of their favoured readers to have -been strongly excited, that their effect could have been either widely -or permanently felt.</p> - -<p>It would be a subject of still greater curiosity, could we determine, -with any approach towards precision, in what degree Shakspeare was -indebted, for his progress in English literature, to the authors whom we -have just enumerated, under the kindred branches of <i>philology</i> and -<i>criticism</i>.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 472 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_472" id="Page_i_472">[472]</a></span>Of his assiduity as a reader of English books, whether original or -translated, his works afford the most positive and abundant proofs; and -that he was peculiarly attentive to the philology of his native language -is to be learnt from the same source. We have already noticed his -satirical allusion to Florio and Lilly in the character of Holofernes, -and a similar stroke on the innovating pedantry of the times, will be -found in his <i>Much Ado about Nothing</i>, which was probably directed -against another equally bold attempt to alter the whole system of -orthography. The experiment was made by Bullokar, of whose Brief Grammar -a slight mention has been given, in a book entitled an <i>Amendment of -Orthographie</i> for <i>English Speech</i>, 1580; in which the author proposes -not only an entire change in the established mode of spelling, but a -total revolution also in the practice of printing. To level a sarcasm at -the head of this daring innovator may have been the aim of the poet, -where he represents Benedict complaining of Claudio, that "<i>he was wont -to speak plain, and to the purpose, like an honest man, and a soldier; -and now he is turned <span class="smcap">Orthographer</span>; his words are a very fantastical -banquet, just so many strange dishes</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_472:A_935" id="FNanchor_i_472:A_935"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_472:A_935" class="fnanchor">[472:A]</a></p> - -<p>In a former part of this work we have mentioned some of the books to -which our great poet must have had recourse in the progress even of his -limited education in the country; and on his settlement in London, we -cannot, with any probability, conceive, that a mind so active, -comprehensive, and acute, would sit down content with its juvenile -acquisitions, and hesitate to inspect those treatises on philology and -criticism which had acquired the popular approbation, and were adapted -to the years of manhood. Not only, indeed, did he peruse with avidity -the <i>Arte of Rhetoricke</i> of Wilson, and the <i>Scolemaster</i> of Ascham, but -we are convinced, from a thorough study of his writings, that so -extensive was his range of reading, that not a translation from the -<i>Greek</i>, the <i>Latin</i>, the <i>Italian</i>, <i>Spanish</i>, or <i>French</i> <!-- Page 473 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_473" id="Page_i_473">[473]</a></span>appeared, -but what was soon afterwards to be found in the hands of Shakspeare. His -dramas, in fact, even without the aid of his indefatigable commentators, -assure us, in almost every page, that, if not erudite from the -possession of many languages, he was truly and substantially learned in -every other sense; in the vast accumulation of materials drawn through -the medium of translation, from the most distant and varied sources.</p> - -<p>That he had not only read, but availed himself professionally of -Wilson's Rhetoric, will be evident, we think, from a passage quoted by -Mr. Chalmers, from this critic, in support of a similar opinion. Wilson -has mentioned Timon of Athens in such a manner as <i>might</i> lead -Shakspeare to select this misanthrope for dramatic exhibition; but the -very character and language of <i>Dogberry</i> seem to be anticipated in the -following sketch:—"Another good fellow of the countrey, being an -officer and mayor of a toune, and desirous to speak like a fine learned -man, having just occasion to rebuke a runnegate fellowe, said after this -wise, in a greate heate:—Thou <i>yngraine</i> and <i>vacation</i> knave, if I -take thee any more within the <i>circumcision</i> of my <i>dampnation</i>; I will -so <i>corrupt</i> thee, that all other <i>vacation</i> knaves shall take -<i>ilsample</i> by thee."<a name="FNanchor_i_473:A_936" id="FNanchor_i_473:A_936"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_473:A_936" class="fnanchor">[473:A]</a></p> - -<p>We cannot, however, coalesce with Mr. Chalmers, in considering the -character of Holofernes as founded on the Scholemaster of Ascham, and -that in drawing the colloquial excellence ascribed to the pedagogue by -Sir Nathaniel, the poet had in his <i>minds-eye</i> the conversation at Lord -Burleigh's table, so strikingly recorded by Ascham in his preface. We -have not the smallest doubt but that our author had read, and with much -pleasure and profit, the invaluable treatise of that accomplished -scholar; but the general folly and pedantry of Holofernes are such, -notwithstanding the eulogium of his clerical companion, as to preclude -all idea that the character could have <!-- Page 474 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_474" id="Page_i_474">[474]</a></span>been sketched from such a -model;—it is, in fact, a broad caricature of some well known pedant of -the day, and we must agree with the commentators in fixing upon <i>Florio</i> -as the most probable prototype.</p> - -<p>It will readily be granted, that, if Shakspeare were the assiduous -reader which we have supposed him to be, and no judge, indeed, of his -works can doubt it, he must have perused with peculiar interest the -critical treatises on poets and poetry which were published during his -march to fame. It will be considered, therefore, scarcely as an -assumption to conclude, that the works of <i>Webbe</i>, <i>Puttenham</i>, -<i>Sidney</i>, and <i>Meres</i> were familiar to his mind; and though he must have -written with too much haste, and with too much attention to the -gratifications of the <i>million</i>, to carry their precepts, and especially -the strictures of Sidney, into perfect execution, yet it is very -reasonable to conceive that even his early works may have been rendered -less imperfect by the perusal of Webbe and Puttenham; and that, as he -advanced in his professional career, the improved mechanism of his -dramas, and his greater attention to the unities, may have been in some -degree derived from the keen invectives of Sir Philip.</p> - -<p>That Shakspeare, in return, contributed, more than any other poet, to -enrich and modulate his native language, is now freely admitted; but -that he was held in similar estimation by his contemporaries, and even -at an early period of his poetical progress, may be inferred from what -<i>Markham</i> has said of the "poets of his age" in 1595, when Shakspeare -had published some of his poems, and had produced his "Romeo," and from -what <i>Meres</i>, in 1598, more specifically applies to our author; the -former observing, in the Dedication of his <i>Gentleman's Academie</i>, with -reference to the Booke of St. Albans, originally published in 1486, that -"our tong being not of such puritie then, <i>as at this day the Poets of -our age have raised it to: of whom, and in whose behalf I wil say thus -much, that our Nation may only thinke herselfe beholding for the glory -and exact compendiousnes of our longuage</i>;" and the latter expressly -terming our poet, from the superiority <!-- Page 475 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_475" id="Page_i_475">[475]</a></span>of his diction and -versification, "<i>mellifluous and hony-tongued Shakspeare</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_475:A_937" id="FNanchor_i_475:A_937"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_475:A_937" class="fnanchor">[475:A]</a></p> - -<p>Reverting to the subject of National Literature, we proceed to notice -the progress which <span class="smcap">History, General, Local and Personal</span>, may be deemed -to have made, during the era to which we are limited.</p> - -<p>History appears in every country to have been late in acquiring its best -and most legitimate form, and to have been usually preceded by annals or -chronicles, which, aspiring to no unity in arrangement, and void of all -political or philosophical deduction, were confined to a bare -chronological detail of facts. Such was the state of this important -branch of literature on the accession of Elizabeth; numerous chroniclers -had flourished from Robert of Gloucester to Fabian and Hall, but with -little to recommend them, except the minuteness of their register, and -the occasional illustration of manners and customs; and more -distinguishable for credulity and prolixity than for any other -characteristics.</p> - -<p>The chronicle of <i>Holinshed</i>, however, which appeared in 1577, and a -second edition in 1587, merits a higher title. It is more full and -complete than any of its predecessors, and less loaded with trifling -matter. We are much indebted to Reginald Wolfe, the Queen's printer, for -stimulating the historian to the undertaking, who was assisted, in his -laborious task, by several able coadjutors, and particularly by the Rev. -<i>William Harrison</i>, whose <i>Description of England</i>, prefixed to the -first volume, is the most interesting and valuable document, as a -picture of the country, and of the costume, and mode of living of its -inhabitants, which the sixteenth century has produced.</p> - -<p>The example of Holinshed was followed, towards the close of our period, -by <i>Stowe</i> and <i>Speed</i>, writers more succinct in their narrative, more -correct in their style, and more philosophical in their matter. <!-- Page 476 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_476" id="Page_i_476">[476]</a></span>The -"History of Great Britain" by Speed, the second edition of which was -printed under the author's care in 1620, is, in every respect, a work of -very great merit, whether we consider its authorities, or the mode in -which it is written. It is in fact a production which may be read with -great pleasure and profit at the present day, and makes a nearer -approach, than any former chronicle, to the tone of legitimate history.</p> - -<p>In the mean time, the more classical form of this branch of literature -was making a rapid progress. Numerous attempts were published, partaking -of a mixed character, neither assuming the dignity of history, nor -descending to the minuteness of the chronicle; Newton's History of the -Saracens<a name="FNanchor_i_476:A_938" id="FNanchor_i_476:A_938"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_476:A_938" class="fnanchor">[476:A]</a> and Fulbeck's Account of the Roman Factions, previous to -the reign of Augustus<a name="FNanchor_i_476:B_939" id="FNanchor_i_476:B_939"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_476:B_939" class="fnanchor">[476:B]</a>, may be mentioned as specimens; but the -great historians of this period, who condescended to use their native -tongue, were Raleigh, Hayward, Knolles, Bacon, and Daniel, writers who -in this province still hold no inferior rank among the classics of their -country. The "History of the World," by Sir Walter, exhibits great -strength of style, and much solidity of judgment; Hayward's Lives of the -three Norman Kings, and of Henry the IV. and Edward the VI., contain -many curious facts to which sufficient attention has not yet been paid; -his diction is neat and smooth, but he adopts too profusely the -classical costume of framing speeches for his principal characters. -Knolles's "General History of the Turks" is an elaborate and useful -work, and its language is clear, nervous, and often powerfully -descriptive. Bacon's Henry the VIIth betrays too much of the apologist -for arbitrary power, but it is otherwise of great value; it is written -from original, and now lost, materials, with vigour and philosophical -acuteness. But these historians are excelled, in purity of style and -perspicuity of narration, by Daniel, whose "History of England," closing -with the <!-- Page 477 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_477" id="Page_i_477">[477]</a></span>reign of Edward the Third, is a production which reflects -great credit on the age in which it was written.</p> - -<p>We must not omit to mention, however, two historians, who, by rejecting -their vernacular language, and adopting that of ancient Rome, acquired -for a time a more extended celebrity in this department. Buchanan and -Camden are, or should be, familiar to all lovers of history and -topography. The "Rerum Scoticarum Historia" of the first of these -historians, and the "Annales Rerum Anglicanarum et Hibernicarum" of the -second, are productions in deserved estimation; the former for the -classical purity and taste exhibited in its composition, the latter for -its accuracy and impartiality.</p> - -<p>Of that highly interesting and useful branch of History which is -included under the title of Voyages and Travels, the era of which we are -treating affords a most abundant harvest. The two great collectors, -<i>Hakluyt</i> and <i>Purchas</i>, appear within its range, compilers, whose -industry and research need fear no rivalry. Hakluyt's first collection -was published in a small volume in 1582; was increased to a folio in -1589, and to three volumes of the same size in 1598, containing upwards -of two hundred voyages. The still more ample work of Purchas was -commenced in 1613, by the publication of the first volume folio, with -the title of "Purchas, his Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World, and -the Religions observed in all Ages and Places discovered, from the -Creation unto this present; in four parts." This elaborate undertaking -was greatly augmented in subsequent editions, of which the fourth and -best was published in 1626, in five volumes folio, the last four being -entitled "<i>Hakluytus Posthumous</i>, or Purchas, his Pilgrims; containing a -history of the world, in sea-voyages, and land-travels, by Englishmen -and others." Purchas professes to include, in this immense compilation, -the substance of <i>above twelve hundred authors</i>; it contains also the -maps of Mercator and Hondius, and numerous engravings.</p> - -<p>These vast and valuable collections are an honour to the reigns of -Elizabeth and James; and, notwithstanding the industry and research of -the moderns, have not yet been superseded.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 478 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_478" id="Page_i_478">[478]</a></span>To the gigantic labours of these writers, which include almost every -previous book on the subject of voyage or travel, may be added the -publications of two or three contemporaries of singular or useful -notoriety. In 1611, <i>Thomas Coryate</i> printed the most remarkable of his -eccentric productions, under the quaint title of "Crudities hastily -gobbled up in five Months Travels, in France, Savoy, Italy, Rhetia, -Helvetia, some Parts of High Germany, and the Netherlands." Lond. large -4to. Coryate was a man of consummate vanity, of some learning, but of no -judgment. Inflamed with an inextinguishable desire of travelling, he -walked over a great part of Europe and Asia, terminating his life, "in -the midst of his Indian travail," about the year 1617. Nothing can be -more ridiculous than the style, and often the matter of his book, which -is preceded by nearly sixty copies of what Fuller calls <i>mock-commending -verses</i>. "Prince <i>Henry</i>," says the same writer, "allowed him a pension, -and kept him for his servant. <i>Sweet-meats</i> and <i>Coriat</i> made up the -<i>last course</i> at all <i>Court-entertainments</i>. Indeed he was the -courtier's <i>anvil</i> to trie their witts upon, and sometimes this <i>anvil</i> -returned the <i>hammers</i> as hard knocks as it received, his bluntnesse -repaying their abusivenesse."<a name="FNanchor_i_478:A_940" id="FNanchor_i_478:A_940"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_478:A_940" class="fnanchor">[478:A]</a></p> - -<p>A still greater pedestrian than even Coryate lived, at this time, in the -person of <i>William Lithgow</i>, who published his "Travels" in 1614. His -peregrinations were extended through Europe, Asia, and Africa, and he -declares, at the close of his book, that in his three voyages "his -painful feet have traced over (besides passages of seas and rivers) -thirty-six thousand and odd miles, which draweth near to twice the -circumference of the whole earth." His sufferings through the tyranny of -the Spanish governor of Malaga, who had tortured, robbed, and imprisoned -him, excited so much pity and indignation, that, on his arrival in -England, he was conveyed to Theobalds on a feather-bed, being unable to -stand, that King James might be an eye-witness of his "martyred -anatomy," as he terms the <!-- Page 479 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_479" id="Page_i_479">[479]</a></span>miserable condition to which his body had -been reduced. Lithgow's "Travels" are entertaining, and not ill written, -but they abound in the marvellous, and too often excite the smile of -incredulity.</p> - -<p>The "Itinerary, or Ten Yeares Travell through Germany, Italy, England," -&c. a folio volume by <i>Fines Moryson</i>, is a production of a far -different cast. Moryson is a sober-minded and veracious traveller, and -that part of his book which relates to the manners and customs of -England and Scotland is peculiarly useful and interesting. He was a -native of Lincolnshire, and fellow of Peter-house, Cambridge. "He began -his Travels," relates Fuller, "May the first, 1591, over a great part of -Christendome, and no small share of Turky, even to Jerusalem, and -afterwards printed his observations in a <i>large book</i>, which, for the -truth thereof, is in good reputation, for of so great a traveller, he -had nothing of a traveller in him, as to stretch in his reports. At last -he was <i>Secretary</i> to <i>Charles Blunt</i>, Deputy of Ireland, saw and wrote -the conflicts with, and conquest of <i>Tyrone</i>, a discourse which -deserveth credit, because the writer's <i>eye</i> guides his <i>pen</i>, and the -privacy of his place acquainted him with many secret passages of -importance. He dyed about the year of our Lord 1614."<a name="FNanchor_i_479:A_941" id="FNanchor_i_479:A_941"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_479:A_941" class="fnanchor">[479:A]</a></p> - -<p>In that department of history which may be termed <i>local</i>, including -topography and antiquities, the latter half of the sixteenth century had -many cultivators. "Persons of greatest eminence in this sort of learning -under queen Elizabeth," remarks Nicolson, "were Humphrey Lhuyd, John -Twyne, William Harrison, and William Camden."<a name="FNanchor_i_479:B_942" id="FNanchor_i_479:B_942"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_479:B_942" class="fnanchor">[479:B]</a> Lluyd possessed -unrivalled celebrity in his day, for Camden calls him "a learned Briton, -who, for knowledge in antiquities, was reputed to carry, after a sort, -with him, all the credit and honour." He wrote a variety of tracts, -among which is a fragment of a Commentary on Britain; a Description of -the Island of Mona; <!-- Page 480 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_480" id="Page_i_480">[480]</a></span>a Description of the Coasts of Scotland; a -Chorography of England and Wales; and a Translation of Caradoc's History -of Wales, subsequently published by Powel, and again by Wynn. Lluyd -practised physic at Denbigh in Wales, and died there about the year -1570. His friend <i>John Twyne</i>, the translator of his Commentarioli -Britannicæ, under the title of The Breviary of Britain, Lond. 1573, has -been extolled also both by Lee and Nicolson for his knowledge of the -history and antiquities of his country. He died in 1581, leaving behind -him two books of Commentaries on British History<a name="FNanchor_i_480:A_943" id="FNanchor_i_480:A_943"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_480:A_943" class="fnanchor">[480:A]</a>, which reached -the press in 1590, and various Collectanea relative to the antiquities -of Britain.</p> - -<p>We must here add to Bishop Nicolson's enumeration the name of <i>William -Lambarde</i>, the learned author of <i>Archaionomia, sive de priscis Anglorum -Legibus</i>, and of the <i>Perambulation of Kent</i>. This last production, -which was printed in 1570, is the prolific parent of our county -histories, works which have in our days very rapidly increased, and -which exhibit the estimation in which they are held, by the high price -annexed to their publication.</p> - -<p>Of <i>Harrison</i>'s "Historical Description of the Island of Britain" we -have already taken due notice, and it would be superfluous, in this -place, to do more than mention the <i>Britannia</i> of <i>Camden</i>. Proceeding -therefore to the reign of James, we have to increase the catalogue with -the names of <i>Stowe</i>, <i>Norden</i>, <i>Carew</i>, and <i>Burton</i>. The <i>Survey of -London</i> by <i>Stowe</i>, is one of the most early, valuable, and interesting -of our topographical pieces; and on it has been founded the subsequent -descriptions of Hatton, Seymour, Maitland, Noorthouck, Pennant, and -Malcolm. <i>John Norden</i> is well known to the lovers of topography by his -<i>Speculum Britanniæ</i>, which was meant to include the chorography of -England, but unfortunately extends no farther than the counties of -Middlesex and Hertfordshire. Norden <!-- Page 481 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_481" id="Page_i_481">[481]</a></span>was the projector of those useful -works familiarly termed <i>Guides</i>, having written a "Guide for English -Travellers," and a "Surveyor's Guide," both works of singular merit. He -died about the year 1625. <i>Richard Carew</i>, the author of the "Survey of -Cornwall," first printed in 1602, and termed, by Fuller, "the pleasant -and faithfull description of Cornwall," was educated at Christ-Church, -Oxford, where, at the early age of fourteen, though of three years' -standing in the University, "he was called out to dispute <i>extempore</i>, -before the Earls of <i>Leicester</i> and <i>Warwick</i>, with the matchless Sir -<i>Philip Sidney</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_481:A_944" id="FNanchor_i_481:A_944"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_481:A_944" class="fnanchor">[481:A]</a> The Cornwall of Carew, though now superseded by -the more elaborate history of Dr. Borlase, is a compilation of great -merit, and makes a nearer approach than Lambarde's Kent to a perfect -model for county topography. Carew died in 1620.</p> - -<p><i>William Burton</i>, the last writer whom we shall mention under this head, -though contemporary with Shakspeare for more than forty years, was not -an author until six years after the poet's death, when he published his -"Description of Leicestershire," folio; a book which, independent of its -own utility, had the merit of stimulating Sir William Dugdale to the -composition of his admirable "History of Warwickshire." Burton's work -was justly considered as carrying forward, on an improved scale, the -plan of Lambarde and Carew; it is now, however, thrown into the shade by -the most copious, and, in every respect, the most complete county -history which this kingdom has hitherto produced, the "Leicestershire" -of Mr. Nichols. Burton was the friend of Drayton, and brother to the -author of the Anatomy of Melancholy.</p> - -<p>The third branch of History, the <i>personal</i> or biographical, cannot -boast of any very celebrated cultivator during the period to which we -are confined. Many ephemeral sketches, it is true, were given of the -naval and military commanders of the day, at a time when enterprise <!-- Page 482 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_482" id="Page_i_482">[482]</a></span>and -adventure enjoyed the marked protection of government; but no classical -production in biography, properly so called, no enduring specimen of -personal history seems to have issued from the press; at least we -recollect no example, worth notice, in a separate form, and of the -general compilers in this province, we are reduced to mention the names -of <i>Fox</i> and <i>Pits</i>. The "Acts and Monuments of the Church," by the -first of these writers, commonly called "Fox's Book of Martyrs," is a -mixed composition; but as consisting principally of personal detail and -anecdote, more peculiarly belonging to the department of biography. The -first edition of the "Martyrology" was published in London in 1563, in -one thick volume folio, and the fourth in 1583, four years before the -death of the author, in two volumes folio. This popular work, which was -augmented to three volumes folio in 1632, has undergone numerous -editions, and perhaps no book in our language has been more universally -read. "It may regarded," remarks Granger, "as a vast Gothic building: in -which some things are superfluous, some irregular, and others manifestly -wrong: but which, altogether, infuse a kind of religious reverence; and -we stand amazed at the labour, if not at the skill, of the architect. -This book was, by order of Queen Elizabeth, placed in the common halls -of archbishops, bishops, deans, archdeacons, and heads of colleges; and -was long looked upon with a veneration next to the Scriptures -themselves."<a name="FNanchor_i_482:A_945" id="FNanchor_i_482:A_945"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_482:A_945" class="fnanchor">[482:A]</a></p> - -<p>John Pits, who died in 1616, was a writer, in not inelegant Latin, of -the lives of the Roman Catholic authors of England. His work, which was -published after his death, at Paris, in 1619, 4to. is usually known and -quoted by the title of <i>De illustribus Angliæ scriptoribus</i>. He is a -bold plagiarist from Bale, partial from religious bigotry, and often -inaccurate with regard to facts and dates.</p> - -<p>To this summary of historical literature it will be necessary to add a -few remarks on the translations which were made, during the era <!-- Page 483 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_483" id="Page_i_483">[483]</a></span>in -question, from the Greek and Roman historians, as these would -necessarily have much influence on the public taste, and would throw -open to Shakspeare, and to those of his contemporaries who could not -readily appeal to the originals, many sources of imagery and fable. It -appears then, that from the year 1550 to the year 1616, all the great -historians of Greece and Rome, had been either wholly or in part, -familiarized in our language. That the Grecian classics were translated -with any large portion of fidelity and spirit, will not easily be -admitted, when we find their sense frequently taken from Latin or French -versions; but they still served to stimulate curiosity, and to excite -emulation. The two first books of <i>Herodotus</i>, 4to. appeared in 1584; -<i>Thucydides</i> from the French of Claude de Seyssel, by Thomas Nicolls, -folio, in 1550; a great part of <i>Polybius</i>, by Christopher Watson, 8vo. -in 1568; <i>Diodorus Siculus</i>, by Thomas Stocker, 4to. in 1569; <i>Appian</i>, -4to. in 1578; <i>Josephus</i>, by Thomas Lodge, folio, in 1602; <i>Ælian</i>, by -Abraham Fleming, 4to. in 1576; <i>Herodian</i>, from the Latin version of -Politianus, by Nycholas Smyth, 4to. in 1591; and <i>Plutarch's Lives</i>, -from the French of Amyot, by Sir Thomas North, folio, in 1579.</p> - -<p>The Roman writers were more generally naturalized, without the aid of an -intermediate version. <i>Livy</i> and <i>Florus</i> were given to the world by -Philemon Holland, folio, in 1600; <i>Tacitus</i>, by Sir Henry Saville and -Richard Grenaway, 4to. and folio, in 1591 and 1598; <i>Sallust</i>, by Thomas -Paynell, 4to., and by Thomas Heywood, folio, in 1557 and 1608; -<i>Suetonius</i>, by Philemon Holland, folio, 1606; <i>Cæsar</i>, by Arthur -Golding, 4to., 1565, and by Clement Edmundes, folio, 1600; <i>Justin</i>, by -Arthur Golding, 4to., 1564, and by Holland, 1606; <i>Quintus Curtius</i>, by -John Brande, 8vo., 1561; <i>Eutropius</i>, by Nic. Haward, 8vo., 1564, and -<i>Marcellinus</i>, by P. Holland, folio, 1609.</p> - -<p>Such are the chief authors, original and translated, which, in the -province of History, general, local, and personal, added liberally to -the mass of information and utility which was rapidly accumulating -throughout the Shakspearean era.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 484 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_484" id="Page_i_484">[484]</a></span>That our great poet amply availed himself of these stores, more -particularly in those dramas which are founded on domestic and foreign -history, every attentive reader of his works must have adequate proof. -Several, indeed, of the writers that we have enumerated, though -exclusively belonging to our period, and throwing much light on the -manners, customs, and literature of their age, came rather too late for -the poet's purpose; but of those who published sufficiently early, he -has made the best use. Traces of his footsteps may be discerned in many -of the authors that we have mentioned, but his greatest inroads seem to -have been made through the compilations of <i>Holinshed</i> and <i>Hakluyt</i>, -and through the version of <i>Plutarch</i> by <i>North</i>. All that was necessary -in the <i>minutiæ</i> of fact, was derivable from the labours of the faithful -<i>Holinshed</i>; much illustration was to be acquired from the -manners-painting pen of <i>Harrison</i>; a knowledge of the globe and its -marvels, was attainable in the narratives of <i>Hakluyt</i>; and the -character and costume of Greece and Rome were vividly delineated in the -delightful, though translated, pages of <i>Plutarch</i>. From these sources, -and from a few which existed previous to the commencement of the poet's -age, such as the <i>Froissart</i> of <i>Lord Berners</i>, and the <i>Chronicle</i> of -<i>Hall</i>, were drawn and coloured those exquisite pictures of manners, -history, and individual character, which fix and enrapture attention -throughout the dramatic annals of Shakspeare. Indeed, from whatever mine -the poet procured his ore, he uniformly purified it into metal of the -finest lustre, and it may truly be added, that on the study of the -"Histories" of Shakspeare, a more intimate acquaintance with human -nature may be founded, than on any other basis.</p> - -<p>Whilst on the subject of <i>History</i>, we must deviate in a slight degree -from our plan, which excludes the detail of science, to notice two works -in <i>Natural History</i>, from which our bard has derived various touches of -imagery and description; I mean the Roman and the Gothic Pliny, rendered -familiar to our author by the labours of Holland, and Batman; the former -having published his Translation of Pliny's immense collection in 1601, -folio, and the latter his <!-- Page 485 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_485" id="Page_i_485">[485]</a></span>Commentary upon Bartholome, under the title -of "Batman uppon Bartholome his booke De proprietatibus rerum," in 1582, -folio. "Shakspeare," says Mr. Douce, speaking of Batman's Bartholome, -"was extremely well acquainted with this work;" an assertion which he -has sufficiently established in the course of his -"Illustrations."<a name="FNanchor_i_485:A_946" id="FNanchor_i_485:A_946"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_485:A_946" class="fnanchor">[485:A]</a> Few, indeed, were the popular books of his day, -to which our author had not access, and from which he has not derived -some slight fact or hint conducive to his purpose.</p> - -<p>We now approach the last branch of our present subject, <i>Miscellaneous -Literature</i>; a topic which, were we not restricted by various other -demands, might occupy a volume; for in no era of our annals have -miscellaneous writers been more abundant than during the reign of -Elizabeth.</p> - -<p>A set of men at this time infested the town, in a high degree dissipated -in their manners, licentious in their morals, and vindictive in their -resentments, yet possessing a large share of native and acquired talent. -These adventurers, who hung loose upon society, appear to have seized -upon the press for the purpose of indulging an unbounded love of -ridicule and raillery, sometimes excited by the mere spirit of badinage -and frolic, more frequently stimulated by malignity and revenge, and -often goaded to the task by the pressure of deserved poverty. The -fertility of these writers is astonishing; the public was absolutely -deluged with their productions, which proved incidentally useful, -however, in their day, by the exposure of folly, and are valuable, at -this time, for the illustrations which they have thrown upon the most -evanescent portion of our manners and customs.</p> - -<p>Another description of miscellaneous authors, consisted of those who, -attached to the discipline of the puritans, employed their pens <!-- Page 486 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_486" id="Page_i_486">[486]</a></span>in -inveighing with great bitterness against the dress and amusements of the -less rigid part of the community; and a third, equally distant from the -levity of the first, and the severity of the second, class, was occupied -in calmly discussing the various topics which morals, taste, and -literature supplied.</p> - -<p>As examples of the first species, no age can produce more extraordinary -characters than <i>Nash</i>, <i>Decker</i>, and <i>Greene</i>; men intimately -acquainted with all the crimes, follies, and debaucheries of a -town-life, indefatigable as writers, and possessing the advantages of -learning and genius. <i>Thomas Nash</i>, whose character as a satirist and -critic, we have already given in a quotation from Dr. Lodge, died about -the year 1600, after a life spent in controversy and dissipation. He had -humour, wit, and learning, but debased by a plentiful portion of -scurrility and buffoonery; he was born at Leostoffe in Suffolk, educated -at Cambridge, where he resided as a Member of St. John's College, nearly -seven years, and obtained great celebrity, as the confuter and silencer -of the puritanical <i>Mar-prelates</i>, a service that merited the reputation -which it procured him. He was the boon companion of <i>Robert Greene</i>, -whose vices he shared, and with whom he acted as the unrelenting scourge -of the Harveys.</p> - -<p>This terror of his opponents, this Aretine of England, though most -remarkable for his numerous prose pamphlets, was also a dramatic poet. -His productions, as enumerated by Mr. Beloe, amount to five and -twenty.<a name="FNanchor_i_486:A_947" id="FNanchor_i_486:A_947"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_486:A_947" class="fnanchor">[486:A]</a></p> - -<p><i>Thomas Decker</i>, an author still more prolific, began his career as a -dramatic poet about the year 1597, and as a prose writer in 1603. His -plays, now lost, preserved, or written in conjunction with others, -amount to twenty-eight; but it is in his capacity as a miscellanist that -we have here to notice him.</p> - -<p>His tracts, of which thirty have been attributed to him, and near five -and twenty may be considered as genuine, clearly prove him to <!-- Page 487 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_487" id="Page_i_487">[487]</a></span>have been -an acute observer of the fleeting fashions of his age, and a -participator in all its follies and vices. His "Gul's Horne Booke, or -Fashions to please all sorts of Guls," first printed in 1609, exhibits a -very curious, minute, and interesting picture of the manners and habits -of the middle class of society, and on this account will be hereafter -frequently referred to in these pages.<a name="FNanchor_i_487:A_948" id="FNanchor_i_487:A_948"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_487:A_948" class="fnanchor">[487:A]</a> That experience had -tutored him in the knaveries of the metropolis, the titles of the -following pamphlets will sufficiently evince. "<span class="smcap">The Belman of London</span>, -bringing to Light the most notorious Villanies that are now practised in -the Kingdome," 1608; one of the earliest books professing to disclose -the slang of thieves and vagabonds; and remarks Warton, from a -contemporary writer, the most witty, elegant, and eloquent display of -the vices of London then extant.<a name="FNanchor_i_487:B_949" id="FNanchor_i_487:B_949"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_487:B_949" class="fnanchor">[487:B]</a> "<span class="smcap">Lanthern and Candle Light</span>: Or, -The Bell-Man's Second Night's Walke. In which he brings to light a Brood -of more strange Villanies than ever were till this Yeare discovered" -4to. 1612. "Villanies discovered by Lanthorn and Candle Light, and the -Helpe of a new Crier called O-per-se-O. Being an Addition to the -Belman's second Night's Walke, with canting Songs never before printed." -4to. 1616. It will occasion no surprise, therefore, if we find this -describer of the arts and language of thieving himself in a jail; he -was, in fact, confined in the King's Bench prison from 1613 to 1616, if -not longer. The most remarkable transaction of his life appears to have -been his quarrel with Ben Jonson, who, no doubt sufficiently provoked, -satirizes him in his <i>Poetaster</i>, 1601, under the character of -<i>Crispinus</i>; a compliment which Decker amply repaid in his -"Satiromastix, or the Untrussing of the humorous Poet," 1602, where he -lashes Ben without mercy, under the designation of Horace Junior. Jonson -replied in an address to the Reader, introduced in the 4to. edition of -his play, in place of the epilogue, and points to Decker, under the -<!-- Page 488 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_488" id="Page_i_488">[488]</a></span>appellation of the <i>Untrusser</i>. Decker was an old man in 1631, for in -his <i>Match me in London</i>, published in that year, he says: "I have been -a priest in Apollo's Temple many years, my voice is decaying with my -age;" he probably died in 1639, the previous year being the date of his -latest production.</p> - -<p>Of <i>Robert Greene</i>, the author of near fifty productions<a name="FNanchor_i_488:A_950" id="FNanchor_i_488:A_950"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_488:A_950" class="fnanchor">[488:A]</a>, the -history is so highly monitory and interesting as to demand more than a -cursory notice. It affords, indeed, one of the most melancholy proofs of -learning, taste, and genius being totally inadequate, without a due -control over the passions, to produce either happiness or -respectability. This misguided man was born at Norwich, about the middle -of the sixteenth century, of parents in genteel life and much esteemed. -He was sent to St. John's College, Cambridge, from whence, at an early -period of his education, he was, unfortunately for his future peace of -mind, induced to absent himself, on a tour through Italy and Spain. His -companions were wild and dissolute, and, according to his own -confession<a name="FNanchor_i_488:B_951" id="FNanchor_i_488:B_951"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_488:B_951" class="fnanchor">[488:B]</a>, he ran headlong with them into every species of -dissipation and vice.</p> - -<p>On his return to England, he took his degree of Batchelor of Arts at St. -John's, in 1578, and afterwards, removing to Clare-hall, his Master of -Arts degree in that college, 1583. We learn, from one of his numerous -tracts, that, immediately after this event, he visited the metropolis, -where he led a life of unrestrained debauchery. Greene was one of those -men who are perpetually sinning and perpetually repenting; he had a -large share of wit, humour, fancy, generosity, and good-nature, but was -totally deficient in that strength of mind which is necessary to resist -temptation; he was conscious, too, of his great abilities, but at the -same time deeply conscious of the waste of <!-- Page 489 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_489" id="Page_i_489">[489]</a></span>talent which had been -committed to his care. When we find, therefore, that he was intended for -the church, and that he was actually presented to the vicarage of -Tollesbury, in Essex, on the 19th of June, 1584<a name="FNanchor_i_489:A_952" id="FNanchor_i_489:A_952"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_489:A_952" class="fnanchor">[489:A]</a>, we may easily -conceive how a man of his temperament and habits would feel and act; he -resigned it, in fact, the following year, no doubt shocked at the -disparity between his profession and his conduct; for we find, from his -own relation, that a few years previous to this incident, he had felt -extreme compunction on hearing a sermon "preached by a godly learned -man," in St. Andrew's Church, Norwich.<a name="FNanchor_i_489:B_953" id="FNanchor_i_489:B_953"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_489:B_953" class="fnanchor">[489:B]</a></p> - -<p>It was shortly after this period that he married; and, if any thing -could have saved Greene from himself, this was the expedient; for the -lady he had chosen was beautiful in her person, amiable and moral in her -character, and we know, from the works of this unhappy man, that <i>his</i> -heart <i>had</i> been the seat of the milder virtues, and that he possessed a -strong relish for domestic life.</p> - -<p>The result of the experiment must lacerate the feelings of all who hear -it; for it exhibits, in a manner never surpassed, the best emotions of -our nature withering before the touch of Dissipation. The picture is -taken from a pamphlet of our author's, entitled "Never Too Late," -printed in 1590, where his career is admirably and confessedly shadowed -forth under the character of the <i>Palmer Francesco</i>. It would appear -from this striking narrative, if the minutiæ, as well as the outline of -it, are applicable to Greene, that he married his wife contrary to the -wishes of her father; their pecuniary distress was great, but prudence -and affection enabled them to realize the following scene of domestic -felicity:—"Hee and Isabel joyntly together taking themselves to a -little cottage, began to be as Ciceronicall as they were amorous; with -their hands thrift coveting to satisfy their hearts thirst, and to be as -diligent in labours, <!-- Page 490 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_490" id="Page_i_490">[490]</a></span>as they were affectionate in loves; so that the -parish wherein they lived, so affected them for the course of their -life, that they were counted the very mirrors of methode; for he being a -scholer, and nurst up in the universities, resolved rather to live by -his wit, than any way to be pinched with want, thinking this old -sentence to be true, <i>the wishers and woulders were never good -householders</i>; therefore he applied himselfe in teaching of a schoole, -where by his industry, hee had not onely great favour, but gate wealthe -to withstand fortune. Isabel, that shee might seeme no lesse profitable, -then her husband carefull, fell to her needle, and with her worke sought -to prevent the injurie of necessitie. Thus they laboured to maintain -their loves, being as busie as bees, and as true as turtles, as desirous -to satisfie the world with their desert, as to feede the humours of -their own desires. Living thus in a league of united virtues, out of -this mutuall concord of conformed perfection, they had a sonne -answerable to their owne proportion, which did increase their amitie, so -as the sight of their young infant was a double ratifying of their -affection. Fortune and love thus joyning in league, to make these -parties to forget the stormes, that had nipped the blossom of their -former yeres."<a name="FNanchor_i_490:A_954" id="FNanchor_i_490:A_954"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_490:A_954" class="fnanchor">[490:A]</a></p> - -<p>The poetry of Greene abounds still more than his prose with the most -exquisite delineations of rural peace and content, and the following -lines feelingly paint this short and only happy period of his life:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Sweet are the thoughts that savour of content,</div> - <div class="line i1q">The quiet minde is richer than a crowne:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sweete are the nights in carelesse slumber spent,</div> - <div class="line i1q">The poor estate scornes Fortune's angry frowne:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Such sweete content, such mindes, such sleepe, such blis,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Beggers injoy, when princes oft doe mis.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">The homely house that harbours quiet rest,</div> - <div class="line i1q">The cottage that affoords no pride nor care,</div> - <!-- Page 491 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_491" id="Page_i_491">[491]</a></span><div class="line indentq">The meane that grees with country musicke best,</div> - <div class="line i1q">The sweete consort of mirth and musick's fare,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Obscured life sets downe a type of blis,</div> - <div class="line indentq">A minde content both crowne and kingdome is."<a name="FNanchor_i_491:A_955" id="FNanchor_i_491:A_955"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_491:A_955" class="fnanchor">[491:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Deeply is it to be lamented, and with a sense, too, of humiliation for -the frailty of human nature, that, with such inducements to a moral and -rational life, with sufficient to support existence comfortably, for he -had some property of his own, and his wife's dowry had been paid<a name="FNanchor_i_491:B_956" id="FNanchor_i_491:B_956"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_491:B_956" class="fnanchor">[491:B]</a>, -and with a child whom he loved, and with a wife whom he confesses was -endowed with all that could endear and dignify her sex, he could suffer -his passions so far to subdue his reason, as to throw these essentials -towards happiness away! In the year 1586 he abandoned this amiable woman -and her son, to revel in all the vicious indulgences of the metropolis. -The causes of this iniquitous desertion may be traced in his works; from -these we learn that, in the first place, she had endeavoured, and -perhaps too importunately for such an irritable character, to reform his -evil propensities<a name="FNanchor_i_491:C_957" id="FNanchor_i_491:C_957"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_491:C_957" class="fnanchor">[491:C]</a>, and secondly that on a visit to London on -business, he had been fascinated by the allurements of a -courtesan<a name="FNanchor_i_491:D_958" id="FNanchor_i_491:D_958"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_491:D_958" class="fnanchor">[491:D]</a>, and on this woman, whose name was Ball, and on her -infamous relations, for her brother was afterwards hanged<a name="FNanchor_i_491:E_959" id="FNanchor_i_491:E_959"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_491:E_959" class="fnanchor">[491:E]</a>, he -squandered both his own property and that of his wife.</p> - -<p>It is almost without a parallel that during the remainder of Greene's -life, including only six years, he was continually groaning with anguish -and repentance, and continually plunging into fresh guilt; that in his -various tracts he was confessing his sins with the <!-- Page 492 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_492" id="Page_i_492">[492]</a></span>deepest contrition, -passionately apostrophizing his injured wife, imploring her forgiveness -in the most pathetic terms, and describing, in language the most -touching and impressive, the virtue of her whom he had so basely -abandoned.</p> - -<p>He tells us, under the beautifully drawn character of Isabel, by whom he -represents his wife, that upon her being told, by one of his friends, of -his intended residence in London, and by another, of the attachment -which had fixed him there, she would not at first credit the tale; but, -when convinced, she hid her face, and inwardly smothered her sorrows, -yet grieving at his follies, though unwilling to hear him censured by -others, and at length endeavouring to solace her affliction by repeating -to her cittern some applicable verses from the Italian of Ariosto. He -then adds, that she subsequently hinted her knowledge of the amour to -him in a letter, saying "the onely comfort that I have in thine absence -is the child, who lies on his mother's knee, and smiles as wantonly as -his father when he was a wooer. But, when the boy sayes, 'Mam where is -my dad, when wil he come home;' then the calm of my content turneth to a -present storm of piercing sorrow, that I am forced sometime to say, -'unkinde Francesco that forgets his Isabell. I hope Francesco it is -thine affaires, not my faults, that procure this long delay."<a name="FNanchor_i_492:A_960" id="FNanchor_i_492:A_960"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_492:A_960" class="fnanchor">[492:A]</a></p> - -<p>The following pathetic song seems to have been suggested to Greene by -the scene just described, and is a further proof of the singular -disparity subsisting between his conduct and his feelings:—</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">"BY A MOTHER TO HER INFANT.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Weepe</span> not, my Wanton, smile upon my knee,</div> - <div class="line">When thou art old theres griefe enough for thee.</div> - <div class="line i2">Mothers wagge, prettie boy,</div> - <div class="line i2">Fathers sorrow, fathers joy;</div> - <div class="line i2">When thy father first did see</div> - <div class="line i2">Such a boy by him and me,</div> - <!-- Page 493 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_493" id="Page_i_493">[493]</a></span><div class="line i2">He was glad, I was woe,</div> - <div class="line i2">Fortune changd made him so,</div> - <div class="line i2">When he had left his prettie boy,</div> - <div class="line i2">Last his sorrow, first his joy.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Weepe not, my Wanton, smile upon my knee,</div> - <div class="line">When thou art old theres griefe enough for thee.</div> - <div class="line i2">Streaming teares that never stint,</div> - <div class="line i2">Like pearle drops from a flint,</div> - <div class="line i2">Fell by course from his eies,</div> - <div class="line i2">That one anothers place supplies.</div> - <div class="line i2">Thus he grieved in every part,</div> - <div class="line i2">Teares of bloud fell from his heart,</div> - <div class="line i2">When he left his prettie boy,</div> - <div class="line i2">Fathers sorrow, fathers joy.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Weep not, my Wanton, smile upon my knee,</div> - <div class="line">When thou art old theres griefe enough for thee.</div> - <div class="line i2">The wanton smilde, father wept,</div> - <div class="line i2">Mother cried, babie lept;</div> - <div class="line i2">Now he crow'd more he cride,</div> - <div class="line i2">Nature could not sorrow hide;</div> - <div class="line i2">He must goe, he must kisse</div> - <div class="line i2">Childe and mother, babie blisse,</div> - <div class="line i2">For he left his prettie boy,</div> - <div class="line i2">Fathers sorrow, fathers joy.</div> - <div class="line">Weep not, my Wanton, smile upon my knee,</div> - <div class="line">When thou art old theres griefe enough for thee."<a name="FNanchor_i_493:A_961" id="FNanchor_i_493:A_961"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_493:A_961" class="fnanchor">[493:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In the mean time he pursued his career of debauchery in Town, whilst his -forsaken wife retired into Lincolnshire. In July 1588, he was -incorporated at Oxford, at which time, says Wood, he was "a pastoral -sonnet maker, and author of several things which were pleasing to men -and women of his time: they made much sport, and were valued among -scholars."<a name="FNanchor_i_493:B_962" id="FNanchor_i_493:B_962"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_493:B_962" class="fnanchor">[493:B]</a> In short, such had been the extravagance of Greene, -that he was now compelled to write for his daily support, and his -biographers, probably without any sufficient foundation, have chosen to -consider him as the first of our poets who wrote <!-- Page 494 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_494" id="Page_i_494">[494]</a></span>for bread. It should -be recorded, however, that his pen was employed not only for himself but -for his wife; for Wood tells us, and it is a mitigating fact which has -been strangely overlooked by every other writer, that he "<i>wrote to -maintain his wife</i>, and that high and loose course of living which poets -generally follow."<a name="FNanchor_i_494:A_963" id="FNanchor_i_494:A_963"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_494:A_963" class="fnanchor">[494:A]</a> We have reason, indeed, to conclude, that the -income which he derived from his literary labours was considerable, for -his popularity as a writer of prose pamphlets, which, as Warton -observes, may "claim the appellation of satires<a name="FNanchor_i_494:B_964" id="FNanchor_i_494:B_964"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_494:B_964" class="fnanchor">[494:B]</a>," was unrivalled. -Ben Jonson alludes to them in his <i>Every Man out of his Humour</i><a name="FNanchor_i_494:C_965" id="FNanchor_i_494:C_965"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_494:C_965" class="fnanchor">[494:C]</a>, -and Sir Thomas Overbury, describing a chamber-maid, says "<i>she reads -Greenes works over and over</i>; but is so carried away with the Mirror of -Knighthood, she is many times resolv'd to run out of herself, and become -a lady-errant."<a name="FNanchor_i_494:D_966" id="FNanchor_i_494:D_966"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_494:D_966" class="fnanchor">[494:D]</a></p> - -<p>It must be confessed that many of the prose tracts of Greene are -licentious and indecent; but there are many also whose object is useful -and whose moral is pure. They are written with great vivacity, several -are remarkable for the most poignant raillery, all exhibit a glowing -warmth of imagination, and many are interspersed with beautiful and -highly polished specimens of his poetical powers. On those which are -employed in exposing the machinations of his infamous associates, he -seems to place a high value, justly considering their detection as an -essential service done to his country; and he fervently thanks his God -for enabling him so successfully to lay open the "most horrible -Coosenages of the common Conny-Catchers, Cooseners and Crosse Biters," -names which in those days designated the perpetrators of every species -of deception and knavery.<a name="FNanchor_i_494:E_967" id="FNanchor_i_494:E_967"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_494:E_967" class="fnanchor">[494:E]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 495 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_495" id="Page_i_495">[495]</a></span>But the most curious and interesting of his numerous pieces, are those -which relate to his own character, conduct, and repentance. The titles -of these, as they best unfold the laudable views with which they were -written, we shall give at length.</p> - -<p>1. <i>Greene's Mourning Garment</i>, given him by Repentance at the Funerals -of Love, which he presents for a Favour to all young Gentlemen that -wishe to weane themselves from wanton Desires. Both pleasant and -profitable. By R. Greene, Utriusque Academiæ in Artibus Magister. Sero -sed serio. Lond. 1590.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Greene's Never Too Late.</i> Sent to all youthful Gentlemen, -decyphering in a true English Historie those particular vanities, that -with their frosty vapours nip the Blossomes of every Braine from -attaining to his intended perfection. As pleasant as profitable, being a -right Pumice Stone, apt to race out Idlenesse with delight and Folly -with admonition. By Robert Greene, In Artibus Magister. Lond. 1590.</p> - -<p>3. <i>Greene's Groatsworth of Wit.</i> Bought with a million of Repentance, -describing the Folly of Youth, the Falshood of make-shift Flatteries, -the Miserie of the Negligent, and Mishaps of deceyving Courtezans. -Published at his dying Request, and newly corrected and of many errors -purged. Felicem fuisse infaustum. Lond. 1592.</p> - -<p>4. <i>Greene's Farewell to Follie.</i> Sent to Courtiers and Scholers, as a -President to warne them from the vaine Delights that drawe Youth on to -Repentance. Sero sed serio. By Robert Greene.</p> - -<p>5. <i>The Repentance of Robert Greene</i>, Maister of Artes. Wherein, by -himselfe, is laid open his loose Life, with the Manner of his Death. -Lond. 1592.</p> - -<p>6. <i>Greene's Vision.</i> Written at the instant of his death, conteyning a -penitent Passion for the folly of his Pen. Sero sed serio. By Robert -Greene.</p> - -<p>In these publications the author has endeavoured to make all the -reparation in his power, by exposing his own weakness and folly, by -detailing the melancholy effects of his dissipation, and by painting in -the most impressive terms the contrition which he so bitterly felt. <!-- Page 496 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_496" id="Page_i_496">[496]</a></span>In -what exquisite poetry he could deplore his vicious habits, and by what -admirable precepts he could direct the conduct of others, will be learnt -from two extracts taken from his "Never Too Late," in the first of which -the Penitent Palmer, the intended symbol of himself, repeats the -following ode:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Whilome in the Winter's rage,</div> - <div class="line indentq">A Palmer old and full of age,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sate and thought upon his youth,</div> - <div class="line indentq">With eyes, teares, and hart's ruth,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Beeing all with cares yblent,</div> - <div class="line indentq">When he thought on yeeres mispent,</div> - <div class="line indentq">When his follies came to minde,</div> - <div class="line indentq">How fond love had made him blinde,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And wrapt him in a fielde of woes,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Shadowed with pleasures shoes,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then he sighed, and sayd, alas!</div> - <div class="line indentq">Man is sinne, and flesh is grasse.</div> - <div class="line indentq">I thought my mistres hairs were gold,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And in her locks my harte I folde;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Her amber tresses were the sight</div> - <div class="line indentq">That wrapped me in vaine delight:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Her ivorie front, her pretie chin,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Were stales that drew me on to sin:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Her starry lookes, her christall eyes,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Brighter than the sunnes arise:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sparkling pleasing flames of fire,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Yoakt my thoughts and my desire,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That I gan cry ere I blin,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Oh her eyes are paths to sin.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Her face was faire, her breath was sweet,</div> - <div class="line indentq">All her lookes for love was meete:</div> - <div class="line indentq">But love is folly this I know,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And beauty fadeth like to snow.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Oh why should man delight in pride,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whose blossome like a dew doth glide:</div> - <div class="line indentq">When these supposes taught my thought,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That world was vaine, and beautie nought,</div> - <div class="line indentq">I gan to sigh, and say, alas!</div> - <div class="line indentq">Man is sinne, and flesh is grasse."<a name="FNanchor_i_496:A_968" id="FNanchor_i_496:A_968"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_496:A_968" class="fnanchor">[496:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 497 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_497" id="Page_i_497">[497]</a></span>The second extract, entitled <i>The Farewell of a friend</i>, is supposed to -be addressed to Francesco the Palmer, "by one of his companions;" such -an one, indeed, as might have saved him from ruin, had he sought for the -original in real life.</p> - -<p>"Let God's worship be thy morning's worke, and his wisdome the direction -of thy dayes labour.</p> - -<p>"Rise not without thankes, nor sleepe not without repentance.</p> - -<p>"Choose but a few friends, and try those; for the flatterer speakes -fairest.</p> - -<p>"If thy wife be wise, make her thy secretary; else locke thy thoughts in -thy heart, for women are seldome silent.</p> - -<p>"If she be faire, be not jealous; for suspition cures not womens -follies.</p> - -<p>"If she be wise, wrong her not; for if thou lovest others she will loath -thee.</p> - -<p>"Let thy children's nurture be their richest portion: for wisdome is -more precious than wealth.</p> - -<p>"Be not proude amongst thy poore neighbours; for a poore mans hate is -perillous.</p> - -<p>"Nor too familiar with great men; for presumption winnes -disdaine."<a name="FNanchor_i_497:A_969" id="FNanchor_i_497:A_969"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_497:A_969" class="fnanchor">[497:A]</a></p> - -<p>The virtues of Greene were, it is to be apprehended, confined to his -books, they were theoretical rather than practical; for, however sincere -might be his repentance at the moment, or determined his resolution to -reform, the impression seems to have been altogether transient; he -continued to indulge, with few interruptions, his vicious course, until -a death, too accordant with the dissipated tissue of his life, closed -the melancholy scene. He died, says Wood, about 1592, of a surfeit taken -by eating pickled herrings and drinking Rhenish wine.<a name="FNanchor_i_497:B_970" id="FNanchor_i_497:B_970"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_497:B_970" class="fnanchor">[497:B]</a> It appears -that his friend Nash was of the party.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 498 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_498" id="Page_i_498">[498]</a></span>Of the debauchery, poverty, and misery of Greene, Gabriel Harvey, with -whom he had carried on a bitter personal controversy, has left us a -highly-coloured description. If the last scene of his life be not -exaggerated by this inveterate opponent, it presents us with a picture -of distress the most poignant and pathetic upon record.</p> - -<p>"I once bemoned," relates Harvey, "the decayed and blasted estate of <i>M. -Gascoigne</i>, who wanted not some commendable parts of conceit, and -endevour: but unhappy <i>M. Gascoigne</i>, how lordly happy, in comparison of -most unhappy <i>M. Greene</i>? He never envyed me so much as I pitied him -from my hart; especially when his hostesse <i>Isam</i>, with teares in her -eies, and sighes from a deeper fountaine (for she loved him deerely) -tould me of his lamentable begging of a penny pott of Malmesie;—and how -he was faine poore soule, to borrow her husbandes shirte, whiles his -owne was a washing: and how his dublet, and hose, and sworde were sold -for three shillings: and beside the charges of his winding sheete, which -was four shillinges, and the charges of his buriall yesterday in the -New-church yard neere Bedlam, which was six shillinges and foure pence; -how deeply hee was indebted to her poore husbande: as appeered by hys -owne bonde of tenne poundes: which the good woman kindly shewed me: and -beseeched me to read the writing beneath; which was a letter to his -abandoned wife, in the behalfe of his gentle host: not so short as -persuasible in the beginning, and pittifull in the ending.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="salutation"><i>Doll</i>,</p> - -<p><i>I charge thee by the love of our youth, and by my soules -rest, that thou wilte see this man paide: for if hee and his -wife had not succoured me, I had died in the streetes.</i></p> - -<p class="authorsc">Robert Greene."<a name="FNanchor_i_498:A_971" id="FNanchor_i_498:A_971"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_498:A_971" class="fnanchor">[498:A]</a></p> -</div> - -<p>The pity which Harvey assumes upon this occasion may justly be -considered as hypocritical; for the pamphlet whence the above <!-- Page 499 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_499" id="Page_i_499">[499]</a></span>extract -has been taken, abounds in the most rancorous abuse and exaggerated -description of the vices of Greene, and contains, among other -invectives, a sonnet unparalleled, perhaps, for the keen severity of its -irony, and for the dreadful solemnity of tone in which it is delivered. -It is put into the mouth of <i>John Harvey</i>, the physician, who had been -dead some years, but who had largely participated of the torrent of -satire which Greene had poured upon his brothers, Gabriel and Richard. -If it be the composition of Gabriel, and there is reason to suppose this -to be the case, from the tract in which it appears, it must be deemed -infinitely superior, in point of poetical merit, to any thing else which -he has written.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">JOHN HARVEY THE PHYSICIAN'S WELCOME TO ROBERT GREENE!</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<span class="smcap">Come</span>, fellow <i>Greene</i>, come to thy gaping grave,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Bid Vanity and Foolery farewell,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That overlong hast plaid the mad-brained knave,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And overloud hast rung the bawdy bell.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Vermine to vermine must repair at last;</div> - <div class="line i1q">No fitter house for busie folke to dwell;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thy conny-catching pageants are past,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Some other must those arrant stories tell:</div> - <div class="line indentq">These hungry wormes thinke long for their repast;</div> - <div class="line i1q">Come on; I pardon thy offence to me;</div> - <div class="line indentq">It was thy living; be not so aghast!</div> - <div class="line i1q">A Fool and a Physitian may agree!</div> - <div class="line indentq">And for my brothers never vex thyself;</div> - <div class="line indentq">They are not to disease a buried elfe."<a name="FNanchor_i_499:A_972" id="FNanchor_i_499:A_972"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_499:A_972" class="fnanchor">[499:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>We have entered thus fully into the character and writings of Greene, -from the circumstance of his having been the most popular miscellaneous -author of his day, from the striking talent and genius which his -productions display, and from the moral lesson to be drawn from his -conduct and his sufferings. It may be useful to remark here, that a well -chosen selection from his pamphlets, now <!-- Page 500 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_500" id="Page_i_500">[500]</a></span>all extremely rare, would -furnish one of the most elegant and interesting volumes in the -language.<a name="FNanchor_i_500:A_973" id="FNanchor_i_500:A_973"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_500:A_973" class="fnanchor">[500:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of the next class of miscellaneous writers, those derived from that part -of the community which adhered to the tenets and discipline of the -Puritans, and who employed their pens chiefly in satirizing their less -enthusiastic neighbours, it will be sufficient to notice two, who have -attracted a more than common share of attention, as well for the rancour -of their animadversion, as for their rooted antipathy to the stage. The -first of these, <i>Stephen Gosson</i>, was educated at Christ Church, Oxford; -on leaving the University, he went to London, where he commenced poet -and dramatist, and, according to Wood, "for his admirable penning of -pastorals, was ranked with Sir P. Sidney, Tho. Chaloner, Edm. Spencer, -Abrah. Fraunce, and Rich. Bernfield."<a name="FNanchor_i_500:B_974" id="FNanchor_i_500:B_974"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_500:B_974" class="fnanchor">[500:B]</a> His dramatic writings, -which consist of a tragedy, founded on Cataline's conspiracy, a comedy, -and a morality, were never printed. Of his devotion to the Muses, -however, he soon after heartily repented, as of a most heinous sin; for, -imbibing the sour severity of the Puritans, he left the metropolis, -became tutor in a gentleman's family, in the country, and subsequently -took orders, declaiming in a style so vehement against the amusements of -his early days, as to acquire a great share of popular notoriety. The -work by which he is best known is entitled "<i>The Schoole of Abuse</i>. -Conteining a pleasaunt Invective against Poets, Plaiers, Jesters, and -such like Caterpillers, of a Comonwelth; setting up the Flagge of -Defiance to their mischievous exercise, and overthrowing their Bulwarkes -by prophane Writers, naturall Reason and common experience. A Discourse -as pleasaunt for Gentlemen that favour learning, as profitable for all -that wyll follow vertue. By Stephen Gosson, Stud. <!-- Page 501 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_501" id="Page_i_501">[501]</a></span>Oxon." London, 1597. -This was speedily followed by another attack in a pamphlet termed, -"<i>Playes confuted in five Actions</i>, &c. Proving that they are not to be -suffred in a christian common weale, &c.<a name="FNanchor_i_501:A_975" id="FNanchor_i_501:A_975"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_501:A_975" class="fnanchor">[501:A]</a>;" a philippic which he -dedicated to Sir Francis Walsingham, as he had done his <i>Schoole</i> to Sir -Philip Sidney; both of whom considered the liberty which he had taken, -rather in the light of an insult than a compliment.</p> - -<p>The warfare of Gosson, however, was mildness itself, compared with that -which <i>Philip Stubbes</i> carried on against the same host of poetical -sinners. This puritanical zealot, whose work we have repeatedly quoted, -commenced his attack upon the public in the year 1583, by publishing in -small 8vo. the first edition of his "<i>Anatomie of Abuses</i>: contayning a -discoverie, or briefe summarie of such notable vices and imperfections -as now rayne in many Christian Countreyes of the Worlde: but -(especiallie) in a verie famous Ilande called Ailgna: &c." A second -impression, which now lies before me, was printed in 1595, 4to. and both -it and the octavo are among the scarcest of Elizabethan books. -"Stubbes," remarks Mr. Dibdin, "did what he could, in his <i>Anatomy of -Abuses</i>, to disturb every social and harmless amusement of the age. He -was the forerunner of that snarling satirist, Prynne; but I ought not -thus to cuff him, for fear of bringing upon me the united indignation of -a host of black-letter critics and philologists. A <i>large and clean</i> -copy of his sorrily printed work, is among the choicest treasures of a -Shakspearean virtuoso." He subjoins, in a note, commencing in the true -spirit of bibliomaniacism, that "Sir John Hawkins calls this 'a curious -and very scarce book;' and so does my friend, Mr. Utterson; who revels -in his morrocco-coated copy of it—'<i>Exemplar olim Farmerianum!</i>'" Then -proceeding more soberly, he adds, "Let us be candid, and not sacrifice -our better judgments to our book-passions. After all, Stubbes's work is -a caricatured drawing. It has strong <!-- Page 502 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_502" id="Page_i_502">[502]</a></span>passages, and a few original -thoughts; and is, moreover, one of the very few works printed in days of -yore, which have running titles to the subjects discussed in them. These -may be recommendations with the bibliomaniac: but he should be informed -that this volume contains a great deal of puritanical cant, and -licentious language: that vices are magnified in it in order to be -lashed, and virtues diminished that they might not be noticed. Stubbes -equals Prynne in his anathemas against Plays and Interludes; and in his -chapters upon 'Dress' and 'Dancing,' he rakes together every coarse and -pungent phrase in order to describe 'these horrible sins' with due -severity. He is sometimes so indecent, that, for the credit of the age, -and of a virgin reign, we must hope that every virtuous dame threw the -copy of his book, which came into her possession, behind the fire. This -may reasonably account for its present rarity."<a name="FNanchor_i_502:A_976" id="FNanchor_i_502:A_976"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_502:A_976" class="fnanchor">[502:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of the tone in which Stubbes book is written no inaccurate judgment may -be formed from the various passages which we have already quoted; but -the following short extract will more fully develope perhaps, the -acrimony of his pen than any paragraph that has yet been brought -forward. He is speaking of the neglect of Fox's Book of Martyrs, "whilst -other toyes, fantasies and bableries," he adds, "wherof the world is -ful, are suffered to be printed. Then prophane schedules, sacraligious -libels, and hethnical pamphlets of toyes and bableries (the authors -whereof may vendicate to themselves no smal commendations, at the hands -of the devil for inventing the same) corrupt men's mindes, pervert good -wits, allure to baudrie, induce to whordome, suppresse virtue and erect -vice: which thing how should it be otherwise? for are they not invented -and excogitat by Belzebub, written by Lucifer, licensed by Pluto, -printed by Cerberus, and set a broche to sale by the infernal furies -themselves to the poysning of the whole world."<a name="FNanchor_i_502:B_977" id="FNanchor_i_502:B_977"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_502:B_977" class="fnanchor">[502:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 503 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_503" id="Page_i_503">[503]</a></span>The works of Gosson and Stubbes are now chiefly valuable for the -numerous illustrations which they incidentally give of the manners, -customs, dress, and diversions, of their age, and especially for the -light which they throw on the character and costume of the stage.</p> - -<p>The progress of discussion has at length brought us to the <i>third</i> class -of Miscellaneous Writers, who may be considered as possessing a more -decorous and philosophic cast in composition than the authors who have -just fallen beneath our notice. The individuals of this genus, too, are -numerous, but we shall content ourselves with the mention of three, who -were more than usually popular in their day, <i>Thomas Lodge</i>, <i>Abraham -Fleming</i>, and <i>Gervase Markham</i>. Lodge was educated at Oxford, which he -entered about 1573; he took his degree of Doctor of Medicine at Avignon, -and practised as a physician in London, where he died in 1625. He was a -dramatic poet as well a miscellaneous writer, and was considered by his -contemporaries as a man of uncommon genius. He appears to have been, not -only a scholar, but a man of the world, to have possessed no small share -of wit and humour, and to have uniformly wielded his pen in support of -morality and good order. Of his pieces no doubt many have perished; in -his professional capacity, only one remains, a <i>Treatise on the Plague</i>; -but the productions which acquired him most celebrity were written to -expose the follies and vices of the times, and of these, about half a -dozen are preserved. He is now best known by his "<i>Wits Miserie and the -Worlds Madnesse</i>. Discovering the Devils incarnate of this Age. Lond. -1596:" a tract which, although so extremely rare as to be in the -possession of only one or two collectors, has been frequently quoted, -owing to its containing some interesting notices of contemporary -writers. The principal faults in the literary character of Lodge seem to -have been a love of quaintness and affectation; the very titles of his -pamphlets indicate the former; the alliteration in the one just -transcribed is notorious, and another is termed "Catharos. Diogenes in -his Singularitie. Wherein is comprehended his merrie baighting fit for -all men's benefits: Christened by him, A Nettle for Nice Noses, 1591." -From a passage in <i>The <!-- Page 504 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_504" id="Page_i_504">[504]</a></span>Returne from Pernassus</i> it is evident that he -was thought to be deeply tainted with Euphuism, the literary folly of -his time. The poet is speaking of Lodge and Watson, both, he says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—— "subject to a crittick's marginall.</div> - <div class="line"><i>Lodge</i> for his oare in every paper boate,</div> - <div class="line">He that turnes over Galen every day,</div> - <div class="line">To sit and simper Euphue's legacy."<a name="FNanchor_i_504:A_978" id="FNanchor_i_504:A_978"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_504:A_978" class="fnanchor">[504:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><i>Abraham Fleming</i>, the corrector and enlarger of the second edition of -Holinshed's Chronicle in 1585, was prodigiously fertile, both as an -original writer and a translator. In the latter capacity he gave -versions of the Bucolics and Georgics of Virgil, both in rhyme of -fourteen feet, 1575, and in the regular Alexandrine without rhyme, 1589; -of Ælian's Various History in 1576; of Select Epistles of Cicero, 1576, -and in the same year, a <i>Panoplie of Epistles from Tully, Isocrates, -Pliny, and others</i>; of the Greek Panegyric of Synesius, and of various -Latin works of the fifteenth century. As an original miscellaneous -writer, his pieces are still more numerous, and, for the most part, -occupied by moral and religious subjects; for example, one is called -<i>The Cundyt of Comfort</i>, 1579; a second, <i>The Battel between the Virtues -and Vices</i>, 1582, and a third <i>The Diamond of Devotion</i>, 1586. This last -is so singularly quaint both in its title-page and divisions, so -superior, indeed, in these departments, to the titles of his -contemporary Lodge, and so indicative of the curious taste of the times -in the methodical arrangement of literary matter, as to call for a -further description. The complete title runs thus: "The Diamond of -Devotion: Cut and squared into sixe severall pointes: namelie, 1. The -Footepath of Felicitie. 2. A Guide to Godlines. 3. The Schoole of Skill. -4. A swarme of Bees. 5. A Plant of Pleasure. 6. A Grove of Graces. Full -of manie fruitfull lessons availeable unto the leading of a godlie and -reformed life." The <i>Footepath of Felicitie</i> has ten divisions, -concluding with a "looking glasse for the Christian <!-- Page 505 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_505" id="Page_i_505">[505]</a></span>reader;" the <i>Guide -to Godlines</i>, is divided into three branches, and these branches into so -many blossoms; the first branch containing four blossoms, the second -thirteen, and the third ten; the <i>Schoole of Skill</i> is digested into -three sententious sequences of the A. B. C.; the <i>Swarme of Bees</i> is -distributed into ten honeycombs, including two hundred lessons; the -<i>Plant of Pleasure</i> bears fourteen several flowers, in prose and verse; -the <i>Grove of Graces</i> exhibits forty-two plants, or Graces, for dinner -and supper, and the volume concludes with "a briefe praier."</p> - -<p>From the specimens which we have seen of Fleming's composition, it would -appear, that his affectation was principally confined to his title pages -and divisions: for his prose is more easy, natural, and perspicuous, -than most of his contemporaries. He was rector of Saint Pancras, -Soper-lane, and died in 1607.<a name="FNanchor_i_505:A_979" id="FNanchor_i_505:A_979"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_505:A_979" class="fnanchor">[505:A]</a></p> - -<p><i>Gervase Markham</i>, whom we have incidentally mentioned in various parts -of this work, was the most indefatigable writer of his era. He was -descended of an ancient family in Nottinghamshire, and commenced author -about the year 1592. The period of his death is not ascertained; but he -must have attained a good old age, for he fought for Charles the First, -and obtained a Captain's commission in his army. His education had been -very liberal, for he was esteemed a good classical scholar, and he was -well versed in the French, Italian, and Spanish languages. As he was a -younger son it is probable that his finances were very limited, and that -he had recourse to his pen as an additional means of support. "He -seems," remarks Sir Egerton Brydges, "to have become a general compiler -for the booksellers, and his various works had as numerous impressions -as those of Burn and Buchan in our days."<a name="FNanchor_i_505:B_980" id="FNanchor_i_505:B_980"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_505:B_980" class="fnanchor">[505:B]</a> No subject, indeed, -appears to have been rejected by Markham; <i>husbandry</i>, <i>huswifry</i>, -<i>farriery</i>, <i>horsemanship</i>, <!-- Page 506 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_506" id="Page_i_506">[506]</a></span>and <i>military tactics</i>, <i>hunting</i>, -<i>hawking</i>, <i>fowling</i>, <i>fishing</i>, and <i>archery</i>, <i>heraldry</i>, <i>poetry</i>, -<i>romances</i>, and the <i>drama</i>:—all shared his attention and exercised his -genius and industry.<a name="FNanchor_i_506:A_981" id="FNanchor_i_506:A_981"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_506:A_981" class="fnanchor">[506:A]</a> His popularity, in short, in <!-- Page 507 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_507" id="Page_i_507">[507]</a></span>all these -various branches was unrivalled; and such was his reputation as a cattle -doctor, that the booksellers, aware of the value of his works of this -kind in circulation, got him to sign a paper in 1617, in which he bound -himself not to publish any thing further on the diseases of "horse, oxe, -cowe, sheepe, swine, goates, &c." His books on agriculture were not -superseded until the middle of the eighteenth century, and the fifteenth -impression of his <i>Cheap and Good Husbandry</i>, which was originally -published in 1616, is now before us, dated 1695. Nor were his works on -rural amusements less relished; for his <i>Country Contentments</i>, the -first edition of which appeared in 1615, had reached the eleventh in -1675. The same good fortune attended him even as a poet, for in -<i>England's Parnassus</i>, 1600, he is quoted thirty-four times, forming the -largest number of extracts taken from any minor bard in the book. He -appears to have been an enthusiast in all that relates to field-sports, -and his works, now becoming scarce, are, in many respects, curious and -interesting, and display great versatility of talent. By far the greater -part of them, as is evident from their dates, was written before the -year 1620, though many were subsequently corrected and enlarged.</p> - -<p>Having thus given a sketch of three great classes of miscellaneous -writers, it will be necessary to add some notice of a few circumstances -which more peculiarly distinguished this branch of literature during the -life-time of our poet.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 508 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_508" id="Page_i_508">[508]</a></span>It is to the reign of Elizabeth, that we have to ascribe the origin of -genuine printed <i>Newspapers</i>, a mode of publication which has now become -absolutely essential to the wants of civilised life. The epoch of the -Spanish invasion forms that of this interesting innovation, for, -previous to the daring attempt of Spain, all public news had been -circulated in manuscript, and it was left to the sagacity of Elizabeth -and the legislative prudence of Burleigh to discover, how highly useful, -in this agitated crisis, would be a more rapid circulation of events, -through the medium of the press. Accordingly, in April 1588, when the -formidable Armada approached the shores of old England, appeared the -first number of <i>The English Mercury</i>. That it was published very -frequently, is evident from the circumstance that No. 50, the earliest -number now preserved, and which is in the British Museum, Sloane MSS., -No. 4106, is dated the 23d of July 1588. It resembles the London Gazette -of the present day, with respect to the nature of its articles, one of -which presents us with this curious information:—"Yesterday the Scotch -Ambassador had a private audience of Her Majesty, and delivered a letter -from the King his master, containing the most cordial assurances of -adhering to Her Majesty's interests, and to those of the protestant -religion; and the young King said to Her Majesty's minister at his -court, that all the favour he expected from the Spaniards was, the -courtesy of Polyphemus to Ulysses, that he should be devoured the -last."<a name="FNanchor_i_508:A_982" id="FNanchor_i_508:A_982"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_508:A_982" class="fnanchor">[508:A]</a></p> - -<p>So rapid was the progress of newspapers after this memorable -introduction, that towards the close of the reign of James, Ben Jonson, -in his <i>Staple of News</i>, alludes to them, as fashionable among all ranks -of people, and as sought after with the utmost avidity, one consequence -of which was, that the greater part of what was communicated was -fabricated on the spot. To this grievance the poet refers in an address -to his readers, where, speaking of spurious news, he calls it "news -<!-- Page 509 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_509" id="Page_i_509">[509]</a></span>made like the Times news, (a weekly cheat to draw money,) and could not -be fitter reprehended, than in raising this ridiculous office of the -Staple, wherein the age may see her own folly, or <i>hunger and thirst -after published pamphlets of news, set out every Saturday</i>, but made all -at home, and no syllable of truth in them."<a name="FNanchor_i_509:A_983" id="FNanchor_i_509:A_983"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_509:A_983" class="fnanchor">[509:A]</a></p> - -<p>Another branch of miscellaneous literature which may be said to have -originated at this period, was that employed in the writing of -<i>Characters</i>; a species of composition which, if well executed, -necessarily throws much light on the manners and customs of its age.</p> - -<p>A claim to the first legitimate collection of this kind, may be -allotted, on the authority of Fuller, to Sir Thomas Overbury; "he was," -says that entertaining compiler, "the first writer of <i>Characters</i> of -our nation, so far as I have observed."<a name="FNanchor_i_509:B_984" id="FNanchor_i_509:B_984"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_509:B_984" class="fnanchor">[509:B]</a> With the exception of two -small tracts, descriptive of the characters of rogues and knaves<a name="FNanchor_i_509:C_985" id="FNanchor_i_509:C_985"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_509:C_985" class="fnanchor">[509:C]</a>, -this assertion appears to be correct. Few works have been more popular -than Overbury's volume; it was printed several times, according to Wood, -before the author's death in 1613; but the earliest edition now usually -met with, is dated 1614, and is, with great probability, supposed to be -the fifth impression, for the sixth, which is not uncommon, was -published the subsequent year. Various alterations took place in the -title-page of this miscellany, but that of 1614 is as follows:—"A Wife -now the Widdow of Sir Thomas Overbury. Being a most exquisite and -singular Poem of the Choice of a Wife. Whereunto are added many witty -Characters, and conceited Newes, written by himselfe and other learned -Gentlemen his friends.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Dignum laude virum musa vetat mori,</div> - <div class="line">Cælo musa beat.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Hor. Car. lib. iii.</p> - -<p>London, Printed for Lawrence Lisle, and are to bee sold at <!-- Page 510 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_510" id="Page_i_510">[510]</a></span>his shop in -Paule's Church-yard, at the signe of the Tiger's head. 1614. -4to."<a name="FNanchor_i_510:A_986" id="FNanchor_i_510:A_986"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_510:A_986" class="fnanchor">[510:A]</a> The characters in this edition amount to twenty-two, but -were augmented in the eleventh, printed in 1622, to eighty. So extensive -was the sale of this collection, that the sixteenth impression appeared -in 1638.</p> - -<p>Both the poem and the characters exhibit no small share of talent and -discrimination. In Overbury's Wife, observes Mr. Neve, "the sentiments, -maxims, and observations with which it abounds, are such as a -considerable experience and a correct judgment on mankind alone could -furnish. The topics of jealousy, and of the credit and behaviour of -women, are treated with great truth, delicacy and perspicuity. The nice -distinctions of moral character, and the pattern of female excellence -here drawn, contrasted as they were with the heinous and flagrant -enormities of the Countess of Essex, rendered this poem extremely -popular, when its ingenious author was no more."<a name="FNanchor_i_510:B_987" id="FNanchor_i_510:B_987"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_510:B_987" class="fnanchor">[510:B]</a> The prose -characters, though rather too antithetical in their style, are drawn -with a masterly hand, and are evidently the result of personal -observation.</p> - -<p>Numerous imitations of both were soon brought forward; in 1614 appeared -"The Husband. A poeme expressed in a compleat man;" small 8vo.: and in -1616, "A Select Second Husband for Sir Thomas Overburie's Wife; now a -matchlesse Widow:" small 8vo.; which were followed by many others. The -prose characters established a still more durable precedent, for they -continued to form a favourite mode of composition for better than a -century. Of these the most immediate offspring were, "Satyrical -Characters" by John Stephens, 8vo. 1615, and "The Good and the Badde, or -Description of the Worthies and Unworthies of this Age. Where the Best -may see <!-- Page 511 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_511" id="Page_i_511">[511]</a></span>their Graces, and the Worst discerne their Basenesse," by -Nicholas Breton, 4to. 1616. Perhaps the most valuable collection of -characters, previous to the year 1700, is that published by Bishop -Earle, in 1628, under the title of <i>Microcosmography</i>, and which may be -considered as a pretty faithful delineation of many classes of -characters as they existed during the close of the sixteenth, and -commencement of the seventeenth, century.<a name="FNanchor_i_511:A_988" id="FNanchor_i_511:A_988"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_511:A_988" class="fnanchor">[511:A]</a></p> - -<p>One of the earliest attempts at miscellaneous <i>Essay-writing</i>, since -become a most fashionable and popular species of literary composition, -may likewise very justly be ascribed to a similar epoch. In 1601, Thomas -Wright published in small octavo a collection of Essays, on various -subjects, which he entitled <i>The Passions of the Minde</i>. This volume, -consisting of 336 pages independent of the preface, was re-issued from -the press in 1604, enlarged by nearly as much more matter, and in a -quarto form; and a third edition in the same size appeared in 1621.</p> - -<p>The work is divided into six books, and, from the specimens which we -have seen, is undoubtedly the production of a practised pen and a -discerning mind. It is termed by Mr. Haslewood, "an amusing and -instructive collection of philosophical essays, upon the customary -pursuits of the mind;" and he adds, "though a relaxation of manners -succeeded the gloomy history of the cowl, and the abolition of the dark -cells of superstition; it was long before the moralist ventured to draw -either example, or precept, from any other source than Scripture, and -the writings of the fathers. Genius run riot in some instances from -excess of liberty, but the calm, rational, and universal essayist was a -character unknown. In the present work there are passages that possess -no inconsiderable portion of ease, spirit, and freedom, diversified with -character and anecdote that prove the author mingled with the world to -advantage; and could <!-- Page 512 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_512" id="Page_i_512">[512]</a></span>occasionally lighten the hereditary shackles that -burthened the moral and philosophical writer."<a name="FNanchor_i_512:A_989" id="FNanchor_i_512:A_989"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_512:A_989" class="fnanchor">[512:A]</a></p> - -<p>It is, however, to the profound genius of <i>Lord Bacon</i> that we must -attribute the <i>earliest legitimate</i> specimen of essay-writing in this -country; for though his "Essays on Councils, Civil and Moral," were not -completed until 1612, the first part of them was printed in 1597; and in -the intended dedication to Prince Henry of this second edition, he -assigns his reason for adopting the term <i>essay</i>. "To write just -treatises," he observes, "requires leisure in the writer, and leisure in -the reader, and therefore are not so fit, neither in your Highness's -princely affairs, nor in regard of my continual service, which is the -cause that hath made me chuse to write certain brief notes, set down -rather significantly than curiously, which I have called Essays. The -word is late, but the thing is ancient; for Seneca's Epistles to -Lucilius, if you mark them well, are but essays, that is, dispersed -meditations, though conveyed in the form of epistles."<a name="FNanchor_i_512:B_990" id="FNanchor_i_512:B_990"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_512:B_990" class="fnanchor">[512:B]</a> This -invaluable work, in a moral and prudential light, perhaps the most -useful which any English author has left to posterity, has been the -fruitful parent of a more extensive series of similar productions, -collectively or periodically published, than any other country can -exhibit.</p> - -<p>The age of Shakspeare was fertile, also, in what may be termed -<i>Parlour-window Miscellanies</i>; books whose aim was to attract the -attention of the idle, the dissipated, and the gossipping, by -intermingling with the admonitions of the sage, a more than usual share -of wit, narrative, and anecdote. Two of these, as exemplars of the whole -class, it may be necessary to notice. In 1589, Leonard Wright published -"<i>A Display of dutie, dect with sage sayings, pythie sentences, and -proper similies: Pleasant to reade, delightfull to heare, and profitable -to practise</i>;" a collection which Mr. Haslewood calls "an <!-- Page 513 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_513" id="Page_i_513">[513]</a></span>early and -pleasing specimen" of this species of miscellaneous writing. It contains -observations and friendly hints on all the principal circumstances and -events of life; "certaine necessarie rules both pleasant and profitable -for preventing of sicknesse, and preserving of health: prescribed by Dr. -Dyet, Dr. Quiet, and Dr. Merryman;" and concludes with "certaine pretty -notes and pleasant conceits, delightfull to many, and hurtfull to none." -The author closes "A friendly advertisement touching marriage," by -enumerating the infelicities of the man who marries a shrew, where "hee -shall finde compact in a little flesh, a great number of bones too hard -to digest.—And therefore," adds he, "some do thinke wedlocke to be that -same purgatorie, which learned divines have so long contended about, or -a sharpe penance to bring sinnefull men to heaven. A merry fellow -hearing a preacher say in his sermon, that whosoever would be saved, -must take up and beare his cross, ran straight to his wife, and cast her -upon his back. . . . .</p> - -<p>"Finally, he that will live quiet in wedlocke, must be courteous in -speech, cheareful in countinance, provident for his house, carefull to -traine up his children in vertue, and patient in bearing the infirmities -of his wife. Let all the keyes hang at her girdle, only the purse at his -own. He must also be voide of jelosie, which is a vanity to thinke, and -more folly to suspect. For eyther it needeth not, or booteth not, and to -be jelious without a cause is the next way to have a cause.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"This is the only way, to make a woman dum:</div> - <div class="line indentq">To sit and smyle and laugh her out, and not a word, but mum."<a name="FNanchor_i_513:A_991" id="FNanchor_i_513:A_991"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_513:A_991" class="fnanchor">[513:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In 1600, appeared the first edition of "<i>The Golden-grove, moralized in -three books: A worke very necessary for all such, as would know how to -governe themselves, their houses, or their countrey. Made by W. Vaughan, -Master of Artes, and Graduate in the Civill Law</i>." <!-- Page 514 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_514" id="Page_i_514">[514]</a></span>A second edition, -"reviewed and enlarged by the Authour," was printed in 1608.</p> - -<p>Each book of this work, which displays considerable knowledge both of -literature and of mankind, is divided, after a ridiculous fashion of the -time, into plants, and these again into chapters. The first book, on the -Supreme Being, and on man, contains eleven plants, and eighty-four -chapters; the second, on domestic and private duties, five plants, and -thirty chapters; and the third, upon the commonwealth, nine plants and -seventy-two chapters.</p> - -<p>Great extent of reading, and much ingenuity in application, are -discoverable in the <i>Golden Grove</i>, accompanied by many curious tales, -and local anecdotes. It is one of the books, also, which has thrown -light upon the manners and diversions of its age, and will hereafter be -quoted on this account. Vaughan, though he professes himself attached to -poetry from his earliest days, and has devoted a chapter to its praise, -was too much of the puritan to tolerate the stage, against which he -inveighs with more acrimony than discrimination. The passages which -allude to our old English poets, we shall throw together, as a specimen -of his style and composition.</p> - -<p>"Jeffery Chaucer, the English poet, was in great account with King -Richard the Second, who gave him in reward of his poems, the mannour of -Newelme in Oxfordshire.—King Henry the eighth, her late Maiesties -father, for a few psalms of David turned into English meeter by -Sternhold, made him groome of his privie chamber, and rewarded him with -many great giftes besides. Moreover, hee made Sir Thomas More Lord -Chauncelour of this realme, whose poeticall workes are as yet in great -regard.—Queene Elizabeth made Doctour Haddon, beyng a poet, Master of -the Requests.—Neither is our owne age altogether to bee dispraysed. Sir -Philip Sydney excelled all our English poets, in rareness of stile and -matter. King James, our dread Soveraigne, that now raigneth, is a -notable poet, and hath lately set out most learned poems, to the -admiration of all his subjects.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 515 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_515" id="Page_i_515">[515]</a></span>"Gladly I could go forward in this subject, which in my stripling -yeeres pleased me beyond all others, were it not I delight to bee -briefe: and that Sir Philip Sydney hath so sufficiently defended it in -his Apology of Poetry; and if I should proceede further in the -commendation thereof, whatsoever I write would be eclipsed with the -glory of his golden eloquence. Wherefore, I stay myselfe in this place, -earnestly beseeching all gentlemen, of what qualitie soever they bee, to -advaunce poetrie, or at least to admire it, and not bee so hastie -shamefully to abuse that, which they may honestly and lawfully -obtayne."<a name="FNanchor_i_515:A_992" id="FNanchor_i_515:A_992"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_515:A_992" class="fnanchor">[515:A]</a></p> - -<p>We shall conclude these observations on the miscellaneous literature of -Shakspeare's time, by noticing one of the earliest of our <i>Facetiæ</i>, the -production of an author who may be termed, in allusion to this <i>jeu -d'esprit</i>, the <i>Rabelais</i> of England. Had the subject of this satire -been less exceptionable in its nature, the popularity which it acquired -for a season might have been permanent; but its grossness is such as not -to admit of adequate atonement by any portion of wit, however poignant. -It is entitled "<i>A New Discourse of a Stale Subject, called the -Metamorphosis of Ajax. Written by Misacmos to his friend and cosin -Philostilpnos</i>." London, 1596; and is said to have originated from the -author's invention of a water-closet for his house at Kelston.<a name="FNanchor_i_515:B_993" id="FNanchor_i_515:B_993"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_515:B_993" class="fnanchor">[515:B]</a> -The conceit, or pun upon the word Ajax, or a <i>jakes</i>, appears to have -been a familiar joke of the time, and had been previously introduced by -Shakspeare in his <i>Love's Labour's Lost</i>, when Costard tells Sir -Nathaniel, the Curate, on his failure in the character of Alexander, -"you will be scraped out of the painted cloth for this: your lion, that -holds his poll-ax sitting on a close-stool, will be given to A-jax: he -will be the ninth worthy."<a name="FNanchor_i_515:C_994" id="FNanchor_i_515:C_994"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_515:C_994" class="fnanchor">[515:C]</a> A similar allusion is to be found in -Camden and Ben Jonson.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 516 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_516" id="Page_i_516">[516]</a></span>The <i>Metamorphosis</i>, for which Sir John published a witty apology, -under the appellation of <i>An Anatomie of the Metamorphosed Ajax</i>, -abounds with humour and sarcastic satire, and is valuable as an -illustration of the domestic manners of the age. Either from its -indecency, however, or its severity upon her courtiers, the facetious -author incurred the displeasure of Elizabeth, and was banished for some -time from her presence. It is probably to the latter cause that his -exile is to be attributed; for in a letter addressed to the knight by -his friend, Mr. Robert Markham, and dated 1598, he says:—"Since your -departure from hence, you have been spoke of, and with no ill will, both -by the nobles and the Queene herself. Your book is almoste forgiven, and -I may say forgotten; but not for its lacke of wit or satyr. Those whome -you feared moste are now bosoming themselves in the Queene's grace; and -tho' her Highnesse signified displeasure in outwarde sorte, yet did she -like the marrowe of your booke. Your great enemye, Sir James, did once -mention the Star-Chamber, but your good esteeme in better mindes outdid -his endeavours, and all is silente again. The Queen is minded to take -you to her favour, but she sweareth that she believes you will make -epigrams and write <i>misacmos</i> again on her and all the courte; she hath -been heard to say, 'that merry poet, her godson, must not come to -Greenwich, till he hath grown sober, and leaveth the ladies sportes and -frolicks.' She did conceive much disquiet on being tolde you had aimed a -shafte at Leicester."<a name="FNanchor_i_516:A_995" id="FNanchor_i_516:A_995"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_516:A_995" class="fnanchor">[516:A]</a></p> - -<p>The genius of Harrington was destined to revive, with additional vigour, -in the person of Swift, who, to an equal share of physical impurity, -united a richer, and more fertile vein of coarse humour and caustic -satire.</p> - -<p>That Shakspeare was well acquainted with the various works which we have -noticed in this class of literature, and probably with most of their -authors, there is much reason to infer. We have already <!-- Page 517 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_517" id="Page_i_517">[517]</a></span>found<a name="FNanchor_i_517:A_996" id="FNanchor_i_517:A_996"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_517:A_996" class="fnanchor">[517:A]</a> -that he was justly offended with Robert Greene, for the notice which he -was pleased to take of him in his <i>Groat's Worth of Witte bought with a -Million of Repentance</i>, and there can be no doubt that the philippics of -Gosson and Stubbes, being pointedly directed against the stage, would -excite his curiosity, and occasionally rouse his indignation. The very -popular satires also of Nash and Decker must necessarily have attracted -his notice, nor could a mind so excursive as his, have neglected to cull -from the varied store which the numerous miscellanies, characters, and -essays of the age presented to his view. It can be no difficult task to -conceive the delight, and the mental profit, which a genius such as -Shakspeare's, of which one characteristic is its fertility in aphoristic -precept, must have derived from the study of Lord Bacon's Essays! The -apothegmatic treasures of Shakspeare have been lately condensed into a -single volume by the judgment and industry of Mr. Lofft, and it may be -safely affirmed, that no uninspired works, either in our own or any -other language, can be produced, however bulky or voluminous, which -contain a richer mine of preceptive wisdom than may be found in these -two books of the philosopher and the poet, the <i>Essays</i> of Bacon, and -the <i>Aphorisms</i> of Shakspeare.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_426:A_855" id="Footnote_i_426:A_855"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_426:A_855"><span class="label">[426:A]</span></a> Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. 269.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_429:A_856" id="Footnote_i_429:A_856"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_429:A_856"><span class="label">[429:A]</span></a> Ascham's Works, Bennet's edit. p. 242. speaking of -Windsor.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_429:B_857" id="Footnote_i_429:B_857"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_429:B_857"><span class="label">[429:B]</span></a> Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 491.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_430:A_858" id="Footnote_i_430:A_858"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_430:A_858"><span class="label">[430:A]</span></a> Holinshed's Chronicles, edit. 1807, vol. i. p. 330.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_430:B_859" id="Footnote_i_430:B_859"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_430:B_859"><span class="label">[430:B]</span></a> The 1st edit. of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy was -published in 1617.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_431:A_860" id="Footnote_i_431:A_860"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_431:A_860"><span class="label">[431:A]</span></a> Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, fol. edit. p. 84.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_432:A_861" id="Footnote_i_432:A_861"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_432:A_861"><span class="label">[432:A]</span></a> Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. i. p. 331.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_432:B_862" id="Footnote_i_432:B_862"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_432:B_862"><span class="label">[432:B]</span></a> "The reader is referred to an account of a preciously -bound diminutive godly book (once belonging to Q. Elizabeth), in the -first volume of my edition of the British <i>Typographical Antiquities</i>, -p. 83.; for which, I understand, the present owner asks the sum of -150<i>l.</i> We find that in the 16th year of Elizabeth's reign, she was in -possession of 'One Gospell booke, covered with tissue and garnished on -th' inside with the crucifix and the Queene's badges of silver guilt, -poiz with wodde, leaves and all, cxij oz." Archæologia, vol. xiii. 221.</p> - -<p>"I am in possession of the covers of a book, bound (A. D. 1569) in thick -parchment or vellum, which has the whole length portrait of Luther on -one side, and of Calvin on the other. These portraits, which are -executed with uncommon spirit and accuracy, are encircled with a -profusion of ornamental borders of the most exquisite taste and -richness." Bibliomania, p. 158.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_432:C_863" id="Footnote_i_432:C_863"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_432:C_863"><span class="label">[432:C]</span></a> "In the <span class="smcap">Prayer Book</span> which goes by the name of <span class="smcap">Queen -Elizabeth's</span>, there is a portrait of Her Majesty kneeling upon a superb -cushion, with elevated hands, in prayer. This book was first printed in -1575; and is decorated with wood-cut borders of considerable spirit and -beauty; representing, among other things, some of the subjects of -Holbein's Dance of Death."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_432:D_864" id="Footnote_i_432:D_864"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_432:D_864"><span class="label">[432:D]</span></a> Dibdin's Bibliomania, 2d edit. 1811, p. 329-331. This -book, the most fascinating which has ever been written on Bibliography, -is already scarce. It is composed in the highest tone of enthusiasm for -the art, and its dialogue and descriptions are given with a mellowness, -a warmth and raciness, which absolutely fix and enchant the reader.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_433:A_865" id="Footnote_i_433:A_865"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_433:A_865"><span class="label">[433:A]</span></a> Strype's Life of Parker, p. 415. 529.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_433:B_866" id="Footnote_i_433:B_866"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_433:B_866"><span class="label">[433:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 528.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_433:C_867" id="Footnote_i_433:C_867"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_433:C_867"><span class="label">[433:C]</span></a> Britannia in Monmouthshire.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_434:A_868" id="Footnote_i_434:A_868"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_434:A_868"><span class="label">[434:A]</span></a> Fuller's Worthies, part ii. p. 13.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_434:B_869" id="Footnote_i_434:B_869"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_434:B_869"><span class="label">[434:B]</span></a> Vide Dibdin's Bibliomania, p. 347, 348.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_434:C_870" id="Footnote_i_434:C_870"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_434:C_870"><span class="label">[434:C]</span></a> Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 177. 8th edit. -folio.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_434:D_871" id="Footnote_i_434:D_871"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_434:D_871"><span class="label">[434:D]</span></a> Vide Hearne's Benedictus, Abbas, p. iv.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_434:E_872" id="Footnote_i_434:E_872"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_434:E_872"><span class="label">[434:E]</span></a> Anatomy of Melancholy, Democritus to the Reader, p. 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_435:A_873" id="Footnote_i_435:A_873"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_435:A_873"><span class="label">[435:A]</span></a> Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 176, 177.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_436:A_874" id="Footnote_i_436:A_874"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_436:A_874"><span class="label">[436:A]</span></a> Earl's Microcosmography, p. 74.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_436:B_875" id="Footnote_i_436:B_875"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_436:B_875"><span class="label">[436:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 257, 258. Act i. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_436:C_876" id="Footnote_i_436:C_876"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_436:C_876"><span class="label">[436:C]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xx. p. 43. Act i. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_437:A_877" id="Footnote_i_437:A_877"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_437:A_877"><span class="label">[437:A]</span></a> The Compleat Gentleman, 2d edit. p. 54, 55.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_437:B_878" id="Footnote_i_437:B_878"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_437:B_878"><span class="label">[437:B]</span></a> Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities, Preliminary -Disquisition, p. 35.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_438:A_879" id="Footnote_i_438:A_879"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_438:A_879"><span class="label">[438:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 13.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_438:B_880" id="Footnote_i_438:B_880"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_438:B_880"><span class="label">[438:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. i. p. 44, 45.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_439:A_881" id="Footnote_i_439:A_881"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_439:A_881"><span class="label">[439:A]</span></a> Ascham's Works, Bennet's edit. p. 57.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_440:A_882" id="Footnote_i_440:A_882"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_440:A_882"><span class="label">[440:A]</span></a> Wilson's Arte of Rhetorike, fol. 85, 86.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_441:A_883" id="Footnote_i_441:A_883"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_441:A_883"><span class="label">[441:A]</span></a> Wilson, book iii. fol. 82.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_441:B_884" id="Footnote_i_441:B_884"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_441:B_884"><span class="label">[441:B]</span></a> Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie, 1589, reprint, p. -121.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_441:C_885" id="Footnote_i_441:C_885"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_441:C_885"><span class="label">[441:C]</span></a> Berkenhout's Biographia Literaria, p. 377. note <i>a</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_442:A_886" id="Footnote_i_442:A_886"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_442:A_886"><span class="label">[442:A]</span></a> Webbe's Discourse of English Poetrie, 4to. 1586. Vide -Oldys's British Librarian, p. 90. from which this quotation is given.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_442:B_887" id="Footnote_i_442:B_887"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_442:B_887"><span class="label">[442:B]</span></a> Apology of Pierce Pennilesse, 4to. 1593.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_442:C_888" id="Footnote_i_442:C_888"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_442:C_888"><span class="label">[442:C]</span></a> Wit's Miserie and Word's Madness, 4to. 1596, p. 57.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_442:D_889" id="Footnote_i_442:D_889"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_442:D_889"><span class="label">[442:D]</span></a> Palladis Tamia, Wits Treasurie, being the second part -of Wit's Commonwealth, 1598. Meres terms him "eloquent and wittie John -Lillie."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_443:A_890" id="Footnote_i_443:A_890"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_443:A_890"><span class="label">[443:A]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 399.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_443:B_891" id="Footnote_i_443:B_891"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_443:B_891"><span class="label">[443:B]</span></a> British Librarian, p. 90. et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_443:C_892" id="Footnote_i_443:C_892"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_443:C_892"><span class="label">[443:C]</span></a> Whalley's Works of Ben Jonson: Every Man Out of His -Humour, act v. sc. 10.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_445:A_893" id="Footnote_i_445:A_893"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_445:A_893"><span class="label">[445:A]</span></a> Sir Philip Sidney's Works, 7th edit., 1629, fol., p. -619, 620.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_445:B_894" id="Footnote_i_445:B_894"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_445:B_894"><span class="label">[445:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 86. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_446:A_895" id="Footnote_i_446:A_895"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_446:A_895"><span class="label">[446:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 93. 134.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_447:A_896" id="Footnote_i_447:A_896"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_447:A_896"><span class="label">[447:A]</span></a> Peacham's Compleat Gentleman, 4to. 2d edit. p. 43. 53.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_448:A_897" id="Footnote_i_448:A_897"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_448:A_897"><span class="label">[448:A]</span></a> For specimens of the prose writers of this period, the -introduction of which would be too digressive for the plan of this work, -I venture to refer the reader to my Essays on the Tatler, Spectator, and -Guardian, 1805, vol. ii. part 3. Essay II. on the Progress and Merits of -English Style; or to Burnett's Specimens of English Prose-Writers, vol. -ii. 1807.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_449:A_898" id="Footnote_i_449:A_898"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_449:A_898"><span class="label">[449:A]</span></a> Vide Preface to Baret's Alvearie, or Quadruple -Dictionary, English, Latin, Greek, and French, bl. l. folio, London, -1580.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_449:B_899" id="Footnote_i_449:B_899"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_449:B_899"><span class="label">[449:B]</span></a> Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 492.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_450:A_900" id="Footnote_i_450:A_900"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_450:A_900"><span class="label">[450:A]</span></a> Britannici belli exitus exspectatur: constat enim -aditus insulæ esse munitos mirificis molibus. Etiam illud jam cognitum -est, neque argenti scrupulum esse ullum in illa insula, neque ullam spem -prædæ, nisi ex mancipiis: ex quibus nullos puto te literis, aut musicis -eruditos exspectare. Cic. lib. iv. Epist. ad Attic. ep. 16.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_450:B_901" id="Footnote_i_450:B_901"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_450:B_901"><span class="label">[450:B]</span></a> Vide Cic. Offic. lib. iii. cap. 17.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_450:C_902" id="Footnote_i_450:C_902"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_450:C_902"><span class="label">[450:C]</span></a> Ascham's Works, Bennet's edit. 4to. p. 338.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_451:A_903" id="Footnote_i_451:A_903"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_451:A_903"><span class="label">[451:A]</span></a> Park's edition of Lord Orford's Royal and Noble -Authors, vol. i. article Elizabeth.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_451:B_904" id="Footnote_i_451:B_904"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_451:B_904"><span class="label">[451:B]</span></a> Chalmers's Apology, p. 218. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_452:A_905" id="Footnote_i_452:A_905"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_452:A_905"><span class="label">[452:A]</span></a> Ascham's Works, Bennet's edit. 4to. p. 253. 255, 256.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_453:A_906" id="Footnote_i_453:A_906"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_453:A_906"><span class="label">[453:A]</span></a> "Galateo of Maister John Della Casa, Archbishop of -Beneuenta, or rather a treatise of the mañers and behauiours it behoveth -a man to uze and eschewe, in his familiar conversation. A worke very -necessary and profitable for all gentlemen or other. First written in -the Italian tongue, and now done into English by Robert Paterson of -Lincolnes Inne Gentleman. Satis si sapienter. Imprinted at London for -Raufe Newbery, dwelling in Fleete streate, a little above the Conduit. -An. Do. 1576. 4to. 68 leaves, b. l."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_453:B_907" id="Footnote_i_453:B_907"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_453:B_907"><span class="label">[453:B]</span></a> "The Courtier of Count Baldessar Castilio, devided into -foure bookes. Verie necessarie and profitable for young Gentlemen and -Gentlewomen abiding in Court, Pallace, or Place. Done into English by -Thomas Hobby. London: Printed by John Wolfe, 1588. 4to. pp. 616."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_454:A_908" id="Footnote_i_454:A_908"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_454:A_908"><span class="label">[454:A]</span></a> Lord Orford's Royal and Noble Authors apud Park, vol. -i. p. 93.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_456:A_909" id="Footnote_i_456:A_909"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_456:A_909"><span class="label">[456:A]</span></a> Walton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 346, -347.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_456:B_910" id="Footnote_i_456:B_910"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_456:B_910"><span class="label">[456:B]</span></a> The Italian Taylor and his Boy. By Robert Armin, -Servant to the King's most excellent Majestie, 1609.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_457:A_911" id="Footnote_i_457:A_911"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_457:A_911"><span class="label">[457:A]</span></a> Troia Britannica; or Great Britaine's Troy. A Poem -divided into xvij sevrall Cantons, intermixed with many pleasant -Poeticall Tales. Concluding with an Universall Chronicle from the -Creation, untill these present Times. Written by Tho. Heywood. 1609.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_458:A_912" id="Footnote_i_458:A_912"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_458:A_912"><span class="label">[458:A]</span></a> One of his specimens of "our Englishe reformed -Versifying," as he terms it, is entitled <i>Encomium Lauri</i>, and commences -thus:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"What might I call this Tree? A Laurell? O bonny Laurell:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Needes to thy bowes will I bow this knee, and vayle my bonetto;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">lines which Nash, in his <i>Foure Letters confuted</i>, 1593, has most -happily ridiculed, representing Harvey walking under the "ewe-tree at -Trinitie Hall," and addressing it in similar terms, and making "verses -of weather cocks on the top of steeples, as he did once of the weather -cocke of Allhallows in Cambridge:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"O thou weathercocke, that stands on the top of All-hallows,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Come thy waies down, if thou dar'st for thy crowne, and take the wall of us!"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Vide Todd's Spenser, vol. i. p. xliii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_459:A_913" id="Footnote_i_459:A_913"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_459:A_913"><span class="label">[459:A]</span></a> See a copious and interesting account of the -controversy between Nash and Harvey, in D'Israeli's Calamities of -Authors, vol. ii. p. 1. ad 49.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_459:B_914" id="Footnote_i_459:B_914"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_459:B_914"><span class="label">[459:B]</span></a> The Returne from Parnassus; or the Scourge of Simony, -publiquely acted by the Students in St. John's College in Cambridge, -1606.—Vide Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 49.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_460:A_915" id="Footnote_i_460:A_915"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_460:A_915"><span class="label">[460:A]</span></a> Wits Miserie And The Worlds Madnesse. Discovering the -Devils incarnate of this Age. 1596.—Vide Beloe's Anecdotes of -Literature and Scarce Books, vol. ii. p. 164, 165.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_462:A_916" id="Footnote_i_462:A_916"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_462:A_916"><span class="label">[462:A]</span></a> For a further and more minute account of James's -"Essayes," I refer the reader to Pinkerton's Ancient Scotish Poems, vol. -i. p. cxix.; to Park's Royal and Noble Authors, vol. i. p. 120; to -Censura Literaria, vol. ii. p. 364; and to Beloe's Anecdotes of -Literature and Scarce Books, vol. i. p. 230.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_463:A_917" id="Footnote_i_463:A_917"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_463:A_917"><span class="label">[463:A]</span></a> Spenser's Works apud Todd, vol. i. p. 161. See also, -vol. i. p. vii. and p. clviii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_463:B_918" id="Footnote_i_463:B_918"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_463:B_918"><span class="label">[463:B]</span></a> One in the King's Library, one in the late Mr. Malone's -collection, and one purchased by the Marquis of Blandford, at the -Roxburgh Sale, for 64<i>l.</i>!</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_464:A_919" id="Footnote_i_464:A_919"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_464:A_919"><span class="label">[464:A]</span></a> Vide Nash's "Four Letters Confuted," and his "Have with -ye to Saffron-Walden," and D'Israeli's Calamities of Authors, vol. i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_464:B_920" id="Footnote_i_464:B_920"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_464:B_920"><span class="label">[464:B]</span></a> Vide Oldys's British Librarian, p. 86, and Beloe's -Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books, vol. i. p. 234.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_464:C_921" id="Footnote_i_464:C_921"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_464:C_921"><span class="label">[464:C]</span></a> Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 406.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_465:A_922" id="Footnote_i_465:A_922"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_465:A_922"><span class="label">[465:A]</span></a> Warton's History, vol. iii. p. 275.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_465:B_923" id="Footnote_i_465:B_923"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_465:B_923"><span class="label">[465:B]</span></a> "Mr. Wanley, in his Catalogue of the Harley Library, -says he had been told, that Edm. Spencer was the author of that book, -which came out anonymous." Vide Todd's Spenser, vol. i. p. clviii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_465:C_924" id="Footnote_i_465:C_924"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_465:C_924"><span class="label">[465:C]</span></a> Wood's Athenæ Oxon. edit. 1691. vol. i. col. 184.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_466:A_925" id="Footnote_i_466:A_925"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_466:A_925"><span class="label">[466:A]</span></a> Haslewood's Reprint, 1811. p. xi.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_466:B_926" id="Footnote_i_466:B_926"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_466:B_926"><span class="label">[466:B]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. i. p. 339.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_467:A_927" id="Footnote_i_467:A_927"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_467:A_927"><span class="label">[467:A]</span></a> Haslewood's Puttenham, p. x.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_468:A_928" id="Footnote_i_468:A_928"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_468:A_928"><span class="label">[468:A]</span></a> "The Schole of Abuse; containing a pleasant invective -against poets, pipers, players, jesters, &c. and such like caterpillars -of the commonwealth, by Ste. Gossen, Stud. Oxon. dedicated to M. Philip -Sidney, Esquier, 1579."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_468:B_929" id="Footnote_i_468:B_929"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_468:B_929"><span class="label">[468:B]</span></a> "Palladis Tamia. Wits Treasury. Being the second part -of Wits Common Wealth. By Francis Meres, Maister of Artes of both -Universities. Vivitur ingenio, cætera mortis erunt. At London printed by -P. Short, for Cuthbert Burbie, and are to be solde at his shop at the -Royall Exchange. 1598." Small 8vo. leaves 174. We are under many -obligations to Mr. Haslewood for reprinting the whole of the -"Comparative Discourse" in the ninth volume of the Censura Literaria, as -it must necessarily be to us a subject of frequent reference.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_469:A_930" id="Footnote_i_469:A_930"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_469:A_930"><span class="label">[469:A]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iii. p. 558, 559.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_470:A_931" id="Footnote_i_470:A_931"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_470:A_931"><span class="label">[470:A]</span></a> Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 278.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_470:B_932" id="Footnote_i_470:B_932"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_470:B_932"><span class="label">[470:B]</span></a> Hypercritica. Addresse iv. sect. 3. p. 237.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_470:C_933" id="Footnote_i_470:C_933"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_470:C_933"><span class="label">[470:C]</span></a> Warton's History, vol. iii. p. 275.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_470:D_934" id="Footnote_i_470:D_934"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_470:D_934"><span class="label">[470:D]</span></a> Bibliographia Poetica, p. 135.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_472:A_935" id="Footnote_i_472:A_935"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_472:A_935"><span class="label">[472:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 62, 63. Act ii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_473:A_936" id="Footnote_i_473:A_936"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_473:A_936"><span class="label">[473:A]</span></a> Wilson's Art of Rhetoric, p. 167, and Chalmers's -Apology, p. 160.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_475:A_937" id="Footnote_i_475:A_937"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_475:A_937"><span class="label">[475:A]</span></a> Meres's Palladis Tamia, in Censura Literaria, vol. ix. -p. 46.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_476:A_938" id="Footnote_i_476:A_938"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_476:A_938"><span class="label">[476:A]</span></a> A notable history of the Saracens. Lond. 4to. 1575.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_476:B_939" id="Footnote_i_476:B_939"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_476:B_939"><span class="label">[476:B]</span></a> An historical collection of the continued factions, -tumults, and massacres of the Romans before the peaceable empire of -Augustus Cæsar. Lond. 1600. 8vo. 1601. 4to.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_478:A_940" id="Footnote_i_478:A_940"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_478:A_940"><span class="label">[478:A]</span></a> Fuller's Worthies of England, part iii. p. 31.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_479:A_941" id="Footnote_i_479:A_941"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_479:A_941"><span class="label">[479:A]</span></a> Fuller's Worthies, part iii. p. 167, 168.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_479:B_942" id="Footnote_i_479:B_942"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_479:B_942"><span class="label">[479:B]</span></a> Bishop Nicolson's Historical Library, vol. i. p. 8.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_480:A_943" id="Footnote_i_480:A_943"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_480:A_943"><span class="label">[480:A]</span></a> De Rebus Albionicis, Britannicis atque Anglicis -Commentariorum, lib. duo. Lond. 1590. 8vo.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_481:A_944" id="Footnote_i_481:A_944"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_481:A_944"><span class="label">[481:A]</span></a> Fuller's Worthies, part i. p. 205.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_482:A_945" id="Footnote_i_482:A_945"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_482:A_945"><span class="label">[482:A]</span></a> Granger's Biographical History of England, 2d edit. -1775. vol. i. p. 222.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_485:A_946" id="Footnote_i_485:A_946"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_485:A_946"><span class="label">[485:A]</span></a> As Batman's Bartholome, continues Mr. Douce, "is likely -hereafter to form an article in a Shakspearean Library, it may be worth -adding that in a private diary written at the time the original price of -the volume appears to have been eight shillings."—Illustrations, vol. -i. p. 9.</p> - -<p>I have lately seen a copy of Batman, marked, in a Sale Catalogue, at -three guineas and a half!</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_486:A_947" id="Footnote_i_486:A_947"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_486:A_947"><span class="label">[486:A]</span></a> Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books, vol. -i. p. 260-274.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_487:A_948" id="Footnote_i_487:A_948"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_487:A_948"><span class="label">[487:A]</span></a> We are much obliged to Dr. Nott, for a most elegant -reprint of this interesting tract; the accompanying notes are highly -valuable and illustrative.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_487:B_949" id="Footnote_i_487:B_949"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_487:B_949"><span class="label">[487:B]</span></a> Vide Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, Fragment of vol. -iv. p. 28-64.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_488:A_950" id="Footnote_i_488:A_950"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_488:A_950"><span class="label">[488:A]</span></a> For a catalogue of these, as far as they have hitherto -been discovered, we refer the reader to Mr. Beloe's Anecdotes of -Literature, vol. ii., and to Censura Literaria, vol. viii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_488:B_951" id="Footnote_i_488:B_951"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_488:B_951"><span class="label">[488:B]</span></a> In his pamphlet, entitled <i>The Repentance of Robert -Greene</i>, he informs us, that "wags as lewd" as himself "drew him to -march into Italy and Spaine," where he "saw and practised such villanie -as is abhominable to declare."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_489:A_952" id="Footnote_i_489:A_952"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_489:A_952"><span class="label">[489:A]</span></a> See Gilchrist's Examination of the Charges of Ben -Jonson's enmity to Shakspeare, p. 22.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_489:B_953" id="Footnote_i_489:B_953"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_489:B_953"><span class="label">[489:B]</span></a> Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, vol. ii. p. 180.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_490:A_954" id="Footnote_i_490:A_954"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_490:A_954"><span class="label">[490:A]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. viii. p. 11, 12.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_491:A_955" id="Footnote_i_491:A_955"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_491:A_955"><span class="label">[491:A]</span></a> From Greene's Farewell to Follie. Vide Beloe's -Anecdotes, vol. vi. p. 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_491:B_956" id="Footnote_i_491:B_956"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_491:B_956"><span class="label">[491:B]</span></a> We learn these circumstances—his having squandered his -paternal inheritance and his marriage portion—from his two tracts, -<i>Never Too Late</i>, and <i>Repentance</i>, where all the prominent events of -his life are detailed.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_491:C_957" id="Footnote_i_491:C_957"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_491:C_957"><span class="label">[491:C]</span></a> Oldys says, that "he left his wife, for her good -advice, in the year 1586." Berkenhout's Biographia Literaria, p. 390. -note <i>d</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_491:D_958" id="Footnote_i_491:D_958"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_491:D_958"><span class="label">[491:D]</span></a> See Censura Literaria, vol. viii. p. 13.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_491:E_959" id="Footnote_i_491:E_959"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_491:E_959"><span class="label">[491:E]</span></a> Berkenhout, p. 390. note <i>d</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_492:A_960" id="Footnote_i_492:A_960"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_492:A_960"><span class="label">[492:A]</span></a> "Never Too Late." See Censura Literaria, vol. viii. p. -15.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_493:A_961" id="Footnote_i_493:A_961"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_493:A_961"><span class="label">[493:A]</span></a> Greene's Arcadia, 1587. Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. -191.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_493:B_962" id="Footnote_i_493:B_962"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_493:B_962"><span class="label">[493:B]</span></a> Berkenhout's Biographia Literaria, p. 389. note <i>b</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_494:A_963" id="Footnote_i_494:A_963"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_494:A_963"><span class="label">[494:A]</span></a> Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses, vol. i. col. 136.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_494:B_964" id="Footnote_i_494:B_964"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_494:B_964"><span class="label">[494:B]</span></a> History of English Poetry, Fragment of vol. iv. p. 81.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_494:C_965" id="Footnote_i_494:C_965"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_494:C_965"><span class="label">[494:C]</span></a> Act ii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_494:D_966" id="Footnote_i_494:D_966"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_494:D_966"><span class="label">[494:D]</span></a> Vide New and choice Characters of severall Authors, -together with that exquisite and unmatcht poeme, The Wife; written by -Syr Thomas Overburie. Lond. 1615. p.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_494:E_967" id="Footnote_i_494:E_967"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_494:E_967"><span class="label">[494:E]</span></a> His "trifling pamphlets of Love," as he himself terms -them, (see Repentance of Robert Greene,) we shall not notice; but there -are two, under the titles of "Penelope's Webb," and "Ciceronis Amor," -which deserve mention, as exhibiting many excellent precepts and -examples for the youth of both sexes.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_496:A_968" id="Footnote_i_496:A_968"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_496:A_968"><span class="label">[496:A]</span></a> Vide Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, vol. vi. p. 9.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_497:A_969" id="Footnote_i_497:A_969"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_497:A_969"><span class="label">[497:A]</span></a> Never Too Late, part ii. See Censura Literaria, vol. -viii. p. 135, 136.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_497:B_970" id="Footnote_i_497:B_970"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_497:B_970"><span class="label">[497:B]</span></a> Wood's Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. p. 137.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_498:A_971" id="Footnote_i_498:A_971"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_498:A_971"><span class="label">[498:A]</span></a> Four Letters and Certaine Sonnets. Especially touching -Robert Greene, and other Poets by him abused. Lond. 1592. Vide Beloe's -Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 201, 202.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_499:A_972" id="Footnote_i_499:A_972"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_499:A_972"><span class="label">[499:A]</span></a> Vide D'Israeli's Calamities of Authors, vol. ii. p. 17, -18.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_500:A_973" id="Footnote_i_500:A_973"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_500:A_973"><span class="label">[500:A]</span></a> This article has been chiefly drawn up from documents -afforded by <i>Wood</i>, <i>Berkenhout</i>, <i>Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature</i>, -<i>D'Israeli</i>, and the <i>Censura Literaria</i>. The extracts selected from his -pamphlets by Mr. Beloe, in the opening of his sixth volume, will enable -the reader to form a pretty good estimate of the poetical genius of -Greene.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_500:B_974" id="Footnote_i_500:B_974"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_500:B_974"><span class="label">[500:B]</span></a> Wood's Athenæ Oxon. vol. i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_501:A_975" id="Footnote_i_501:A_975"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_501:A_975"><span class="label">[501:A]</span></a> Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 288. -note <i>t</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_502:A_976" id="Footnote_i_502:A_976"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_502:A_976"><span class="label">[502:A]</span></a> Dibdin's Bibliomania, p. 366, 367, and note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_502:B_977" id="Footnote_i_502:B_977"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_502:B_977"><span class="label">[502:B]</span></a> Anatomie of Abuses, sig. P, p. 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_504:A_978" id="Footnote_i_504:A_978"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_504:A_978"><span class="label">[504:A]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 49.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_505:A_979" id="Footnote_i_505:A_979"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_505:A_979"><span class="label">[505:A]</span></a> For catalogues of Fleming's Works, see Herbert's -Typographical Antiquities; Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. iii. -p. 402 ad 405. Tanner's Bibliotheca, p. 287, 288, and Censura Literaria, -No. viii. p. 313, et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_505:B_980" id="Footnote_i_505:B_980"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_505:B_980"><span class="label">[505:B]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. ii. p. 218.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_506:A_981" id="Footnote_i_506:A_981"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_506:A_981"><span class="label">[506:A]</span></a> As no complete catalogue of this ingenious author's -productions is to be found in any one writer, I have thought it -desirable to endeavour to form one, noticing only the first editions, -when ascertained, and referring, for the full titles, to the works cited -at the close of this note.</p> - -<ul class="list"> -<li>1. A Discource of Horsemanshippe, 4to. 1593.</li> - -<li>2. Thyrsys and Daphne, 1593.</li> - -<li>3. The Gentleman's Academie, or Booke of St. Albans, 4to. 1595.</li> - -<li>4. The poem of poems, or Sions muse, contayning the divine song of king -Salomon, devided into eight eclogues, 8vo. 1595.</li> - -<li>5. The most honourable tragedie of Sir Richard Grenvill knight, a -heroick poem, in eight-line stanzas, 8vo. 1595.</li> - -<li>6. Devoreux. Vertues tears for the losse of the most christian king -Henry, third of that name, king of Fraunce: and the untimely death of -the most noble and heroicall gentleman, Walter Devoreux, &c., 4to. 1597.</li> - -<li>7. Ariosto's Rogero and Rodomantho, &c. paraphrastically translated. -1598.</li> - -<li>8. The Teares of the beloved, or the Lamentation of Saint John, &c. 4to. -1600.</li> - -<li>9. Cavelarice, or the English Horseman, 4to. 1607.</li> - -<li>10. England's Arcadia, alluding his beginning from Sir Philip Sydney's -ending, 4to. 1607.</li> - -<li>11. Ariosto's Satyres, 4to. 1608.</li> - -<li>12. The Famous Whore, or Noble Courtezan, 4to. 1609.</li> - -<li>13. Cure of all diseases, incident to Horses, 4to. 1610.</li> - -<li>14. The English Husbandman in two parts, 1613.</li> - -<li>15. The Art of Husbandry, first translated from the Latin of Conr. -Heresbachius, by Barnaby Googe, 4to. 1614.</li> - -<li>16. Country Contentments; or the Husbandman's Recreations, 4to. 1615.</li> - -<li>17. The English Huswife, 4to. 1615.</li> - -<li>18. Cheap and Good Husbandry, 4to. 1616.</li> - -<li>19. Liebault's Le Maison Rustique, or the Country Farm, folio. 1616.</li> - -<li>20. The English Horseman, 4to. 1617.</li> - -<li>(8. How To Chuse, Ride, Traine, And Diet Both Hunting Horses And Running -Horses, 1599.)</li> - -<li>22. The Inrichment of the Weald of Kent, 4to.</li> - -<li>23. Markham's Farewel to Husbandry, 4to. 1620.</li> - -<li>24. The Art of Fowling, 8vo. 1621.</li> - -<li>25. Herod and Antipater, a Tragedy, 4to. 1622.</li> - -<li>26. The Whole art of Husbandry, contained in Four Bookes, 4to. 1631.</li> - -<li>27. The Art of Archerie, 8vo. 1634.</li> - -<li>28. The Faithful Farrier, 8vo. 1635.</li> - -<li>29. The Soldiers Exercise, 3d edit. 1643.</li> - -<li>30. The Way to Get Wealth, 4to. 1638.</li> - -<li>31. The English Farrier, 4to. 1649.</li> - -<li>32. Epitome concerning the Diseases of Beasts and Poultry, 8vo.</li> - -<li>34. His Masterpiece, concerning the curing of Cattle, 4to. an edition -1662.</li> - -<li>(10. Marie Magdalen's Lamentations, 4to. 1601.)</li> -</ul> - -<p>Numerous editions of many of these works, with alterations in the -title-pages, were published to the year 1700. See <i>Censura Literaria</i>, -vol. ii. p. 217-225. <i>Ritson's Bibliographia Poetica</i>, p. 273, 274. -Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, vol. ii. p. 244, et seq. and vol. ii. -p. 339. <i>Bridges's Theatrum Poetarum</i>, p. 278-285. <i>Biographia -Dramatica.</i> <i>British Bibliographer</i>, No. iv. p. 380, 381. Warton's Hist. -of Engl. Poetry, vol. iii. p. 485.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_508:A_982" id="Footnote_i_508:A_982"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_508:A_982"><span class="label">[508:A]</span></a> See Chalmers's Life of Ruddiman, 8vo. p. 106. Nichols's -Literary Anecdotes, vol. iv. p. 34, and Andrew's History of Great -Britain, vol. i. p. 145, 156.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_509:A_983" id="Footnote_i_509:A_983"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_509:A_983"><span class="label">[509:A]</span></a> Act ii., at the close.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_509:B_984" id="Footnote_i_509:B_984"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_509:B_984"><span class="label">[509:B]</span></a> Fuller's Worthies, p. 359.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_509:C_985" id="Footnote_i_509:C_985"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_509:C_985"><span class="label">[509:C]</span></a> "<i>The Fraternitye of Uacabondes</i>," 1565, and "<i>A Caveat -for common Cursetors vulgarely called Uagabones, set forth by Thomas -Herman, Esq.</i>" 1567.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_510:A_986" id="Footnote_i_510:A_986"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_510:A_986"><span class="label">[510:A]</span></a> Three editions were probably published in 1614; for Mr. -Capel, in his <i>Prolusions</i>, 8vo., notices one in 8vo., and one in 4to. -stated in the title-page to be the fourth. Vide Bliss's edition, of the -Microcosmography, p. 258, and Censura Literaria, vol. v. p. 363.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_510:B_987" id="Footnote_i_510:B_987"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_510:B_987"><span class="label">[510:B]</span></a> Cursory Remarks on Ancient English Poets, 1789. p. 27, -et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_511:A_988" id="Footnote_i_511:A_988"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_511:A_988"><span class="label">[511:A]</span></a> For an accurate Catalogue of the various Writers of -Characters to the year 1700, consult Bliss's edition of Earle's -Microcosmography, 1811.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_512:A_989" id="Footnote_i_512:A_989"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_512:A_989"><span class="label">[512:A]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 168.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_512:B_990" id="Footnote_i_512:B_990"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_512:B_990"><span class="label">[512:B]</span></a> Bacon's Works, folio edit. 1740, vol. iv. p. 586.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_513:A_991" id="Footnote_i_513:A_991"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_513:A_991"><span class="label">[513:A]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. VI. p. 49. 51.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_515:A_992" id="Footnote_i_515:A_992"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_515:A_992"><span class="label">[515:A]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. VIII. p. 272, 273.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_515:B_993" id="Footnote_i_515:B_993"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_515:B_993"><span class="label">[515:B]</span></a> Nugæ Antiquæ, vol. i. p. xi. edit. 1804.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_515:C_994" id="Footnote_i_515:C_994"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_515:C_994"><span class="label">[515:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 187. Act v. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_516:A_995" id="Footnote_i_516:A_995"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_516:A_995"><span class="label">[516:A]</span></a> Nugæ Antiquæ, vol. i. p. 239, 240.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_517:A_996" id="Footnote_i_517:A_996"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_517:A_996"><span class="label">[517:A]</span></a> Part II. chap. i.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 518 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_518" id="Page_i_518">[518]</a></span></p> -<h3><a name="i_PART_II_CHAPTER_III" id="i_PART_II_CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">VIEW OF ROMANTIC LITERATURE DURING THE AGE OF -SHAKSPEARE—SHAKSPEARE'S ATTACHMENT TO AND USE OF ROMANCES, -TALES, AND BALLADS.</p> -</div> - - -<p>That a considerable, and perhaps the greater, portion of Shakspeare's -Library consisted of Romances and Tales, we have already mentioned as a -conclusion fully warranted, from the extensive use which he has made of -them in his dramatic works. What the precious tomes specifically were -which covered his shelves, we have now no means of <i>positively</i> -ascertaining; but it is evident that we shall make a near approximation -to the truth, if we can bring forward the <i>library of a contemporary -collector</i> of romantic literature, and at the same time <i>contemporary -authority</i> for the romances then most in vogue.</p> - -<p>Now it fortunately happens, that we have not only a few curious -descriptions, by the most unexceptionable authors of the reigns of -Elizabeth and James, of the popular reading of their day, but we possess -also a catalogue of the collection of one of the most enthusiastic -hoarders of the sixteenth century, in the various branches of romantic -lore; a document which may be considered, in fact, as placing within our -view, a kind of <i>fac simile</i> of this, the most copious, department of -Shakspeare's book boudoir.</p> - -<p>The interesting detail has been given us by Laneham, in his <i>Account of -the Queen's Entertainment at Killingworth Castle</i>, 1575. The author is -describing the Storial Show by a procession of the Coventry men, in -celebration of Hock Tuesday, when he suddenly exclaims,—"But aware, -keep bak, make room noow, heer they cum.</p> - -<p>"And fyrst <i>Captain Cox</i>, an od man I promiz yoo; by profession a Mason, -and that right skilfull; very cunning in fens, and hardy az <!-- Page 519 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_519" id="Page_i_519">[519]</a></span><i>Gavin</i>; -for hiz ton-sword hangs at hiz tablz eend; great oversight hath he in -matters of storie: For az for <i>King Arthurz</i> book, <i>Huon</i> of <i>Burdeaus</i>, -the foour sons of <i>Aymon</i>, <i>Bevys</i> of <i>Hampton</i>, The <i>Squyre</i> of lo -degree, The <i>Knight</i> of <i>Courtesy</i>, and the <i>Lady Faguell</i>, <i>Frederick</i> -of <i>Gene</i>, <i>Syr Eglamoour</i>, <i>Syr Tryamoour</i>, <i>Syr Lamwell</i>, <i>Syr -Isenbras</i>, <i>Syr Gawyn</i>, <i>Olyver</i> of the <i>Castl</i>, <i>Lucres</i> and -<i>Curialus</i>, <i>Virgil's Life</i>, the <i>Castl</i> of <i>Ladiez</i>, the <i>Wido Edyth</i>, -the <i>King</i> and the <i>Tanner</i>, <i>Frier Rous</i>, <i>Howleglas</i>, <i>Gargantua</i>, -<i>Robinhood</i>, <i>Adam Bel</i>, <i>Clim</i> of the <i>Clough</i> and <i>William</i> of -<i>Clondsley</i>, the <i>Churl</i> and the <i>Burd</i>, the <i>Seven Wise Masters</i>, the -<i>Wife</i> lapt in a <i>Morels Skin</i>, the <i>Sak full of Nuez</i>, the <i>Seargeaunt</i> -that became a <i>Fryar</i>, <i>Skogan</i>, <i>Collyn Clout</i>, the <i>Fryar</i> and the -<i>Boy</i>, <i>Elynor Rumming</i>, and the <i>Nutbrooun Maid</i>, with many moe then I -rehearz heere; I believe hee have them all at hiz fingers endz.</p> - -<p>"Then in Philosophy, both morall and naturall, I think hee be az -naturally overseen; beside <i>Poetrie</i> and <i>Astronomie</i>, and oother hid -<i>Sciencez</i>, az I may gesse by the omberty of his books; whearof part, az -I remember, The <i>Shepherd'z Kalender</i>, The <i>Ship</i> of <i>Foolz</i>, <i>Danielz -Dreamz</i>, the <i>Booke</i> of <i>Fortune</i>, <i>Stans puer ad Mensam</i>, The by way to -the <i>Spitl-house</i>, <i>Julian</i> of <i>Brainford's Testament</i>, the <i>Castle</i> of -<i>Love</i>, the <i>Booget</i> of <i>Demaunds</i>, the <i>Hundred Mery Talez</i>, the <i>Book</i> -of <i>Riddels</i>, the <i>Seaven Sororz</i> of <i>Wemen</i>, the <i>Prooud Wives Pater -Noster</i>, the <i>Chapman</i> of a <i>Peneworth</i> of <i>Wit</i>: Beside hiz Auncient -Playz, <i>Yooth</i> and <i>Charitee</i>, <i>Hikskorner</i>, <i>Nugizee</i>, <i>Impacient -Poverty</i>, and herewith <i>Doctor Boords Breviary</i> of <i>Health</i>. What should -I rehearz heer, what a bunch of Ballets and Songs, all auncient; as -<i>Broom broom on Hill</i>, <i>So Wo iz me begon, troly lo</i>, <i>Over a Whinny -Meg</i>, <i>Hey ding a ding</i>, <i>Bony lass upon a green</i>, <i>My hony on gave me a -bek</i>, <i>By a bank as I lay</i>: and a hundred more he hath fair wrapt up in -parchment, and bound with a whip cord. And az for Almanacks of -Antiquitee (a point for Ephemeridees), I ween he can sheaw from <i>Jazper -Laet</i> of <i>Antwarp</i> unto <i>Nostradam</i> of <i>Frauns</i>, and thens untoo oour -<i>John Securiz</i> of <i>Salsbury</i>. To stay ye no longer heerin, I dare say -hee hath az fair a Library for theez Sciencez, and az many <!-- Page 520 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_520" id="Page_i_520">[520]</a></span>goodly -monuments both in prose and poetry, and at after noonz can talk az much -with out book, az ony inholder betwixt <i>Brainford</i> and <i>Bagshot</i>, what -degree soever he be."<a name="FNanchor_i_520:A_997" id="FNanchor_i_520:A_997"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_520:A_997" class="fnanchor">[520:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of the library of this military bibliomaniac, who is represented as -"marching on valiantly before, clean trust and gartered above the knee, -all fresh in a velvet cap, flourishing with his <i>ton</i> sword," Mr. Dibdin -has appreciated the value when he declares, that he should have -preferred it to the extensive collection of the once celebrated -magician, Dr. Dee. "How many," he observes, "of Dee's magical books he -had exchanged for the pleasanter magic of <i>Old Ballads</i> and <i>Romances</i>, -I will not take upon me to say: but that this said bibliomaniacal -Captain had a library, which, even from Master Laneham's imperfect -description of it, I should have preferred to the four thousand volumes -of Dr. John Dee, is most unquestionable."</p> - -<p>He then adds in a note, in reference to the "<i>Bunch of Ballads and -Songs, all ancient!—fair wrapt up in parchment, and bound with a whip -cord!</i>" "it is no wonder that Ritson, in the historical essay prefixed -to his collection of <i>Scotish Songs</i>, should speak of some of these -ballads with a zest, as if he would have sacrificed half his library to -untie the said 'whip cord' packet. And equally joyous, I ween, would my -friend Mr. R. H. Evans, of Pall-Mall, have been—during his editorial -labors in publishing a new edition of his father's collection of -Ballads—(an edition, by the bye, which gives us more of the genuine -spirit of the <span class="smcap">Coxean Collection</span> than any with which I am -acquainted)—equally joyous would Mr. Evans have been, to have had the -inspection of some of these 'bonny' songs. The late Duke of Roxburgh, of -never-dying bibliomaniacal celebrity, would have parted with half the -insignia of his order of the Garter, to have obtained <i>clean original -copies</i> of these fascinating effusions!"<a name="FNanchor_i_520:B_998" id="FNanchor_i_520:B_998"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_520:B_998" class="fnanchor">[520:B]</a></p> - -<p>Though the Romances and Ballads in Captain Cox's Library are truly -termed "ancient," yet it appears, from unquestionable contemporary -<!-- Page 521 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_521" id="Page_i_521">[521]</a></span>authority, that these romances, either in their original dress or -somewhat modernised, were still sung to the harp, in Shakspeare's days, -as well in the halls of the nobility and gentry, as in the streets and -ale-houses, for the recreation of the multitude: thus Puttenham, in his -"Arte of English Poesie," published in 1589, speaking of historical -poetry adapted to the voice, says, "we our selves who compiled this -treatise have written for pleasure a little brief <i>Romance</i> or -historicall ditty in the English tong of the Isle of great <i>Britaine</i> in -short and long meetres, and by breaches or divisions to be more -commodiously song to the harpe in places of assembly, where the company -shal be desirous to heare of old adventures and reliaunces of noble -knights in times past, as are those of king <i>Arthur</i> and his knights of -the round table, Sir <i>Bevys</i> of <i>Southampton</i>, <i>Guy</i> of <i>Warwicke</i> and -others like;" and he afterwards notices the "blind harpers or such like -taverne minstrels that give a fit of mirth for a groat, their matter -being for the most part stories of old time, as the tale of Sir <i>Topas</i>, -the reportes of <i>Bevis</i> of <i>Southampton</i>, <i>Guy</i> of <i>Warwicke</i>, <i>Adam -Bell</i>, and <i>Clymme</i> of the <i>Clough</i> and such other old Romances or -historicall rimes, made purposely for recreation of the com̄on people at -Christmasse diners and bride ales, and in tavernes and ale-houses and -such other places of base resort."<a name="FNanchor_i_521:A_999" id="FNanchor_i_521:A_999"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_521:A_999" class="fnanchor">[521:A]</a></p> - -<p>Bishop Hall, likewise, in his Satires printed in 1598, alluding to the -tales that lay</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"In chimney-corners smok'd with winter fires,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To read and rock asleep our drowsy sires,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">exclaims,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"No man his threshold better knowes, than I</div> - <div class="line indentq">Brute's first arrival, and first victory;</div> - <div class="line indentq">St. George's sorrel, or his crosse of blood,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Arthur's round board, or Caledonian wood,</div> - <!-- Page 522 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_522" id="Page_i_522">[522]</a></span><div class="line indentq">Or holy battles of bold Charlemaine,</div> - <div class="line indentq">What were his knights did Salem's siege maintaine:</div> - <div class="line indentq">How the mad rival of faire Angelice</div> - <div class="line i1q">Was physick'd from the new-found paradise!"<a name="FNanchor_i_522:A_1000" id="FNanchor_i_522:A_1000"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_522:A_1000" class="fnanchor">[522:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and even so late as Burton, who finished his interesting work just -previous to our great poet's decease, we have sufficient testimony that -the major part of our gentry was employed in the perusal of these -seductive narratives: "If they read a book at any time," remarks this -eccentric writer, "'tis an English Chronicle, <i>Sr. Huon of Bordeaux</i>, -Amadis de Gaul &c.;" and subsequently, in depicting the inamoratoes of -the day, he accuses them of "reading nothing but play books, idle poems, -jests, <i>Amadis de Gaul</i>, the <i>Knight of the Sun</i>, the <i>Seven Champions</i>, -<i>Palmerin de Oliva</i>, <i>Huon of Bordeaux</i>, &c."<a name="FNanchor_i_522:B_1001" id="FNanchor_i_522:B_1001"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_522:B_1001" class="fnanchor">[522:B]</a></p> - -<p>These contemporary authorities prove, to a certain extent, what were -considered the most popular romances in the reigns of Elizabeth and -James; but it will be satisfactory to enquire a little more minutely -into this branch of literature.</p> - -<p>The origin of the metrical Romance may be traced to the fostering -influence of our early Norman monarchs, who cultivated with great ardour -the French language; and it was from the courts of these sovereigns that -the French themselves derived the first romances in their own -tongue.<a name="FNanchor_i_522:C_1002" id="FNanchor_i_522:C_1002"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_522:C_1002" class="fnanchor">[522:C]</a> The gratification resulting from the recital or chaunting -of these metrical tales was then confined, and continued to be for some -centuries, to the mansions of the great, owing to the vast expense of -maintaining or rewarding the minstrels with whom, at that time, a -knowledge of these splendid fictions exclusively rested. No sooner, -however, was the art of printing discovered, than the wonders of romance -were thrown open to the eager curiosity of the public, and the presses -of Caxton and Winkin de Worde groaned <!-- Page 523 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_523" id="Page_i_523">[523]</a></span>under the production of prose -versions from the romantic poesy of the Anglo-Norman bards.</p> - -<p>So fascinating were the wild incidents and machinery of these volumes, -and so rapid was their consequent circulation, that neither the varied -learning nor the theological polemics of the succeeding age, availed to -interrupt their progress; and it was not until towards the close of the -seventeenth century, that the feats of the knight and the spells of the -enchanter ceased to astonish and exhilarate the halls of our fathers.</p> - -<p>In the whole course of this extensive career, from the era of the -conquest to the age of Milton, a poet whose youth, as he himself tells -us, was nourished "among those lofty fables and romances, which recount, -in sublime cantos, the deeds of knighthood<a name="FNanchor_i_523:A_1003" id="FNanchor_i_523:A_1003"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_523:A_1003" class="fnanchor">[523:A]</a>," perhaps no period -can be mentioned in which a greater love of romantic fiction existed, -than that which marks the reign of Elizabeth; and this, too, -notwithstanding the improvement of taste, and the progress of classical -learning; for though the national credulity had been chastened by the -gradual efforts of reason and science, yet was the daring imagery of -romance still the favourite resource of the bard and the novelist, who, -skilfully blending its potent magic with the colder but now fashionable -fictions of pagan antiquity, flung increasing splendour over the union, -and gave that permanency of attraction which only the peculiar and -unfettered genius of the Elizabethan era could bestow.</p> - -<p>Confining ourselves at present, however, chiefly to the consideration of -the <i>prose</i> romance, we may observe, that five distinct classes of it -were prevalent in the age of Shakspeare, which we may designate by the -appellations of <i>Anglo-Norman</i>, <i>Oriental</i>, <i>Italian</i>, <i>Spanish</i>, and -<i>Pastoral</i>, Romance.</p> - -<p>Under the first of these titles, the <i>Anglo-Norman</i>, we include all -those productions which have been formed on the metrical romances <!-- Page 524 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_524" id="Page_i_524">[524]</a></span>of -the feudal or Anglo-Norman period, and to which the terms <i>Gothic</i> or -<i>Chivalric</i> have been commonly, though not exclusively, applied. These -are blended not only with much classical fiction, but with a large -portion of oriental fable, derived from our commerce with the East -during the period of the Crusades, and are principally occupied either -in relating the achievements of Arthur, Charlemagne, and the knights -engaged in the holy wars, or in chivalarising, if we may use the word, -the heroes of antiquity, or in expanding the wonders of oriental -machinery.</p> - -<p>The most popular prose romance of this class was undoubtedly <i>La Morte -D'Arthur</i>, translated from various French romances by Sir Thomas Malory, -and printed by Caxton in 1485, a work which includes in a condensed form -the most celebrated achievements of the knights of the Round -Table.<a name="FNanchor_i_524:A_1004" id="FNanchor_i_524:A_1004"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_524:A_1004" class="fnanchor">[524:A]</a> This "noble and joyous book," as it is termed by its -venerable printer, was the delight of our ancestors until the age of -Charles the First; and in no period more decidedly so than in the reign -of Elizabeth, when probably there were few lordly mansions without a -copy of this seducing tome, either in the great hall or in the ladies -bower. Such were its fascinations, indeed, as to excite the -apprehensions, and call forth the indignant, and somewhat puritanical, -strictures of Ascham and Meres; the former in his <i>Schoole master</i> 1571, -when, reprobating the inordinate attachment to books of chivalry, -instancing "as one for example, <i>Morte Arthur</i>, the whole pleasure of -which booke," he says, "standeth in two specyall poyntes, in open mans -slaghter and bolde bawdrie: in which booke, those be counted the noblest -knights that doe kill most men without any quarrell, and commit fowlest -adoultries by sutlest <!-- Page 525 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_525" id="Page_i_525">[525]</a></span>shifts: as, Syr Lancelote with the wife of King -Arthure, his maister: Syr Tristram with the wife of King Marke, his -uncle: Syr Lameroche with the wife of King Lote, that was his own aunte. -This is good stuffe for wise men to laughe at, or honest men to take -pleasure at. Yet I knowe when God's Bible was banished the court and -Morte Arthure receaved into the princes chamber, what toyes the dayly -reading of such a booke may worke in the will of a yong gentleman, or a -yong maide, that liveth welthely and idlely, wise men can judge, and -honest men do pittie<a name="FNanchor_i_525:A_1005" id="FNanchor_i_525:A_1005"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_525:A_1005" class="fnanchor">[525:A]</a>;" and the latter declaring in his "Wits' -Commonwealth," that "as the Lord de la Nonne in the sixe discourse of -his politike and military discourses censureth of the bookes of Amadis -de Gaule, which he saith are no less hurtfull to youth, than the workes -of Machiavell, to age; so these bookes are accordingly to be censured -of, whose names follow; Bevis of Hampton, Guy of Warwicke, <i>Arthur of -the Round Table</i>," &c.<a name="FNanchor_i_525:B_1006" id="FNanchor_i_525:B_1006"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_525:B_1006" class="fnanchor">[525:B]</a></p> - -<p>That these strictures are too severe, and that the consequences -apprehended by these ingenious scholars did not necessarily follow, we -have the authority of Milton to prove; who, so far from deprecating the -study of romances as dangerous to morality, declares "that even those -books proved to me so many enticements to the love and stedfast -observation of virtue<a name="FNanchor_i_525:C_1007" id="FNanchor_i_525:C_1007"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_525:C_1007" class="fnanchor">[525:C]</a>;" a passage which appears to have kindled -in the mind of a modern writer, a spirited defence of the utility of -these productions, even at the present day. "There is yet a point of -view," he remarks, "in which Romance may be regarded to advantage, even -in the present age. The most interesting qualities in a chivalrous -knight, are his high-toned enthusiasm, and disinterested spirit of -adventure—qualities to which, when properly modified and directed, -society owes its highest improvements. Such are the feelings of -benevolent genius yearning to diffuse love and peace and happiness among -the human race. The gorgeous visions of the <!-- Page 526 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_526" id="Page_i_526">[526]</a></span>imagination, familiar to -the enthusiastic soul, purify the heart from selfish pollutions, and -animate to great and beneficent action. Indeed, nothing great or -eminently beneficial ever has been, or can be effected without -enthusiasm—without feelings more exalted than the consideration of -simple matter of fact can produce. That Romances have a tendency to -excite the enthusiastic spirit, we have the evidence of fact in numerous -instances. Hereafter, we shall hear the great Milton indirectly bearing -his testimony of admiration and gratitude for their inspiring influence. -It is of little consequence, comparatively speaking, whether all the -impressions made, be founded in strict philosophical truth. If the -imagination be awakened and the heart warmed, we need give ourselves -little concern about the final result. The first object is to elicit -power. Without power nothing can be accomplished. Should the heroic -spirit chance to be excited by reading Romances, we have, alas! too much -occasion for that spirit even in modern times, to wish to repress its -generation. Since the Gallic hero has cast his malign aspect over the -nations, it is become almost as necessary to social security, as during -the barbarism of the feudal times. There is now little danger of its -being directed to an <i>unintelligible</i> purpose.</p> - -<p>"Romances, then, not only merit attention, as enabling us to enter into -the feelings and sentiments of our ancestors,—a circumstance in itself -curious, and even necessary to a complete knowledge of the history of -past ages; they may still be successfully employed to awaken the -mind—to inspire genius: and when this effect is produced, the power -thus created may be easily made to bear on any point desired."<a name="FNanchor_i_526:A_1008" id="FNanchor_i_526:A_1008"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_526:A_1008" class="fnanchor">[526:A]</a></p> - -<p>The demand for <i>Morte Arthur</i>, which continued for nearly two centuries, -produced of course several re-impressions: the <i>second</i> issued from the -press of Winkin de Worde in 1498, the colophon of which, as specified by -Herbert, is singularly curious. "Here is the <!-- Page 527 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_527" id="Page_i_527">[527]</a></span>ende of the hoole boke of -kynge Arthur, and of his noble knygtes of the rounde table. That whane -they were hoole togyder, there was ever an <span class="smcap">C.</span> and <span class="smcap">XL.</span> And here is the -ende of the deth of Arthur. I praye you all gentylmen and gentylwymmen -that rede thys boke of Arthur and his knyghtes from the beginnynge to -the endynge praye for me whyle I am a lyue, that, God send me good -utterance. And when I am deed, I pray you all pray for my soule: for the -translacion of this boke was fynisshed the <span class="smcap">IX.</span> yere of the regne of kyng -Edwarde the fourth, by syr Thomas Maleore knyght, as Jhesu helpe him for -his grete myghte, as he is the servaunt of Jhesu bothe day and nyghte. -Emprynted fyrst by William Caxton, on whose soul God have mercy."<a name="FNanchor_i_527:A_1009" id="FNanchor_i_527:A_1009"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_527:A_1009" class="fnanchor">[527:A]</a></p> - -<p>The re-impression of De Worde was followed by the editions of <i>Copland</i>, -<i>East</i>, and <i>William Stansby</i>, this last being dated 1634. Of the elder -copies East's was probably the one most generally used in the reign of -Elizabeth, and it differs only in a few unessential phrases from the -edition of Caxton.</p> - -<p>La Morte D'Arthur, which, by its frequent republication, kept alive a -taste for romantic fiction, may be considered as giving us, with a few -exceptions as to costume, a very pleasing though somewhat polished -picture of the chivalric romance of the Anglo-Norman period. It has the -merit also of furnishing an excellent specimen of purity and simplicity -in style and diction; qualities which have stamped upon many of its -otherwise extravagant details the most decided features of sublimity and -pathos. A passage in the twenty-second chapter of the second book, for -example, furnishes a noble instance of the former, and the speech of Sir -Bohort, over the dead body of Sir Launcelot, towards the close of the -work, is as admirable a specimen of the latter. These, as short, -peculiarly interesting, and characteristic of the work, we shall venture -to transcribe.</p> - -<p>The description of, and the effect arising from, so simple a -circumstance as that of blowing a horn, are thus painted:—</p> - -<p><!-- Page 528 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_528" id="Page_i_528">[528]</a></span>"So hee rode forth, and within three days hee came by a cross, and -thereon was letters of gold written, that said, It is not for a knight -alone to ride toward this castle. Then saw hee an old hoar gentleman -coming toward him, that said, Balin le Savage, thou passest thy bounds -this way, therefore turn againe and it will availe thee. And hee -vanished away anon; and so hee heard an horne blow as it had been the -death of a beast. That blast, said Balin, is blown for mee; for I am the -prize, and yet am I not dead."</p> - -<p>Sir Ector de Maris, the brother of Sir Launcelot, after having sought -him in vain through Britain for seven years, has at length the -melancholy satisfaction of recognising the body of the hero, who had -just breathed his last.</p> - -<p>"And then Sir Ector threw his shield, his sword, and his helme, from -him. And when hee beheld Sir Launcelot's visage, hee fell downe in a -sowne. And when hee awaked, it were hard for any tongue to tell the -dolefull complaints that he made for his brother. Ah Sir Launcelot, said -hee, thou were head of all christian knights, and now I dare say, said -Sir Bors, that Sir Launcelot, there thou liest thou were never matched -of none earthly knight's hands. And thou were the curtiest knight that -ever beare shield. And thou were the truest friend to thy lover that -ever bestrod horse, and thou were the truest lover of a sinful man that -ever loved woman. And thou were the kindest man that ever stroke with -sword. And thou were the goodliest parson that ever came among presse of -knights. And thou were the meekest man and the gentlest that ever eate -in hall among ladies. And thou were the sternest knight to thy mortall -foe that ever put speare in the rest."<a name="FNanchor_i_528:A_1010" id="FNanchor_i_528:A_1010"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_528:A_1010" class="fnanchor">[528:A]</a></p> - -<p>We have taken the more notice of this work, not only as it affords a -pretty correct idea of what the old chivalric metrical romance -consisted, but as it was in Shakspeare's time the favourite book in this -branch of literature, and furnished Spenser with many incidents <!-- Page 529 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_529" id="Page_i_529">[529]</a></span>for his -"Faerie Queene."<a name="FNanchor_i_529:A_1011" id="FNanchor_i_529:A_1011"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_529:A_1011" class="fnanchor">[529:A]</a> It constitutes, in fact, an exemplar and -abridgment of the marvels of the Round Table, such as were dispersed -through a variety of metrical tales, and can only be found condensed in -this production, and of which the popularity may be considered as an -indubitable mark of the taste of the age in which it was so much admired -and cherished.</p> - -<p>If it be objected, that, though <i>Morte Arthur</i> was very popular, it did -not originate during our period, it may be answered, that many prose -imitations of the Anglo-Norman romance, the undoubted offspring of the -Elizabethan era, might, if necessary, be mentioned; but one will -suffice, and this has been selected from its having maintained an -influence over the public mind nearly as long as the Death of Arthur.</p> - -<p>We allude to the well-known romance entitled <i>The Seven Champions of -Christendome</i>, written in the age of Elizabeth by Richard Johnson, the -author of various other productions during this and the subsequent -reign. In what year the first part of the <i>Seven Champions</i> made its -appearance is not known; but the second was published with the following -title and date:—"The Second Part of the famous History of the Seven -Champions of Christendome. Likewise shewing the princely Prowesse of -Saint George's three Sonnes, the lively Sparke of Nobilitie. With many -memoriall atchieuements worthy the Golden Spurres of Knighthood. Lond. -Printed for Cuthbert Burbie, &c. 1597." 4to. Black letter.<a name="FNanchor_i_529:B_1012" id="FNanchor_i_529:B_1012"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_529:B_1012" class="fnanchor">[529:B]</a> If Mr. -Warton's opinion be correct, that Spenser was indebted to this work for -some incidents in the conduct of his Faerie Queene, the first part must -have been printed before 1590; and Mr. Todd, indeed, seems to think that -the second part "was published some time after the first<a name="FNanchor_i_529:C_1013" id="FNanchor_i_529:C_1013"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_529:C_1013" class="fnanchor">[529:C]</a>;" a -supposition which is corroborated by the <!-- Page 530 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_530" id="Page_i_530">[530]</a></span>address to the reader prefixed -to the second part, in which, after mentioning "<i>the great acceptance of -<span class="smcap">HIS</span> First Part</i>," he nevertheless deprecates the severity of criticism -to which it had been exposed: "thy courtesy," he says, "must be my -buckler against the carping malice of mocking jesters, that being worse -able to do well, scoff commonly at that they cannot mend, censuring all -things, doing nothing, but, monkey-like, make apish jests at any thing -they see in print: and nothing pleaseth them, except it savour of a -scoffing or invective spirit;" passages which indicate that the first -part of this romance had been for some length of time before the public. -We may also add, that Johnson is known to have been a popular writer in -1592, having published in that year his "Nine Worthies of London."</p> - -<p>If we except La Morte D'Arthur, and one or two Spanish romances, which -will be afterwards mentioned, the <i>Seven Champions</i> appears to have been -the most popular book of its class. It has accumulated in a small -compass the most remarkable adventures of the ancient metrical romances, -and has related them in a rich and figurative, though somewhat turgid -style. Justice has been done to this compilation, once so high in -repute, both by Percy and Warton: the former speaks of its "strong -Gothic painting," and of its adherence to the old poetical -legends<a name="FNanchor_i_530:A_1014" id="FNanchor_i_530:A_1014"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_530:A_1014" class="fnanchor">[530:A]</a>; and the latter declares it to contain "some of the most -capital fictions of the old Arabian romance," and instances the -adventure of the <span class="smcap">Enchanted Fountain</span>.<a name="FNanchor_i_530:B_1015" id="FNanchor_i_530:B_1015"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_530:B_1015" class="fnanchor">[530:B]</a></p> - -<p>The various editions of this once celebrated compilation attest the -longevity of its fame; and though now no longer the amusement of the -learned and the great, yet is it far from being a stranger to the -literature of our juvenile libraries. A London impression appeared in -1755, and it has lately been reprinted in a pocket-edition of the -British Classics.</p> - -<p>Having thus brought forward <i>La Morte D'Arthur</i> and the <i>Seven -<!-- Page 531 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_531" id="Page_i_531">[531]</a></span>Champions</i> as the most popular <i>prose</i> compilations in Shakspeare's -time from the <i>Anglo-Norman</i> metrical romances, we shall proceed to -notice two collections which were more immediately built on an <span class="allcapsc">ORIENTAL</span> -foundation, and which have enjoyed, both at the epoch of their first -translation into English in the sixteenth century, and subsequently to a -very modern date, an almost unrivalled circulation.</p> - -<p>A little anterior to the birth of our great poet, W. Copland printed, -without date, a romance entitled <i>The Seven Wise Masters</i>, a direct -version from the Latin of a book published in Germany, soon after the -discovery of the art of printing, under the appellation of <i>Historia -Septem Sapientum</i>. This interesting series of tales has been traced by -Mr. Douce<a name="FNanchor_i_531:A_1016" id="FNanchor_i_531:A_1016"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_531:A_1016" class="fnanchor">[531:A]</a> to an <i>Indian</i> prototype; to "The Book of the Seven -Counsellors, or Parables of <span class="smcap">Sendebar</span> or <span class="smcap">Sandabar</span>," an Indian -philosopher, who is supposed to have lived about a century before the -Christian æra. The work of this sage, it appears, had been early -translated into Persic, Syriac, Arabic, and, from this latter, into -Hebrew by Rabbi Joel, under the title of <i>Mischle Sandabar</i>, a version -which is conjectured to have been made about the middle of the -fourteenth century, and is believed to be the only oriental manuscript -of these Parables which has been subjected to the press; having been -printed at Constantinople in 1517, and at Venice in 1544 and 1608. A MS. -of this Hebrew Sandabar is in the British Museum (Harleian MSS., No. -5449.), but no English version of it has been hitherto attempted.</p> - -<p>The romance of our Indian fabulist made its next appearance, though with -some alterations in the incidents and names, in <i>Greek</i>, under the title -of <i>Syntipas</i>, of which many MSS. exist, the greater number professing -to be translated from the Syriac; but in the British Museum is preserved -a copy from the Persic, of so late a date as 1667.</p> - -<p>The first <i>Latin</i> version is said to have proceeded from the pen of -<!-- Page 532 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_532" id="Page_i_532">[532]</a></span>Jean de Hauteselve, a native of Lorraine, but the existence of such a -copy is now only known, from its having been translated into <i>French</i> -verse, by an ecclesiastic of the name of Herbers, who died 1226, and -who, in the opening of his poem, to which he has given the singular -title of <i>Dolopatos</i>, confesses to have taken it from the "<i>bel Latin</i>" -of Hauteselve.</p> - -<p>Another <i>French</i> version, however, of greater importance, as it makes a -nearer approach to the remote original, and has been the source of -numerous imitations, is preserved in the French National Library, and -numbered 7595. It is a MS. in verse, of the 13th century, and was first -noticed by Mr. Ellis, through a communication from Mr. Douce, who -believes it to be not only the immediate original of many imitations in -French prose, but the source whence an old English metrical romance in -the Cotton Library (Galba, E. 9.) has been taken.</p> - -<p>This poem, a large fragment of which exists in the Auchinleck MS., is -entire in the Cotton Library, and is written in lines of eight -syllables. It is entitled "The Proces of the Sevyn Sages," and Mr. Ellis -refers its composition to a period not later than 1330.<a name="FNanchor_i_532:A_1017" id="FNanchor_i_532:A_1017"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_532:A_1017" class="fnanchor">[532:A]</a></p> - -<p>The copy, however, which has given rise to the greatest number of -translations, is that already mentioned under the title of "Historia -Septem Sapientum," the first edition of which, with a date, was -published by John Hoelhoff at Cologne in 1490. This was very rapidly -transfused into the German, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, English, -and Scotch languages.</p> - -<p>Of the <i>Scotch</i> version, which is metrical, and was undertaken by the -translator "at the request of his <i>Ant Cait</i> (Aunt Kate) in Tanstelloun -Castle, during the siege of Leith," 1560, the first edition was printed -at Edinburgh in 1578, with the following title:—"<span class="smcap">The Sevin Seages, -Translatit out of Prois in Scottis Meter, Be Johne Rolland, in Dalkeith</span>; -with ane Moralitie after everie Doctouris tale, and siclike after the -Emprice tale, togidder with ane loving and <!-- Page 533 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_533" id="Page_i_533">[533]</a></span>laude to everie Doctour -after his awin tale, and ane exclamation and outcrying when the -Empreouris wife after hir fals construsit tale. Imprentit at Edinburgh -be John Ros, for Henry Charteries."<a name="FNanchor_i_533:A_1018" id="FNanchor_i_533:A_1018"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_533:A_1018" class="fnanchor">[533:A]</a></p> - -<p>The prose translation by Copland, which made its appearance between the -years 1550 and 1567, under the title of "The Seven Wise Masters," was -one of the most popular books of the sixteenth century. It has undergone -a variety of re-impressions, and when no longer occupying its former -place in the hall of the Baron and the Squire, descending to a less -ambitious station, it became the most delectable volume in the -collection of the School-boy. This change in the field of its influence -seems to have taken place in little better than a century after its -introduction into the English language; for in 1674, Francis Kirkman, -publishing a version from the Italian copy of this romance, which he -entitles the "History of Prince Erastus, son to the emperor Diocletian, -and those famous philosophers called The Seven Wise Masters of Rome," -informs us, in his preface, "that the book of 'The Seven Wise Masters' -is in such estimation in Ireland, that it was always put into the hands -of young children immediately after the horn-book."<a name="FNanchor_i_533:B_1019" id="FNanchor_i_533:B_1019"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_533:B_1019" class="fnanchor">[533:B]</a></p> - -<p>The "Book of the Seven Counsellors," in short, appears to have been -familiarised in the language of every civilised nation in Asia and -Europe, and though often interpolated and disguised by the admixture of -fables from other oriental collections, and especially from the fables -of Pilpay, it has still preserved, through every transfusion, a -resemblance of its Indian type. Its admission into English literature -contributed to cherish and keep alive the taste for Eastern romance, -which had been generated during the period of the Crusades, and adopted -by the Anglo-Norman minstrels.</p> - -<p>If the collection of oriental apologues, to which we have alluded under -the name of Pilpay, had been as early naturalised amongst us, <!-- Page 534 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_534" id="Page_i_534">[534]</a></span>the -effect in favour of oriental fable would probably have been greater; but -it was the fate of this work, though superior in merit perhaps, and of -equal antiquity and similar origin with the Parables of Sandabar, and -alike popular in the East, not to have acquired an English dress until -the eighteenth century. The Heetopades of Veeshnoo Sarma, the undoubted -source of Pilpay's stories, we, at length, possess, in a correct state, -forming certainly the most interesting series of fables extant.<a name="FNanchor_i_534:A_1020" id="FNanchor_i_534:A_1020"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_534:A_1020" class="fnanchor">[534:A]</a></p> - -<p>There is another set of tales, however, in their complection almost -entirely oriental, which not only co-operated in their effect, but also -in their period of introduction, with the "Seven Wise Masters," from the -press of Copland.</p> - -<p>In 1577 Richard Robinson, a voluminous author who lived by his pen, -published "A record of ancyent historyes intituled in Latin <i>Gesta -Romanorum</i>;" and in a catalogue of his productions, written by himself, -and preserved in the British Museum, he says of this work that it was -"translated (auctore ut supponitur Iohane Leylando antiquario) by mee -perused corrected and bettered."<a name="FNanchor_i_534:B_1021" id="FNanchor_i_534:B_1021"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_534:B_1021" class="fnanchor">[534:B]</a></p> - -<p>This is a partial version of one of two distinct works entitled, <i>Gesta -Romanorum</i>, collections of tales in the Latin language which, there is -reason to suppose, originated in the fourteenth century, and certainly -once enjoyed the highest popularity.</p> - -<p>Of the <i>first</i>, or what may be called the <i>Continental Gesta</i>, Mr. -Warton has given us a very elaborate and pleasing analysis. No -manuscript of this primary collection is known to exist, but it was -printed about 1473; the first six editions of it are in folio <!-- Page 535 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_535" id="Page_i_535">[535]</a></span>without -dates; three containing 152 chapters or gests each, and three 181 each, -and of those printed with dates, in folio, quarto, octavo, and -duodecimo, a list, amounting to twenty-eight, has been published by Mr. -Douce, from the year 1480 to 1555 inclusive. A Dutch translation -appeared in 1481; a German translation in 1489; the first French -translation with a date in 1521; but no English translation until 1703, -when only forty-five histories or gests were published, the translator, -either from want of encouragement, or from some other cause, having only -printed volume the first of his intended version.</p> - -<p>The <i>second</i> or <i>English Gesta</i> must be considered as the discovery of -Mr. Douce, for Warton, not perceiving its frequent discrepancy, had -confounded it with the original work. It is likewise remarkable, that -the circumstances attending its circulation are diametrically different -from those accompanying the prior collection; for while numerous MSS. of -the English Gesta exist in this country, not one copy in the original -Latin has been printed.</p> - -<p>It appears from the researches of Mr. Douce, that this compilation very -soon followed the original Gesta, and that the first manuscript may with -great probability be ascribed to a period as early as the reign of -Richard the Second; most of the MSS. however, none of which have ever -been found upon the continent, are of the age of fifth and sixth -Henries, and of these twenty-five are yet remaining preserved in the -British Museum, at Oxford, and in other collections.</p> - -<p>As the English Gesta was intended as an imitation of the <i>Continental</i> -collection, many of its stories have, of course, been retained; but -these have undergone such alterations in language, and sometimes in -incident, together with new moralizations, and new names, as to give it, -with the addition of forty tales not found in its prototype, the air of -an original work.<a name="FNanchor_i_535:A_1022" id="FNanchor_i_535:A_1022"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_535:A_1022" class="fnanchor">[535:A]</a> It is not, however, so extensive <!-- Page 536 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_536" id="Page_i_536">[536]</a></span>as the -foreign compilation, the most complete manuscripts containing only one -hundred and two stories; yet as the sources from which it has drawn its -materials are, with a few exceptions, correspondent, in respect to their -oriental origin, with the continental copy, the character which Mr. -Warton has given of the primary, will apply to the secondary, series.</p> - -<p>"This work," he observes, "is compiled from the obsolete Latin -chronicles of the later Roman or rather German story, heightened by -romantic inventions, from Legends of the Saints, oriental apologues, and -many of the shorter fictitious narratives which came into Europe with -the Arabian literature, and were familiar in the ages of ignorance and -imagination. The classics are sometimes cited for authorities; but these -are of the lower order, such as Valerius Maximus, Macrobius, Aulus -Gellius, Seneca, Pliny, and Boethius. To every tale a <i>Moralization</i> is -subjoined, reducing it into a christian or moral lesson.</p> - -<p>"Most of the oriental apologues are taken from the <span class="smcap">Clericalis -Disciplina</span>, or a Latin Dialogue between an Arabian Philosopher and -Edric<a name="FNanchor_i_536:A_1023" id="FNanchor_i_536:A_1023"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_536:A_1023" class="fnanchor">[536:A]</a> his son, never printed<a name="FNanchor_i_536:B_1024" id="FNanchor_i_536:B_1024"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_536:B_1024" class="fnanchor">[536:B]</a>, written by Peter Alphonsus, -a baptized Jew, at the beginning of the twelfth century, and collected -from Arabian fables, apothegms, and examples.<a name="FNanchor_i_536:C_1025" id="FNanchor_i_536:C_1025"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_536:C_1025" class="fnanchor">[536:C]</a> Some are also -borrowed from an old Latin translation of the <span class="smcap">Calilah u Damnah</span>, a -celebrated set of eastern fables, to which Alphonsus was indebted.</p> - -<p>"On the whole, this is the collection in which a curious enquirer might -expect to find the original of Chaucer's Cambuscan:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 537 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_537" id="Page_i_537">[537]</a></span><div class="line">"Or,——if aught else great bards beside</div> - <div class="line indentq">In sage and solemn tunes have sung,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of turneys and of trophies hung,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of forests and inchantments drear,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where more is meant than meets the ear."<a name="FNanchor_i_537:A_1026" id="FNanchor_i_537:A_1026"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_537:A_1026" class="fnanchor">[537:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of the translations of the <i>English</i> Gesta, which, owing to the Latin -original not being known upon the continent, are solely confined to the -English language, three only have been noticed; and of these, the first -is a manuscript in the Harleian collection, No. 7,333, of the age of -Henry the Sixth, containing but seventy stories, and which Mr. Douce -conjectures to have been produced either by Lydgate, Gower, or Occleve, -as the English Gesta appears familiar to them, and this version -possesses not only several pieces by Lydgate, but some tales from the -<i>Confessio Amantis</i> of Gower.<a name="FNanchor_i_537:B_1027" id="FNanchor_i_537:B_1027"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_537:B_1027" class="fnanchor">[537:B]</a></p> - -<p>The first printed translation is said to have issued from the press of -Wynkyn de Worde, though without a date, and this edition has been -mentioned and referred to, both by Mr. Warton<a name="FNanchor_i_537:C_1028" id="FNanchor_i_537:C_1028"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_537:C_1028" class="fnanchor">[537:C]</a> and Dr. -Farmer.<a name="FNanchor_i_537:D_1029" id="FNanchor_i_537:D_1029"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_537:D_1029" class="fnanchor">[537:D]</a> Neither Herbert, however, nor Mr. Dibdin, has been -fortunate enough to detect its existence, and if it really had, or has, -a being, it is probably either the manuscript version of the reign of -Henry the Sixth, or the translation to which Robinson alludes as the -work of Leland the antiquary.</p> - -<p>We must, therefore, look to Robinson's Translation of 1577, as the only -one which has met with a general and undisputed circulation; and this -was so popular, that in 1601 it had been printed six times by Thomas -Easte.<a name="FNanchor_i_537:E_1030" id="FNanchor_i_537:E_1030"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_537:E_1030" class="fnanchor">[537:E]</a> The most enlarged edition, however, of <!-- Page 538 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_538" id="Page_i_538">[538]</a></span>Robinson's -version, contains but forty-four stories, and it is, therefore, much to -be regretted, that the Harleian manuscript is not committed to the -press.</p> - -<p>As this was then the only English translation accessible to the public, -of a collection of tales which in the original Latin, and under the same -name, had amused the learned and the curious for some centuries, both on -the continent, and for nearly the same space of time on our own island, -we shall not be surprised if we find, in a subsequent page, that -Shakspeare has availed himself of a portion of its contents, especially -as its subjects, and the mode of treating them, coincided with his track -of reading.</p> - -<p>The popularity of Robinson's work seems to have extended to the -eighteenth century; for the last edition, which we can now recollect, is -dated 1703, and there is reason to think it the fifteenth, while the -edition immediately preceding was published in 1689, but fourteen years -anteriorly.</p> - -<p>If Ascham thought he had reason to complain of the popularity of <i>Morte -Arthur</i>, and its associates, he found tenfold cause of complaint in the -daily increasing circulation of <span class="smcap">Italian Romances and Tales</span>; "ten <i>La -Morte d'Arthures</i>," he exclaims, "doe not the tenth parte so much harme, -as one of these bookes made in <i>Italie</i>, and translated in -<i>Englande</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_538:A_1031" id="FNanchor_i_538:A_1031"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_538:A_1031" class="fnanchor">[538:A]</a></p> - -<p>The frequent communication indeed with Italy, which took place about the -middle of the sixteenth century, had not only induced an indiscriminate -imitation of Italian manners, but had rendered the literature of the -Italians so fashionable, that, together with their poetry, was imported -into this island a multiplicity of their <i>prose</i> fictions and tales, a -species of composition that had been cultivated in Italy with incredible -ardour from the period of Sacchetti and Boccacio.</p> - -<p>These tales, by blending with the romantic fiction of the Normans and -Orientals the scenes of domestic life and manners; by introducing -<!-- Page 539 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_539" id="Page_i_539">[539]</a></span>greater complexity and skill in the arrangement of fable and greater -probability in the nature and construction of incident; by intermingling -more frequent and more interesting traits of the softer passions, and by -exciting more powerfully the emotions of pity and compassion, presented -to the public a new and poignant source of gratification, and furnished -the dramatic poets and the caterers for the then universal appetite for -story-telling with innumerable bases for plays, tales, and -ballads.<a name="FNanchor_i_539:A_1032" id="FNanchor_i_539:A_1032"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_539:A_1032" class="fnanchor">[539:A]</a></p> - -<p>It may be asserted, we believe, with a close approach to accuracy, that -in the space which elapsed between the middle of the sixteenth century, -and the accession of James the First, nearly all the most striking -fictions of the Italian novellists had found their way to the English -press; either immediately translated from the original Italian, or -through the medium of Latin, French, or Spanish versions.</p> - -<p>Of these curious collections of prose narrative, real or imaginary, -comic or tragic, it will be thought necessary that we should notice a -few of the most valuable, and especially those to which our great poet -has been most indebted.</p> - -<p>One of the earliest of these works and mentioned by Laneham in 1575, as -an article in Captain Cox's library, was entitled <i>The Hundred Merry -Tales</i>. This series of stories, though existing in English so late as -1659<a name="FNanchor_i_539:B_1033" id="FNanchor_i_539:B_1033"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_539:B_1033" class="fnanchor">[539:B]</a>, is now unfortunately lost; the probability, however, is, -that <!-- Page 540 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_540" id="Page_i_540">[540]</a></span>it was a translation from <i>Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles</i>, printed -at Paris before the year 1500, and compiled from Italian writers. The -English copy, says Warton, was licensed to be printed by John Waly, in -1557, under the title of "A Hundreth mery tales," together with <i>The -freere and the boye, stans puer ad mensam, and youthe, charite, and -humylite</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_540:A_1034" id="FNanchor_i_540:A_1034"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_540:A_1034" class="fnanchor">[540:A]</a> It is again noticed in the register of the Stationers' -Company for 1581, by Ames, under the article for James Roberts, and in -the following manner in a black-letter pamphlet of 1586:—"Wee want not -also pleasant mad headed knaves that bee properly learned and well reade -in diverse pleasant bookes and good authors. As Sir Guy of Warwicke, the -Foure Sons of Aymon, the Ship of Fooles, the Budget of Demandes, <i>the -Hundredth merry Tales</i>, the Booke of Ryddles, and many other excellent -writers both witty and pleasaunt."<a name="FNanchor_i_540:B_1035" id="FNanchor_i_540:B_1035"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_540:B_1035" class="fnanchor">[540:B]</a> It is alluded to by -Shakspeare, in his <i>Much Ado about Nothing</i>, written about 1600, where -Beatrice complains of Benedict having declared, that she had "her good -wit out of the <i>Hundred Merry Tales</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_540:C_1036" id="FNanchor_i_540:C_1036"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_540:C_1036" class="fnanchor">[540:C]</a> That this collection was -justly entitled to the epithet <i>merry</i> has been proved by Mr. Douce, -from a reference to the supposed original, in which only five stories -out of the hundred are of a tragic cast, and where the title, in the old -editions, gives further propriety to the appellation, by terming these -tales <i>Comptes plaisans et recreatiz pour deviser en toutes compaignies, -et Moult plaisans á raconter par maniere de joyeuseté</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_540:D_1037" id="FNanchor_i_540:D_1037"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_540:D_1037" class="fnanchor">[540:D]</a> It should -not be forgotten, however, that the work entitled <i>Cento novelle -antiche</i> was in existence at this period, though no translation of it is -known to have been made, either before or during Shakspeare's age; nor -is it improbable that the term <i>A hundred merry tales</i>, might have -become a kind of cant expression for an attack of personal satire; for -Nashe, as Mr. Douce has observed, "in his <i>Pappe with an hatchet</i>, -<!-- Page 541 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_541" id="Page_i_541">[541]</a></span>speaks of a book then coming out under the title of <i>A hundred merrie -tales</i>, in which Martin Marprelate, i. e. John Penry, and his friends, -were to be satirized."<a name="FNanchor_i_541:A_1038" id="FNanchor_i_541:A_1038"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_541:A_1038" class="fnanchor">[541:A]</a></p> - -<p>Though no complete translation of the Decameron of Boccacio was executed -before 1620, the greater part of his novels was given to the public in -1566, by <i>William Paynter</i>, in his once popular collection, entitled -"<i>The Pallace of Pleasure</i>." This entertaining work occupies two -volumes, 4to.; of which, the first, dedicated to Lord Warwick, appeared -in the year above-mentioned, "containing <i>sixty</i> novels out of -Boccacio," and the second followed in 1567, including thirty-four -novels, principally from Bandello, and dedicated to Sir George Howard. -It appears to have been the intention of the compiler to have added a -third part; for at the close of the second volume, he tells us, "Bicause -sodeynly, contrary to expectation, this volume is risen to greater heape -of leaves, I doe omit for this present time <i>Sundry Novels</i> of mery -devize, reserving the same to be joyned with the rest of an other part, -wherein shall succeede the remnant of <i>Bandello</i>, specially sutch, -suffrable, as the learned French man <i>François de Belleforrest</i> hath -selected, and the choysest done in the Italian. Some also out of -<i>Erizzo</i>, <i>Ser Giouanni Florentino</i>, <i>Parabosco</i>, <i>Cynthio</i>, -<i>Straparole</i>, <i>Sansovino</i>, and the best liked out of the <i>Queene of -Nauarre</i>, and others;" a passage which is important, as showing, in a -small compass, the nature and extent of his resources.</p> - -<p>What motive prevented the continuance of the work, is unascertained; it -certainly could not be want of encouragement, for a second edition of -the first volume, and a third of the second, were published together in -4to. in 1575, and, as the author informs us in his title, "eftsones -perused, corrected, and augmented" by him. The conjecture of Warton, -that Painter, "in compliance with the prevailing mode of publication, -and for the accommodation of universal readers, <!-- Page 542 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_542" id="Page_i_542">[542]</a></span>was afterward persuaded -to print his <i>sundry novels</i> in the perishable form of separate -pamphlets," is not improbable.</p> - -<p>The <i>Palace of Pleasure</i> is, without doubt, not only one of the -earliest, but one of the most valuable selections of tales which -appeared during the reign of Elizabeth; and that it formed one of the -ornaments of Shakspeare's library, and one to which he was in the habit -of referring, the industry of his commentators has sufficiently -established.<a name="FNanchor_i_542:A_1039" id="FNanchor_i_542:A_1039"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_542:A_1039" class="fnanchor">[542:A]</a></p> - -<p>In the same year with the second volume of Painter's Palace, appeared -"<i>Certaine Tragicall Discourses</i>" by <i>Geffray Fenton</i>, in one volume -4to. bl. letter. This <i>passing pleasant booke</i>, as Turberville terms it, -consists of stories principally from Italian writers, and, in the -dedication to Lady Mary Sydney, the author expresses his high opinion of -their merit, by declaring, "neyther do I thinke that oure Englishe -recordes are hable to yelde at this daye a <i>Romant</i> more delicat and -chaste, treatynge of the veraye theame and effectes of love, than theis -<i>Hystories</i>;" an estimate of the value of his collection in which he is -borne out by his friend Turberville, who, in one of the recommendatory -poems prefixed to the book, says—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The learned stories erste, and sugred tales that laye</div> - <div class="line indentq">Removde from simple common sence, this writer doth displaye:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Nowe men of meanest skill, what Bandel wrought may vew,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And tell the tale in Englishe well, that erst they never knewe:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Discourse of sundrye strange, and tragicall affaires,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of lovynge ladyes hepless haps, theyr deathes, and deadly cares."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Warton is of opinion that Fenton's compilation "in point of -selection and size" is "perhaps the most capital miscellany of this -kind."<a name="FNanchor_i_542:B_1040" id="FNanchor_i_542:B_1040"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_542:B_1040" class="fnanchor">[542:B]</a> In size, however, it is certainly inferior to Painter's -work, and from a survey of its contents with which we have been -indulged, exhibits, in our conception, no superiority to its predecessor -even with regard to selection; it merits, however, the same honour which -is now paying to its rival, that of a re-print.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 543 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_543" id="Page_i_543">[543]</a></span>In 1571 a series of tales, somewhat similar to Fenton's, was published -under the title of "<i>The Forest</i> or collection of Historyes no lesse -profitable, than pleasant and necessary, doone out of Frenche into -English by <i>Thomas Fortescue</i>." This production, which forms a quarto in -black letter, and underwent a second, and a third edition, in 1576 and -1596, includes many stories manifestly of Italian birth and structure, -though the work is said to have been originally written in the Spanish -language.</p> - -<p>On the authority of Bishop Tanner, as reported by Warton<a name="FNanchor_i_543:A_1041" id="FNanchor_i_543:A_1041"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_543:A_1041" class="fnanchor">[543:A]</a>, we have -to ascribe to the year 1580, a prose version of the <i>Novelle</i> of -<i>Bandello</i>, next to Boccacio the most celebrated, at that period, among -the Italian novellists; and more chaste perhaps than any of them in his -sentiments, and more easy and natural in the construction of his -incidents. The translation is said to be by W. W. initials which Mr. -Warton is inclined to appropriate, either to William Warner or William -Webbe.</p> - -<p>Another collection of tales, several of which are from Giraldi Cinthio -and other Italian fabulists, was given to the public by <i>George -Whetstone</i>, in 1582, under the appellation of <i>Heptameron</i>, a term which -had been rendered fashionable by the popularity of a suite of tales -published at Paris in 1560, and entitled, "Heptameron des Nouvelles de -la Royne de Navarre." Whetstone possessed no inconsiderable reputation -in his day; he has been praised as a poet by Meres and Webbe, and his -<i>Heptameron</i>, though written in prose, with only the occasional -interspersion of poetry, had its share of contemporary fame, and the -still greater celebrity of furnishing some portion of a plot to our -great dramatic bard.<a name="FNanchor_i_543:B_1042" id="FNanchor_i_543:B_1042"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_543:B_1042" class="fnanchor">[543:B]</a></p> - -<p>The first volume of a large collection of Italian tales made its -appearance at Paris in 1583, under the title of <i>Cent Histoires -<!-- Page 544 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_544" id="Page_i_544">[544]</a></span>Tragiques</i>. This work, the compilation of <i>Francis de Belleforrest</i> and -<i>Boisteau</i>, was ultimately extended to seven volumes, and a part of it, -if not the whole, appears, on the authority of the Stationers' Register, -to have been translated into English, in 1596.<a name="FNanchor_i_544:A_1043" id="FNanchor_i_544:A_1043"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_544:A_1043" class="fnanchor">[544:A]</a> The edition, -however, to which Warton alludes, must have been posthumous; for -Belleforrest died on January 1st, 1583, and that he had printed -selections from the Italian novellists long anterior, is evident from -Painter's reference to them in the second volume of his Palace of -Pleasure, dated 1567. Probably what the historian terms the "<i>grand -repository</i>" commenced with the copy of 1583.<a name="FNanchor_i_544:B_1044" id="FNanchor_i_544:B_1044"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_544:B_1044" class="fnanchor">[544:B]</a></p> - -<p>Independent of these large prose collections of Italian tales, a vast -variety of separate stories was in circulation from the same source; and -many of our poets, such as Gascoigne, Turberville, &c.<a name="FNanchor_i_544:C_1045" id="FNanchor_i_544:C_1045"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_544:C_1045" class="fnanchor">[544:C]</a> amused -themselves by giving them a metrical and sometimes a semi-metrical, -<!-- Page 545 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_545" id="Page_i_545">[545]</a></span>form. By these means the more rugged features of the Anglo-Norman -romance, were softened down, and a style of fiction introduced more -varied and more consonant to nature.</p> - -<p>The taste, however, for the wild beauties of Gothic fabling, though -polished and refined by the elegant imagination of the Italians, was -still cultivated with ardour, and, towards the close of Elizabeth's -reign, was further stimulated, by a fresh infusion of similar imagery, -through the medium of the <i>Spanish and Portuguese Romances</i>.</p> - -<p>These elaborate, and sometimes very interesting productions, are -evidently constructed on the model of the Anglo-Norman romance, though -with greater unity of design, and with more attention to morality. There -is reason to believe, with Mr. Tyrwhitt, that neither Spain nor Portugal -can produce a romance of this species older than the era of -printing<a name="FNanchor_i_545:A_1046" id="FNanchor_i_545:A_1046"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_545:A_1046" class="fnanchor">[545:A]</a>; for the manuscript of <i>Amadis of Gaul</i>, which has been -satisfactorily proved by Mr. Southey to have been the production of -Vasco Lobeira, and written in the Portuguese language, during the close -of the fourteenth century<a name="FNanchor_i_545:B_1047" id="FNanchor_i_545:B_1047"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_545:B_1047" class="fnanchor">[545:B]</a>, was never printed, and is supposed to -be no longer in existence; while the Spanish version of Garciordonez de -Montalvo, the oldest extant, and which has, in general, passed for the -original, did not issue from the press before the year 1510, the date of -its publication at Salamanca.</p> - -<p>This romance, beyond all doubt the most interesting of its <a name="FNanchor_i_545:C_1048" id="FNanchor_i_545:C_1048"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_545:C_1048" class="fnanchor">[545:C]</a>class, -is well known as one of the very few in Don Quixote's library which -escaped the merciless fury of the Licentiate and the Barber. "The first -that master Nicholas put into his hands was Amadis de Gaul in four -parts; and the priest said, 'There seems to be some mystery in this; -for, as I have heard say, this was the first book of chivalry <!-- Page 546 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_546" id="Page_i_546">[546]</a></span>printed -in Spain, and all the rest have had their foundation and rise from it; -and, therefore, I think, as head of so pernicious a sect, we ought to -condemn him to the fire without mercy.'—'Not so, sir,' said the barber; -'for I have heard also, that it is the best of all the books of this -kind; and therefore, as being singular in his art, he ought to be -spared.'—'It is true,' said the priest, 'and for that reason his life -is granted him.'"<a name="FNanchor_i_546:A_1049" id="FNanchor_i_546:A_1049"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_546:A_1049" class="fnanchor">[546:A]</a> Nor is the description which Sir Philip Sidney -has given of the effects of Amadis on its readers less important than -the encomium of Cervantes on its literary merit; "Truly," says the -knight, "I have known men, that even with reading Amadis de Gaul, have -found their hearts moved to the exercise of courtesy, liberality, and -especially courage."<a name="FNanchor_i_546:B_1050" id="FNanchor_i_546:B_1050"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_546:B_1050" class="fnanchor">[546:B]</a></p> - -<p>The introduction of Amadis into the English language took place in the -year 1592, when the first four or five books were translated from the -French version and printed by Wolfe.<a name="FNanchor_i_546:C_1051" id="FNanchor_i_546:C_1051"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_546:C_1051" class="fnanchor">[546:C]</a> It experienced the same -popularity here which had attended its naturalisation in France, Italy, -and Spain, and seems to have been in the zenith of its reputation among -us at the close of the Shakspearean era; for Fynes Moryson, who -published his Itinerary in 1617, in his directions to a traveller how to -acquire languages, says, "I think no book better for his discourse than -<i>Amadis of Gaul</i>; for the knights errant, and the ladies of courts, doe -therein exchange courtly speeches, and these books are in all languages -translated by the masters of eloquence;" and Burton in his Anatomy of -Melancholy, written about the same period, mentions <i>Amadis</i> along with -Huon of Bourdeaux, as one of the most fashionable volumes of his day. -Such, indeed, is the merit of this romance, that the lapse of four -hundred years has not greatly diminished its attractions, and the -admirable version of Mr. Southey, which, by rejecting or veiling the -occasional indelicacy of the original, <!-- Page 547 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_547" id="Page_i_547">[547]</a></span>has removed the weightiest -objections of Ascham, most deservedly finds admirers even in the -nineteenth century.</p> - -<p>Another specimen of this class of romances of nearly equal popularity -with the preceding, though inferior in point of merit, may be instanced -in the once celebrated <i>Palmerin of England</i>, which, like Amadis of -Gaul, safely passed the ordeal of the Curate of Don Quixote's -village:—"Let Palmerin of England," says the Licentiate, "be preserved, -and kept as a singular piece: and let such another case be made for it, -as that which Alexander found among the spoils of Darius, and -appropriated to preserve the works of the poet Homer.—Therefore, Master -Nicholas, saving your better judgment, let this and Amadis de Gaul be -exempted from the fire, and let all the rest perish without any further -enquiry."<a name="FNanchor_i_547:A_1052" id="FNanchor_i_547:A_1052"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_547:A_1052" class="fnanchor">[547:A]</a></p> - -<p>Palmerin of England, like its prototype, Amadis de Gaul, is supposed to -have originated in Portugal. Mr. Southey, indeed, confidently attributes -it to the pen of Francis de Moraes; an ascription which is in direct -opposition to the authority of Cervantes, who asserts it to have been -written by a King of Portugal. It has shared the like fate, too, in this -country, with regard to its translator; Anthony Munday having been the -first to usher Palmerin, as well as Amadis, to an English public; in -fact, though in its original garb it appeared a century and a half later -than the romance of Lobeira, it claims priority with regard to its -English dress, having been licensed to Charlewood, and printed in 1580.</p> - -<p>The multiplicity and rapid succession of extraordinary events in -Palmerin of England, are such as to distract the most steady attention, -and if it really deserved the encomium which the curate bestowed upon it -in comparison with the rest of the worthy knight's library, little -surprise can be excited at the mental hallucinations which the study of -such a collection might ultimately produce.</p> - -<p>Of the versions of honest Anthony, one of the most indefatigable -translators of romance in the reign of Elizabeth, not much can be <!-- Page 548 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_548" id="Page_i_548">[548]</a></span>said, -either in point of style or fidelity. Labouring for those who possessed -an eager and indiscriminating appetite for the marvellous, he was not -greatly solicitous about the preservation of the manners and costume of -his original, but rather strove to accommodate his authors to the taste -of the majority of his readers. To enumerate the various romances which -he attempted to naturalise, would be tedious and unprofitable; the two -that we have already noticed, together with "Palmerin D'Oliva," and "The -honorable, pleasant, and rare conceited Historie of Palmendo<a name="FNanchor_i_548:A_1053" id="FNanchor_i_548:A_1053"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_548:A_1053" class="fnanchor">[548:A]</a>," -were among the most popular, and will be sufficient to impart an idea of -what, among the peninsular works of fiction, were most in vogue, when -romances were as much read as novels are in the present age.</p> - -<p>The last species of romance, which we shall notice as fashionable in -Elizabeth's reign, may be termed the <i>Pastoral</i>. Of this class the most -celebrated specimen that we can mention, is the <i>Arcadia</i> of Sir Philip -Sidney, a book well known to Shakspeare, which continued highly popular -for near a century, and reached an eighth edition as early as 1633, -independent of impressions in Scotland, of which one occurs before the -year 1600.<a name="FNanchor_i_548:B_1054" id="FNanchor_i_548:B_1054"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_548:B_1054" class="fnanchor">[548:B]</a></p> - -<p>The Arcadia appears to have been commenced by its author for the sole -amusement of himself and his sister, the Countess of Pembroke, during -his residence at Wilton, in 1580, and though prosecuted at various -periods was left incomplete at his death in 1586. The affection of the -Countess, however, to whose care and protection the scattered -manuscripts had been assigned, induced her to publish an impression of -it in the year 1590, revised under her own immediate <!-- Page 549 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_549" id="Page_i_549">[549]</a></span>direction; since -which period fourteen editions have borne testimony to the merits of the -work, and to the correctness of the editor's judgment.</p> - -<p>To the publication of this far-famed romance, which is in many respects -truly beautiful, and in every respect highly moral, we may attribute an -important revolution in the annals of fictitious writing. It appears to -have been suggested to the mind of Sir Philip, by two models of very -different ages, and to have been built, in fact, on their admixture; -these are the Ethiopic History of Heliodorus, Bishop of Tricca, in -Thessaly, and the Arcadia of Sannazaro, productions as widely separated -as the fourth and the sixteenth centuries. Their connection, however, -will be more readily explained, when we recollect, that a translation of -Heliodorus into English had been published only three years before the -commencement of Sidney's Arcadia. This was the work of Thomas -Underdowne, who printed a version of the ten entire books in 1577, -dedicating them to Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford.<a name="FNanchor_i_549:A_1055" id="FNanchor_i_549:A_1055"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_549:A_1055" class="fnanchor">[549:A]</a> That the -<i>English</i> Heliodorus was chiefly instrumental in giving this peculiar -direction to the genius of Sidney, was the opinion of Warton; but we -must likewise recollect, that the Arcadia of Sannazaro, with which Sir -Philip, as an excellent Italian scholar, must have been well -acquainted<a name="FNanchor_i_549:B_1056" id="FNanchor_i_549:B_1056"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_549:B_1056" class="fnanchor">[549:B]</a>, presented him with the model for his shepherds, for -their costume, diction, and sentiment, and that, like the English work, -it is a mingled composition of poetry and prose.</p> - -<p>Dismissing many of the paraphernalia of the ancient chivalric romance, -its magicians, enchanted castles, dragons, and giants, but retaining its -high-toned spirit of gallantry, heroism, and courtesy, combined with the -utmost purity in morals, and with all the traditionary simplicity and -innocence of rural life, the pastoral romance of Sidney exhibited a -species of composition more reconcilable to probability <!-- Page 550 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_550" id="Page_i_550">[550]</a></span>than the -adventures of Arthur and Amadis, but less natural and familiar than the -tales of the Italians. In these last, however, virtue and decency are -too often sacrificed at the shrine of licentiousness, whilst in the -Arcadia of our countryman not a sentiment occurs which can excite a -blush on the cheek of the most delicate modesty. To this moral tendency -of Sidney's fictions, the muse of Cowper has borne testimony in the -following pleasing lines:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Would I had fall'n upon those happier days,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That poets celebrate; those golden times,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And those Arcadian scenes, that Maro sings,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And <i>Sidney, warbler of poetic prose</i>.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Nymphs were Dianas then, and swains had hearts.</div> - <div class="line indentq">That felt their virtues: innocence, it seems,</div> - <div class="line indentq">From courts dismissed, found shelter in the groves;</div> - <div class="line indentq">The footsteps of simplicity, impress'd</div> - <div class="line indentq">Upon the yielding herbage, (so they sing)</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then were not all effac'd: then speech profane,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And manners profligate, were rarely found;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Observed as prodigies, and soon reclaim'd."<a name="FNanchor_i_550:A_1057" id="FNanchor_i_550:A_1057"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_550:A_1057" class="fnanchor">[550:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Had the disciples of Sir Philip adhered to the model which he -constructed; had they, rejecting merely his unfortunate attempt to -introduce the Roman metres into modern poetry, preserved his strength -and animation in description, his beauty and propriety of sentiment, his -variety and discrimination of character, the school of Sidney might have -existed at the present hour. On the contrary, whatever was objectionable -and overstrained in their prototype, they found out the art to -aggravate; and by a monstrous and monotonous overcharge of character, by -a bloated tenuity of style, by a vein of sentiment so quaintly exalted -as to have nothing of human sympathy about it, and by an indefinite -prolixity of fable, they contrived to outrage nature nearly as much as -had been effected by the wonders of necromancy and the achievements of -chivalry; and this, too, without producing a scintillation of those -splendid traits of fancy which <!-- Page 551 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_551" id="Page_i_551">[551]</a></span>illumine, and even atone for, the wild -fictions of the Anglo-Norman romance. The Astrea of D'Urfé, written -about twenty years after Sidney's work, though sufficiently tedious, and -frequently unnatural, makes the nearest approach to the pastoral beauty -of the Arcadia; but what longevity can attach to, or what patience shall -endure, the numerous and prodigious tomes of Madame Scuderi?<a name="FNanchor_i_551:A_1058" id="FNanchor_i_551:A_1058"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_551:A_1058" class="fnanchor">[551:A]</a></p> - -<p>The shades of oblivion seem gathering fast even over the beautiful -reveries of Sidney, a fate most undoubtedly hastened by the prolix and -perverted labours of his successors; and what was the fashion and -delight of the seventeenth century has generally ceased to charm. So -great, indeed, was once the popularity of the Arcadia, that its effects -became an object of consideration to the satirist and the historian. In -1631, we find the former thus admonishing the ladies:—"Insteade of -songes and musicke let them learn cookerie and launderie. And instead of -reading <i>Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia</i>, let them reade the groundes of -good huswifery."<a name="FNanchor_i_551:B_1059" id="FNanchor_i_551:B_1059"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_551:B_1059" class="fnanchor">[551:B]</a> But the grave annalist and antiquary, Fuller, -has, with more good sense, vindicated the study of this moral -romance:—"I confess," says he, "I have heard some of modern pretended -wits cavil at the <i>Arcadia</i>, because they made it not themselves: such -who say that his book is the occasion that many precious hours are -otherwise spent no better, must acknowledge it also the cause that many -idle hours are otherwise spent no worse than in reading thereof."<a name="FNanchor_i_551:C_1060" id="FNanchor_i_551:C_1060"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_551:C_1060" class="fnanchor">[551:C]</a> -There is no work, in short, in the department of <i>prose-fiction</i> which -contains more apothegmatic wisdom than the Arcadia of Sidney; and it is -to be regretted that the volume which had charmed a Shakspeare, a -Milton, and a Waller<a name="FNanchor_i_551:D_1061" id="FNanchor_i_551:D_1061"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_551:D_1061" class="fnanchor">[551:D]</a>, <!-- Page 552 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_552" id="Page_i_552">[552]</a></span>and which has been praised by -Temple<a name="FNanchor_i_552:A_1062" id="FNanchor_i_552:A_1062"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_552:A_1062" class="fnanchor">[552:A]</a>, by Heylin<a name="FNanchor_i_552:B_1063" id="FNanchor_i_552:B_1063"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_552:B_1063" class="fnanchor">[552:B]</a>, and by Cowper, should be suffered, in -any deference to the opinion of Lord Orford<a name="FNanchor_i_552:C_1064" id="FNanchor_i_552:C_1064"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_552:C_1064" class="fnanchor">[552:C]</a>, to slumber on the -shelf.</p> - -<p>It is with pleasure, however, that we find a very modern critic not only -passing a just and animated eulogium on the Arcadia, but asserting on -his own personal knowledge, that, even in the general classes of -society, it has still its readers and admirers. "Nobody, it has been -said, reads the Arcadia. We have known very many persons who have read -it, men, women, and children, and never knew one who read it without -deep interest and admiration at the genius of the writer, great in -proportion as they were capable of appreciating it. The verses are very -bad, not that he was a bad poet, (on the contrary, much of his poetry is -of high merit,) but because he was then versifying upon an impracticable -system. Let the reader pass over all the eclogues, as dull interludes -unconnected with the drama, and if he do not delight in the story -itself, in the skill with which the incidents are woven together and -unravelled, and in the Shakespearean power and character of language, -with which they are painted; let him be assured the fault is in himself -and not in the book."<a name="FNanchor_i_552:D_1065" id="FNanchor_i_552:D_1065"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_552:D_1065" class="fnanchor">[552:D]</a></p> - -<p>After this brief survey of the state of romantic literature, and of the -various romances which were most popular, in the days of Shakspeare, it -will be a proper appendage, if we add a few observations on the yet -lingering relics of chivalric costume. That gorgeous spectacle, the -Tournament, in which numerous knights engaged together <!-- Page 553 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_553" id="Page_i_553">[553]</a></span>on either side, -fighting with the sword and truncheon, was latterly superseded by the -joust or tilting-match, consisting of a succession of combats between -two knights at one time, and in which the spear was the only weapon -used. The dexterous management of this military amusement depended upon -striking the front of the opponent's helmet, in such a manner as either -to beat him backward from his horse, or break the spear in the contest. -Jousting or tilting, which was usually celebrated in honour of the -ladies, by whom the prizes were always awarded and distributed, -continued to be a favourite diversion with Elizabeth to the close of her -reign; she was attached to the gallantry which constituted the soul of -these games, and to the splendour which accompanied their exhibition, -and her nobles were not backward in encouraging and gratifying her -romantic taste. Of this a remarkable instance may be adduced, in the -person of Sir Henry Lee, Knight of the Garter, who vowed that he would -annually, while health and strength permitted, enter the tilt-yard as -his sovereign's knight. The completion of this vow led to annual -contentions in the lists, and twenty-five personages of the first rank, -among whom are to be found Lord Leicester, Sir Christopher Hatton, &c. -agreed to establish a society of arms for this purpose. The presidency -of the association was resigned by Sir Henry, on the plea of infirmity, -in 1590, when he formally invested the Earl of Cumberland with his -dignity, one of the most envied at that time, in the court of -Elizabeth.<a name="FNanchor_i_553:A_1066" id="FNanchor_i_553:A_1066"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_553:A_1066" class="fnanchor">[553:A]</a></p> - -<p>It was usual at these chivalric exhibitions, which ceased on the demise -of their regal patroness, for the combatants, and even the men of -fashion who attended as spectators, to wear a lady's favour on their -arm; and when a knight had tilted with peculiar grace and spirit, the -ladies were wont to fling a scarf or glove upon him as he passed; a -custom which Shakspeare has attributed, as is frequent <!-- Page 554 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_554" id="Page_i_554">[554]</a></span>with him, to an -age long anterior to chivalric usage, for he represents Coriolanus, on -his way to the capitol, as thus honoured:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————— "The matrons flung their gloves,</div> - <div class="line">Ladies and maids their scarfs and handkerchiefs,</div> - <div class="line">Upon him as he pass'd."<a name="FNanchor_i_554:A_1067" id="FNanchor_i_554:A_1067"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_554:A_1067" class="fnanchor">[554:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It appears also, from a passage in the second part of <i>King Henry the -Fourth</i>, that an oath derived from a singular observance in the days of -chivalry, was common in the days of Shakspeare; for Shallow, persuading -Sir John Falstaff to remain with him as his visitor, exclaims, "By <i>cock -and pye</i>, Sir, you shall not away to night<a name="FNanchor_i_554:B_1068" id="FNanchor_i_554:B_1068"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_554:B_1068" class="fnanchor">[554:B]</a>;" an adjuration which -Steevens and Ridley refer to a corruption of the sacred name, and to a -service-book of the Romish church, called in this country, previous to -the Reformation, <i>a pie</i>; but Mr. Douce has, with more probability, -advanced the origin to which we allude. "It will, no doubt, be -recollected," he observes, "that in the days of ancient chivalry it was -the practice to make solemn vows or engagements for the performance of -some considerable enterprize. This ceremony was usually performed during -some grand feast or entertainment, at which a roasted peacock or -pheasant, being served up by ladies in a dish of gold or silver, was -thus presented to each knight, who then made the particular vow which he -had chosen, with great solemnity. When this custom had fallen into -disuse, the peacock nevertheless continued to be a favourite dish, and -was introduced on the table in a <i>pie</i>, the head, with gilded beak, -being proudly elevated above the crust, and the splendid tail expanded. -Other birds of smaller value were introduced in the same manner, and the -recollection of the old peacock vows might occasion the less serious, or -even burlesque, imitation of swearing not only by the bird itself, but -also by the <i>pie</i>; and hence probably the oath <i>by cock and -pie</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_554:C_1069" id="FNanchor_i_554:C_1069"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_554:C_1069" class="fnanchor">[554:C]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 555 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_555" id="Page_i_555">[555]</a></span>As all persons beneath the rank of an esquire were precluded, by the -laws of chivalry, from taking any part in the celebration of justs and -tournaments, while at the same time, a strong desire of <i>imitation</i> was -excited in the public mind, by the attractive nature of these -diversions, it soon became an object with the commonality to establish -something which might bear a striking resemblance to the favourite -amusements of their superiors. Hence the origin of tilting at the -quintain, which we have already noticed in the chapter on Rural -Diversions, and of tilting at the ring and on the water; sports, of -which even the Queen herself condescended not unfrequently to be a -spectator.</p> - -<p>Tilting at the ring was considered as the most respectable of the three -amusements, and was generally practised as a preparatory exercise to the -knightly feat of jousting. The ring was suspended at a fixed height, in -a sheath, by the contrivance of two springs, and the object of the -tilter was, while riding at full speed, to thrust the point of his lance -through the ring, drawing it, by the strength of his stroke, from its -sheath, and bearing it away on the summit of his lance. In this pastime, -the horses, as well as the men, required constant training and practice, -and, on the day of contest, the palm of victory was adjudged to him who -in three courses, for this number was allowed to each candidate, carried -the point of his lance the oftenest through the ring.</p> - -<p>Of these games the most vulgar, but the most productive of merriment, -was that of tilting on the water, in which the combatants, standing in -the centre of their respective boats, were armed with a lance and -shield, and he was esteemed the conqueror, who, by a dexterous -management of his weapon, contrived to strike his adversary in such a -manner as to overturn him in the water, while he himself remained firm -and stationary. With this curious exhibition it would appear that the -Queen was highly gratified, on her visit to Sandwich, "where certain -wallounds that could well swym, had prepared two boates, and in the -middle of each boate was placed a borde, upon which borde there stood a -man, and so they met <!-- Page 556 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_556" id="Page_i_556">[556]</a></span>together, with either of them a staff and a shield -of wood; and one of them did overthrow another, at which the Queene had -good sport."<a name="FNanchor_i_556:A_1070" id="FNanchor_i_556:A_1070"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_556:A_1070" class="fnanchor">[556:A]</a></p> - -<p>To jousting, and to tilting at the ring, some of the most remarkable -relics of expiring chivalry, and of which the latter had attained to -almost scientific precision at the commencement of the seventeenth -century, Shakspeare has several allusions in the course of his -dramas.<a name="FNanchor_i_556:B_1071" id="FNanchor_i_556:B_1071"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_556:B_1071" class="fnanchor">[556:B]</a> The most striking of these refers to an accident which -not unfrequently occurred, when a knight, unable to manage his horse -with due skill, suffered it to deviate sideways in its career, the -consequence of which was, that instead of breaking his lance in a direct -line against his adversary's helmet, it was broken <i>across</i> his breast, -a circumstance deemed highly dishonourable, as the result either of -timidity or want of dexterity:—"O, that's a brave man!" says Celia, -speaking of Orlando, in <i>As You Like It</i>, "he writes brave verses, -speaks brave words, swears brave oaths, and breaks them bravely, quite -traverse, athwart the heart of his lover; as a puny tilter, that spurs -his horse but on one side, breaks his staff like a noble goose."<a name="FNanchor_i_556:C_1072" id="FNanchor_i_556:C_1072"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_556:C_1072" class="fnanchor">[556:C]</a></p> - -<p>It was about this period too, the close of the sixteenth century, that -another remnant of romantic usage became nearly extinct. We allude to -the profession of the <i>Minstrel</i>, which, until the year 1597, had been -cherished or tolerated in this country, from an era as ancient as the -conquest.</p> - -<p>During the reign of Elizabeth, indeed, the character of the <i>Minstrel</i>, -combining the offices of the poet, the singer, and the musician, and -that of the <i>Jestour</i>, or mere reciter of tales and gestes, gradually -lost their importance and respectability, and were no longer protected -by the noble and the opulent. On the accession of the Queen, however, -and for about twenty years afterwards, instances may be adduced <!-- Page 557 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_557" id="Page_i_557">[557]</a></span>where -the Minstrel appears to have acted in his genuine capacity, that is, as -the sole depository of the poems which he chaunted, and not, as was -subsequently the case, the fabricator of songs and ballads merely for -the press. The latest specimens of what may be termed the old -Minstrelsy, Dr. Percy assigns to the years 1569 and 1572, when the -ballads entitled "<i>The Rising in the North</i>," and "<i>Northumberland -betrayed by Douglas</i>," were produced.<a name="FNanchor_i_557:A_1073" id="FNanchor_i_557:A_1073"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_557:A_1073" class="fnanchor">[557:A]</a> Between the -Minstrel-ballads and those written merely for the press, a marked -difference was usually perceptible, the former exhibiting greater -rudeness of language, with a more northern cast in their structure; -greater irregularity in metre, and incidents more romantic, wild, and -chivalric; while the latter presented altogether a southern dialect, -more correct versification, incidents, though occasionally pathetic, -comparatively tame and insipid, and a costume more modern and familiar. -Of this last kind, were the numerous ballads of the reign of James the -First, frequently collected together, and published under the -appellation of <i>Garlands</i>.</p> - -<p>There is reason to suppose, notwithstanding the declining state of the -minstrel tribe, that some attention was yet paid to their appearance and -dress; that their ancient distinguishing costume was well known, and -sometimes imitated, and that, especially in the prior half of the -Elizabethan era, a peculiar garb was still attached to their office. We -are warranted in these inferences by contemporary authority: Laneham, in -his description of Elizabeth's entertainment at Killingworth Castle, in -1575, mentions his having been in company with a person who was to have -performed the character of an <i>ancient Minstrel</i> before the Queen, "if -meete time and place had been foound for it." This man, who was probably -a member of the profession, entertained some worshipful friends, of -which Laneham was one, with a representation of the part which he should -have enacted at the Earl of Leicester's; and it is remarkable that this -<!-- Page 558 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_558" id="Page_i_558">[558]</a></span>assumed minstrel is styled, "<i>a squire minstrel of Middilsex, that -travaild the cuntree <span class="smcap">THYS</span> soomer season unto fayrz and woorshipfull menz -houzez</i>;" a strong proof that the character, in all its full costume, -was not considered as sufficiently bizarre and obsolete to render such -an assertion improbable. "A person very meete seemed he for the purpose; -(we here drop the author's absurd orthography;) of a <span class="smcap">XLV</span> years old, -apparelled partly as he would himself. His cap off, his head seemly -rounded tonster-wise; fair kembed, that with a sponge daintily dipt in a -little capon's grease, was finely smoothed to make it shine like a -mallard's wing; his beard smugly shaven; and yet his shirt after the new -trink, with ruffs fair-starched, sleeked, and glistering like a pair of -new shoes: marshalled in good order: with a stetting stick, and stout -that every ruff stood up like a wafer. A side gown of Kendal green, -after the freshness of the year now; gathered at the neck with a narrow -gorget, fastened afore with a white clasp and a keeper close up to the -chin, but easily for heat to undo when he list: seemly begirt in a red -caddis girdle; from that a pair of capped Sheffield knives hanging a to -side (one on each side): out of his bosom drawn forth a lappet of his -napkin, edged with a blue lace, and marked with a true love, a heart, -and a D. for <i>Damian</i>; for he was but a batchelor yet.</p> - -<p>"His gown had side sleeves down to midleg, slit from the shoulder to the -hand, and lined with white cotton. His doublet-sleeves of black worsted: -upon them a pair of poynets of tawny chamblet, laced along the wrist -with blue threaden joints; a wealt toward the hand of fustian anapes: a -pair of red neather stocks: a pair of pumps on his feet, with a cross -cut at the toes for cornes; not new, indeed, yet cleanly blacked with -soot, and shining as a shoeing horn. About his neck, a red ribband -suitable to his girdle: his harp in good grace dependent before him: his -wrest<a name="FNanchor_i_558:A_1074" id="FNanchor_i_558:A_1074"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_558:A_1074" class="fnanchor">[558:A]</a> tied to a green lace, and hanging by. Under the gorget of -his gown a fair flagon chain of pewter (for <!-- Page 559 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_559" id="Page_i_559">[559]</a></span>silver); as a <i>squire -minstrel</i> of Middlesex, that travelled the country this summer season, -unto fairs and worshipful mens houses. From his chain hung a scutcheon, -with metal and colour, resplendent upon his breast, of the ancient arms -of Islington.—After three lowly courtsies, 'he' cleared his voice with -a hem and reach, and spat out withal; wiped his lips with the hollow of -his hand for filing his napkin, tempered a string or two with his wrest, -and after a little warbling on his harp for a prelude, came forth with a -solemn song, warranted for story out of <i>King Arthur's acts</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_559:A_1075" id="FNanchor_i_559:A_1075"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_559:A_1075" class="fnanchor">[559:A]</a></p> - -<p>In 1592, Henry Chettle, describing <i>Anthony Now-Now</i>, an aged and -celebrated minstrel of his own time, represents him as "an od old -fellow; low of stature, his head covered with a <i>round cap</i>, his body -with a <i>tawney coate</i>, his legs and feete truste uppe in <i>leather -buskins</i>, his gray haires and furrowed face witnessed his age, his -<i>treble viol</i> in his hande<a name="FNanchor_i_559:B_1076" id="FNanchor_i_559:B_1076"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_559:B_1076" class="fnanchor">[559:B]</a>;" from which it would appear that even -to the last the members of this tuneful tribe were distinguished by some -peculiarity of dress.</p> - -<p>In the mean time, however, they were becoming, through the dissoluteness -of their manners, obnoxious to government, and contemptible in the -public estimation. Stubbes, in the first edition of his Anatomie of -Abuses, 1583, terms them a parcel of drunken sockets, and baudy -parasites, that "raunge the countries," he observes, "riming and singing -of unclean, corrupt, and filthy songs in tavernes, ale-houses, innes, -and other publike assemblies.—There is no ship," he exclaims, "so laden -with merchandize, as their heads are pestred with al kinds of baudy -songs, filthy ballades, and scurvy rymes, serving for every purpose, and -for every company. For proof whereof," he subjoins, "who bee baudier -knaves than they? who uncleaner than they? who more licentious, and -looser minded than they? and brieflie, who more inclined to all kind of -insolency and leudness than they?—I think that al good minstrels, sober -and chast musitions, may dance the wild Moris through a needles eye." -<!-- Page 560 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_560" id="Page_i_560">[560]</a></span>He subsequently adds that, notwithstanding their immorality, "every -toune, citie, and countrey, is full of these minstrelles to pipe up a -daunce to the devill."</p> - -<p>That this description is not much exaggerated by the puritanical -severity of its author, is evident from the language of Puttenham, a -courtier and polite writer, who calls this degraded race -"<i>cantabanqui</i>," singers "upon benches and barrels heads—minstrels that -give a fit of mirth for a groat—in taverns and ale-houses, and such -other places of base resort<a name="FNanchor_i_560:A_1077" id="FNanchor_i_560:A_1077"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_560:A_1077" class="fnanchor">[560:A]</a>;" a picture corroborated by the -authority of Bishop Hall, who a few years afterwards, speaking of the -exhilarating effect of his own satirical poetry, says it is</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Much better than a Paris-garden beare,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or prating poppet on a theater,</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Or Mimœ's whistling to his tabouret,</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Selling a laughter for a cold meal's meat</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_560:B_1078" id="FNanchor_i_560:B_1078"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_560:B_1078" class="fnanchor">[560:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The character which Shakspeare attributes to the minstrel race of this -period, is in accordance with the preceding passages. In the original -edition of his <i>Rape of Lucrece</i>, which appeared in 1594, he draws his -heroine exclaiming,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Feast-finding</i> minstrels, tuning my defame,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Will tie the hearers to attend each line."<a name="FNanchor_i_560:C_1079" id="FNanchor_i_560:C_1079"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_560:C_1079" class="fnanchor">[560:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The epithet in <i>Italics</i> very distinctly points out the vagrant life of -these attendants on merriment and good cheer. They were accustomed to -travel the country, in search of bride-ales, Christmas dinners, fairs, -&c., and wherever they could get access to the halls of the gentry and -nobility.</p> - -<p>It is in the <i>Winter's Tale</i>, however, that the minstrel of our poet's -age is but too faithfully depicted. In the person of Autolycus, whom <!-- Page 561 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_561" id="Page_i_561">[561]</a></span>we -have already noticed, when describing the country wake, is to be found, -in colours faithful to nature, the very object of Stubbe's satire, a -composition very curiously blending the various functions of the -minstrel, the pedlar, and the rogue.</p> - -<p>No harshness therefore can be attributed to the act of Queen Elizabeth, -which in 1597 nearly annihilated an occupation so vilely associated and -degraded. In the fourth chapter of this statute the law enacts that "all -fencers, bearwards, common players of enterludes, and <span class="allcapsc">MINSTRELLS</span>, -wandering abroad; all juglers, tinkers, pedlars, &c. shall be adjudged -and deemed <i>rogues</i>, <i>vagabonds</i>, and <i>sturdy beggers</i>;" a clause which, -very deservedly, put an end to a profession which, though once highly -respectable and interesting, no longer had a claim to public support; a -clause which enabled Dr. Bull to say, with much truth,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Beggars they are with one consent,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And Rogues, by Act of Parliament."<a name="FNanchor_i_561:A_1080" id="FNanchor_i_561:A_1080"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_561:A_1080" class="fnanchor">[561:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of the use which Shakspeare made of the various romances, tales, and -ballads which undoubtedly occupied a large portion of his library, an -accurate estimate may be formed from a close inspection of his dramas. -It will be found, that, with the exception of the Historical plays, -derived either from English chronicles or translations of classic story, -the residue of his dramatic productions may be traced to sources -exclusively existing within the regions of romantic literature. As we -shall have occasion, however, hereafter to notice the origin of each -drama, as it passes before us in chronological succession, it will -merely be necessary in this place, in order to afford some proof of his -familiarity with these fictions, to select a few specimens of his -allusion to them from the body of his plays.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 562 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_562" id="Page_i_562">[562]</a></span>That our poet was well acquainted with the celebrated Romance, entitled -<i>Mort d'Arthure</i>, the most popular of its class, would have been readily -admitted from the known course of his studies, even if he had not once -alluded to it in the course of his works. In the <i>Second Part</i>, however, -of <i>King Henry the Fourth</i>, he makes <i>Shallow</i>, vaunting of his youthful -feats to Falstaffe, say, "I was then <i>Sir Dagonet</i> in <i>Arthur's -show</i><a name="FNanchor_i_562:A_1081" id="FNanchor_i_562:A_1081"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_562:A_1081" class="fnanchor">[562:A]</a>;" a line upon which Mr. Douce observes, "Whatever part Sir -Dagonet took in this show would doubtless be borrowed from Mallory's -romance of the <i>Mort Arture</i>, which had been compiled in the reign of -Henry VII. What there occurs relating to Sir Dagonet was extracted from -the excellent and ancient story of <i>Tristan de Leonnois</i>, in which -Dagonet is represented as the fool of king Arthur<a name="FNanchor_i_562:B_1082" id="FNanchor_i_562:B_1082"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_562:B_1082" class="fnanchor">[562:B]</a>;" a character -certainly well adapted to the powers of the worthy justice.</p> - -<p>It should, however, be remarked, that the <i>Arthur's show</i> in this -passage was not, what it might at first be supposed, an exact -representation of the ancient chivalric costume of that romantic Prince -and his knights, but principally an exhibition of <i>Archery</i> by a -toxophilite society, of which Richard Robinson, the translator of the -English Gesta, has given us an account under the title of "<i>The Auncient -Order Societie, and Unitie Laudable, of Prince Arthure and his knightly -Armory of the Round Table. With a Threefold Assertion friendly in favour -and furtherance of English Archery at this day</i>." 1583. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_562:C_1083" id="FNanchor_i_562:C_1083"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_562:C_1083" class="fnanchor">[562:C]</a></p> - -<p>These city-worthies, to the number of fifty-eight, it would seem, had -for some time assumed the arms and the names of the knights of the Round -Table, and Robinson, who the year before had published a translation of -Leland's <i>Assertio Arthvrii</i>, thought proper to dedicate his <i>Ancient -Order</i> to M. Thomas Smith, Esq., the then Prince Arthur of this -fellowship, and compliments him by deducing his society <!-- Page 563 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_563" id="Page_i_563">[563]</a></span>from the -establishment of the round table in the reign of Edward the First. "But -touching your famous order and fellowship of knights in shooting, though -in K. E. I. his time (ann. 1279) a valiant Knight and manly Mortimer at -Kenelworth appointed a knightly game, which was called the Round Table -of 100 knights and so manie Ladies (nameth not expressely shooting to be -one) yet for exercise of armes thither came many warlike knightes of -divers kingdomes. And the most famous and victorious king E. 3. builded -at Winchester (ann. 1344) an house called the Round Table of an -exceeding compasse, to the exercise of like or farre greater Chevalry -therin:—So the most famous, prudent, politike and grave prince K. Henry -the 7 was the first Phenix in chusing out a number of chiefe Archers to -give daily attendance upon his person, whom he named his Garde. But the -high and mighty renowned prince his son, K. H. 8. (ann. 1509) not onely -with great prowes and praise proceeded in that which his father had -begon; but also added greater dignity unto the same, like a most roial -renowned David, enacting a good and godly statute (ann. 33. H. 8. cap. -9.) for the use and exercise of shooting in every degree. And -furthermore for the maintenance of the same laudable exercise in this -honourable city of London by his gratious charter confirmed unto the -worshipful citizens of the same, this your now famous order of Knights -of Prince Arthures Round Table or Society: like as in his life time when -he sawe a good Archer indeede, he chose him and ordained such a one for -a knight of the same order."<a name="FNanchor_i_563:A_1084" id="FNanchor_i_563:A_1084"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_563:A_1084" class="fnanchor">[563:A]</a></p> - -<p>As this "<i>friendly and franke fellowship</i> of Prince Arthur's Knightes," -as Mulcaster terms it in his Positions<a name="FNanchor_i_563:B_1085" id="FNanchor_i_563:B_1085"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_563:B_1085" class="fnanchor">[563:B]</a>, bore little resemblance -to its celebrated archetype in any point of chivalric observance, beyond -the name; and as archery had ceased to be an object with government in a -military light, and was considered indeed, in <!-- Page 564 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_564" id="Page_i_564">[564]</a></span>the reign of James I., as -a mere pastime, the society, though respectable in the days of Robinson -and Mulcaster, soon dwindled into contempt, an idle mockery of an -institution which had originally been great and imposing.</p> - -<p>In <span class="smcap">Much Ado About Nothing</span>, our author very distinctly refers to another -of Captain Cox's romances, <i>Huon of Bourdeaux</i>, a production of equal -popularity with Morte Arthure, and which was translated into English by -Lord Berners, in the reign of Henry the Eighth<a name="FNanchor_i_564:A_1086" id="FNanchor_i_564:A_1086"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_564:A_1086" class="fnanchor">[564:A]</a>, under the title -of <i>Sir Hugh of Bourdeaux</i>. Benedict being informed of the approach of -Beatrice, addresses Don Pedro in the following terms:—"Will your grace -command me any service to the world's end? I will go on the slightest -errand now to the Antipodes, that you can devise to send me on; I will -fetch you a tooth-picker now from the farthest inch of Asia; bring you -the length of Prester John's foot; <i>fetch you a hair of the great Cham's -beard</i>; do you any embassage to the Pigmies, rather than hold three -word's conference with this harpy."<a name="FNanchor_i_564:B_1087" id="FNanchor_i_564:B_1087"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_564:B_1087" class="fnanchor">[564:B]</a> The passage in Italics, -together with the spirit of the context, will be discovered in the -subsequent command and achievement.</p> - -<p>"Thou must goe to the citie of Babylon to the Admiral Gaudisse, to bring -me thy hand full of the heare of his beard, and foure of his greatest -teeth. Alas, my lord, (quoth the Barrons,) we see well you desire -greatly his death, when you charge him with such a message."<a name="FNanchor_i_564:C_1088" id="FNanchor_i_564:C_1088"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_564:C_1088" class="fnanchor">[564:C]</a></p> - -<p>"He opened his mouth, and tooke out his foure great teeth, and then cut -off his beard, and tooke thereof as much as pleased him."<a name="FNanchor_i_564:D_1089" id="FNanchor_i_564:D_1089"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_564:D_1089" class="fnanchor">[564:D]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 565 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_565" id="Page_i_565">[565]</a></span>This version of Lord Berners furnished Shakspeare with the name, though -not with the character, of <i>Oberon</i>.</p> - -<p>The <span class="smcap">Second Part of King Henry the Sixth</span> supplies us with a reference to -the ancient romance of <i>Sir Bevis of Southampton</i>. In the combat between -Horner and his servant Peter, the former exclaims—"Peter, have at thee -with a downright blow, <i>as Bevis of Southampton fell upon</i> -Ascapart."<a name="FNanchor_i_565:A_1090" id="FNanchor_i_565:A_1090"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_565:A_1090" class="fnanchor">[565:A]</a></p> - -<p>This romance, which forms the fourth article in the Coventry Library, -was once highly popular, though possessing little merit. It was printed -by Pynson, and issued twice from the press of Copland, and once from -that of East. It has been since frequently republished, in various -forms, for the amusement of the juvenile part of the community.</p> - -<p>Of the hero of the tale, Selden has left us the following notice in his -notes on the Polyolbion:—"About the Norman invasion was Bevis famous -with the title of Earl of Southampton; Duncton in Wiltshire known for -his residence.—His sword is kept as a relique in Arundel Castle; not -equalling in length (as it is now worn) that of Edward 3, at -Westminster."<a name="FNanchor_i_565:B_1091" id="FNanchor_i_565:B_1091"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_565:B_1091" class="fnanchor">[565:B]</a></p> - -<p>Shakspeare has done further honour to this legend, by putting two lines -of it into the mouth of Edgar. Bevis, being confined in a dungeon, was -allowed neither meat nor corn, but</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Rattes and myce and such smal dere</div> - <div class="line indentq">Was his meate that seven yere;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 566 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_566" id="Page_i_566">[566]</a></span>a distich which the supposed madman in Lear has thus, almost verbally, -adopted:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"But mice, and rats, and such small deer,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Have been Tom's food for seven long year."<a name="FNanchor_i_566:A_1092" id="FNanchor_i_566:A_1092"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_566:A_1092" class="fnanchor">[566:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Dr. Percy has observed that Shakspeare had doubtless often heard this -metrical romance sung to the harp<a name="FNanchor_i_566:B_1093" id="FNanchor_i_566:B_1093"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_566:B_1093" class="fnanchor">[566:B]</a>; the popularity of these -legends, indeed, was such that, towards the end of Elizabeth's reign, -most of them were converted into prose, a degradation which befel Sir -Bevis, Sir Guy of Warwick, and many others of equal celebrity. To this -last romance Shakspeare has an allusion in his <i>King John</i>, where the -bastard speaks of</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Colbrand the giant, that same mighty man,"<a name="FNanchor_i_566:C_1094" id="FNanchor_i_566:C_1094"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_566:C_1094" class="fnanchor">[566:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">the defeat of this Danish Goliah, in single combat, by Sir Guy, being -one of the leading features of the story.</p> - -<p>It is highly probable, that the achievement ascribed to King Richard, in -this play, of tearing out the lion's heart<a name="FNanchor_i_566:D_1095" id="FNanchor_i_566:D_1095"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_566:D_1095" class="fnanchor">[566:D]</a>, was immediately -derived from a copy of the old metrical romance in the poet's library. -It is true that the chronicles of Fabian and Rastall have detailed this -fiction, and there is no doubt, from the same authority; but the -metrical legend of Richard Cœur de Lion being one of the most popular of -the Anglo-Norman romances, and having been thrice printed, twice by W. -De Worde, and once by Will. Copland, there is much reason to conclude -that an acknowledged lover, and collector, of this branch of literature -would prefer taking his imagery from the poem itself, more especially if -it rested upon his shelves.</p> - -<p>It appears from this romance, that Richard not only tore out the heart -of the lion, but, dipping it in salt, eat it before the eyes of the -<!-- Page 567 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_567" id="Page_i_567">[567]</a></span>astonished king of Almain, a feat which instantly drew from His Majesty -the peculiar appellation which designates the tale:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Yevis, as I understand can,</div> - <div class="line indentq">This is a devil, and no man,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That has my strong lion y-slawe,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The heart out of his body drawe,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And has it eaten with good will!</div> - <div class="line indentq">He may be called, by right skill,</div> - <div class="line indentq">King y-christened of most renown,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Strong <i>Richard Cœur de Lion</i>!"<a name="FNanchor_i_567:A_1096" id="FNanchor_i_567:A_1096"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_567:A_1096" class="fnanchor">[567:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The play of <i>Henry the Fifth</i> furnishes a reference to the fifth article -in Laneham's catalogue of the Coxean collection. Fluellen compelling -Pistol to eat his leek, tells him,—"You called me yesterday, -mountain-squire; but I will make you to-day a <i>squire of low -degree</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_567:B_1097" id="FNanchor_i_567:B_1097"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_567:B_1097" class="fnanchor">[567:B]</a></p> - -<p>This romance, which was licensed to John Kynge on the tenth of June -1560<a name="FNanchor_i_567:C_1098" id="FNanchor_i_567:C_1098"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_567:C_1098" class="fnanchor">[567:C]</a>, and printed by William Copland before 1570<a name="FNanchor_i_567:D_1099" id="FNanchor_i_567:D_1099"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_567:D_1099" class="fnanchor">[567:D]</a>, was one -of the most popular of the sixteenth century, and possesses some -striking traits of manners, and several very curious poetical sketches. -It is twice alluded to by Spenser<a name="FNanchor_i_567:E_1100" id="FNanchor_i_567:E_1100"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_567:E_1100" class="fnanchor">[567:E]</a> in his Faerie Queene, and has -been supposed, though probably without sufficient foundation, to have -existed in manuscript anterior to the age of Chaucer.<a name="FNanchor_i_567:F_1101" id="FNanchor_i_567:F_1101"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_567:F_1101" class="fnanchor">[567:F]</a></p> - -<p>There are some scenes in Shakspeare which appear to have been originally -derived from <i>Oriental</i> fable. Thus, in <i>Twelfth Night</i>, the leading -ideas of Malvolio's soliloquy (act ii. sc. 5.), bear a strong -<!-- Page 568 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_568" id="Page_i_568">[568]</a></span>resemblance, as Mr. Tyrrwhitt observes, to those of Alnaschar, in <i>The -Arabian Nights Entertainments</i>; an observation which has drawn from Mr. -Steevens the following curious and pertinent note:—</p> - -<p>"Many Arabian fictions had found their way into obscure Latin and French -books, and from thence into English ones, long before any professed -version of <i>The Arabian Nights Entertainments</i> had appeared. I meet with -a story similar to that of Alnaschar, in <i>The Dialoge of Creatures -Moralysed</i>, bl. l. no date, but probably printed abroad: 'It is but foly -to hope to moche of vanyteys. Whereof it is told in fablis that a lady -uppon a tyme delyuered to her mayden a galon of mylke to sell at a cite. -And by the waye as she sate and restid her by a dyche side, she began to -thinke y<sup>t</sup> with ye money of the mylke she wolde bye an henne, the -which shulde bring forth chekyns, and when they were grownyn to hennys -she wolde sell them and by piggis, and eschaunge them into shepe, and -the shepe into oxen; and so whan she was come to richnesse she sholde be -married right worshipfully unto some worthy man, and thus she rejoycid. -And when she was thus marvelously comfortid, and ravished inwardely in -her secrete solace thinkynge with howe great joye she shuld be ledde -towarde the churche with her husbond on horsebacke, she sayde to her -self, Goo wee, goo wee, sodaynelye she smote the grounde with her fote, -myndynge to spurre the horse; but her fote slypped and she fell in the -dyche, and there laye all her mylke; and so she was farre from her -purpose, and never had that she hopid to have. Dial. 100, LL. ij -b."<a name="FNanchor_i_568:A_1102" id="FNanchor_i_568:A_1102"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_568:A_1102" class="fnanchor">[568:A]</a></p> - -<p>We may also refer the <i>Induction</i> to the <i>Taming of the Shrew</i> to the -same source, to <i>The Sleeper awakened</i>, in the Arabian Nights, a tale -which seems to have crept from its oriental fountain through every -modern European language. Its earliest appearance in English that can -now be traced, is derived from the information of Mr. Warton, who -informs us that his friend Mr. Collins, the celebrated lyric poet, had -in his <!-- Page 569 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_569" id="Page_i_569">[569]</a></span>possession a collection of short comic stories in prose, "sett -forth by maister Richard Edwards, mayster of her Majesties revels," and -with the date of 1570. This book, which was printed in the black letter, -contained the story of the <i>Induction</i>, and was, there is little doubt, -the source whence Shakspeare and the author of the elder <i>Taming of the -Shrew</i> drew their outline.<a name="FNanchor_i_569:A_1103" id="FNanchor_i_569:A_1103"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_569:A_1103" class="fnanchor">[569:A]</a> A similar tale is the subject of a -ballad in the Pepysian collection, which has been published by -Percy<a name="FNanchor_i_569:B_1104" id="FNanchor_i_569:B_1104"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_569:B_1104" class="fnanchor">[569:B]</a>, and it is to be found also in Sir Richard Barckley's -<i>Discourse on the Felicitie of Man</i>, 1598, in Goulart's <i>Admirable and -Memorable Histories</i>, translated by E. Grimstone, 1607; in Burton's -<i>Anatomie of Melancholy</i>, 1615; in <i>The Apothegms of King James, King -Charles, the Marquis of Worcester</i>, &c. 1658, and in Winstanley's -<i>Historical Rarities</i>, 1684.<a name="FNanchor_i_569:C_1105" id="FNanchor_i_569:C_1105"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_569:C_1105" class="fnanchor">[569:C]</a> Some of the Arabian Tales and some -of the Fables of Pilpay may be traced in <i>The Seven Wise Masters</i>, and -in the English <i>Gesta Romanorum</i>.</p> - -<p>To romances of <i>Italian</i> origin and structure, such as were exhibited in -English versions often mutilated and incorrect, our author's obligations -are so numerous, particularly with regard to the formation of plot, -that, referring to a future consideration of each play for further -illustration on these subjects, we shall only remark in this place, that -many of the faults which have been ascribed to Shakspeare's want of -judgment in the conduct of his dramas, are attributable to the necessity -he was under, either from want of power or want of time, of applying to -versions and imitations in lieu of the originals; a species of -accommodation which frequently led him to adopt the mistakes of a -wretched translation, when a reference to the Italian would immediately -have induced a better choice. This will account for many of the charges -which Mrs. Lennox has brought against the poet, in respect to deficiency -of skill in the arrangement of his incidents.<a name="FNanchor_i_569:D_1106" id="FNanchor_i_569:D_1106"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_569:D_1106" class="fnanchor">[569:D]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 570 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_570" id="Page_i_570">[570]</a></span>The <i>First Part of King Henry the Fourth</i> presents us with an allusion -to one of those <i>Spanish</i> romances which became so popular towards the -close of Elizabeth's reign. Falstaff, in answer to the Prince, who had -told him, that he saw no reason why he should "be so superfluous to -demand the time of the day," replies, "Indeed, you come near me now, -Hal: for we, that take purses, go by the moon and seven stars; and not -by Phœbus,—he, <i>that wandering knight so fair</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_570:A_1107" id="FNanchor_i_570:A_1107"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_570:A_1107" class="fnanchor">[570:A]</a></p> - -<p>The romance to which this passage stands indebted, is entitled, in the -best and most complete edition, "<i>Espeio de Principes, y Cavalleros. En -el qual se cuentan los immortales hechos de <span class="smcap">Cavallero del Febo</span></i>," &c. -&c., four parts, folio, and is the subject of the Barber's eulogium in -Don Quixote. "He (the Don) had frequent disputes with the priest of his -village, who was a learned person, and had taken his degrees in -Ciguenza, which of the two was the better knight, Palmerin of England, -or Amadis de Gaul. But master Nicholas, barber-surgeon of the same town, -affirmed, that none ever came up to the <i>Knight of the Sun</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_570:B_1108" id="FNanchor_i_570:B_1108"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_570:B_1108" class="fnanchor">[570:B]</a></p> - -<p>This production, the first part of which was translated into English, -under the title of <i>The Myrrour of Knighthood</i>, was well known in -Shakspeare's time; the second part of the first book having been printed -in the black letter, by Thomas Este, in 1585.<a name="FNanchor_i_570:C_1109" id="FNanchor_i_570:C_1109"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_570:C_1109" class="fnanchor">[570:C]</a> The whole occupies -three volumes in 4to., and in it the Knight of the Sun is represented -not only as "most excellently <i>faire</i>," but as a prodigious <i>wanderer</i>; -so that Falstaff, who, by an easy association, digresses from Phœbus to -this solar knight-errant, has very compendiously combined his -characteristics.</p> - -<p>It is probable that the celebrated passage in Hamlet's soliloquy, where -the prince speaks of</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 571 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_571" id="Page_i_571">[571]</a></span><div class="line">"The undiscovered country, from whose bourn</div> - <div class="line indentq">No traveller returns,"<a name="FNanchor_i_571:A_1110" id="FNanchor_i_571:A_1110"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_571:A_1110" class="fnanchor">[571:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">may have been founded on a similar idea in the Spanish romance entitled -<i>Palmerin d'Oliva</i>. The translation of Palmerin was first printed in -1588, and in Part II. chap. 3. the reader must be struck with the -following words,—"before he took his journey wherein no creature -returneth agaie." Now, as Hamlet, according to the chronological -arrangement of Mr. Malone, was not written until 1596, and Palmerin -d'Oliva may certainly be reckoned among the most fashionable romances of -its day, the conjecture is entitled to attention. It is necessary, -however, to add, that we are altogether indebted for it to a learned and -ingenious correspondent in the British Bibliographer, whose initial -signature is W. and whose acquaintance with romantic lore appears to be -equally accurate and profound.<a name="FNanchor_i_571:B_1111" id="FNanchor_i_571:B_1111"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_571:B_1111" class="fnanchor">[571:B]</a></p> - -<p>To this gentleman we are under further obligation for the confirmation -of a supposition made by Mr. Douce, who, commenting on this part of -Hamlet's soliloquy, refers it to a passage in the <i>History of Valentine -and Orson</i>, and adds,—"It is probable that there was an edition of -Valentine and Orson in Shakspeare's time, though none such is supposed -now to remain."<a name="FNanchor_i_571:C_1112" id="FNanchor_i_571:C_1112"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_571:C_1112" class="fnanchor">[571:C]</a></p> - -<p>Such an edition, it appears, is in the possession of the correspondent -of Sir Egerton Brydges, who has given us a description of it, together -with the following title, as drawn from the colophon:—"<i>The historie of -the two valyante brethren Valentyne and Orson, sônes vn to the Emperour -of Græce. Imprinted at London over a gaynst St. Margaretes Churche in -Lothbery be William Coplande.</i>" Small <!-- Page 572 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_572" id="Page_i_572">[572]</a></span>4to. b. l. sig. I. i. 5. -wood-cuts.<a name="FNanchor_i_572:A_1113" id="FNanchor_i_572:A_1113"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_572:A_1113" class="fnanchor">[572:A]</a> The antiquity of this copy, though without date, is -ascertained by the circumstance, that Will. Copland, the printer, died -between the years 1568 and 1569; and there is even reason to suppose, -that this is but a re-impression, for, after the table of contents, a -short note states, "Here endeth the table <i>newly correcte</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_572:B_1114" id="FNanchor_i_572:B_1114"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_572:B_1114" class="fnanchor">[572:B]</a></p> - -<p>The reference of Mr. Douce is to page 63 of the edition of 1694, in -which occurs a sentence which undoubtedly bears a striking resemblance -to the lines of Shakspeare:—"I shall send some of you here present -<i>into such a country, that you shall scarcely ever return again</i> to -bring tydings of your valour."<a name="FNanchor_i_572:C_1115" id="FNanchor_i_572:C_1115"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_572:C_1115" class="fnanchor">[572:C]</a></p> - -<p>That our great poet was as well versed in the pages of Valentine and -Orson, as have been the school-boys of this country for the last -century, is our firm belief. "It would be difficult," says the possessor -of Copland's edition, "to find a reader of the present day, who had not -in the hour of childhood voted a portion of his scanty stipend to the -purchase of 'Valentine and Orson,' and withdrawn for a few hours from -more laborious exercises, or amusements, to peruse its fascinating -pages;" and equally difficult would it have been, in Shakspeare's days, -to have found a person of liberal education, who had not devoted a -portion of his leisure to the perusal of this simple but energetic -romance.</p> - -<p>From the numerous corresponding passages, however, cited by our author's -commentators, from the period of Catullus to the seventeenth century, it -would seem that the idea, and even the terms in which it has been -expressed, may be considered as a kind of common property, and -consequently rather a mark of coincidence than imitation.</p> - -<p>Of the <i>Arcadia</i> of Sir Philip Sidney, the best <i>pastoral</i> romance, and -one of the most popular books of its age, we cannot be surprised that -Shakspeare should have been an ardent admirer, and that <!-- Page 573 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_573" id="Page_i_573">[573]</a></span>occasionally he -should have been indebted to it for an incident or an image. The first -scene of the fourth act, in the <i>Two Gentlemen of Verona</i>, in which -Valentine accepts the captainship of a band of outlaws, appears to be -founded on that part of the Arcadia where Pyrocles, released from prison -by the Helots, consents to be their leader and captain.<a name="FNanchor_i_573:A_1116" id="FNanchor_i_573:A_1116"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_573:A_1116" class="fnanchor">[573:A]</a></p> - -<p>More certainly is the episode of Gloster and his sons, in King Lear, -derived from the same work, the first edition of which, published in -1590, being divided into chapters, exhibits one with this title:—"The -pitifull state and storie of the Paphlagonian unkinde king, and his -kinde sonne: first related by the sonne, then by the blind father." The -subsequent editions omit the divisions into chapters, and in the copy -before us, which is the seventh impression, the story commences at page -132, being part of the second book. As no other source for this -narrative than the <i>Arcadia</i>, has hitherto been traced, and as the -similarity of incident is considerable, there can be little doubt but -that this portion of <i>King Lear</i> must confess its obligation to the -romance.</p> - -<p>The appellation, also, given to Cupid, in a passage in <i>Much Ado about -Nothing</i>, is evidently to be referred to a line in the <i>Arcadia</i>. Don -Pedro, speaking of Benedict, says, "he hath twice or thrice cut Cupid's -bow-string, and the little <i>hangman</i> dare not shoot at him."<a name="FNanchor_i_573:B_1117" id="FNanchor_i_573:B_1117"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_573:B_1117" class="fnanchor">[573:B]</a> It -has been conjectured, that the word in Italics should be <i>hench-man</i>, a -page or attendant; but to decide the question it is only necessary to -quote the words of Sidney:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Millions of yeares this old drivell Cupid lives;</div> - <div class="line indentq">While still more wretch, more wicked he doth prove:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Till now at length that Jove him office gives,</div> - <div class="line indentq">At Juno's suite, who much did Argus love,</div> - <div class="line i1q">In this our world a <i>hangman</i> for to be</div> - <div class="line i1q">Of all those fooles that will have all they see."<a name="FNanchor_i_573:C_1118" id="FNanchor_i_573:C_1118"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_573:C_1118" class="fnanchor">[573:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 574 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_574" id="Page_i_574">[574]</a></span>If, from this catalogue of allusions, our author's intimacy with the -romances of his age, may be considered as proved, his familiarity with -the <i>ballads</i> and <i>songs</i> of the same period will not be deemed less -extensive, or less admitting of demonstration. Throughout his dramas, -indeed, a peculiar partiality for these popular little pieces is very -manifest; he delights to quote them, wherever he can find a place for -their introduction, and his own efforts in this line of poetry are often -of the utmost simplicity and beauty.</p> - -<p>How strongly he felt this predilection for the strains of our elder -minstrelsy, and how exquisitely he has expressed his attachment to them, -must be in the recollection of all who have ever read, or seen -performed, his admirable comedy of the <i>Twelfth Night</i>, in which the -Duke exclaims,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Give me some musick:—but that piece of song,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That old and antique song we heard last night,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Methought it did relieve my passion much;</div> - <div class="line indentq">More than light airs and recollected terms,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of these most brisk and giddy-paced times:—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Mark it, Cæsario; it is old, and plain:</div> - <div class="line indentq">The spinsters and the knitters in the sun,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And the free maids, that weave their thread with bones,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Do use to chaunt it; it is silly sooth,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And dallies with the innocence of love,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Like the old age."<a name="FNanchor_i_574:A_1119" id="FNanchor_i_574:A_1119"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_574:A_1119" class="fnanchor">[574:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Before we notice, however, the ballads which Shakspeare has quoted, or -to which he has alluded, it will be satisfactory, if, to the articles -specified in Captain Cox's "Bunch of Ballets and Songs," we add a few -more of similar popularity, and from a source equally rare and -authentic. In the <i>British Bibliographer</i>, Mr. Haslewood has given us a -description of the fragment of a tract in his possession, entitled <span class="smcap">The -World's Folly</span>, printed, as he concludes, from the type, before 1600, and -from which, "as every allusion," he justly observes, "to our early -ballads is interesting," he has obliged his <!-- Page 575 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_575" id="Page_i_575">[575]</a></span>readers with some very -curious quotations. "The author," he remarks, "appears to describe the -purgatory of Folly. He wanders from room to room, and to each new -character assigns a ballad, that may be presumed was distinguished for -popularity. A man, whose credit had decayed by trusting servants, and -had commenced botcher, 'had standing by him, for meate and drinke, a pot -of strong ale, which was often at his nose, that it kept his face in so -good a colour, and his braine in so kinde a heate, as forgetting part of -his forepassed pride, in the good humour of grieving patience, made him -with a hemming sigh, ilfavourdly singe the ballad of <i>Whilom I was</i>: to -the tune of <i>Tom Tinker</i>.' An old man, shaking with palsy, who, 'having -beene a man of some possessions, and with too fat feeding of horses, too -high keeping of hawkes, and too much delighting in banquetinges, through -lacke of husbandrie, was forced to leave himself without lande; . . . -after many a deepe sighe, with a hollow voice, in a solemne tune, with a -heavie hearte fell to sing the song of <i>Oken leaves began wither</i>: to -the tune of <i>Heavilie, heavilie</i>.' A dapper fellow that in his youth had -spent more than he got on his person, 'fell to singe the ballad of the -<i>blinde beggar</i>: to the tune of <i>Heigh ho</i>.' The general lover, having -no further credit with beauty, 'howled out the dittie of <i>When I was -faire and young</i>: to the tune of <i>Fortune</i>. The next is whimsically -described as 'one that was once a virgin, had beene a little while a -mayde, knew the name of a wife, fell to be a widdow,' and finally a -procuress; 'she would sing the <i>Lamentation of a sinner</i>: to the tune of -<i>Welladaye</i>.' A decayed prostitute, who had become laundress to the -house, 'stood singing the ballet of <i>All a greene willowe</i>: to the -famous tune of <i>Ding Dong</i>.' A man with good personage, with a froward -wife, 'hummed out the balled of <i>the breeches</i>: to the tune of <i>Never, -never</i>.' His termagant spouse drewe from her pocket 'a ballad of <i>the -tinker's wife that beate her husbande</i>.' To the last character in the -fragment is also given Raleigh's ballad. He was 'one that had beene in -love, sat looking on his mistresse picture, making such a legge to it, -writing such verses in honour to it, and committing such idolatrie with -it, that poore man, I pittied <!-- Page 576 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_576" id="Page_i_576">[576]</a></span>him: and in his behalfe sorrowed to see -how the Foole did handle him: but there sat he, hanging his head, -lifting up the eyes, and with a deepe sigh, singing the ballad of <i>Come -live with me and be my love</i>: to the tune of <i>adieu my deere</i>.'"<a name="FNanchor_i_576:A_1120" id="FNanchor_i_576:A_1120"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_576:A_1120" class="fnanchor">[576:A]</a></p> - -<p>It is, notwithstanding, to the dramas of our poet, that we must look for -more copious intimations relative to the ballad-poetry of the sixteenth -century, and of the first ten years of the reign of James the First. The -list which we shall collect from his works, in the order in which they -are usually published, will sufficiently evince his love for these -productions, and, at the same time, afford a pretty accurate enumeration -of those which were esteemed the most popular of his age.</p> - -<p>Yet, in forming this catalogue of Shakspearean ballads and songs, it may -be necessary to premise, that it is not our intention to comment on the -original pieces of our author in this branch of poetry, which will fall -under consideration in a subsequent chapter; but merely to confine our -notices to his quotations from and allusions to the minstrel strains of -others. We commence, therefore, with the ballad of <i>Queen Dido</i>, which -the poet had no doubt in view, when he represents Gonzalo in the -<i>Tempest</i> so familiar with her name and history.<a name="FNanchor_i_576:B_1121" id="FNanchor_i_576:B_1121"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_576:B_1121" class="fnanchor">[576:B]</a> That this was a -favourite song with the common people appears from a passage in a scarce -pamphlet quoted by Mr. Ritson, and published in 1604. "O you -ale-knights, you that devoure the marrow of the mault, and drinke whole -ale-tubs into consumptions; that sing <i>Queen Dido</i> over a cupp, and tell -strange newes over an ale-pot."<a name="FNanchor_i_576:C_1122" id="FNanchor_i_576:C_1122"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_576:C_1122" class="fnanchor">[576:C]</a> Dr. Percy, who has published a -correct copy of this old ballad from his folio MS. collated with two -different printed copies, both in black letter, in the Pepysian -collection, terms it "<i>excellent</i>;" an epithet <!-- Page 577 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_577" id="Page_i_577">[577]</a></span>justly merited, for, -though blended with the manners of a Gothic age, it is certainly both -pathetic and interesting.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Ford, in the <i>Merry Wives of Windsor</i>, speaking of Falstaff's -proposals, says, that his disposition and his words "do no more adhere -and keep place together than the hundredth psalm to the tune of <i>Green -Sleeves</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_577:A_1123" id="FNanchor_i_577:A_1123"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_577:A_1123" class="fnanchor">[577:A]</a> This seems to have been a very popular song about -1580, for it is licensed several times during this year, and entered on -the books of the Stationers' Company, under the titles of "A newe -northerne dittye of the Lady <i>Green Sleeves</i>," and "A new Northern Song -of <i>Green Sleeves</i>, beginning</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The bonniest lass in all the land."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">It is mentioned by Beaumont and Fletcher in <i>The Loyal Subject</i>, but is -supposed to be now no longer extant.</p> - -<p>In the same play, Falstaff alludes to another old song, which was -entitled <i>Fortune my foe</i><a name="FNanchor_i_577:B_1124" id="FNanchor_i_577:B_1124"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_577:B_1124" class="fnanchor">[577:B]</a>, enumerating all the misfortunes -incident to mankind through the instability of fortune. Of this ballad, -which is mentioned by Brewer in his <i>Lingua</i><a name="FNanchor_i_577:C_1125" id="FNanchor_i_577:C_1125"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_577:C_1125" class="fnanchor">[577:C]</a>, twice by Beaumont -and Fletcher<a name="FNanchor_i_577:D_1126" id="FNanchor_i_577:D_1126"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_577:D_1126" class="fnanchor">[577:D]</a>, and by Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy<a name="FNanchor_i_577:E_1127" id="FNanchor_i_577:E_1127"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_577:E_1127" class="fnanchor">[577:E]</a>, -the tune is said to be the identical air now known by the song of "Death -and the Lady;" and the first stanza, observes Mr. Malone, was as -follows:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Fortune, my foe</i>, why dost thou frown on me?</div> - <div class="line indentq">And will my fortune never better be?</div> - <div class="line indentq">Wilt thou, I say, for ever breed my pain,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And wilt thou not restore my joys again?"<a name="FNanchor_i_577:F_1128" id="FNanchor_i_577:F_1128"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_577:F_1128" class="fnanchor">[577:F]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Sir Hugh Evans, in the first scene of the third act of this<a name="FNanchor_i_577:G_1129" id="FNanchor_i_577:G_1129"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_577:G_1129" class="fnanchor">[577:G]</a> play, -quotes, though from his trepidation very inaccurately, four lines from -<!-- Page 578 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_578" id="Page_i_578">[578]</a></span>two of the most popular little madrigals at the close of the sixteenth -century, entitled <i>The Passionate Shepherd to His Love</i>, and <i>The -Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd</i>; the first written by Christopher Marlow, -and the second by Sir Walter Raleigh. These had been attributed, -however, to Shakspeare, in consequence of their being included in a copy -of his smaller poems printed by William Jaggard in 1599. This edition -being published during the life-time of the poet, gave currency to the -ascription; but in the year following Marlow's poem appeared in -<i>England's Helicon</i>, with his name annexed, and Raleigh's with his usual -signature of <i>Ignoto</i><a name="FNanchor_i_578:A_1130" id="FNanchor_i_578:A_1130"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_578:A_1130" class="fnanchor">[578:A]</a>; and Isaac Walton, in the first edition of -his <i>Compleat Angler</i>, printed in 1653, has attributed these pieces to -the same authors, describing them as "that smooth song, which was made -by Kit Marlow, now at least fifty years ago; and—an Answer to it, which -was made by Sir Walter Raleigh in his younger days—old fashioned -poetry," he adds, "but choicely good; I think much better then the -strong lines that are now in fashion in this critical age."<a name="FNanchor_i_578:B_1131" id="FNanchor_i_578:B_1131"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_578:B_1131" class="fnanchor">[578:B]</a> Had -Marlow written nothing but this beautiful song, he would yet have -descended to posterity as an excellent poet; the imitations of it have -been numerous.</p> - -<p>The <i>Twelfth Night</i> presents us with a variety of fragments of ballads, -songs, and catches; Sir Andrew Ague-cheek calls for the catch of <i>Thou -Knave</i>, of which the words and musical notes are given by Sir J. -Hawkins<a name="FNanchor_i_578:C_1132" id="FNanchor_i_578:C_1132"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_578:C_1132" class="fnanchor">[578:C]</a>; Sir Toby compares Olivia to <i>Peg-a Ramsay</i>, a licentious -song mentioned by Nash among several other ballads, such as <i>Rogero</i>, -<i>Basilino</i>, <i>Turkelony</i>, <i>All the Flowers of the Broom</i>, <i>Pepper is -black</i>, <i>Green Sleeves</i>, <i>Peggie Ramsie</i>; and immediately afterwards -this jovial knight quotes several detached lines from as many separate -ballads, for instance, <i>Three merry men be we</i>; <i>There dwelt a man in -Babylon, lady, lady</i>; <i>O the twelfth day of December</i>; <!-- Page 579 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_579" id="Page_i_579">[579]</a></span><i>Farewell, dear -heart, since I must needs be gone</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_579:A_1133" id="FNanchor_i_579:A_1133"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_579:A_1133" class="fnanchor">[579:A]</a> Of these the first was a -burden common to many ancient songs, and is called in <i>The Old Wives -Tale</i>, by George Peele, 1595, an <i>Old Proverb</i>, and is thus given:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Three merrie men, and three merrie men,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And three merrie men be wee;</div> - <div class="line indentq">I in the wood, and thou on the ground,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And Jack sleepes in the tree:"<a name="FNanchor_i_579:B_1134" id="FNanchor_i_579:B_1134"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_579:B_1134" class="fnanchor">[579:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">an association which acquired such notoriety as to become the frequent -sign of an ale-house, under the appellation of <i>The Three Merry Boys</i>. -The second is the first line and the burden of a ballad which was -licensed by T. Colwell, in 1562, under the title of <i>The goodly and -constant Wyfe Susanna</i>. It is preserved in the Pepysian collection, and -the first stanza of it has been quoted by Dr. Percy in his -<i>Reliques</i><a name="FNanchor_i_579:C_1135" id="FNanchor_i_579:C_1135"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_579:C_1135" class="fnanchor">[579:C]</a>; the burden <i>lady, lady</i>, is again alluded to by -Mercutio in <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, act ii. sc. 4. The third has not been -traced to its source, but the fourth, and the subsequent lines, are -taken, with a little variation, from <i>Corydon's Farewell To Phillis</i>, -published in a little black letter miscellany, called "The Golden -Garland of Princely Delights," and reprinted entire by Dr. Percy.<a name="FNanchor_i_579:D_1136" id="FNanchor_i_579:D_1136"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_579:D_1136" class="fnanchor">[579:D]</a></p> - -<p>In act iv. sc. 2. the clown is introduced singing part of the first two -stanzas of a song which has been discovered among the ancient MSS. of -Dr. Harrington of Bath, and there ascribed, though perhaps not -correctly, to Sir Thomas Wyat. It is evident that Shakspeare trusted to -his memory in the quotation of these popular pieces, for most of them -deviate, in some degree, from the originals; in the present instance, -the first two lines, as given by the clown,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Hey Robin, jolly Robin,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Tell me how thy lady does,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 580 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_580" id="Page_i_580">[580]</a></span>are substituted for the opening stanza of the old song:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"A Robyn,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Jolly Robyn,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Tell me how thy leman doeth,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And thou shalt knowe of myn."<a name="FNanchor_i_580:A_1137" id="FNanchor_i_580:A_1137"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_580:A_1137" class="fnanchor">[580:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The commencement of a madrigal, the composition of William Elderton, is -sung by Benedict, in <i>Much Ado about Nothing</i>.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The god of love,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That sits above," &c.<a name="FNanchor_i_580:B_1138" id="FNanchor_i_580:B_1138"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_580:B_1138" class="fnanchor">[580:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and a song beginning in a similar manner, is mentioned by Mr. Ritson, to -be in <i>Bacchus' Bountie</i>, 4to. bl. l. 1593; Elderton's production was -parodied by a puritan of the name of Birch, under the title of "The -Complaint of a Sinner."<a name="FNanchor_i_580:C_1139" id="FNanchor_i_580:C_1139"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_580:C_1139" class="fnanchor">[580:C]</a></p> - -<p>In <i>Love's Labours Lost</i>, a sweet air, as Armado terms it, commencing -with the word <i>Concolinel</i>, is sung by Moth<a name="FNanchor_i_580:D_1140" id="FNanchor_i_580:D_1140"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_580:D_1140" class="fnanchor">[580:D]</a>, but no further -intimation is given; and in another part of the same comedy, the burden -of an ancient ditty is chaunted by Roseline and Boyet.<a name="FNanchor_i_580:E_1141" id="FNanchor_i_580:E_1141"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_580:E_1141" class="fnanchor">[580:E]</a> In <i>As You -Like It</i> Touchstone quotes a stanza from a ballad of which the first -line is <i>O sweet Oliver</i>, and which appears to be the same with the -ballad of</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"O sweete Olyver</div> - <div class="line indentq">Leave me not behinde thee,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">entered by Richard Jones, on the books of the Stationers' Company, -August 6th, 1584<a name="FNanchor_i_580:F_1142" id="FNanchor_i_580:F_1142"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_580:F_1142" class="fnanchor">[580:F]</a>; and in the subsequent act, Orlando alludes to a -madrigal under the title of <i>Wit whither wilt</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_580:G_1143" id="FNanchor_i_580:G_1143"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_580:G_1143" class="fnanchor">[580:G]</a></p> - -<p><i>All's Well that Ends Well</i> affords but two passages from the minstrel -poesy of the day, which are put into the mouth of the clown; <!-- Page 581 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_581" id="Page_i_581">[581]</a></span>one of -these is evidently taken from a ballad on the <i>Sacking of Troy</i>, and the -other seems to have been the chorus of a song on courtship or -marriage.<a name="FNanchor_i_581:A_1144" id="FNanchor_i_581:A_1144"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_581:A_1144" class="fnanchor">[581:A]</a></p> - -<p>From the <i>Taming of the Shrew</i> we collect the initial lines of two -apparently very popular ballads; the first beginning <i>Where is the life -that late I led</i><a name="FNanchor_i_581:B_1145" id="FNanchor_i_581:B_1145"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_581:B_1145" class="fnanchor">[581:B]</a>, which is likewise quoted by Ancient -Pistol<a name="FNanchor_i_581:C_1146" id="FNanchor_i_581:C_1146"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_581:C_1146" class="fnanchor">[581:C]</a>, and referred to in <i>A gorgious Gallery of gallant -Inventions</i>, 4to. 1578; there is also a song or sonnet with this title, -observes Mr. Malone, in <i>a handeful of pleasant Delites, containing -sundrie new Sonets</i>, &c. 1584, where we read of "Dame Beautie's replie -to the <i>lover late at libertie</i>, and now complaineth himselfe to be her -captive, intituled, <i>Where is the life that late I led</i>:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The life that erst thou led'st, my friend,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Was pleasant to thine eyes," &c.<a name="FNanchor_i_581:D_1147" id="FNanchor_i_581:D_1147"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_581:D_1147" class="fnanchor">[581:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The second fragment with which Petruchio has favoured us, commencing</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"It was the friar of orders grey,</div> - <div class="line indentq">As he forth walked on his way,"<a name="FNanchor_i_581:E_1148" id="FNanchor_i_581:E_1148"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_581:E_1148" class="fnanchor">[581:E]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">has given rise to one of the most pleasing and pathetic of modern -ballads, founded on a professed introduction of as many of our poet's -ballad fragments as could consistently be adapted. "Dispersed through -Shakspeare's plays," says the ingenious associator, "are innumerable -<!-- Page 582 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_582" id="Page_i_582">[582]</a></span>little fragments of ancient ballads, the entire copies of which could -not be recovered. Many of these being of the most beautiful and pathetic -simplicity, the editor was tempted to select some of them, and with a -few supplemental stanzas to connect them together, and form them into a -little Tale."<a name="FNanchor_i_582:A_1149" id="FNanchor_i_582:A_1149"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_582:A_1149" class="fnanchor">[582:A]</a> That much taste and poetic spirit, together with a -very successful effort in combination, have been exhibited in this -little piece, the public approbation has unequivocally decided.</p> - -<p>To the character of Autolycus, in the <i>Winter's Tale</i>, a very humorous -exemplar of the fallen state of the minstrel tribe, we are indebted for -some illustration of the prevalency of ballad-writing at the -commencement of the reign of James the First. Most of the songs -attributed to this adroit rogue, are, there is reason to think, the -composition of Shakspeare, with the exception of the catch beginning -<i>Jog on, jog on, the foot-path way</i><a name="FNanchor_i_582:B_1150" id="FNanchor_i_582:B_1150"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_582:B_1150" class="fnanchor">[582:B]</a>; but, in his capacity of -ballad-vender, he throws considerable light on the subjects to which -these motley strains were devoted. He is represented as having ballads -of all descriptions, and "the prettiest love-songs for maids"—"and -where some stretch-mouth'd rascal would, as it were, mean mischief, and -break a foul gap into the matter, he makes the maid to answer, <i>Whoop, -do me no harm, good man</i>; puts him off, slights him, with <i>Whoop, do me</i> -no harm, good man."<a name="FNanchor_i_582:C_1151" id="FNanchor_i_582:C_1151"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_582:C_1151" class="fnanchor">[582:C]</a> Accordingly at the Fair he is applied to for -these precious wares:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<!-- Page 583 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_583" id="Page_i_583">[583]</a></span> -<p>"<i>Clo.</i> What hast here? ballads?</p> - -<p><i>Mop.</i> Pray now, buy some: I love a ballad in print, a'-life: -for then we are sure they are true.</p> - -<p><i>Aut.</i> Here's one to a very doleful tune, How a usurer's wife -was brought to bed of <!-- Page 584 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_584" id="Page_i_584">[584]</a></span>twenty money-bags at a burden; and how -she longed to eat adder's heads, and toads carbonadoed.</p> - -<p><i>Mop.</i> Is it true, think you?</p> - -<p><i>Aut.</i> Very true; and but a month old.</p> - -<p><i>Dor.</i> Bless me from marrying a usurer!</p> - -<p><i>Aut.</i> Here's the midwife's name to't, one mistress -Taleporter; and five or six honest wives that were present: -Why should I carry lies abroad?</p> - -<p><i>Mop.</i> 'Pray you now, buy it.</p> - -<p><i>Clo.</i> Come on, lay it by: And let's first see more ballads; -we'll buy the other things anon.</p> - -<p><i>Aut.</i> Here's another ballad, Of a fish, that appeared upon -the coast, on Wednesday the fourscore of April, forty thousand -fathom above water, and sung this ballad against the hard -hearts of maids: it was thought she was a woman, and was -turned into a cold fish, for she would not exchange flesh with -one that loved her: The ballad is very pitiful, and as true.</p> - -<p><i>Dor.</i> Is it true, think you?</p> - -<p><i>Aut.</i> Five justices' hands at it; and witnesses, more than my -pack will hold.</p> - -<p><i>Clo.</i> Lay it by too: Another.</p> - -<p><i>Aut.</i> This is a merry ballad; but a very pretty one.</p> - -<p><i>Mop.</i> Let's have some merry ones.</p> - -<p><i>Aut.</i> Why, this is a passing merry one; and goes to the tune -of, <i>Two maids wooing a man</i>: there's scarce a maid westward, -but she sings it; 'tis in request, I can tell you."<a name="FNanchor_i_584:A_1152" id="FNanchor_i_584:A_1152"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_584:A_1152" class="fnanchor">[584:A]</a></p> -</div> - -<p>The request, in fact, for these popular pieces of poetry was then -infinitely greater than has since obtained in more modern times; not a -murder, or an execution, not a battle or a tempest, not a wonderful -event or a laughable adventure, could occur, but what was immediately -thrown into the form of a ballad, and the muse supplied what humble -prose now details to us among the miscellaneous articles of a -news-paper; a statement which is fully confirmed by the observation of -another character in this very play, who tells us that "such a deal of -wonder is broken out within this hour, that ballad-makers cannot be able -to express it."<a name="FNanchor_i_584:B_1153" id="FNanchor_i_584:B_1153"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_584:B_1153" class="fnanchor">[584:B]</a></p> - -<p>In the <i>Second Part of King Henry the Fourth</i> Falstaff enters a room, in -the Boar's Head Tavern, singing the first two lines of a ballad which -Dr. Percy has reprinted under the title of <i>Sir Lancelot Du -<!-- Page 585 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_585" id="Page_i_585">[585]</a></span>Lake</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_585:A_1154" id="FNanchor_i_585:A_1154"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_585:A_1154" class="fnanchor">[585:A]</a> This, which is merely a metrical version of three -chapters from the first part of <i>Morte Arthur</i>, is quoted imperfectly by -the knight, owing to the interruptions attending his situation; the -opening lines of the ballad are,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"When Arthur first in court began,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And was approved king,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">which Falstaff mutilates and alters, by omitting the last word of the -first line, and converting <i>approved</i> into <i>worthy</i><a name="FNanchor_i_585:B_1155" id="FNanchor_i_585:B_1155"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_585:B_1155" class="fnanchor">[585:B]</a>; the version -and quotation, it may be remarked, are strong proofs of the popularity -of the romance.</p> - -<p>To the admirably drawn character of <i>Silence</i> in this play, we are -indebted for several valuable fragments of popular poesy. This curious -personage, who, when sober, has not a word to say, is no sooner -exhilarated by the circling glass, than he chaunts forth an abundance of -unconnected stanzas from the minstrelsy of his times. Having nothing -original in his ideas, no fund of his own on which to draw, he marks his -festivity by the vociferous repetition of scraps of catches, songs, and -glees. We may, therefore, conceive the poet to have appropriated to this -simple justice in his cups, the most generally known and, of course, the -favourite, convivial songs of the age. They are of such a character, -indeed, as to warrant the belief, that there was not a hall in -Shakspeare's days but what had echoed to these jovial strains; a -conclusion which almost imperatively calls for the admission of a few, -as specimens of the vocal hilarity of our ancestors, when warmed, -according to Shallow's confession, by "too much sack at supper."<a name="FNanchor_i_585:C_1156" id="FNanchor_i_585:C_1156"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_585:C_1156" class="fnanchor">[585:C]</a></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Sil.</i> Do nothing but eat and make good cheer,</div> - <div class="stagedir">(Singing.)</div> - <div class="line i2">And praise heaven for the merry year;</div> - <div class="line i2"><!-- Page 586 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_586" id="Page_i_586">[586]</a></span>When flesh is cheap and females dear,<a name="FNanchor_i_586:A_1157" id="FNanchor_i_586:A_1157"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_586:A_1157" class="fnanchor">[586:A]</a></div> - <div class="line i2">And lusty lads roam here and there,</div> - <div class="line i5">So merrily,</div> - <div class="line i3">And ever among so merrily.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p><i>Fal.</i> There's a merry heart!—Good master Silence, I'll give -you a health for that anon.—</p> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Sil.</i> Be merry, be merry, my wife's as all;<a name="FNanchor_i_586:B_1158" id="FNanchor_i_586:B_1158"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_586:B_1158" class="fnanchor">[586:B]</a></div> - <div class="line i2">For women are shrews, both short and tall:</div> - <div class="line i2">'Tis merry in hall, when beards wag all,</div> - <div class="line i3">And welcome merry shrove-tide.</div> - <div class="line i10">Be merry, be merry, &c.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p><i>Fal.</i> I did not think, master Silence had been a man of this -mettle.</p> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Sil.</i> A cup of wine, that's brisk and fine,</div> - <div class="line i2">And drink unto the leman mine;</div> - <div class="line i3">And a merry heart lives long-a.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p><i>Fal.</i> Well said, master Silence.</p> - -<p><i>Sil.</i> And we shall be merry;—now comes in the sweet of the -night.</p> - -<p><i>Fal.</i> Health and long life to you, master Silence.</p> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Sil.</i> Fill the cup and let it come;</div> - <div class="line i2">I'll pledge you a mile to the bottom."<a name="FNanchor_i_586:C_1159" id="FNanchor_i_586:C_1159"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_586:C_1159" class="fnanchor">[586:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>After drinking another bumper, and singing another song, allusive to the -rights of pledging, <i>Do me right, And dub me knight</i><a name="FNanchor_i_586:D_1160" id="FNanchor_i_586:D_1160"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_586:D_1160" class="fnanchor">[586:D]</a>; and quoting -the old ballad of <i>Robin Hood</i>, and the <i>Pindar of Wakefield</i><a name="FNanchor_i_586:E_1161" id="FNanchor_i_586:E_1161"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_586:E_1161" class="fnanchor">[586:E]</a>, -master Silence is carried to bed, fully saturated with sack and good -cheer.</p> - -<p>A character equally versed in minstrel lore, and equally prodigal of his -stock, though wanting the excuse of inebriation, has been drawn by -Beaumont and Fletcher, in the person of <i>Old Merrythought</i> in their -<i>Knight of the Burning Pestle</i><a name="FNanchor_i_586:F_1162" id="FNanchor_i_586:F_1162"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_586:F_1162" class="fnanchor">[586:F]</a>; but, in point of nature and -humour, it is a picture which falls infinitely short of Shakspeare's -sketch.</p> - -<p>Many of the old songs, or rather the fragments of them, which are -scattered through the dramas of our poet, either proceed from the -<!-- Page 587 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_587" id="Page_i_587">[587]</a></span>professed clown or fool of the play, or are given as the wild and -desultory recollections of derangement, real or feigned; the ebullitions -of a broken heart, and the unconnected sallies of a disordered mind.</p> - -<p>Shakspeare's fools may be considered, in fact, as exact copies of the -living manners and costume of these singular personages, who, in his -era, formed a necessary part of the household establishment of the -great. To the due execution of their functions, a lively fancy, and a -copious fund of wit and sarcasm, together with an unlimited licence of -uttering what imagination and the occasion prompted, were essential; but -it was likewise required, that bitterness of allusion, and asperity of -remark, should be softened by the constant assumption of a playful and -unintentional manner. For this purpose, the indirect method of -quotation, and generally from ludicrous songs and ballads, is resorted -to, with the evident intention of covering what would otherwise have -been too naked and too severely felt. Thus, in an old play, entitled <i>A -very mery and pythie Comedy, called, The longer thou livest the more -Foole thou art</i>, printed about 1580, the appearance of a character of -this description is prefaced by the following stage-note:—"Entreth -<i>Moros</i>, counterfaiting a vaine gesture and a foolish countenance, -<i>synging the foote of many songs, as fools were wont</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_587:A_1163" id="FNanchor_i_587:A_1163"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_587:A_1163" class="fnanchor">[587:A]</a></p> - -<p>The simple yet sarcastic drollery of the fool, and the wild ravings of -the madman, have been alike employed by Shakspeare, to deepen the gloom -of distress. In the tragedy of <i>Lear</i> it is difficult to ascertain -whether the horrors of the scene are more heightened by the seeming -thoughtless levity of the former, or by the delirious imagery of the -latter. The greater part of the bitterly sportive metres, attributed to -the fool, in this drama, appears evidently to have been written for the -character; and as the reliques drawn from more ancient minstrelsy, seem -rather the foot or burden of each song, than the commencement, and are -at the same time of little poetical value, we shall forbear enumerating -them. The fragments, however, allotted to Edgar are <!-- Page 588 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_588" id="Page_i_588">[588]</a></span>both -characteristic, and apparently initial; the line which Mr. Steevens -asserts to have seen in an old ballad,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Through the sharp hawthown blows the cold wind,"<a name="FNanchor_i_588:A_1164" id="FNanchor_i_588:A_1164"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_588:A_1164" class="fnanchor">[588:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">is so impressive as absolutely to chill the blood; and the legendary -pieces beginning</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Saint Withold footed thrice the wold,"<a name="FNanchor_i_588:B_1165" id="FNanchor_i_588:B_1165"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_588:B_1165" class="fnanchor">[588:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Child Rowland to the dark tower came,"<a name="FNanchor_i_588:C_1166" id="FNanchor_i_588:C_1166"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_588:C_1166" class="fnanchor">[588:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">are reliques which well accord with the dreadful peculiarity of his -situation. The two subsequent quotations are from pastoral songs, of -which the first,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me,"<a name="FNanchor_i_588:D_1167" id="FNanchor_i_588:D_1167"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_588:D_1167" class="fnanchor">[588:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">as Mr. Malone observes, has a marked propriety, alluding to an -association then common; for in a description of beggars, published in -1607, one class of these vagabonds is represented as counterfeiting -madness;</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">———————— "they were so frantique</div> - <div class="line">They knew not what they did, but every day</div> - <div class="line i1">Make sport with stick and flowers like an antique;—</div> - <div class="line"><i>One calls herself poor Besse, the other Tom</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_588:E_1168" id="FNanchor_i_588:E_1168"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_588:E_1168" class="fnanchor">[588:E]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The second seems to have been suggested to the mind of Edgar by some -connection, however distant and obscure, with the business of the scene. -Lear fancies he is trying his daughters; and the lines of Edgar, who is -appointed one of the commission, allude to a trespass <!-- Page 589 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_589" id="Page_i_589">[589]</a></span>which takes place -in consequence of the folly of a shepherd in neglecting his charge,—the -lines appear to be the opening stanza of a lyric pastoral. "A shepherd," -remarks Dr. Johnson, "is desired to pipe, and the request is enforced by -a promise, that though his sheep be in the corn, <i>i. e.</i> committing a -trespass by his negligence—yet a single tune upon his pipe shall secure -them from the pound.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Sleepest, or wakest thou, jolly shepherd?</div> - <div class="line i1q">Thy sheep be in the corn;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And for one blast of thy minikin mouth,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Thy sheep shall take no harm."<a name="FNanchor_i_589:A_1169" id="FNanchor_i_589:A_1169"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_589:A_1169" class="fnanchor">[589:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>If the assumed madness of Edgar is heightened by the casual repetition -of these artless strains, how is the real distraction of the -heart-broken Ophelia augmented in its pathos by a similar appeal! The -interesting fragments which she sings, certainly do not produce their -effect, as Sir Joshua Reynolds imagined, by marking an "utter -insensibility to her own misfortunes<a name="FNanchor_i_589:B_1170" id="FNanchor_i_589:B_1170"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_589:B_1170" class="fnanchor">[589:B]</a>;" for they manifestly refer -both to her father's death, and to her own unfortunate attachment, their -influence over the heart being felt as the consequence of this indirect -allusion.</p> - -<p>Of the first three fragments, which appear to be parts of the same -ballad, and, as the king observes, are a "conceit upon her father," the -two prior have been beautifully incorporated by Dr. Percy in his <i>Friar -of Orders Gray</i>:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"How should I your true love know,</div> - <div class="line i1q">From another one?</div> - <div class="line indentq">By his cockle hat and staff,</div> - <div class="line i1q">And his sandal shoon."</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"He is dead and gone, lady,</div> - <div class="line i1q">He is dead and gone;</div> - <div class="line indentq">At his head a grass-green turf,</div> - <div class="line i1q">At his heels a stone."<a name="FNanchor_i_589:C_1171" id="FNanchor_i_589:C_1171"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_589:C_1171" class="fnanchor">[589:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 590 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_590" id="Page_i_590">[590]</a></span>The first line of the third,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"White his shroud as the mountain snow,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">has been parodied by Chatterton, in the Mynstrelle's Songe in Œlla,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Whyte his rode as the sommer snowe."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The subsequent songs, beginning</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Good morrow, 'tis Saint Valentine's day,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"By Gis, and by Saint Charity,"<a name="FNanchor_i_590:A_1172" id="FNanchor_i_590:A_1172"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_590:A_1172" class="fnanchor">[590:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">were, there is little doubt, suggested to the fair sufferer's mind, by -an obscure and distant association with the issue of her unfortunate -amour, a connection, however, which is soon dissipated by reverting to -the fate of her father, the scene closing with two fragments exquisitely -adapted to unfold the workings of her mind on this melancholy event.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"They bore him barefac'd on the bier—</div> - <div class="line indentq">And in his grave rain'd many a tear."<a name="FNanchor_i_590:B_1173" id="FNanchor_i_590:B_1173"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_590:B_1173" class="fnanchor">[590:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"And will he not come again?</div> - <div class="line indentq">And will he not come again?</div> - <div class="line i2q">No, no, he is dead,</div> - <div class="line i2q">Go to thy death-bed,</div> - <div class="line indentq">He never will come again, &c."<a name="FNanchor_i_590:C_1174" id="FNanchor_i_590:C_1174"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_590:C_1174" class="fnanchor">[590:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">passages of which Dr. Percy has admirably availed himself in his <i>Friar -of Orders Gray</i>, and to which the Mynstrelle's song in Œlla is indebted -for its pathetic burden:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<i>Mie love ys dedde,</i></div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Gonne to his deathe-bedde</i>,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Alle underre the wyllowe tree."<a name="FNanchor_i_590:D_1175" id="FNanchor_i_590:D_1175"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_590:D_1175" class="fnanchor">[590:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 591 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_591" id="Page_i_591">[591]</a></span>The vacillation of poor Ophelia amid her heavy afflictions is rendered -strikingly apparent by the insertion of two ballad lines between the -stanzas last quoted, which again manifestly allude to her lover:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"<i>Oph.</i> You must sing, <i>Down a-down, an you call him adown-a</i>. -O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the false steward, that -stole his master's daughter.——"<a name="FNanchor_i_591:A_1176" id="FNanchor_i_591:A_1176"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_591:A_1176" class="fnanchor">[591:A]</a></p> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy."<a name="FNanchor_i_591:B_1177" id="FNanchor_i_591:B_1177"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_591:B_1177" class="fnanchor">[591:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>We may remark that the expression, "<i>O, how the wheel becomes it!</i>" is -meant to imply the popularity of the song, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The <i>spinsters</i> and the knitters in the sun</div> - <div class="line indentq">Do use to <i>chaunt</i> it,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">a custom which, as exercised in the winter, is beautifully exemplified -by Mr. Malone, in a passage from Sir Thomas Overbury's characters, -1614:—"She makes her hands hard with labour, and her head soft with -pittie; and when winter evenings fall early, sitting at her merry -<i>wheele</i>, she sings a defiance to the giddy wheele of fortune."<a name="FNanchor_i_591:C_1178" id="FNanchor_i_591:C_1178"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_591:C_1178" class="fnanchor">[591:C]</a></p> - -<p>In the church-yard scene of this play, one of the grave-diggers, after -amusing himself and his companion by queries, which, as Mr. Steevens -observes, "perhaps composed the chief festivity of our ancestors by an -evening fire<a name="FNanchor_i_591:D_1179" id="FNanchor_i_591:D_1179"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_591:D_1179" class="fnanchor">[591:D]</a>;" sings three stanzas, though somewhat corrupted -either by design or accident, of "A dyttie or sonet made by the lord -Vaus, in the time of the noble quene Marye, representing the image of -death."<a name="FNanchor_i_591:E_1180" id="FNanchor_i_591:E_1180"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_591:E_1180" class="fnanchor">[591:E]</a> This poem was originally published in Tottel's edition of -Surrey and Wyat, and the Poems of Uncertain Authors; the earliest -poetical miscellany in our language, and first printed in 1557 under the -title of "Songes and sonettes by the right honourable Henry Howard, late -earl of Surrey, and other." To this very popular collection, which -underwent many editions during the sixteenth <!-- Page 592 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_592" id="Page_i_592">[592]</a></span>century<a name="FNanchor_i_592:A_1181" id="FNanchor_i_592:A_1181"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_592:A_1181" class="fnanchor">[592:A]</a>, Slender -alludes, in the <i>Merry Wives of Windsor</i>, where he exclaims, "I had -rather than forty shillings, I had my book of <i>Songs and Sonnets</i> -here<a name="FNanchor_i_592:B_1182" id="FNanchor_i_592:B_1182"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_592:B_1182" class="fnanchor">[592:B]</a>;" from which we may conclude that this was the fashionable -manual for lovers in the age of Elizabeth. Lord Vaux's lines have been -reprinted by Dr. Percy, who remarks on the apparent corruptions of -Shakspeare's transcript, that they were "perhaps so designed by the poet -himself, the better to suit the character of an illiterate -clown."<a name="FNanchor_i_592:C_1183" id="FNanchor_i_592:C_1183"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_592:C_1183" class="fnanchor">[592:C]</a></p> - -<p>No fragment of our minstrel poetry has been introduced by Shakspeare -with greater beauty and effect, than the melancholy ditty which he -represents Desdemona as singing, under a presentiment of her approaching -fate:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1">"<i>Des.</i> My mother had a maid call'd—Barbara;</div> - <div class="line">She was in love; and he, she lov'd, prov'd mad,</div> - <div class="line">And did forsake her: she had a song of—willow,</div> - <div class="line">An old thing 'twas, but it express'd her fortune,</div> - <div class="line">And she died singing it: That song to-night,</div> - <div class="line">Will not go from my mind; I have much to do,</div> - <div class="line">But to go hang my head all at one side,</div> - <div class="line">And sing it like poor Barbara."<a name="FNanchor_i_592:D_1184" id="FNanchor_i_592:D_1184"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_592:D_1184" class="fnanchor">[592:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of this song of willow, ushered in with such a powerful appeal to the -heart, Dr. Percy has given us a copy in his Reliques<a name="FNanchor_i_592:E_1185" id="FNanchor_i_592:E_1185"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_592:E_1185" class="fnanchor">[592:E]</a>; it is in -two parts, and proves that the poet has not only materially altered the -few lines which he quotes, but has changed also the sex of its subject; -for in the original in the Pepys collection, it is entitled "A Lover's -Complaint, being forsaken of <i>his</i> Love."</p> - -<p>From the ample, we may almost say complete, enumeration, which we have -now given, of the fragments selected by Shakspeare from the -minstrel-poetry of his country, together with the accompanying remarks, -may be formed, not only a tolerably accurate estimate of the <!-- Page 593 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_593" id="Page_i_593">[593]</a></span>most -popular songs of this period, but a clear idea of the use to which -Shakspeare has applied them.<a name="FNanchor_i_593:A_1186" id="FNanchor_i_593:A_1186"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_593:A_1186" class="fnanchor">[593:A]</a> They will be found, in fact, with -scarcely any exceptions, either elucidatory of the business of the -scene, illustrative of the progress of the passions, or powerfully -assistant in developing the features and the shades of character.</p> - -<p>It will appear also, from the view which has been taken of romantic -literature, as comprehending all the branches noticed in this chapter, -that its influence, in the age of our poet, was great and universally -diffused; that he was himself, perhaps more than any other individual, -if we except Spenser, addicted to its study and partial to its fictions; -and that, if we take into consideration, what will hereafter be -mentioned, the bases of his various plays, he may be affirmed to have -availed himself of its stores often with great skill, and with as much -frequency as the nature of the province which he cultivated, would -admit.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_520:A_997" id="Footnote_i_520:A_997"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_520:A_997"><span class="label">[520:A]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses, vol. i. Laneham's Letter, p. -34-36.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_520:B_998" id="Footnote_i_520:B_998"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_520:B_998"><span class="label">[520:B]</span></a> Dibdin's Bibliographical Romance, p. 349, 350, and -note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_521:A_999" id="Footnote_i_521:A_999"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_521:A_999"><span class="label">[521:A]</span></a> Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie, reprint of 1811, p. -33, 69.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_522:A_1000" id="Footnote_i_522:A_1000"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_522:A_1000"><span class="label">[522:A]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. v. p. 283. col. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_522:B_1001" id="Footnote_i_522:B_1001"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_522:B_1001"><span class="label">[522:B]</span></a> Anatomy of Melancholy, folio. 8th edit. p. 84. col. 2. -p. 177. col. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_522:C_1002" id="Footnote_i_522:C_1002"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_522:C_1002"><span class="label">[522:C]</span></a> See Ellis's Specimens of Early English Metrical -Romances, vol. i. Introduction, p. 38.; and the Abbé de la Rue's -Dissertations on the Anglo-Norman poets, Archæologia, vol. xii. and -xiii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_523:A_1003" id="Footnote_i_523:A_1003"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_523:A_1003"><span class="label">[523:A]</span></a> See Toland's Life of Milton, p. 35.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_524:A_1004" id="Footnote_i_524:A_1004"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_524:A_1004"><span class="label">[524:A]</span></a> The title of this first edition, as gathered from the -prologue and colophon, has been thus given by Mr. Dibdin:—</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">A Book of The Noble Hystoryes of Kynge Arthur</span>, and of certeyn of his -knyghtes. Whiche book was reduced in to englyshe by syr Thomas Malory -knyght <i>and by me devyded into <span class="smcap">XXI</span> bookes chapytred and enprynted, and -fynysshed in th abbey Westmestre the last day of Juyl the yere of our -lord <span class="smcap">M.CCCC.</span></i> lxxxv. <span class="smcap">Folio</span>."—Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities, vol. -i. p. 241.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_525:A_1005" id="Footnote_i_525:A_1005"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_525:A_1005"><span class="label">[525:A]</span></a> Ascham's Works, Bennet's edit. p. 254.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_525:B_1006" id="Footnote_i_525:B_1006"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_525:B_1006"><span class="label">[525:B]</span></a> Vide p. 268.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_525:C_1007" id="Footnote_i_525:C_1007"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_525:C_1007"><span class="label">[525:C]</span></a> Toland's Life of Milton, p. 35.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_526:A_1008" id="Footnote_i_526:A_1008"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_526:A_1008"><span class="label">[526:A]</span></a> Burnet's Specimens of English Prose Writers, vol. i. p. -287-289.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_527:A_1009" id="Footnote_i_527:A_1009"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_527:A_1009"><span class="label">[527:A]</span></a> Dibdin's Typographical Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 81, -82.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_528:A_1010" id="Footnote_i_528:A_1010"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_528:A_1010"><span class="label">[528:A]</span></a> Book III. chap. 176.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_529:A_1011" id="Footnote_i_529:A_1011"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_529:A_1011"><span class="label">[529:A]</span></a> Vide Warton's Observations on the Faerie Queene, and -Todd's edition of Spenser's Works, vol. ii. p. lxviii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_529:B_1012" id="Footnote_i_529:B_1012"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_529:B_1012"><span class="label">[529:B]</span></a> Vide Bibliotheca Reediana, No. 2670, and Todd's -Spenser, vol. ii. p. lxvii. note <i>k</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_529:C_1013" id="Footnote_i_529:C_1013"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_529:C_1013"><span class="label">[529:C]</span></a> Todd's Spenser, vol. ii. p. lxvii. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_530:A_1014" id="Footnote_i_530:A_1014"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_530:A_1014"><span class="label">[530:A]</span></a> Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. iii. -p. 217.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_530:B_1015" id="Footnote_i_530:B_1015"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_530:B_1015"><span class="label">[530:B]</span></a> Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 230. -note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_531:A_1016" id="Footnote_i_531:A_1016"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_531:A_1016"><span class="label">[531:A]</span></a> Ellis's Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances, -vol. iii. p. 4. et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_532:A_1017" id="Footnote_i_532:A_1017"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_532:A_1017"><span class="label">[532:A]</span></a> Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 223.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_533:A_1018" id="Footnote_i_533:A_1018"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_533:A_1018"><span class="label">[533:A]</span></a> This short summary has been drawn up from the larger -account detailed by Mr. Ellis in his Specimens of Early English Metrical -Romances, vol. iii. p. 1-22.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_533:B_1019" id="Footnote_i_533:B_1019"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_533:B_1019"><span class="label">[533:B]</span></a> Ellis's Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances, -vol. iii. p. 17.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_534:A_1020" id="Footnote_i_534:A_1020"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_534:A_1020"><span class="label">[534:A]</span></a> The common version of Pilpay was published in 1747. It -should be remarked, however, that a translation from the Italian of -Doni, containing many of the fables of Pilpay, and professedly rendered -by Doni, from the Directorium Humanæ Vitæ, vel Parabole Antiquorum -Sapientum, was given in English by Sir Thomas North, 4to. 1570, and -1601, under the title of the "Moral Philosophy of Doni." From this -source, therefore, Shakspeare and his contemporaries may have been -partially acquainted with this collection of tales.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_534:B_1021" id="Footnote_i_534:B_1021"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_534:B_1021"><span class="label">[534:B]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 424.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_535:A_1022" id="Footnote_i_535:A_1022"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_535:A_1022"><span class="label">[535:A]</span></a> Two of these tales, chap. 31. and 32. are immediately -taken from <i>The Seven Wise Masters</i>, and may be found also in the -Arabian Nights and Pilpay's Fables.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_536:A_1023" id="Footnote_i_536:A_1023"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_536:A_1023"><span class="label">[536:A]</span></a> "<i>Edric</i> was the name of <i>Enoch</i> among the Arabians, to -whom they attribute many fabulous compositions. Herbelot, in -V.—Lydgate's <i>Chorle</i> and <i>The Bird</i> is taken from the <i>Clericalis -Disciplina</i>."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_536:B_1024" id="Footnote_i_536:B_1024"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_536:B_1024"><span class="label">[536:B]</span></a> MSS. Harl. 3861, and in many other libraries. It occurs -in old French verse, MSS. Digb. 86. membrar. "<i>Le Romaune de Peres -Aunfour coment il aprist et chastia son fils belement.</i>"</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_536:C_1025" id="Footnote_i_536:C_1025"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_536:C_1025"><span class="label">[536:C]</span></a> "See Tyrwhitt's Chaucer, vol. iv. p. 325. seq."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_537:A_1026" id="Footnote_i_537:A_1026"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_537:A_1026"><span class="label">[537:A]</span></a> Milton's "Il Penseroso." Warton's History of English -Poetry, vol. iii. Dissertation on the Gesta Romanorum, p. v. vi.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_537:B_1027" id="Footnote_i_537:B_1027"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_537:B_1027"><span class="label">[537:B]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 422.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_537:C_1028" id="Footnote_i_537:C_1028"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_537:C_1028"><span class="label">[537:C]</span></a> History of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 18. vol. iii. p. -lxxxiii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_537:D_1029" id="Footnote_i_537:D_1029"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_537:D_1029"><span class="label">[537:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 229.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_537:E_1030" id="Footnote_i_537:E_1030"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_537:E_1030"><span class="label">[537:E]</span></a> According to his own assertion, in the MS. catalogue of -his works in the British Museum, to which he has given the title of -<i>Eupolemia</i>. See Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 423. 425.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_538:A_1031" id="Footnote_i_538:A_1031"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_538:A_1031"><span class="label">[538:A]</span></a> Ascham's Schole Master, Bennet's edit. 4to. p. 255.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_539:A_1032" id="Footnote_i_539:A_1032"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_539:A_1032"><span class="label">[539:A]</span></a> A writer, whose work has just fallen into my hands, -closes a long and accurate analysis of the Italian Tales, with the -following just observations:—"The larger works of fiction," he remarks, -"resemble those productions of a country which are consumed within -itself, while tales, like the more delicate and precious articles of -traffic, which are exported from their native soil, have gladdened and -delighted every land. They are the ingredients from which Shakspeare, -and other enchanters of his day, have distilled those magical drops -which tend so much to sweeten the lot of humanity, by occasionally -withdrawing the mind, from the cold and naked realities of life, to -visionary scenes and visionary bliss."—Dunlop's History of Fiction, -vol. ii. p. 409.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_539:B_1033" id="Footnote_i_539:B_1033"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_539:B_1033"><span class="label">[539:B]</span></a> "In The London Chaunticleres, 1659, this work, among -others," remarks Mr. Steevens, "is cried for sale by a ballad-man; The -Seven Wise Men of Gotham; a <i>Hundred merry Tales</i>; Scoggin's Jests," -&c.—See Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 42.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_540:A_1034" id="Footnote_i_540:A_1034"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_540:A_1034"><span class="label">[540:A]</span></a> History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 475.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_540:B_1035" id="Footnote_i_540:B_1035"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_540:B_1035"><span class="label">[540:B]</span></a> The English Courtier and the Cuntrey Gentleman, sig. H. -4. See Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 43. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_540:C_1036" id="Footnote_i_540:C_1036"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_540:C_1036"><span class="label">[540:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 42. Act ii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_540:D_1037" id="Footnote_i_540:D_1037"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_540:D_1037"><span class="label">[540:D]</span></a> Illustrations, vol. i. p. 166.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_541:A_1038" id="Footnote_i_541:A_1038"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_541:A_1038"><span class="label">[541:A]</span></a> Illustrations, vol. i. p. 168.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_542:A_1039" id="Footnote_i_542:A_1039"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_542:A_1039"><span class="label">[542:A]</span></a> The Roxburghe copy of the Palace of Pleasure produced -the sum of 42<i>l.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_542:B_1040" id="Footnote_i_542:B_1040"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_542:B_1040"><span class="label">[542:B]</span></a> History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 478.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_543:A_1041" id="Footnote_i_543:A_1041"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_543:A_1041"><span class="label">[543:A]</span></a> History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 473.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_543:B_1042" id="Footnote_i_543:B_1042"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_543:B_1042"><span class="label">[543:B]</span></a> Ritson thinks that Whetstone's Heptameron was -republished in 1593, under the title of "Aurelia." In the Roxburghe -Library, No. 6392, this romance is termed "The Paragon of Pleasure, or -the Christmas Pleasures of Queene Aurelia," 4to. 1593.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_544:A_1043" id="Footnote_i_544:A_1043"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_544:A_1043"><span class="label">[544:A]</span></a> Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 487.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_544:B_1044" id="Footnote_i_544:B_1044"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_544:B_1044"><span class="label">[544:B]</span></a> Of the Italian tales it may be useful to enumerate the -best and most celebrated of those which were written during the -fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; as, in some shape or other, most of -them became familiar to English readers before the death of Shakspeare.</p> - -<ul class="list"> -<li>1. <i>Cento Novelle Antike.</i> The earliest collection of Italian novels.</li> - -<li>2. <i>Boccacio il Decamerone.</i> Venet. Valdarfer. 1471. This, which is the -first edition, was purchased at the Roxburghe sale, by the Marquis of -Blandford, for 2260<i>l.</i>!</li> - -<li>3. <i>Novelle di Sacchetti.</i> Sacchetti died in 1408.</li> - -<li>4. <i>Masuccio</i>, <i>Il Novellino</i>, nel quale si contengono <i>cinquanta</i> -Novelle.—Best edition that of 1484, folio.</li> - -<li>5. <i>Sabadino</i>, <i>Porretane</i>, dove si narra Novelle <i>settanta una</i>.</li> - -<li>6. <i>Sansovino</i>, <i>Cento Novelle</i> scelte da più nobili Scrittori.</li> - -<li>7. <i>Giovanni Fiorentino</i>, <i>il Pecorone</i>, nel quale si contengono -<i>cinquanta</i> Novelle antiche. First and best edition, 1559.</li> - -<li>8. <i>Novelle del Bandello</i>, 3 vols. 4to. 1554.</li> - -<li>9. <i>Straparola</i>, <i>le piacevoli Notte</i>. 2 vols. 1557.</li> - -<li>10. <i>Giraldi Cinthio</i>, <i>gli Hecatomithi</i>, (Cento Novelle.) 4 vols.</li> - -<li>11. <i>Erizzo</i>, <i>le Sei Giornate</i>, (trenta cinque Novelle) Edizione prim. -4to. Ven. 1567.</li> - -<li>12. Parabosco, i Diporti, o varo Novelle, Venet. 1558.</li> - -<li>13. <i>Granucci</i>, <i>la piacivol Notte, et lieto Giorno</i> (undici Novelle), -Venet. 1574.</li> - -<li>14. Novelle di Ascanio de Mori. 4to. 1585.</li> - -<li>15. Malespini, Ducento Novelle, 4to.</li> -</ul> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_544:C_1045" id="Footnote_i_544:C_1045"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_544:C_1045"><span class="label">[544:C]</span></a> Vide Gascoigne's Tale of Ferdinando Jeronimi, from the -Italian riding tales of Bartello, in his "Weedes," and Turberville's -"Tragical Tales, translated out of sundrie Italians," 1587.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_545:A_1046" id="Footnote_i_545:A_1046"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_545:A_1046"><span class="label">[545:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 221.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_545:B_1047" id="Footnote_i_545:B_1047"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_545:B_1047"><span class="label">[545:B]</span></a> Vide Aikin's General Biography, vol. vi. article -Lobeira.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_545:C_1048" id="Footnote_i_545:C_1048"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_545:C_1048"><span class="label">[545:C]</span></a> "Amadis of Gaul," remarks Mr. Southey, "is among prose, -what Orlando Furioso is among metrical Romances, not the oldest of its -kind, but the best."—Preliminary Essay to his Translation, 4 vols. -1803.</p> - -<p>"This" (Amadis de Gaul), says Mr. Burnet, "is perhaps one of the most -beautiful books that ever was written."—Specimens of English Prose -Writers, vol. i. p. 289. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_546:A_1049" id="Footnote_i_546:A_1049"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_546:A_1049"><span class="label">[546:A]</span></a> Jervis's Translation of Don Quixote, vol. i. chap. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_546:B_1050" id="Footnote_i_546:B_1050"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_546:B_1050"><span class="label">[546:B]</span></a> Sir Philip Sidney's Works, fol. edit. of 1629. p. 551.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_546:C_1051" id="Footnote_i_546:C_1051"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_546:C_1051"><span class="label">[546:C]</span></a> This version, which was reprinted in 1618, is by -Anthony Munday.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_547:A_1052" id="Footnote_i_547:A_1052"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_547:A_1052"><span class="label">[547:A]</span></a> Jervis's Don Quixote, vol. i. chap.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_548:A_1053" id="Footnote_i_548:A_1053"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_548:A_1053"><span class="label">[548:A]</span></a> The first edition of Palmerin D'Oliva, translated by -Anthony Munday, was published by Charlewood in 1588. Vide Bibliotheca -Reediana, No. 2665; and his version of Palmendos, was printed by J. C. -for Simon Watersonne (1589), 4to. bl. l.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_548:B_1054" id="Footnote_i_548:B_1054"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_548:B_1054"><span class="label">[548:B]</span></a> In a letter from Mr. Whyte to Sir Robert Sidney, dated -September 1599, it is said, that "the Arcadia is now printed in -Scotland, according to the best edition, which will make them good -cheap, but is very hurtful to Ponsonbie, who held them at a very high -rate: he must sell as others doe, or they will lye upon his -hands."—Vide Zouch's Memoirs of Sir Philip Sidney, p. 361.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_549:A_1055" id="Footnote_i_549:A_1055"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_549:A_1055"><span class="label">[549:A]</span></a> A second edition of Underdowne's Heliodorus was printed -in 1587, and a third in 1605.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_549:B_1056" id="Footnote_i_549:B_1056"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_549:B_1056"><span class="label">[549:B]</span></a> A complete edition of Sannazaro's Arcadia appeared in -1505.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_550:A_1057" id="Footnote_i_550:A_1057"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_550:A_1057"><span class="label">[550:A]</span></a> Task, book iv.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_551:A_1058" id="Footnote_i_551:A_1058"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_551:A_1058"><span class="label">[551:A]</span></a> Among the bulky romances of this prolific lady, who -died June 2. 1701, aged 94, it may be worth while to enumerate a few, -merely as instances of her uncommon fecundity, viz. Artamene, ou le -Grand Cyrus, 10 vols. 8vo.; Clelie, 10 vols. 8vo.; Almahide ou l'Esclave -Reine, 8 vols. 8vo.; Ibrahim ou l'Illustre Bassa, 4 vols. 8vo.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_551:B_1059" id="Footnote_i_551:B_1059"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_551:B_1059"><span class="label">[551:B]</span></a> Tom of All Trades, or the plaine Pathway to Preferment, -&c. By Thomas Powell. Lond. 1631. 4to. pp. 47, 48.—Vide Warton's -History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 425, and 426.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_551:C_1060" id="Footnote_i_551:C_1060"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_551:C_1060"><span class="label">[551:C]</span></a> Fuller's Worthies, 1662, part ii. p. 75.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_551:D_1061" id="Footnote_i_551:D_1061"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_551:D_1061"><span class="label">[551:D]</span></a> See his Verses on Saccharissa, the Lady Dorothy -Sidney.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_552:A_1062" id="Footnote_i_552:A_1062"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_552:A_1062"><span class="label">[552:A]</span></a> In his Essay on Poetry.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_552:B_1063" id="Footnote_i_552:B_1063"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_552:B_1063"><span class="label">[552:B]</span></a> In his Description of Arcadia in Greece, where he tells -us that the Arcadia, "besides its excellent language, rare contrivances, -and delectable stories, hath in it all the strains of poesy, -comprehendeth the universal art of speaking, and to them who can discern -and will observe, affordeth notable rules for demeanor both private and -public."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_552:C_1064" id="Footnote_i_552:C_1064"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_552:C_1064"><span class="label">[552:C]</span></a> Park's edition of Royal and Noble Authors, vol. ii. p. -221. An excellent defence of the Arcadia against the decision of Lord -Orford, who terms it "a tedious, lamentable, pedantic, pastoral -romance," may be found in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1767, p. 57. See -also Sir Egerton Brydges's edition of Phillip's Theatrum Poetarum, p. -134, et seq., and Zouch's Memoirs of Sidney, p. 155.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_552:D_1065" id="Footnote_i_552:D_1065"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_552:D_1065"><span class="label">[552:D]</span></a> Aikin's Annual Review, vol. iv. p. 547.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_553:A_1066" id="Footnote_i_553:A_1066"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_553:A_1066"><span class="label">[553:A]</span></a> Pennant's London, p. 103.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_554:A_1067" id="Footnote_i_554:A_1067"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_554:A_1067"><span class="label">[554:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvi. p. 84., and Malone's -note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_554:B_1068" id="Footnote_i_554:B_1068"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_554:B_1068"><span class="label">[554:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xii. p. 213. Act v. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_554:C_1069" id="Footnote_i_554:C_1069"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_554:C_1069"><span class="label">[554:C]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations, vol. i. p. 472.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_556:A_1070" id="Footnote_i_556:A_1070"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_556:A_1070"><span class="label">[556:A]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses, vol. i. p. 56., the year 1573.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_556:B_1071" id="Footnote_i_556:B_1071"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_556:B_1071"><span class="label">[556:B]</span></a> See Comedy of Errors, act iv. sc. 2. Henry IV. Part I. -act ii. sc. 3. Romeo and Juliet, act iii. sc. 1. Love's Labour's Lost, -act v. sc. 2. Taming of the Shrew, act i. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_556:C_1072" id="Footnote_i_556:C_1072"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_556:C_1072"><span class="label">[556:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. pp. 124, 125. Act iii. -sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_557:A_1073" id="Footnote_i_557:A_1073"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_557:A_1073"><span class="label">[557:A]</span></a> Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. i. pp. -liv. 285. 295.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_558:A_1074" id="Footnote_i_558:A_1074"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_558:A_1074"><span class="label">[558:A]</span></a> <i>Wrest</i>—the key with which the harp is tuned.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_559:A_1075" id="Footnote_i_559:A_1075"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_559:A_1075"><span class="label">[559:A]</span></a> Nichols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_559:B_1076" id="Footnote_i_559:B_1076"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_559:B_1076"><span class="label">[559:B]</span></a> Kind Harts Dreame, sig. B. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_560:A_1077" id="Footnote_i_560:A_1077"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_560:A_1077"><span class="label">[560:A]</span></a> Arte of English Poesie, reprint, p. 69.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_560:B_1078" id="Footnote_i_560:B_1078"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_560:B_1078"><span class="label">[560:B]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. v. p. 273. col. 1. Book -iv. sat. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_560:C_1079" id="Footnote_i_560:C_1079"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_560:C_1079"><span class="label">[560:C]</span></a> Malone's Supplement to Shakspeare's Plays, vol. i. p. -521.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_561:A_1080" id="Footnote_i_561:A_1080"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_561:A_1080"><span class="label">[561:A]</span></a> See Ritson's Ancient Engleish Metrical Romanceës, vol. -i. Dissertation on Romance and Minstrelsy, p. ccxxiv.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_562:A_1081" id="Footnote_i_562:A_1081"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_562:A_1081"><span class="label">[562:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 144. Act iii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_562:B_1082" id="Footnote_i_562:B_1082"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_562:B_1082"><span class="label">[562:B]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations, vol. i. p. 465.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_562:C_1083" id="Footnote_i_562:C_1083"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_562:C_1083"><span class="label">[562:C]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. II. p. 125.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_563:A_1084" id="Footnote_i_563:A_1084"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_563:A_1084"><span class="label">[563:A]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. II. p. 126, 127.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_563:B_1085" id="Footnote_i_563:B_1085"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_563:B_1085"><span class="label">[563:B]</span></a> <i>Positions concerning the training up of Children</i>, -London, 1581 and 1587. 4to. chap. xxvi.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_564:A_1086" id="Footnote_i_564:A_1086"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_564:A_1086"><span class="label">[564:A]</span></a> The original, the <i>Histoire de Huon de Bordeaux</i>, was -ushered into the world at the Fair of Troyes in Champagne, in the first -century of printing.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_564:B_1087" id="Footnote_i_564:B_1087"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_564:B_1087"><span class="label">[564:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 51. Act ii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_564:C_1088" id="Footnote_i_564:C_1088"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_564:C_1088"><span class="label">[564:C]</span></a> Huon of Bourdeaux, chap. xvii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_564:D_1089" id="Footnote_i_564:D_1089"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_564:D_1089"><span class="label">[564:D]</span></a> Chap. xlvi. edit. of 1601. Lord Berners's translation -underwent three editions. The original has had the honour of giving -birth to the Chef d'Oeuvre of <i>Wieland</i>—"the child of his genius," -observe the Monthly Reviewers, "in moments of its purest converse with -the all-beauteous forms of ideal excellence;—the darling of his fancy, -born in the sweetest of her excursions amid the ambrosial bowers of -fairy-land;—the <span class="smcap">Oberon</span>,—an epic poem, popular beyond example, yet as -dear to the philosopher as to the multitude; which, during the author's -lifetime, has attained in its native country all the honours of a sacred -book; and to the evolution of the beauties of which, a Professor in a -distinguished university has repeatedly consecrated an entire course of -patronized lectures." New Series, vol. xxiii. p. 576.</p> - -<p>The beauties of Oberon are now accessible to the mere English scholar, -through the medium of Mr. Sotheby's version, which, though strictly -faithful to the German, has the spirit and harmony of an original poem.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_565:A_1090" id="Footnote_i_565:A_1090"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_565:A_1090"><span class="label">[565:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xiii. p. 249. Act ii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_565:B_1091" id="Footnote_i_565:B_1091"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_565:B_1091"><span class="label">[565:B]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. p. 189. col. -1.—Polyolbion, canto ii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_566:A_1092" id="Footnote_i_566:A_1092"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_566:A_1092"><span class="label">[566:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 475. Act iii. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_566:B_1093" id="Footnote_i_566:B_1093"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_566:B_1093"><span class="label">[566:B]</span></a> Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. iii. p. -xxiii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_566:C_1094" id="Footnote_i_566:C_1094"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_566:C_1094"><span class="label">[566:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. x. p. 363. Act i. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_566:D_1095" id="Footnote_i_566:D_1095"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_566:D_1095"><span class="label">[566:D]</span></a> Ibid. p. 367. King John, act i. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_567:A_1096" id="Footnote_i_567:A_1096"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_567:A_1096"><span class="label">[567:A]</span></a> Vide Ellis's Specimens of Early English Metrical -Romances, vol. ii. p. 201., and Weber's Metrical Romances, vol. i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_567:B_1097" id="Footnote_i_567:B_1097"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_567:B_1097"><span class="label">[567:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 502. Act v. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_567:C_1098" id="Footnote_i_567:C_1098"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_567:C_1098"><span class="label">[567:C]</span></a> Ritson's Ancient Engleish Metrical Romancees, vol. iii. -p. 344.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_567:D_1099" id="Footnote_i_567:D_1099"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_567:D_1099"><span class="label">[567:D]</span></a> Vide Garrick Collection in Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. i. -p. 400.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_567:E_1100" id="Footnote_i_567:E_1100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_567:E_1100"><span class="label">[567:E]</span></a> Todd's Spenser, vol. v. p. 313. 367.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_567:F_1101" id="Footnote_i_567:F_1101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_567:F_1101"><span class="label">[567:F]</span></a> This poet is conjectured to have thrown some ridicule -on the Squire of Low Degree, in his rhyme of <i>Sir Thopas</i>; but Ritson -remarks, that this romance "is never mentioned by any one writer before -the sixteenth century; nor is it known to be extant in manuscript; and, -in fact, the Museum copy is the onely one that exists in print." -Romancees, vol. iii. p. 345.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_568:A_1102" id="Footnote_i_568:A_1102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_568:A_1102"><span class="label">[568:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 326. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_569:A_1103" id="Footnote_i_569:A_1103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_569:A_1103"><span class="label">[569:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 5., and Walton's Hist. -of Poetry, vol. iii. p. 294.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_569:B_1104" id="Footnote_i_569:B_1104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_569:B_1104"><span class="label">[569:B]</span></a> Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. i. p. 254.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_569:C_1105" id="Footnote_i_569:C_1105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_569:C_1105"><span class="label">[569:C]</span></a> See Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. pp. 201, 202., and -Douce's Illustrations, vol. i. p. 342.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_569:D_1106" id="Footnote_i_569:D_1106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_569:D_1106"><span class="label">[569:D]</span></a> See <i>Shakspeare Illustrated</i>, by Mrs. Lennox, 3 vols. -12mo. 1754.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_570:A_1107" id="Footnote_i_570:A_1107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_570:A_1107"><span class="label">[570:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 191. Act i. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_570:B_1108" id="Footnote_i_570:B_1108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_570:B_1108"><span class="label">[570:B]</span></a> Jarvis's Don Quixote, vol. i. part i. chap. 1. Sharpe's -edit. p. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_570:C_1109" id="Footnote_i_570:C_1109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_570:C_1109"><span class="label">[570:C]</span></a> Vide Bibliotheca Reediana, No. 2661.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_571:A_1110" id="Footnote_i_571:A_1110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_571:A_1110"><span class="label">[571:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 173. Act iii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_571:B_1111" id="Footnote_i_571:B_1111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_571:B_1111"><span class="label">[571:B]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. II. p. 148.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_571:C_1112" id="Footnote_i_571:C_1112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_571:C_1112"><span class="label">[571:C]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 240.—Mr. Douce -observes, that the "oldest (edition) we know of is that of 1649, printed -by Robert Ibbitson. In 1586, <i>The old book of Valentine and Orson</i> was -licensed to T. Purfoot." P. 240.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_572:A_1113" id="Footnote_i_572:A_1113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_572:A_1113"><span class="label">[572:A]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. V. p. 469.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_572:B_1114" id="Footnote_i_572:B_1114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_572:B_1114"><span class="label">[572:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 470.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_572:C_1115" id="Footnote_i_572:C_1115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_572:C_1115"><span class="label">[572:C]</span></a> Douce's Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 240.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_573:A_1116" id="Footnote_i_573:A_1116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_573:A_1116"><span class="label">[573:A]</span></a> Arcadia, book i. p. 29. 7th edit.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_573:B_1117" id="Footnote_i_573:B_1117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_573:B_1117"><span class="label">[573:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 87. Act iii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_573:C_1118" id="Footnote_i_573:C_1118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_573:C_1118"><span class="label">[573:C]</span></a> Book ii. pp. 153, 154. edit. of 1629.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_574:A_1119" id="Footnote_i_574:A_1119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_574:A_1119"><span class="label">[574:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. pp. 305. 307, 308. Act ii. -sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_576:A_1120" id="Footnote_i_576:A_1120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_576:A_1120"><span class="label">[576:A]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. X. pp. 559, 560. This -fragment, says Mr. Haslewood, "is in black letter, one sheet, and bears -signature C."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_576:B_1121" id="Footnote_i_576:B_1121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_576:B_1121"><span class="label">[576:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 60. Act ii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_576:C_1122" id="Footnote_i_576:C_1122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_576:C_1122"><span class="label">[576:C]</span></a> Jacke of Dover, his quest of Inquirie, or his privy -Search for the veriest Foole in England, 4to.—Vide Reed's Shakspeare, -vol. iv. p. 60. note 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_577:A_1123" id="Footnote_i_577:A_1123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_577:A_1123"><span class="label">[577:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 64. and note by -Steevens.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_577:B_1124" id="Footnote_i_577:B_1124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_577:B_1124"><span class="label">[577:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 130. Act iii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_577:C_1125" id="Footnote_i_577:C_1125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_577:C_1125"><span class="label">[577:C]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 219. col. 1. Act -iii. sc. 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_577:D_1126" id="Footnote_i_577:D_1126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_577:D_1126"><span class="label">[577:D]</span></a> Custom of the Country, act i. sc. 1. The Knight of the -Burning Pestle, act v.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_577:E_1127" id="Footnote_i_577:E_1127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_577:E_1127"><span class="label">[577:E]</span></a> Anatomy of Melancholy, edit. 1632. p. 576.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_577:F_1128" id="Footnote_i_577:F_1128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_577:F_1128"><span class="label">[577:F]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 131. note 8.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_577:G_1129" id="Footnote_i_577:G_1129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_577:G_1129"><span class="label">[577:G]</span></a> Ibid. p. 110.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_578:A_1130" id="Footnote_i_578:A_1130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_578:A_1130"><span class="label">[578:A]</span></a> England's Helicon, 3d edit., reprint of 1812. p. 214, -215.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_578:B_1131" id="Footnote_i_578:B_1131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_578:B_1131"><span class="label">[578:B]</span></a> Compleat Angler, Bagster's edit. 1808. pp. 147, 148.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_578:C_1132" id="Footnote_i_578:C_1132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_578:C_1132"><span class="label">[578:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 293. Act ii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_579:A_1133" id="Footnote_i_579:A_1133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_579:A_1133"><span class="label">[579:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. pp. 294-297. 299.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_579:B_1134" id="Footnote_i_579:B_1134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_579:B_1134"><span class="label">[579:B]</span></a> Ibid. v. p. 296. note by Steevens.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_579:C_1135" id="Footnote_i_579:C_1135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_579:C_1135"><span class="label">[579:C]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 220.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_579:D_1136" id="Footnote_i_579:D_1136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_579:D_1136"><span class="label">[579:D]</span></a> Reliques, vol. i. p. 220.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_580:A_1137" id="Footnote_i_580:A_1137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_580:A_1137"><span class="label">[580:A]</span></a> Percy's Reliques, vol. i. p. 194.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_580:B_1138" id="Footnote_i_580:B_1138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_580:B_1138"><span class="label">[580:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 166.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_580:C_1139" id="Footnote_i_580:C_1139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_580:C_1139"><span class="label">[580:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 166. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_580:D_1140" id="Footnote_i_580:D_1140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_580:D_1140"><span class="label">[580:D]</span></a> Ibid. vol. vii. p. 51. Act iii. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_580:E_1141" id="Footnote_i_580:E_1141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_580:E_1141"><span class="label">[580:E]</span></a> Ibid. p. 82. Act iv. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_580:F_1142" id="Footnote_i_580:F_1142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_580:F_1142"><span class="label">[580:F]</span></a> Ibid. vol. viii. p. 119. Act iii. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_580:G_1143" id="Footnote_i_580:G_1143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_580:G_1143"><span class="label">[580:G]</span></a> Ibid. p. 144. Act iv. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_581:A_1144" id="Footnote_i_581:A_1144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_581:A_1144"><span class="label">[581:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. pp. 238-240. Act i. sc. -3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_581:B_1145" id="Footnote_i_581:B_1145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_581:B_1145"><span class="label">[581:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 131. Act iv. sc. -1.—There appears to be allusions to two catches in this scene. Grumio -exclaims "<i>fire, fire; cast on no water</i>," which Judge Blackstone traces -to the following old catch in three parts:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Scotland burneth, Scotland burneth.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Fire, fire;——Fire, fire;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Cast on some more water."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Grumio a little afterwards calls out, "Why, <i>Jack boy! ho boy!</i>" the -beginning, as Sir John Hawkins asserts, of an old round in three parts, -of which he has given us the musical notes.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_581:C_1146" id="Footnote_i_581:C_1146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_581:C_1146"><span class="label">[581:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 244.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_581:D_1147" id="Footnote_i_581:D_1147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_581:D_1147"><span class="label">[581:D]</span></a> Ibid. vol. ix. p. 131. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_581:E_1148" id="Footnote_i_581:E_1148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_581:E_1148"><span class="label">[581:E]</span></a> Ibid. vol. ix. p. 132. Act iv. sc. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_582:A_1149" id="Footnote_i_582:A_1149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_582:A_1149"><span class="label">[582:A]</span></a> Percy's Reliques, vol. i. p. 259.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_582:B_1150" id="Footnote_i_582:B_1150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_582:B_1150"><span class="label">[582:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 328. Act iv. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_582:C_1151" id="Footnote_i_582:C_1151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_582:C_1151"><span class="label">[582:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 346. Act iv. sc. 3.—We shall add, in this -note, in order to complete the catalogue, all the fragments of ancient -minstrelsy that have escaped our enumeration in the text.</p> - -<p>In Troilus and Cressida, Pandarus, lamenting the approaching departure -of Cressida, expresses his sorrow by quoting an old song beginning—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"O heart, o heart, o heavy heart,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Why sigh'st thou without breaking."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xv. p. 393.</p> - -<p>Hamlet, bantering Polonius, quotes part of the first stanza of a ballad -entitled, <i>Jephtha, Judge of Israel</i>. This has been published by Dr. -Percy, retrieved, as he relates, from utter oblivion by a lady, who -wrote it down from memory as she had formerly heard it sung by her -father.—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 142.; and Percy's Reliques, -vol. i. p. 189.</p> - -<p>It is probable that Hamlet, who appears to have been well versed in -ballad-lore, has again introduced two morsels from this source, in his -dialogue with Horatio on the conduct of the king at the play: they -strongly mark his triumph in the success of his plan for unmasking the -crimes of his uncle:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Why let the strucken deer go weep," &c.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="tb4">——</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"For thou dost know, O Damon dear," &c.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. pp. 212. 214.</p> - -<p>Iago in the drunken scene with Cassio, in the view of adding to his -exhilaration, sings a portion of two songs; the first apparently a -chorus,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"And let me the canakin, clink, clink," &c.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">the second,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"King Stephen was a worthy peer,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">from a humorous ballad of Scotch origin, preserved by Percy in his -Reliques, vol. i. p. 204.—Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. pp. 334. -336.</p> - -<p>In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio, in the following passage, alludes to two -ballads of considerable notoriety:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Young <i>Adam</i> Cupid, he that shot so trim,</div> - <div class="line indentq">When king <i>Cophetua</i> lov'd the <i>beggar maid</i>;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">the first line referring to the celebrated ballad of <i>Adam Bell</i>, <i>Clym -of the Clough</i>, and <i>William of Cloudesly</i>, and the second to <i>King -Cophetua and the Beggar-Maid</i>; popular pieces which are again the -objects of allusion in <i>Much Ado about Nothing</i>, act i.; and in the -Second Part of Henry IV. act v. sc. 3.—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. -77.; and Percy's Reliques, vol. i. pp. 154. 198.</p> - -<p>The same play will afford us three or four additional references; -Mercutio, ridiculing the old Nurse, gives us a ludicrous fragment -commencing "<i>An old hare hoar</i>," vol. xx. p. 116.; and Peter, after -calling for two songs called <i>Heart's ease</i>, and <i>My heart is full of -woe</i>, attempts to puzzle the musicians by asking for an explanation of -the epithet <i>silver</i> in the first stanza of <i>A Song to the Lute in -Musicke</i>, written by Richard Edwards, in the "Paradise of Daintie -Devises," and commencing,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Where griping griefs the hart would wounde."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 220. 222.<br /> -and Percy's Reliques, vol. i. p. 196.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_584:A_1152" id="Footnote_i_584:A_1152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_584:A_1152"><span class="label">[584:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. pp. 353-355. Act iv. sc. -3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_584:B_1153" id="Footnote_i_584:B_1153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_584:B_1153"><span class="label">[584:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 403. Act v. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_585:A_1154" id="Footnote_i_585:A_1154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_585:A_1154"><span class="label">[585:A]</span></a> Reliques, vol. i. p. 214.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_585:B_1155" id="Footnote_i_585:B_1155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_585:B_1155"><span class="label">[585:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 78.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_585:C_1156" id="Footnote_i_585:C_1156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_585:C_1156"><span class="label">[585:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. p. 232. Act v. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_586:A_1157" id="Footnote_i_586:A_1157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_586:A_1157"><span class="label">[586:A]</span></a> <i>Dear</i> is here to be remembered in its double -sense.—Farmer.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_586:B_1158" id="Footnote_i_586:B_1158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_586:B_1158"><span class="label">[586:B]</span></a> <i>My wife's as all</i>, that is, as all women -are.—Steevens.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_586:C_1159" id="Footnote_i_586:C_1159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_586:C_1159"><span class="label">[586:C]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xii. pp. 232-236. Act v. sc. -3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_586:D_1160" id="Footnote_i_586:D_1160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_586:D_1160"><span class="label">[586:D]</span></a> Ibid. p. 237.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_586:E_1161" id="Footnote_i_586:E_1161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_586:E_1161"><span class="label">[586:E]</span></a> Ibid. p. 241.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_586:F_1162" id="Footnote_i_586:F_1162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_586:F_1162"><span class="label">[586:F]</span></a> This play was first printed in the year 1613.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_587:A_1163" id="Footnote_i_587:A_1163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_587:A_1163"><span class="label">[587:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 366, note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_588:A_1164" id="Footnote_i_588:A_1164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_588:A_1164"><span class="label">[588:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 463, and 490, note. -This finely descriptive line, Dr. Percy has interwoven in his ballad of -<i>The Friar of Orders Gray</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_588:B_1165" id="Footnote_i_588:B_1165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_588:B_1165"><span class="label">[588:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare vol. xvii. p. 472. Act iii. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_588:C_1166" id="Footnote_i_588:C_1166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_588:C_1166"><span class="label">[588:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 478. Act iii. sc. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_588:D_1167" id="Footnote_i_588:D_1167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_588:D_1167"><span class="label">[588:D]</span></a> Ibid. p. 484. Act iii. sc. 6.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_588:E_1168" id="Footnote_i_588:E_1168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_588:E_1168"><span class="label">[588:E]</span></a> Ibid. p. 485, note by Malone.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_589:A_1169" id="Footnote_i_589:A_1169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_589:A_1169"><span class="label">[589:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xvii. p. 486.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_589:B_1170" id="Footnote_i_589:B_1170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_589:B_1170"><span class="label">[589:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 278. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_589:C_1171" id="Footnote_i_589:C_1171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_589:C_1171"><span class="label">[589:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 278-280. Act iv. sc. 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_590:A_1172" id="Footnote_i_590:A_1172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_590:A_1172"><span class="label">[590:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 281, 282. Act iv. sc. -5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_590:B_1173" id="Footnote_i_590:B_1173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_590:B_1173"><span class="label">[590:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. xviii. p. 292. Act iv. sc. 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_590:C_1174" id="Footnote_i_590:C_1174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_590:C_1174"><span class="label">[590:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 299. Act iv. sc. 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_590:D_1175" id="Footnote_i_590:D_1175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_590:D_1175"><span class="label">[590:D]</span></a> Poems, supposed to have been written at Bristol, by -Thomas Rowley, and others. Cambridge edition, 1794, p. 70.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_591:A_1176" id="Footnote_i_591:A_1176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_591:A_1176"><span class="label">[591:A]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 293.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_591:B_1177" id="Footnote_i_591:B_1177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_591:B_1177"><span class="label">[591:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 298.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_591:C_1178" id="Footnote_i_591:C_1178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_591:C_1178"><span class="label">[591:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 294. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_591:D_1179" id="Footnote_i_591:D_1179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_591:D_1179"><span class="label">[591:D]</span></a> Ibid. p. 322, note 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_591:E_1180" id="Footnote_i_591:E_1180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_591:E_1180"><span class="label">[591:E]</span></a> Warton's Hist. of Eng. Poetry, vol. iii. p. 45.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_592:A_1181" id="Footnote_i_592:A_1181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_592:A_1181"><span class="label">[592:A]</span></a> Namely in 1565, 1567, 1569, 1574, 1585, 1587, &c.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_592:B_1182" id="Footnote_i_592:B_1182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_592:B_1182"><span class="label">[592:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 27.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_592:C_1183" id="Footnote_i_592:C_1183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_592:C_1183"><span class="label">[592:C]</span></a> Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, vol. i. p. 186.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_592:D_1184" id="Footnote_i_592:D_1184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_592:D_1184"><span class="label">[592:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xix. p. 472. Act iv. sc. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_592:E_1185" id="Footnote_i_592:E_1185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_592:E_1185"><span class="label">[592:E]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 208.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_593:A_1186" id="Footnote_i_593:A_1186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_593:A_1186"><span class="label">[593:A]</span></a> To form a complete enumeration of the songs of the -Elizabethan era, it would be necessary not only to consult <i>all</i> the -dramatic writers of this age, but to acquire a perfect series of the -very numerous <i>Collections of Madrigals</i> which were published during the -same period.</p> -</div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 594 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_594" id="Page_i_594">[594]</a></span></p> -<h3><a name="i_PART_II_CHAPTER_IV" id="i_PART_II_CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h3> - -<p class="chapdesc">CURSORY VIEW OF POETRY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE DRAMA, -DURING THE AGE OF SHAKSPEARE.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The space which elapsed between the birth and the death of Shakspeare, -from April 1564 to April 1616, a period of fifty-two years, may be -pronounced, perhaps, the most fertile in our annals, with regard to the -production of poetical literature. Not only were the great outlines of -every branch of poetry chalked out with skill and precision, but many of -its highest departments were filled up and finished in a manner so -masterly as to have bid defiance to all subsequent competition. -Consequently if we take a survey of the various channels through which -the genius of poetry has been accustomed to diffuse itself, it will be -found, that, during this half century, every province had its -cultivators; that poems epic and dramatic, historic and didactic, lyric -and romantic, that satires, pastorals, and sonnets, songs, madrigals, -and epigrams, together with a multitude of translations, brightened and -embellished its progress.</p> - -<p>On a subject, however, so productive, and which would fill volumes, it -is necessary, that, in consonancy with the limits and due keeping of our -plan, the utmost solicitude for condensation be observed. In this -chapter, accordingly, which, to a certain extent, is meant to be -introductory to a critical consideration of the miscellaneous poems of -Shakspeare, the dramatic writers are omitted; a future section of the -work being appropriated to a detail of their more peculiar labours for -the stage.</p> - -<p>After a few general observations, therefore, on the poetry of this era, -it is our intention to give short critical notices of the principal -bards who flourished during its transit; and with the view of affording -some idea of the extensive culture and diffusion of poetic taste, an -<!-- Page 595 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_595" id="Page_i_595">[595]</a></span>alphabetical table of the minor poets, accompanied by slight memoranda, -will be added. An account of the numerous <i>Collections</i> of Poetry which -reflect so much credit on this age, and a few remarks and inferences, -more particularly with respect to Shakspeare's study of his immediate -predecessors and contemporaries in miscellaneous poetry, will complete -this portion of our subject.</p> - -<p>The causes which chiefly contributed to produce this fertility in -poetical genius may, in a great measure, be drawn from what has been -already remarked under the heads of <i>superstition</i>, <i>literature</i>, and -<i>romance</i>.</p> - -<p>The sun of philosophy and science, which had just risen with the most -captivating beauty, and which promised a meridian of uncommon splendour, -had not yet fully dissipated those mists that for centuries had -enveloped and darkened the human mind. What remained, however, of the -popular creed, was much less gross and less contradictory to common -experience, than what had vanished from the scroll; these reliques were, -indeed, such, as either appealed powerfully to a warm and creative -imagination, or were intimately connected with those apprehensions which -agitate the breast of man, when speculating on his destiny in another -and higher order of existence.</p> - -<p>Under the first of these classes may be included all that sportive, -wild, and terrific imagery which resulted from a partial belief in the -operations of fairies, witches, and magicians, and in the reveries of -the alchemist, the rosicrusian, and the astrologer; and under the second -will be found, what can scarcely be termed superstition in the customary -sense, that awful and mysterious conception of the spiritual world, -which supposes its frequent intervention, through the agency either of -departed spirits, or superhuman beings.</p> - -<p>The opinions which prevailed with regard to these topics in the days of -Shakspeare, were such as exactly suited the higher regions of poetry, -without giving any violent shock to the deductions of advancing -philosophy. The national credulity had been, in fact, greatly chastised -through the efforts of enquiry and research, and <!-- Page 596 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_596" id="Page_i_596">[596]</a></span>though it may still -appear great to us, was in perfect accordance with the progress of -civilisation, and certainly much better calculated for poetic purposes -than has been any subsequent though purer creed.</p> - -<p>The state of <i>literature</i>, too, was precisely of that kind which -favoured, in a very high degree, the nurture of poetical genius. The -vocabulary of our language was rich, beyond all example, both in natives -and exotics; not only in "new grafts of old withered words<a name="FNanchor_i_596:A_1187" id="FNanchor_i_596:A_1187"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_596:A_1187" class="fnanchor">[596:A]</a>," but -in a multitude of expressive terms borrowed from the learned languages; -and this wealth was used freely and without restriction, and without the -smallest apprehension of censure.</p> - -<p>An enthusiastic spirit for literary acquisition had been created and -cherished by the revival, the study, and the translation of the <i>ancient -classics</i>; and through this medium an exhaustless mine of imagery and -allusion was laid open to our vernacular poets.</p> - -<p>Nor were these advantages blighted or checked by the fastidious canons -of dictatorial <i>criticism</i>. Puttenham's was the only <i>Art of Poetry</i> -which had made its appearance, and, though a taste for discussion of -this kind was rapidly advancing, the poet was yet left independent of -the critic; at liberty to indulge every flight of imagination, and every -sally of feeling; to pursue his first mode of conception, and to adopt -the free diction of the moment.</p> - -<p>The age of <i>chivalry and romance</i>, also, had not yet passed away; the -former, it is true, was verging fast towards dissolution, but its tone -was still exalting and heroic, while the latter continued to throw a -rich, though occasionally a fantastic light over every species of poetic -composition. In short, the unrestricted copiousness of our language, the -striking peculiarities of our national superstition, the wild beauties -of Gothic invention, and the playful sallies of Italian fiction, -combined with a plentiful infusion of classic lore, and operating on -native genius, gave origin, not only to an unparalleled number of great -bards, but to a cast of poetry unequalled in this <!-- Page 597 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_597" id="Page_i_597">[597]</a></span>country for its -powers of description and creation, for its simplicity and energy of -diction, and for its wide dominion over the feelings.</p> - -<p>If we proceed to consider the <i>versification</i>, <i>economy</i>, and -<i>sentiment</i> of the Elizabethan poetry, candour must confess, that -considerable defects will be found associated with beauties equally -prominent, especially in the first and second of these departments. We -must be understood, however, as speaking here only of rhymed poetry, for -were the blank verse of our dramatic poets of this epoch included, there -can be no doubt but that in versification likewise the palm must be -awarded to Shakspeare and his contemporaries. Indeed, even in the -construction of rhyme, the inferiority of our ancestors is nearly, if -not altogether, confined to their management of the pentameter couplet; -and here, it must be granted, that, in their best artificers of this -measure, in the pages of Daniel, Drayton, and Browne, great deficiencies -are often perceptible both in harmony and cadence, in polish and -compactness. It has been said by a very pleasing, and, in general, a -very judicious critic, that "the older poets <i>disdained</i> stooping to the -character of syllable-mongers; as their conceptions were vigorous, they -trusted to the simple provision of nature for their equipment; and -though often introduced into the world <i>ragged</i>, they were always -healthy."<a name="FNanchor_i_597:A_1188" id="FNanchor_i_597:A_1188"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_597:A_1188" class="fnanchor">[597:A]</a> Now versification is to poetry, what colouring is to -painting, and though by no means among the higher provinces of the art, -yet he who <i>disdains</i> its cultivation, loses one material hold upon the -reader's attention; for, though plainness and simplicity of garb best -accord with vigour, sublimity, or pathos of conception, <i>raggedness</i> can -never coincide in the production of any grand or pleasing effect.</p> - -<p>It is remarkable, however, that, in lyrical composition, the poets of -Elizabeth's reign, so far from being defective in harmony of metre, -frequently possess the most studied modulation; and numbers of <!-- Page 598 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_598" id="Page_i_598">[598]</a></span>their -songs and madrigals, as well as many stanzas of their longer poems -constructed on the model of the Italian <i>octava rima</i>, exhibit in their -versification so much high-finishing, and such an exquisite polish, as -must render doubtful, in this province, at least, the assumed -superiority of modern art.</p> - -<p>A more striking desideratum in the poetry of this era has arisen from a -want of economy in the use of imagery and ornament, and in the -distribution of parts as relative to a whole. That relief, which is -produced by a judicious management of light and shade, appears to have -been greatly neglected; the eye, after having been fatigued by an -unsubdued splendour and warmth of style, suddenly passes to an extreme -poverty of colouring, without any intermediate tint to blend and -harmonize the parts; in short, to drop the metaphor, after a prodigal -profusion of imagery and description, the exhausted bard sinks for pages -together into a strain remarkable only for its flatness and imbecillity. -To this want of union in style, may be added an equal defalcation in the -disposition, connection, and dependency of the various portions of an -extended whole. These requisites, which are usually the result of long -and elaborate study, have been successfully cultivated by the moderns, -who, since the days of Pope, have paid a scrupulous attention to the -mechanism of versification, to the consonancy and keeping of style, and -to the niceties and economy of arrangement.</p> - -<p>We can ascribe, however, to the poets of Elizabeth's reign the greater -merit of excelling in energy and truth of <i>sentiment</i>, in simplicity of -diction, in that artless language of nature which irresistibly makes its -way to the heart. To excite the emotions of sublimity, of terror, of -pity, an appeal to the artificial graces of modern growth will not be -found successful; on the contrary, experience has taught us, that in the -higher walks of poetry, where sensations of grandeur and astonishment -are to be raised, or where the passions in all their native vigour are -to be called forth, we must turn to the earlier stages of the art, when -the poet, unshackled by the overwhelming influence of venerated models, -unawed by the <!-- Page 599 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_599" id="Page_i_599">[599]</a></span>frowns of criticism, and his flow of thought undiverted -by any laborious attention to the minutiæ of diction and cadence, looked -abroad for himself, and drew fresh from the page of surrounding nature, -and from the workings of his own breast, the imagery, and the feelings, -which he was solicitous to impress. In consequence of this -self-dependence, this appeal to original sources, the poetry of the -period under our notice possesses a strength, a raciness, and -verisimilitude which have since very rarely been attained, and which -more than compensate for any subordinate defects in the ornamental -departments of metre, or style.</p> - -<p>It is conceivable, indeed, that a poet may arise, who shall happily -combine, even in a long poem of the highest class, the utmost -refinements of recent art, with the originality, strength, and -independency of our elder bards; it is a phenomenon, however, rather to -be wished for than expected, as the excellencies peculiar to these -widely-separated eras appear to be, in their highest degree, nearly -incompatible. Yet is the attempt not to be given up in despair; in short -poems, especially of the lyric species, we know that this union has been -effected among us; for Gray, to very lofty flights of sublimity, has -happily united the utmost splendour of diction, and the utmost -brilliancy of versification; and even in a later and more extended -instance, in "The Pleasures of Hope" by Mr. Campbell, we find some of -the noblest conceptions of poetry clothed in metre exquisitely sweet and -polished, and possessing at the same time great variety of modulation, -and a considerable share of simplicity in its construction.</p> - -<p>If, however, upon the large scale, which the highest cast of poetry -demands, the studied harmony of later times be found incapable of -coalescing with effect, there can be no doubt what school we should -adopt; for who would not prefer the sublime though unadorned conception -of Michael Angelo to the glowing colouring even of such an artist as -Titian?</p> - -<p>Of the larger poems of the age of Shakspeare, the defects may be -considered as of two kinds, either apparent only, or real; under the -<!-- Page 600 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_600" id="Page_i_600">[600]</a></span>first may be classed that want of high-finishing which is the result, -partly of its incompatibility with greatness of design, and partly as -the effect of a just taste; for much of the minor poetry of the reign of -Elizabeth, as hath been previously observed, is polished even to excess; -while under the second are to be placed the positive defects of want of -union in style, and want of connection and arrangement in economy; -omissions not resulting from necessity, and which are scarcely to be -atoned for by any excellencies, however transcendent.</p> - -<p>It is creditable to the present age, that in the higher poetry several -of our bards have in a great degree reverted to the ancient school; -that, in attempting to emulate the genius of their predecessors, they -have judiciously adopted their strength and simplicity of diction, their -freedom and variety of metre, preserving at the same time, and -especially in the disposition of their materials, and the keeping of -their style, whatever of modern refinement can aptly blend with or -heighten the effect of the sublime, though often severely chaste -outline, of the first masters of their art.</p> - -<p>That meretricious glare of colouring, that uniform though seductive -polish, and that monotony of versification, which are but too apparent -in the school of Pope, and which have been carried to a disgusting -excess by Darwin and his disciples, not only vitiate and dilute all -developement of intense emotion, but even paralyse that power of -picturesque delineation, which can only subsist under an uncontrolled -freedom of execution, where, both in language and rhythm, the utmost -variety and energy have their full play. He who in sublimity and pathos -has made the nearest approach to our three immortal bards, Spenser, -Shakspeare, and Milton, and who may, therefore, claim the fourth place -in our poetical annals, the lamented Chatterton; and he who, in the -present day, stands unrivalled for his numerous and masterly sketches of -character, and for the truth, locality, and vigour of his descriptions, -the poet of Marmion and of Rokeby; are both well known to have built -their fame upon what may be emphatically termed the old <i>English</i> school -of poesy. The difference between them is, that while both revert to the -<!-- Page 601 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_601" id="Page_i_601">[601]</a></span>costume and imagery of the olden time, one adheres, in a great measure, -to the language of his day, while the other must be deemed a laborious -though not very successful imitator of the phraseology and extrinsic -garb of the remote period to which, for no very laudable purpose, he has -assigned his productions.</p> - -<p>These few remarks on the poetry of our ancestors being premised, the -critical notices to which we have alluded, may with propriety commence; -and in executing this part of the subject, as well as in the tabular -form which follows, an alphabetical arrangement will be observed.</p> - -<p>1. <span class="smcap">Beaumont, Sir John.</span> Though the poems of this author were not -published, yet were they written, during the age of Shakspeare, and -consequently demand our notice in this chapter. He was the elder brother -of Francis the dramatic poet, and was born at Grace-dieu, in -Leicestershire, in 1582. He very early attached himself to poetical -studies, and all his productions in this way were the amusements of his -youthful days. Of these, the most elaborate is entitled "Bosworth -Field," a very animated, and often a very poetical detail of the -circumstances which are supposed immediately to precede and accompany -this celebrated struggle. The versification merits peculiar praise; -there is an ease, a vigour, and a harmony in it, not equalled, perhaps, -by any other poet of his time; many of the couplets, indeed, are such as -would be distinguished for the beauty of their construction, even in the -writings of Pope. An encomium so strong as this may require some proofs -for its support, and among the number which might be brought forward, -three shall be adduced as specimens not only of finished versification, -but of the energy and heroism of the sentiments which pervade this -striking poem.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"There he beholds a high and glorious throne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where sits a king by lawrell garlands knowne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Like bright Apollo in the Muses' quires,</div> - <div class="line indentq">His radiant eyes are watchfull heavenly fires;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Beneath his feete pale Envie bites her chaine,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And snaky Discord whets her sting in vaine."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 602 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_602" id="Page_i_602">[602]</a></span>Ferrers, addressing Richard, exclaims,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"I will obtaine to-day, alive or dead,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The crownes that grace a faithfull souldiers head.</div> - <div class="line indentq">'Blest be thy tongue,' replies the king, 'in thee</div> - <div class="line indentq">The strength of all thine ancestors I see,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Extending warlike armes for England's good,</div> - <div class="line indentq">By thee their heire, in valour as in blood.'"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>On the flight of Catesby, who advises Richard to embrace a similar mode -of securing his personal safety, the King indignantly answers,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Let cowards trust their horses' nimble feete,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And in their course with new destruction meete;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Gaine thou some houres to draw thy fearefull breath:</div> - <div class="line indentq">To me ignoble flight is worse than death."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of the conclusion of Bosworth Field, Mr. Chalmers has justly observed, -that "the lines describing the death of the tyrant may be submitted with -confidence to the admirers of Shakspeare."<a name="FNanchor_i_602:A_1189" id="FNanchor_i_602:A_1189"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_602:A_1189" class="fnanchor">[602:A]</a></p> - -<p>The translations and miscellaneous poems of Sir John include several -pieces of considerable merit. We would particularly point out Claudian's -Epigram on the Old Man of Verona, and the verses on his "dear sonne -Gervase Beaumont."</p> - -<p>Sir John died in the winter of 1628, aged forty-six.</p> - -<p>2. <span class="smcap">Breton, Nicholas.</span> Of this prolific poet few authenticated facts are -known. His first publication, entitled, "A small handfull of fragrant -flowers," was printed in 1575; if we therefore allow him to have reached -the age of twenty-one before he commenced a writer, the date of his -birth may, with some probability, be assigned to the year 1554. The -number of his productions was so great, that a character in Beaumont and -Fletcher's <i>Scornful Lady</i>, declares that he had undertaken "with labour -and experience the collection of those thousand pieces—of that our -honour'd Englishman, Nich. Breton."<a name="FNanchor_i_602:B_1190" id="FNanchor_i_602:B_1190"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_602:B_1190" class="fnanchor">[602:B]</a> Ritson has given a catalogue -of twenty-nine, independent of his <!-- Page 603 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_603" id="Page_i_603">[603]</a></span>contributions to the "Phœnix Nest" -and "England's Helicon," and five more are recorded by Mr. Park in the -Censura Literaria.<a name="FNanchor_i_603:A_1191" id="FNanchor_i_603:A_1191"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_603:A_1191" class="fnanchor">[603:A]</a> Most of these are poetical, some a mixed -composition of rhyme and prose, and a few entirely prose; they are all -extremely scarce, certainly not the consequence of mediocrity or want of -notice, for they have been praised by Puttenham<a name="FNanchor_i_603:B_1192" id="FNanchor_i_603:B_1192"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_603:B_1192" class="fnanchor">[603:B]</a>, Meres<a name="FNanchor_i_603:C_1193" id="FNanchor_i_603:C_1193"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_603:C_1193" class="fnanchor">[603:C]</a>, -and Phillips; and one of his most beautiful ballads is inserted in "The -Muse's Library," 1740. After a lapse of twenty-five years, Dr. Percy -recalled the attention of the public to our author by inserting in his -Reliques the same piece which Mrs. Cowper had previously chosen<a name="FNanchor_i_603:D_1194" id="FNanchor_i_603:D_1194"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_603:D_1194" class="fnanchor">[603:D]</a>; -in 1801 Mr. Ellis favoured us with eight specimens, from his pamphlets -and "England's Helicon<a name="FNanchor_i_603:E_1195" id="FNanchor_i_603:E_1195"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_603:E_1195" class="fnanchor">[603:E]</a>," and Mr. Park has since added two very -valuable extracts to the number.<a name="FNanchor_i_603:F_1196" id="FNanchor_i_603:F_1196"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_603:F_1196" class="fnanchor">[603:F]</a> These induce us to wish for a -more copious selection, and at the same time enable us to declare, that -as a lyric and pastoral poet he possessed, if not a splendid, yet a -pleasing and elegant flow of fancy, together with great sweetness and -simplicity of expression, and a more than common portion of metrical -harmony.</p> - -<p>He is supposed, on the authority of an epitaph in the church of Norton, -a village in Northamptonshire, to have died on the 22d of June -1624.<a name="FNanchor_i_603:G_1197" id="FNanchor_i_603:G_1197"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_603:G_1197" class="fnanchor">[603:G]</a></p> - -<p>3. <span class="smcap">Browne, William</span>, was born at Tavistock, in Devonshire, in 1590, and, -there is reason to suppose, began very early to cultivate his poetical -talents; for in the first book of his <i>Britannias Pastorals</i>, which were -published in folio, in 1613, when in his twenty-third year, he speaks of -himself, "as weake in yeares as skill<a name="FNanchor_i_603:H_1198" id="FNanchor_i_603:H_1198"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_603:H_1198" class="fnanchor">[603:H]</a>," an expression <!-- Page 604 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_604" id="Page_i_604">[604]</a></span>which -leads to the supposition that his earlier pastorals were written before -he had attained the age of twenty. Indeed all his poetry appears to have -been written previous to his thirtieth year. In 1614, he printed in -octavo, <i>The Shepherds Pipe</i>, in seven eclogues; in 1616, the second -part of his <i>Britannias Pastorals</i> was given to the public, and in 1620, -his <i>Inner Temple Mask</i> is supposed to have been first exhibited.</p> - -<p>Browne enjoyed a large share of popularity during his life-time; -numerous commendatory poems are prefixed to the first edition of his -pastorals; and, in a copy of the second impression of 1625, in the -possession of Mr. Beloe, and which seems to have been a presentation -copy to Exeter College, Oxford, of which Browne was a member and Master -of Arts, there are thirteen adulatory addresses to the poet, from -different students of this society, and in the hand-writing of -each.<a name="FNanchor_i_604:A_1199" id="FNanchor_i_604:A_1199"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_604:A_1199" class="fnanchor">[604:A]</a> Among his earliest eulogists are found the great characters -Selden, Drayton, and Jonson, by whom he was highly respected both as a -poet and as a man; and as a still more imperishable honour, we must not -forget to mention, that he was a favourite with our divine Milton.</p> - -<p>Until lately, however, he has been under little obligation to subsequent -times; nearly one hundred and fifty years elapsed before a third edition -of his poems employed the press; this came out in 1772, under the -auspices of Mr. Thomas Davies, and, with the exception of some extracts -in Hayward's British Muse, this long interval passed without any attempt -to revive his fame, by any judicious specimens of his genius.<a name="FNanchor_i_604:B_1200" id="FNanchor_i_604:B_1200"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_604:B_1200" class="fnanchor">[604:B]</a> A -more propitious era followed the republication of Davies; in 1787, Mr. -Headley obliged us with some striking proofs of, and some excellent -remarks on, his beauties; in 1792, his whole works were incorporated in -the edition of the poets, by Dr. Anderson; in 1801, Mr. Ellis gave -further extension to his fame by additional examples, and in 1810 his -productions again <!-- Page 605 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_605" id="Page_i_605">[605]</a></span>became a component part of a body of English poetry -in the very elaborate and comprehensive edition of the English Poets, by -Mr. Chalmers.</p> - -<p>Still it appears to us, that sufficient justice has not, since the era -of Milton, been paid to his talents; for, though it be true, as Mr. -Headley has observed, that puerilities, forced allusions, and conceits, -have frequently debased his materials; yet are these amply atoned for by -some of the highest excellencies of his art; by an imagination ardent -and fertile, and sometimes sublime; by a vivid personification of -passion; by a minute and truly faithful delineation of rural scenery; by -a peculiar vein of tenderness which runs through the whole of his -pastorals, and by a versification uncommonly varied and melodious. With -these are combined a species of romantic extravagancy which sometimes -heightens, but more frequently degrades, the effect of his pictures. Had -he exhibited greater judgment in the selection of his imagery, and -greater simplicity in his style, his claim on posterity had been valid, -had been general and undisputed. Browne is conjectured by Wood to have -died in the winter of 1645.<a name="FNanchor_i_605:A_1201" id="FNanchor_i_605:A_1201"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_605:A_1201" class="fnanchor">[605:A]</a></p> - -<p>4. <span class="smcap">Chalkhill, John.</span> This poet was the intimate friend of Spenser, a -gentleman, a scholar, and, to complete the encomium, a man of strict -moral character. He was the author of a pastoral history, entitled, -<i>Thealma and Clearchus</i>; but "he died," relates Mrs. Cooper, "before he -could perfect even the Fable of his poem, and, by many passages in it, I -half believe, he had not given the last hand to what he has left behind -him. However, to do both him and his editor <!-- Page 606 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_606" id="Page_i_606">[606]</a></span>justice, if my opinion can -be of any weight, 'tis great pity so beautiful a relique should be lost; -and the quotations I have extracted from it will sufficiently evidence a -fine vein of imagination, a taste far from being indelicate, and both -language and numbers uncommonly harmonious and polite."<a name="FNanchor_i_606:A_1202" id="FNanchor_i_606:A_1202"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_606:A_1202" class="fnanchor">[606:A]</a></p> - -<p>The editor alluded to by Mrs. Cooper was the amiable Isaac Walton, who -published this elegant fragment in 8vo. in 1683, when he was ninety -years old, and who has likewise inserted two songs by Chalkhill in his -"Complete Angler."<a name="FNanchor_i_606:B_1203" id="FNanchor_i_606:B_1203"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_606:B_1203" class="fnanchor">[606:B]</a></p> - -<p>The pastoral strains of Chalkhill merit the eulogium of their female -critic; the versification, more especially, demands our notice, and may -be described, in many instances, as possessing the spirit, variety, and -harmony of Dryden. To verify this assertion, let us listen to the -following passages; describing the Golden age, he informs us,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Their sheep found cloathing, earth provided food,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And Labour drest it as their wills thought good:</div> - <div class="line indentq">On unbought delicates their hunger fed,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And for their drink the swelling clusters bled:</div> - <div class="line indentq">The vallies rang with their delicious strains,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And Pleasure revell'd on those happy plains."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>How beautifully versified is the opening of his picture of the Temple of -Diana!</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Within a little silent grove hard by,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Upon a small ascent, he might espy</div> - <div class="line indentq">A stately chapel, richly gilt without,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Beset with shady sycamores about:</div> - <div class="line indentq">And, ever and anon, he might well hear</div> - <div class="line indentq">A sound of music steal in at his ear</div> - <div class="line indentq">As the wind gave it Being: so sweet an air</div> - <div class="line indentq">Would strike a Syren mute and ravish her."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Pourtraying the cell of an Enchantress, he says,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"About the walls lascivious pictures hung,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Such as whereof loose Ovid sometimes sung.</div> - <!-- Page 607 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_607" id="Page_i_607">[607]</a></span><div class="line indentq">On either side a crew of dwarfish Elves,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Held waxen tapers taller than themselves:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Yet so well shap'd unto their little stature,</div> - <div class="line indentq">So angel-like in face, so sweet in feature;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Their rich attire so diff'ring, yet so well</div> - <div class="line indentq">Becoming her that wore it, none could tell</div> - <div class="line indentq">Which was the fairest——."<a name="FNanchor_i_607:A_1204" id="FNanchor_i_607:A_1204"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_607:A_1204" class="fnanchor">[607:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Beloe, in the first volume of his Anecdotes, p. 70., has given us a -Latin epitaph on a John Chalkhill, copied from Warton's History of -Winchester. This inscription tells us, that the person whom it -commemorates died a Fellow of Winchester College, on the 20th of May, -1679, aged eighty; and yet Mr. Beloe, merely from similarity of name and -character, contends that this personage must have been the Chalkhill of -Isaac Walton; a supposition which a slight retrospection as to dates, -would have proved impossible. Walton, in the title-page of Thealma and -Clearchus, describes Chalkhill as an acquaintant and friend of Edmund -Spenser; now as Spenser died in January, 1598, and the subject of this -epitaph, aged 80, in 1679, the latter must consequently have been born -in 1599, the year after Spenser's death! The coincidence of character -and name is certainly remarkable, but by no means improbable or -unexampled.</p> - -<p>5. <span class="smcap">Chapman, George</span>, who was born in 1557 and died in 1634, aged -seventy-seven, is here introduced as the principal translator of his -age; to him we are indebted for Homer, Musæus, and part of Hesiod. His -first published attempt on Homer appeared in 1592<a name="FNanchor_i_607:B_1205" id="FNanchor_i_607:B_1205"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_607:B_1205" class="fnanchor">[607:B]</a>, under the -title of "Seaven Bookes of the Shades of Homere, Prince of Poets;" and -shortly after the accession of James the First, the entire Iliad was -completed and entitled, "The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets. Never -before in any language truly translated. With a comment upon some of his -chief places: done according to the Greeke."</p> - -<p><!-- Page 608 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_608" id="Page_i_608">[608]</a></span>This version, which was highly prized by his contemporaries, is -executed in rhymed couplets, each line containing fourteen syllables; a -species of versification singularly cumbrous and void of harmony; and, -notwithstanding this protracted metre, fidelity is, by no means, the -characteristic of Chapman. He is not only often very paraphrastic, but -takes the liberty of omitting, without notice, what he could not -comprehend. It has been asserted by Pope, that a daring fiery spirit, -something like what we might imagine Homer himself to have written -before he arrived to years of discretion, animates his translation, and -covers his defects<a name="FNanchor_i_608:A_1206" id="FNanchor_i_608:A_1206"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_608:A_1206" class="fnanchor">[608:A]</a>; an opinion which seems rather the result of -partiality than unbiassed judgment; for though Chapman is certainly -superior to his successor Hobbes, and occasionally exhibits some -splendid passages, he must be considered by every critic of the present -day as, in general, coarse, bombastic, and often disgusting; a violator, -indeed, in almost every page, of the dignity and simplicity of his -original.</p> - -<p>The magnitude and novelty of the undertaking, however, deserved and met -with encouragement, and Chapman was induced, in 1614, to present the -world with a version of the Odyssey. This is in the pentameter couplet; -inferior in vigour to his Iliad, but in diction and versification more -chaste and natural. Of his Musæus and his Georgics of Hesiod, we shall -only remark that the former was printed in 1616, the latter in 1618, and -that the first, which we have alone seen, does not much exceed the -character of mediocrity. As an original writer, we shall have to notice -Chapman under the dramatic department, and shall merely add now, that he -was, in a moral light, a very estimable character, and the friend of -Spenser, Shakspeare, Marlowe, Daniel, and Drayton.</p> - -<p>6. <span class="smcap">Churchyard, Thomas.</span> This author merits notice rather for the quantity -than the quality of his productions, though a few of his pieces deserve -to be rescued from utter oblivion. He commenced a writer, <!-- Page 609 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_609" id="Page_i_609">[609]</a></span>according to -his own account<a name="FNanchor_i_609:A_1207" id="FNanchor_i_609:A_1207"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_609:A_1207" class="fnanchor">[609:A]</a>, in the reign of King Edward the Sixth, and as -Wood informs us that at the age of seventeen he went to seek his fortune -at court, and lived four years with Howard Earl of Surry, who died 1546, -it is probable that he was born about 1524. Shrewsbury had the honour of -producing him, and he continued publishing poetical tracts until the -accession of James the First. Ritson has given us a catalogue, which -might be enlarged, of seventeen of his publications, with dates, from -1558 to 1599, independent of a variety of scattered pieces; some of -these are of such bulk as to include from twelve to twenty subjects, and -in framing their titles the old bard seems to have been very partial to -alliteration; for we have <i>Churchyards Chippes</i>, 1575; <i>Churchyards -Choice</i>, 1579; <i>Churchyards Charge</i>, 1580; <i>Churchyards Change</i>; -<i>Churchyards Chance</i>, 1580; <i>Churchyards Challenge</i>, 1593; and -<i>Churchyards Charity</i>, 1595.<a name="FNanchor_i_609:B_1208" id="FNanchor_i_609:B_1208"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_609:B_1208" class="fnanchor">[609:B]</a> In the "Mirror for Magistrates," -first published in 1559, he contributed "<i>The Legend of Jane Shore</i>," -which he afterwards augmented in his "Challenge," by the addition of -twenty-one stanzas; this is perhaps the best of his poetical labours, -and contains several good stanzas. His "<i>Worthiness of Wales</i>," also, -first published in 1587, and reprinted a few years ago, is entitled to -preservation. This pains-taking author, as Ritson aptly terms him, died -poor on April 4th, 1604, after a daily exertion of his pen, in the -service of the Muses, for nearly sixty years.</p> - -<p>7. <span class="smcap">Constable, Henry</span>, of whom little more is personally known, than that -he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts at St. John's College, Cambridge, -in 1579<a name="FNanchor_i_609:C_1209" id="FNanchor_i_609:C_1209"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_609:C_1209" class="fnanchor">[609:C]</a>; that he was compelled to leave his native country from a -zealous attachment to the Roman Catholic religion, and that, venturing -to return, he was imprisoned in the <!-- Page 610 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_610" id="Page_i_610">[610]</a></span>Tower of London, but released -towards the close of 1604.<a name="FNanchor_i_610:A_1210" id="FNanchor_i_610:A_1210"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_610:A_1210" class="fnanchor">[610:A]</a> Constable possessed unrivalled -reputation with his contemporaries as a writer of sonnets; Jonson terms -his muse "ambrosiack<a name="FNanchor_i_610:B_1211" id="FNanchor_i_610:B_1211"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_610:B_1211" class="fnanchor">[610:B]</a>;" in <i>The Return from Parnassus</i>, 1606, we -are told that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Sweet Constable doth take the wondring ear</div> - <div class="line indentq">And lays it up in willing prisonment;"<a name="FNanchor_i_610:C_1212" id="FNanchor_i_610:C_1212"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_610:C_1212" class="fnanchor">[610:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Bolton calls him "a great master in English tongue," and adds, "nor -had any gentleman of our nation a more pure, quick, or higher delivery -of conceit; witness among all other, that Sonnet of his before his -Majesty's Lepanto."<a name="FNanchor_i_610:D_1213" id="FNanchor_i_610:D_1213"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_610:D_1213" class="fnanchor">[610:D]</a> In consequence of these encomia more modern -authors have prolonged the note of praise; Wood describes him as "a -noted English poet<a name="FNanchor_i_610:E_1214" id="FNanchor_i_610:E_1214"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_610:E_1214" class="fnanchor">[610:E]</a>;" Hawkins, as the "first, or principal -sonnetteer of his time<a name="FNanchor_i_610:F_1215" id="FNanchor_i_610:F_1215"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_610:F_1215" class="fnanchor">[610:F]</a>," and Warton, as "a noted -sonnet-writer."<a name="FNanchor_i_610:G_1216" id="FNanchor_i_610:G_1216"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_610:G_1216" class="fnanchor">[610:G]</a></p> - -<p>To justify the reputation thus acquired, we have two collections of his -sonnets still existing; one published in 1594, under the title of -"Diana, or the excellent conceitful sonnets of H. C. augmented with -divers quatorzains of honorable and learned personages, devided into -viij Decads;" and the other a manuscript in the possession of Mr. Todd, -consisting of sonnets divided into three parts, each part containing -three several arguments, and every argument seven sonnets.<a name="FNanchor_i_610:H_1217" id="FNanchor_i_610:H_1217"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_610:H_1217" class="fnanchor">[610:H]</a></p> - -<p>From the specimens which we have seen of his Diana, and from the sonnet -extracted by Mr. Todd from the manuscript collection, there can be -little hesitation in declaring, that the reputation which <!-- Page 611 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_611" id="Page_i_611">[611]</a></span>Constable -once enjoyed, was built upon no stable foundation, and that mediocrity -is all which the utmost indulgence of the present age can allow him.</p> - -<p>8. <span class="smcap">Daniel, Samuel</span>, a poet and historian of no small repute, was born -near Taunton, in Somersetshire, in 1562. Having received a classical -education at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and being afterwards enabled to -pursue his studies under the patronage of the Earl of Pembroke's family, -he became the most correct poet of his age. He commenced author as early -as 1585, by a translation of Paulus Jovius's Discourse of rare -Inventions; but his first published poems appear to have been his Delia, -a collection of Sonnets, with the complaint of Rosamond, 1592. He -continued to write until nearly the close of his life, for the Second -Part of his History of England was published in 1618, and he died on the -14th of October 1619.</p> - -<p>Of the poetry of Daniel, omitting for the present all notice of his -dramatic works, the most important are his <i>Sonnets to Delia</i>, the -<i>History of the Civil War</i>, the <i>Complaint of Rosamond</i> and the <i>Letter -from Octavia to Marcus Antonius</i>; the remainder consisting of occasional -pieces, and principally of Epistles to his friends and patrons.</p> - -<p>The Sonnets are not generally constructed on the legitimate or Petrarcan -model; but they present us with some beautiful versification and much -pleasing imagery. The "Civil Wars between the two houses of Lancaster -and York," the first four books of which were published in 1595, and the -eighth and last in 1609, form the <i>magnum opus</i> of Daniel, and to which -he looked for fame with posterity. That he has been disappointed, must -be attributed to his having too rigidly adhered to the truth of history; -for aspiring rather at the correctness of the annalist than the fancy of -the poet, he rarely attempts the elevation of his subject by any flight -of imagination, or digressional ornaments. Sound morality, prudential -wisdom, and occasional touches of the pathetic, delivered in a style of -then unequalled chastity and perspicuity, will be recognised throughout -his work; but neither warmth, passion, nor sublimity, nor the most -distant trace <!-- Page 612 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_612" id="Page_i_612">[612]</a></span>of enthusiasm can be found to animate the mass. In the -<i>Complaint of Rosamond</i>, and in the <i>Letter from Octavia</i>, he has copied -the manner of Ovid, though with more tenderness and pathos than are -usually found in the pages of the Roman.</p> - -<p>In short, purity of language, elegance of style, and harmony of -versification, together with an almost perfect freedom from pedantry and -affectation, and a continual flow of good sense and just reflection, -form the merits of Daniel, and resting on these qualities he is entitled -to distinguished notice, as an improver of our diction and taste; but to -the higher requisites of his art, to the fire and invention of the -creative bard, he has few pretensions.</p> - -<p>Daniel was the intimate friend of Shakspeare, Marlowe, Chapman, Camden, -and Cowel; and was so highly esteemed by the accomplished Anne, Countess -of Pembroke, that she not only erected a monument to his memory in -Beckington church, Somersetshire, but in a full length of herself, at -Appleby Castle in Cumberland, had a small portrait of her favourite poet -introduced.<a name="FNanchor_i_612:A_1218" id="FNanchor_i_612:A_1218"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_612:A_1218" class="fnanchor">[612:A]</a> This partiality seems to have sprung from a -connection not often productive of attachment; Daniel had been her tutor -when she was only thirteen years old, and in his poems he addresses an -epistle to her at this early age, which, as Mr. Park has justly said, -"deserves entire perusal for its dignified vein of delicate -admonition."<a name="FNanchor_i_612:B_1219" id="FNanchor_i_612:B_1219"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_612:B_1219" class="fnanchor">[612:B]</a> Dissatisfied with the opinions of his contemporaries -as to his poetical merit, which appears to have been similar to the -estimate that we have just given<a name="FNanchor_i_612:C_1220" id="FNanchor_i_612:C_1220"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_612:C_1220" class="fnanchor">[612:C]</a>, he relinquished the busy world, -and spent the closing years of his life in the cultivation of a farm.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 613 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_613" id="Page_i_613">[613]</a></span>9. <span class="smcap">Davies, Sir John</span>, was born at Chisgrove in Wiltshire in 1570. Though -a lawyer of great eminence, he is chiefly known to posterity through the -medium of his poetical works. His <i>Nosce Teipsum</i>, or poem on the -Immortality of the Soul, on which fame rests, was published in 1599, and -not only secured him the admiration of his learned contemporaries, among -whom may be recorded the great names of Camden, Harrington, Jonson, -Selden, and Corbet, but accelerated his professional honours; for being -introduced to James in Scotland, in order to congratulate him on his -accession to the throne of England, the king, on hearing his name, -enquired "if he was <i>Nosce Teipsum</i>? and being answered in the -affirmative, graciously embraced him, and took him into such favour, -that he soon made him his Solicitor, and then Attorney-General in -Ireland."<a name="FNanchor_i_613:A_1221" id="FNanchor_i_613:A_1221"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_613:A_1221" class="fnanchor">[613:A]</a></p> - -<p>Beside this philosophical poem, the earliest of which our language can -boast, Sir John printed, in 1596, a series of Epigrams, which were -published at Middleburg, at the close of Marlowe's translation of Ovid's -Epistles, and in the same year the first edition of his "Orchestra, or a -poeme of dauncing;" these, with twenty-six acrostics on the words -Elizabetha Regina, printed in 1599, and entitled "Hymns of Astræa," -complete the list of his publications.</p> - -<p>His "Nosce Teipsum" is a piece of close reasoning in verse, peculiarly -harmonious for the period in which it appeared. It possesses, also, wit, -ingenuity, vigour and condensation of thought, but exhibits few efforts -of imagination, and nothing that is either pathetic or sublime. In point -of argument, metaphysical acuteness and legitimate deduction, the -English poet is, in every respect, superior to his classical model -Lucretius; but how greatly does he fall beneath the fervid genius and -creative fancy of the Latian bard!</p> - -<p>Sir John died suddenly on the 7th of December 1626, in the fifty-seventh -year of his age.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 614 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_614" id="Page_i_614">[614]</a></span>10. <span class="smcap">Davors, John.</span> Of this poet little more is known, than that he -published, in 1613, the following work: "The Secrets of Angling: -teaching the choicest Tooles, Baits, and Seasons, for the taking of any -Fish, in Pond or River: practised and familiarly opened in three -Bookes." 12mo.</p> - -<p>Upon a subject so technical and didactic, few opportunities for poetical -imagery might naturally be expected; but Davors has most happily availed -himself of those which occurred, and has rendered his poem, in many -places, highly interesting by beauty of sentiment, and warmth of -description. A lovely specimen of his powers may be found in the -"Complete Angler" of Isaac Walton<a name="FNanchor_i_614:A_1222" id="FNanchor_i_614:A_1222"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_614:A_1222" class="fnanchor">[614:A]</a>, and the following invocation, -from the opening of the First Book, shall be given as a further proof of -the genuineness of his inspiration, and with this additional remark, -that his versification is throughout singularly harmonious:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"You Nimphs that in the springs and waters sweet,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Your dwelling have, of every hill and dale,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And oft amidst the meadows green do meet</div> - <div class="line i1q">To sport and play, and hear the nightingale,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And in the rivers fresh do wash you feet,</div> - <div class="line i1q">While Progne's sister tels her wofull tale:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Such ayd and power unto my verses lend,</div> - <div class="line i1q">As may suffice this little worke to end.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">And thou, sweet Boyd, that with thy wat'ry sway</div> - <div class="line i1q">Dost wash the Cliffes of Deignton and of Week,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And through their rocks with crooked winding way,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Thy mother Avon runnest soft to seek;</div> - <div class="line indentq">In whose fair streams, the speckled trout doth play,</div> - <div class="line i1q">The roch, the dace, the gudgin, and the bleike:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Teach me the skill with slender line and hook</div> - <div class="line i1q">To take each fish of river, pond, and brook."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>A second edition of "The Secrets of Angling," "augmented with many -approved experiments," by W. Lawson, was printed in 1652, and a third -would be acceptable even in the present day.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 615 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_615" id="Page_i_615">[615]</a></span>11. <span class="smcap">Donne, John</span>, D.D. The greater part of the poetry of this prelate, -though not published, was written, according to Ben Jonson, before he -was twenty-five years of age; and as he was born in London in 1573, he -must consequently be ranked as a bard of the sixteenth century. His -poems consist of elegies, satires, letters, epigrams, divine poems, and -miscellaneous pieces, and procured for him, among his contemporaries, -through private circulation and with the public when printed, during the -greater part of the seventeenth century, an extraordinary share of -reputation. A more refined age, however, and a more chastised taste, -have very justly consigned his poetical labours to the shelf of the -philologer. A total want of harmony in versification, and a total want -of simplicity both in thought and expression, are the vital defects of -Donne. Wit he has in abundance, and even erudition, but they are -miserably misplaced; and even his amatory pieces exhibit little else -than cold conceits and metaphysical subtleties. He may be considered as -one of the principal establishers of a school of poetry founded on the -worst Italian model, commencing towards the close of Elizabeth's reign, -continued to the decease of Charles the Second, and including among its -most brilliant cultivators the once popular names of Crashaw, Cleveland, -Cowley, and Sprat.</p> - -<p>Dr. Donne died in March 1631, and the first edition of his poems was -published by his son two years after that event.</p> - -<p>12. <span class="smcap">Drayton, Michael</span>, of an ancient family in Leicestershire, was born -in the village of Harshul, in the parish of Atherston, in Warwickshire, -in 1563. This voluminous and once highly-popular poet has gradually sunk -into a state of undeserved oblivion, from which he can alone be -extricated by a judicious selection from his numerous Works. These may -be classed under the heads of <i>historical</i>, <i>topographical</i>, -<i>epistolary</i>, <i>pastoral</i>, and <i>miscellaneous</i> poetry. The first includes -his <i>Barons Warres</i>, first published in 1596 under the title of -"Mortimeriades; the lamentable Civil Warres of Edward the Second, and -the Barons;" his <i>Legends</i>, written before 1598 and printed in an octavo -edition of his poems in 1613, and his <i>Battle of Agincourt</i>. It cannot -be denied that in these pieces there are occasional gleams of -<!-- Page 616 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_616" id="Page_i_616">[616]</a></span>imagination, many just reflections, and many laboured descriptions, -delivered in perspicuous language, and generally in smooth -versification; but they do not interest the heart or elevate the fancy; -they are tediously and minutely historical, void of passion, and, for -the most part, languid and prosaic. The second department exhibits the -work on which he rested his hopes of immortality, the elaborate and -highly-finished <i>Poly-olbion</i>, of which the first eighteen songs made -their appearance in 1612, accompanied by the very erudite notes of -Selden, and the whole was completed in thirty parts in 1622. The chief -defect in this singular poem results from its plan; to describe the -woods, mountains, vallies, and rivers of a country, with all their -associations, traditionary, historical, and antiquarian, forms a task -which no genius, however exalted, could mould into an interesting whole, -and the attempt to enliven it by continued personification has only -proved an expedient which still further taxes the patience of the -reader. It possesses, however, many beauties which are poetically great; -numerous delineations which are graphically correct, and a fidelity with -regard to its materials so unquestioned, as to have merited the -reference of Hearne and Wood, and the praise of Gough, who tells us that -the Poly-olbion has preserved many circumstances which even Camden has -omitted. It is a poem, in short, which will always be consulted rather -for the information that it conveys, than for the pleasure that it -produces.</p> - -<p>To <i>England's Heroical Epistles</i>, which constitute the third class, not -much praise can now be allotted, notwithstanding they were once the most -admired of the author's works. Occasional passages may, it is true, be -selected, which merit approbation for novelty of imagery and beauty of -expression; but nothing can atone for their wanting what, from the -nature of the subjects chosen, should have been their leading -characteristic—pathos.</p> - -<p>It is chiefly as a <i>pastoral</i> poet that Drayton will live in the memory -of his countrymen. The shepherd's reed was an early favourite; for in -1593 he published his "Idea: the Shepherd's Garland, fashioned in nine -Eglogs: and Rowland's Sacrifice to the nine Muses," which <!-- Page 617 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_617" id="Page_i_617">[617]</a></span>were -reprinted under the title of Pastorals, and with the addition of a tenth -eclogue. His attachment to rural imagery was nearly as durable as his -existence; for the year previous to his death he brought forward another -collection of pastorals, under the title of <i>The Muses Elisium</i>. Of -these publications, the first is in every respect superior, and gives -the author a very high rank among rural bards; his descriptions are -evidently drawn from nature; they often possess a decided originality, -and are couched in language pure and unaffected, and of the most -captivating simplicity.</p> - -<p>The <i>miscellaneous</i> productions of Drayton include a vast variety of -pieces; odes, elegies, sonnets, religions effusions, &c. &c. To specify -the individual merit of these would be useless; but among them are two -which, from their peculiar value, call for appropriate notice. A most -playful and luxuriant imagination is displayed to much advantage in the -<i>Nymphidia</i>, or <i>The Court of Fairy</i>, and an equal degree of judgment, -together with a large share of interest, in the poem addressed to his -loved friend Henry Reynolds, <i>On Poets and Poesy</i>. These, with the first -collection of pastorals, part of the second, and some well-chosen -extracts from his bulkier works, would form a most fascinating little -volume. Drayton died on December 23. 1631, and was buried in Westminster -Abbey.</p> - -<p>13. <span class="smcap">Drummond, William.</span> The birth of this truly elegant poet is placed at -Hawthornden in Scotland, on the 13th of December, 1585, and the -publication of the first portion of his Sonnets, in 1616, entitles him -to due notice among these critical sketches.</p> - -<p>A disappointment of the most afflictive nature, for death snatched from -him the object of his affection almost immediately after she had -consented to be his, has given a peculiar and very pathetic interest to -the greater part of his poetical compositions, which are endeared to the -reader of sensibility by the charm resulting from a sincere and -never-dying regret for the memory of his earliest love.</p> - -<p>His poetry, which has never yet been properly arranged, consists -principally of poems of a lyrical cast, including sonnets, madrigals, -epigrams, epitaphs, miscellanies, and divine poems.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 618 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_618" id="Page_i_618">[618]</a></span>Of these classes, the first and second exhibit numerous instances of a -versification decidedly more polished and elegant than that of any of -his contemporaries, and to this technical merit is frequently to be -added the still more rare and valuable distinctions of beauty of -expression, simplicity of thought, delicacy of sentiment, and tenderness -of feeling. Where he has failed, his faults are to be attributed to the -then prevailing taste for Italian <i>concetti</i>; to the study of Marino, -and his French imitators, Bellày and Du Bartas. These deviations from -correct taste are, however, neither frequent nor flagrant, and are -richly atoned for by strains of native genius, and the felicities of -unaffected diction.<a name="FNanchor_i_618:A_1223" id="FNanchor_i_618:A_1223"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_618:A_1223" class="fnanchor">[618:A]</a></p> - -<p>Drummond was the intimate friend of Drayton, the Earl of Stirling, and -Ben Jonson; the latter holding him in such estimation as to undertake a -journey to Scotland on foot, solely for the purpose of enjoying his -company and conversation. How far this meeting contributed to enhance -their mutual regard, is doubtful; no two characters could be more -opposed, the roughness and asperity of Jonson ill according with the -elegant manners of the Scottish poet, whose manuscript memoranda -relative to this interview plainly intimate his disapprobation of the -disposition and habits of his celebrated guest; but, unfortunately, at -the same time, display a breach of confidence, and a fastidiousness of -temper, which throw a shade over the integrity of his own friendship, -and the rectitude of his own feelings.</p> - -<p>This accomplished bard died on the 4th of December 1649, aged -sixty-three, and though his poems were republished by Phillips, the -nephew of Milton, in 1656, with a high encomium on his genius, he -continued so obscure, that in 1675, when the Theatrum Poetarum of the -same critic appeared, he is said to be "utterly disregarded and laid -aside<a name="FNanchor_i_618:B_1224" id="FNanchor_i_618:B_1224"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_618:B_1224" class="fnanchor">[618:B]</a>;" a fate which, strange as it may seem, has, until these -few <!-- Page 619 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_619" id="Page_i_619">[619]</a></span>years, almost completely veiled the merit of one of the first poets -of the sister kingdom.</p> - -<p>14. <span class="smcap">Fairefax, Edward.</span> The singular beauty of this gentleman's -translation of Tasso, and its influence on English versification, demand -a greater share of notice than is due to any poetical version preceding -that of Pope. He was the son of Sir Thomas Fairefax, of Denton in -Yorkshire, and early cultivating the enjoyment of rural and domestic -life, retired with the object of his affections to Newhall, in the -parish of Fuyistone, in Knaresborough forest, where he usefully occupied -his time in the education of his children, and the indulgence of -literary pursuits. His "Godfrey of Bulloigne," the work which has -immortalised his name, was written whilst he was very young, was -published in 1600, and dedicated to Queen Elizabeth.</p> - -<p>This masterly version, which for the last half century has been most -undeservedly neglected, has not hitherto been superseded by any -posterior attempt. Though rendered line by line, and in the octave -stanza of the Italians, it possesses an uncommon share of elegance, -vigour, and spirit, and very frequently exhibits the facility and -raciness of original composition. That it contributed essentially -towards the improvement of our versification, may be proved from the -testimony of Dryden and Waller, the former declaring him superior in -harmony even to Spenser, and the latter confessing that he owed the -melody of his numbers to a studious imitation of his metrical -skill.<a name="FNanchor_i_619:A_1225" id="FNanchor_i_619:A_1225"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_619:A_1225" class="fnanchor">[619:A]</a></p> - -<p>It is greatly to be regretted that the original poetry of Fairefax, with -the exception of one piece, has been suffered to perish. It consisted -<!-- Page 620 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_620" id="Page_i_620">[620]</a></span>of a poetical history of the Black Prince, and twelve Eclogues, of -which the fourth is preserved by Mrs. Cooper in her Muses' Library. This -lady informs us that the eclogues were all written after the accession -of King James to the throne of England; that they were occupied by -"important subjects relating to the manners, characters, and incidents -of the times he lived in; that they were pointed with many fine strokes -of satire; dignified with wholesome lessons of morality, and policy, to -those of the highest rank; and some modest hints even to Majesty -itself;" and that the learning they contained was "so various and -extensive, that, according to the evidence of his son, (who has written -large Annotations on each,) no man's reading, beside his own, was -sufficient to explain his references effectually."<a name="FNanchor_i_620:A_1226" id="FNanchor_i_620:A_1226"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_620:A_1226" class="fnanchor">[620:A]</a></p> - -<p>Fairefax died about the year 1632; and, beside his poetical works, was -the author of several controversial pieces, and of a learned essay on -Demonology.</p> - -<p>15. <span class="smcap">Fitzgeffrey, Charles</span>, was a native of Cornwall, of a genteel family, -and was entered a commoner of Broadgate's hall, Oxford, in 1592. Having -taken his degrees in arts, and assumed the clerical profession, he -finally became rector of St. Dominic in his own county. In 1596, he -published a poem to the memory of Sir Francis Drake, entitled "Sir -Francis Drake his honorable Life's commendation; and his tragicall -Deathe's lamentation;" 12mo. This poem, which possesses no small portion -of merit, is dedicated, in a sonnet, "to the beauteous and vertuous Lady -Elizabeth, late wife unto the highlie renowned Sir Francis Drake, -deceased," and is highly spoken of by Browne and Meres; the former -declaring that he unfolded</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The tragedie of Drake in leaves of gold;"<a name="FNanchor_i_620:B_1227" id="FNanchor_i_620:B_1227"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_620:B_1227" class="fnanchor">[620:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and the latter asserting that "as C. Plinius wrote the life of Pomponius -secundus, so yong Cha. Fitz-Geffray, that high-touring falcon, <!-- Page 621 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_621" id="Page_i_621">[621]</a></span>hath -most gloriously penned the honourable life and death of worthy Sir -Francis Drake."<a name="FNanchor_i_621:A_1228" id="FNanchor_i_621:A_1228"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_621:A_1228" class="fnanchor">[621:A]</a></p> - -<p>As the poetry of Fitzgeffrey is very little known, we shall give the -Sonnet to Lady Drake as a pleasing specimen of his genius:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Divorc'd by Death, but wedded still by Love,</div> - <div class="line i1q">For Love by Death can never be divorc'd;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Loe! England's dragon, thy true turtle dove,</div> - <div class="line i1q">To seeke his make is now againe enforc'd.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Like as the sparrow from the kestrel's ire,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Made his asylum in the wise man's fist:</div> - <div class="line indentq">So, he and I, his tongues-man, do require</div> - <div class="line i1q">Thy sanctuary, envie to resist.</div> - <div class="line indentq">So may heroique Drake, whose worth gave wings</div> - <div class="line i1q">Unto my Muse, that nere before could fly,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And taught her tune these harsh discordant strings</div> - <div class="line i1q">A note above her rurall minstrelsy,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Live in himselfe, and I in him may live;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thine eyes to both vitality shall give."<a name="FNanchor_i_621:B_1229" id="FNanchor_i_621:B_1229"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_621:B_1229" class="fnanchor">[621:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Beside his volume on Drake, Fitzgeffrey was the author of a collection -of Latin epigrams, in three books, under the title of <i>Affaniæ</i>, printed -in 8vo., 1601, and of a religious poem, called "The Blessed Birth-day," -1634, 4to. He lived highly respected both as a poet and divine, and died -at his parsonage-house in 1636-7.</p> - -<p>16. <span class="smcap">Fletcher, Giles</span>, the elder brother of Phineas Fletcher, was born in -1588, took the degree of bachelor of divinity at Oxford, and died at his -rectory of Alderton, in Suffolk, in 1623. The production which has given -him a poet's fame, was published in 1610, under the title of "Christ's -Victory and Triumph in Heaven and Earth over and after Death," -Cambridge, 4to. It is written in stanzas of eight lines, and divided -into four parts, under the appellations of <i>Christs Victory in Heaven</i>, -his <i>Triumph on Earth</i>, his <i>Triumph over Death</i>, and his <i>Triumph after -Death</i>.</p> - -<p>This is a poem which exhibits strong powers of description, and a <!-- Page 622 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_622" id="Page_i_622">[622]</a></span>great -command of language; it is, however, occasionally sullied by conceits, -and by a frequent play upon words, of which the initial stanza is a -striking proof. Our author was an ardent admirer of Spenser, and has in -many instances successfully imitated his picturesque mode of -delineation, though he has avoided following him in the use of the -prosopopeia.</p> - -<p>17. <span class="smcap">Fletcher, Phineas</span>, who surpassed his brother in poetical genius, -took his bachelor's degree at King's College, Cambridge, in 1604, and -his master's degree in 1608. Though his poems were not published until -1633, there is convincing proof that they were written before 1610; for -Giles, at the close of his "Christ's Victory," printed in this year, -thus beautifully alludes not only to his brother's Purple Island, but to -his eclogues, as previous compositions:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"But let the Kentish lad, that lately taught</div> - <div class="line indentq">His <i>oaten reed</i> the trumpets silver sound,</div> - <div class="line indentq"><i>Young Thyrsilis</i>; and for his music brought</div> - <div class="line indentq">The willing spheres from Heav'n, to lead around</div> - <div class="line indentq">The dancing nymphs and swains, that sung, and crown'd</div> - <div class="line i1q">Eclectas Hymen with ten thousand flowers</div> - <div class="line i1q">Of choicest praise, and hung her heav'nly bow'rs</div> - <div class="line indentq">With saffron garlands, dress'd for nuptial paramours:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Let his shrill trumpet, with her silver blast</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of fair Eclecta, and her spousal bed,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Be the sweet pipe, and smooth encomiast:</div> - <div class="line indentq">But my green Muse, hiding her younger head,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Under old Camus's flaggy banks, that spread</div> - <div class="line i1q">Their willow locks abroad, and all the day</div> - <div class="line i1q">With their own wa'try shadows wanton play:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Dares not those high amours, and love-sick songs assay."<a name="FNanchor_i_622:A_1230" id="FNanchor_i_622:A_1230"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_622:A_1230" class="fnanchor">[622:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It is, indeed, highly probable, that they were composed even before he -took his bachelor's degree; for, in the dedication of his "Purple -Island" to his learned friend, Edward Benlowes, Esq., he terms them "raw -essays of my very unripe years, and almost childhood."<a name="FNanchor_i_622:B_1231" id="FNanchor_i_622:B_1231"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_622:B_1231" class="fnanchor">[622:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 623 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_623" id="Page_i_623">[623]</a></span>The "Purple Island" is an allegorical description, in twelve cantos, of -the corporeal and intellectual functions of man. Its interest and effect -have been greatly injured by a too minute investigation of anatomical -facts; the first five cantos being little else than a lecture in rime, -and productive more of disgust than any other sensation. In the residue -of the poem, the bard bursts forth with unshackled splendour, and the -passions and mental powers are personified with great brilliancy of -imagination, and great warmth of colouring. Like his brother, however, -he is defective in taste; the great charm of composition, simplicity, is -too often lost amid the mazes of quaint conception and meretricious -ornament. Yet are there passages interspersed through this allegory, of -exquisite tenderness and sweetness, alike simple and correct in diction, -chaste in creative power, and melodious in versification.</p> - -<p>The "Piscatory Eclogues," to novelty of scenery, add many passages of -genuine and delightful poetry, and the music of the verse is often -highly gratifying to the ear; but many of the same faults are -discernible in these pieces, which we remarked in the "Purple Island;" -pedantry and forced conceits occasionally intrude, and, though the poet -has not injured the effect of his delineations by coarseness, or -rusticity of expression, he has sometimes forgotten the simple elegance -which should designate the pastoral muse.</p> - -<p>Our author was presented to the living of Hilgay, in Norfolk, in 1621, -and died there about the year 1650.</p> - -<p>18. <span class="smcap">Gascoigne, George</span>, the son of Sir John Gascoigne, was descended from -an ancient family in Essex, and, after a private education under the -care of Stephen Nevinson, L.L.D. he was sent to Cambridge, and from -thence to Gray's Inn, for the purpose of studying the law. Like many -men, however, of warm passions and strong imagination, he neglected his -profession for the amusements and dissipation of a court, and having -exhausted his paternal property, he found himself under the necessity of -seeking abroad, in a military capacity, that support which he had failed -to acquire at home. He accordingly accepted a Captain's commission in -Holland, in 1572, <!-- Page 624 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_624" id="Page_i_624">[624]</a></span>under William Prince of Orange, and having signalised -his courage at the siege of Middleburg, had the misfortune to be -captured by the Spaniards near Leyden, and, after four month's -imprisonment, revisited his native country.</p> - -<p>He now resumed his profession and his apartments at Gray's Inn; but in -1575, on his return from accompanying Queen Elizabeth in her progress to -Kenelworth Castle, he fixed his residence at his "poore house," at -Walthamstow, where he employed himself in collecting and publishing his -poems. He was not long destined, however, to enjoy this literary -leisure; for, according to George Whetstone, who was "an eye-witness of -his godly and charitable end in this world<a name="FNanchor_i_624:A_1232" id="FNanchor_i_624:A_1232"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_624:A_1232" class="fnanchor">[624:A]</a>," he expired at -Stamford, in Lincolnshire, on the 7th of October, 1577, when he was -probably under forty years of age.<a name="FNanchor_i_624:B_1233" id="FNanchor_i_624:B_1233"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_624:B_1233" class="fnanchor">[624:B]</a></p> - -<p>The poetry of Gascoigne was twice collected during his life-time; -firstly, in 1572, in a quarto volume, entitled, "A Hundreth sundrie -Flowres bounde up in one small Poesie. Gathered partely (by translation) -in the fyne outlandish Gardins of Euripides, Ovid, Petrarke, Ariosto, -and others: and partly by invention, out of our owne fruitefull -Orchardes in Englande: Yielding sundrie sweet savors of <!-- Page 625 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_625" id="Page_i_625">[625]</a></span>Tragical, -Comical, and Morall Discourses, both pleasaunt and profitable to the -well smellyng noses of learned Readers. Meritum petere, grave. At -London, Imprinted for Richarde Smith;" and secondly in 1575, with the -title of "The Posies of George Gascoigne Esquire. Corrected, perfected -and augmented by the Authour. <i>Tam Marti, quam Mercurio.</i> Imprinted at -London by H. Bynneman for Richard Smith." The edition is divided into -three parts, under the appellation of <i>Flowers</i>, <i>Hearbes</i>, and -<i>Weedes</i>, to which are annexed "Certayne notes of Instruction concerning -the making of verse or ryme in English, written at the request of Master -Edouardo Donati."</p> - -<p>Besides these collections, Gascoigne published separately, "The Glasse -of Government. A Tragical Comedie," 1575. "The Steele Glas. A Satyre," -1576. "The Princely Pleasures, at the Court at Kenelworth," 1576; and "A -Delicate Diet for daintie mouthde Drunkards," a prose tract, 1576. After -his death appeared, in 1586, his tract, entitled, "The Droome of Doomes -Day;" and in 1587, was given to the world, a complete edition of his -works, in small quarto, black letter.</p> - -<p>Gascoigne, though patronised by several illustrious characters, among -whom may be enumerated, Lord Grey of Wilton, the Earl of Bedford, and -Sir Walter Raleigh, appears to have suffered so much from the envy and -malignity of his critics, as to induce him to intimate, that the disease -of which he died, was occasioned by the irritability of mind resulting -from these attacks; and yet, as far as we have an opportunity of -judging, his contemporaries seem to have done justice to his talents; at -least Gabriel Harvey<a name="FNanchor_i_625:A_1234" id="FNanchor_i_625:A_1234"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_625:A_1234" class="fnanchor">[625:A]</a> and Arthur Hall<a name="FNanchor_i_625:B_1235" id="FNanchor_i_625:B_1235"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_625:B_1235" class="fnanchor">[625:B]</a>, Nash<a name="FNanchor_i_625:C_1236" id="FNanchor_i_625:C_1236"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_625:C_1236" class="fnanchor">[625:C]</a>, -Webbe<a name="FNanchor_i_625:D_1237" id="FNanchor_i_625:D_1237"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_625:D_1237" class="fnanchor">[625:D]</a>, and Puttenham<a name="FNanchor_i_625:E_1238" id="FNanchor_i_625:E_1238"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_625:E_1238" class="fnanchor">[625:E]</a>, have together praised him for his -wit, his imagination, and his metre; and in the Glosse <!-- Page 626 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_626" id="Page_i_626">[626]</a></span>to Spenser's -Calender, he is styled "the very chief of our late rymers."<a name="FNanchor_i_626:A_1239" id="FNanchor_i_626:A_1239"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_626:A_1239" class="fnanchor">[626:A]</a></p> - -<p>The poetry of our author has not, in modern times, met with all the -attention which it deserves; specimens, it is true, have been selected -by Cooper, Percy, Warton, Headley, Ellis, Brydges, and Haslewood; but, -with the exception of the re-impression of 1810, in Mr. Chalmers's -English Poets, no edition of his works has been published since 1587. -This is the more extraordinary, for, as the ingenious editor just -mentioned has remarked, "there are three respects in which his claims to -originality require to be noticed as æras in a history of poetry. His -Steele Glass is among the first specimens of blank verse in our -language; his Jocasta is the second theatrical piece written in that -measure; and his Supposes is the first comedy written in prose."<a name="FNanchor_i_626:B_1240" id="FNanchor_i_626:B_1240"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_626:B_1240" class="fnanchor">[626:B]</a> -Warton has pronounced him to have "much exceeded all the poets of his -age in smoothness and harmony of versification<a name="FNanchor_i_626:C_1241" id="FNanchor_i_626:C_1241"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_626:C_1241" class="fnanchor">[626:C]</a>," an encomium -which peculiarly applies to the lyrical portion of his works, which is -indeed exquisitely polished, though not altogether free from affectation -and antithesis. Among these pieces, too, is to be discovered a -considerable range of fancy, much tenderness and glow of sentiment, and -a frequent felicity of expression. In moral and didactic poetry, he has -likewise afforded us proofs approaching to excellence, and his satire -entitled "The Steele Glass," includes a curious and minute picture of -the manners and customs of the age.</p> - -<p>To the "Supposes" of Gascoigne, a translation from the Suppotiti of -Ariosto, executed with peculiar neatness and ease, Shakspeare has been -indebted for a part of his plot of the "Taming of the Shrew."<a name="FNanchor_i_626:D_1242" id="FNanchor_i_626:D_1242"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_626:D_1242" class="fnanchor">[626:D]</a></p> - -<p>19. <span class="smcap">Greene, Robert.</span> Of this ingenious and prolific writer, we <!-- Page 627 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_627" id="Page_i_627">[627]</a></span>have -already related so many particulars, that nothing more can be wanting -here, than a brief character of his poetical genius. Were his poetry -collected from his various pamphlets and plays, of which nearly fifty -are known to be extant, a most interesting little volume might be -formed. The extreme rarity, however, of his productions, may render this -an object of no easy attainment; but of its effect a pretty accurate -idea may be acquired from what has been done by Mr. Beloe, who, in his -Anecdotes of Literature, has collected many beautiful specimens from the -following pieces of our author. <i>Tullie's Love</i>, 1616; <i>Penelope's Web</i>, -1601; <i>Farewell to Follie</i>, 1617; <i>Never Too Late</i>, 1590; <i>History of -Arbasto</i>, 1617; <i>Arcadia, or Menaphon</i>, 1589; <i>Orphanion</i>, 1599; -<i>Philomela</i>, 1592.<a name="FNanchor_i_627:A_1243" id="FNanchor_i_627:A_1243"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_627:A_1243" class="fnanchor">[627:A]</a></p> - -<p>Though most of the productions of Greene were written to supply the -wants of the passing hour, yet the poetical effusions scattered through -his works betray few marks of haste or slovenliness, and many of them, -indeed, may be classed among the most polished and elegant of their day. -To much warmth and fertility of fancy, they add a noble strain of -feeling and enthusiasm, together with many exquisite touches of the -pathetic, and so many impressive lessons of morality, as, in a great -measure, to atone for the licentiousness of several of his prose -tracts.<a name="FNanchor_i_627:B_1244" id="FNanchor_i_627:B_1244"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_627:B_1244" class="fnanchor">[627:B]</a></p> - -<p>20. <span class="smcap">Hall, Joseph</span>, Bishop of Exeter and Norwich, was born on the first of -July 1574, at Brestow Park, Leicestershire. He was admitted of Emanuel -College, Cambridge, at the age of fifteen, and when twenty-three years -old, published his satires, under the title of Virgidemiarum, Sixe -Bookes. First Three Bookes of Tooth-less Satyrs: 1. Poetical; 2. -Academicall; 3. Moral; printed by T. Creede for R. Dexter 1597. The -Three last Bookes of Byting Satyrs, by <!-- Page 628 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_628" id="Page_i_628">[628]</a></span>R. Bradock for Dexter, 1598. -Both parts were reprinted together in 1599, and have conferred upon -their author a just claim to the appellation of one of our earliest and -best satiric poets. Of the legitimate satire, indeed, he appears to have -given us the first example, an honour upon which he justly prides -himself, for, in the opening of his prologue, he tells us</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"I first adventure, with fool-hardy might,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To tread the steps of perilous despight:</div> - <div class="line indentq">I first adventure, follow me who list,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And be the <i>second</i> English satirist."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>On the re-publication of the Virgidemiarum at Oxford, in 1752, Gray, in -a letter to Dr. Wharton, speaking of these satires, says, "they are full -of spirit and poetry, as much of the first as Dr. Donne, and far more of -the latter<a name="FNanchor_i_628:A_1245" id="FNanchor_i_628:A_1245"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_628:A_1245" class="fnanchor">[628:A]</a>;" and Warton, at the commencement of an elaborate and -extended critique on Hall's poetic genius, in the Fragment of his fourth -volume of the History of English Poetry, gives the following very -discriminative character of these satires. They "are marked," he -observes, "with a classical precision, to which English poetry had yet -rarely attained. They are replete with animation of style and sentiment. -The indignation of the satirist is always the result of good sense. Nor -are the thorns of severe invective unmixed with the flowers of pure -poetry. The characters are delineated in strong and lively colouring, -and their discriminations are touched with the masterly traces of -genuine humour. The versification is equally energetic and elegant, and -the fabric of the couplets approaches to the modern standard. It is no -inconsiderable proof of a genius predominating over the general taste of -an age when every preacher was a punster, to have written verses, where -laughter was to be raised, and the reader to be entertained with sallies -of pleasantry, without quibbles and conceits. His chief fault is -obscurity, arising from a remote phraseology, constrained <!-- Page 629 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_629" id="Page_i_629">[629]</a></span>combinations, -unfamiliar allusions, elliptical apostrophes, and abruptness of -expression. Perhaps some will think that his manner betrays too much of -the laborious exactness and pedantic anxiety of the scholar and the -student. Ariosto in Italian, and Regnier in French, were now almost the -only modern writers of satire; and I believe there had been an English -translation of Ariosto's Satires. But Hall's acknowledged patterns are -Juvenal and Persius, not without some touches of the urbanity of Horace. -His parodies of these poets, or rather his adaptations of ancient to -modern manners, a mode of imitation not unhappily practised by Oldham, -Rochester, and Pope, discover great facility and dexterity of invention. -The moral gravity and the censorial declamation of Juvenal, he -frequently enlivens with a train of more refined reflection, or adorns -with a novelty and variety of images."<a name="FNanchor_i_629:A_1246" id="FNanchor_i_629:A_1246"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_629:A_1246" class="fnanchor">[629:A]</a></p> - -<p>The Satires of Hall exhibit a very minute and curious picture of the -literature and manners, the follies and vices of his times, and numerous -quotations in the course of our work will amply prove the wit, the -sagacity, and the elegance of his Muse. Poetry was the occupation merely -of his youth, the vigour and decline of his days being employed in the -composition of professional works, calculated, by their piety, -eloquence, and originality, to promote, in the most powerful manner, the -best interests of morality and religion. This great and good man died, -after a series of persecution from the republican party, at his little -estate at Heigham, near Norwich, on the 8th of September 1656, and in -the eighty-second year of his age.</p> - -<p>21. <span class="smcap">Harington, Sir John.</span> Among the numerous translators of the -Elizabethan period, this gentleman merits peculiar notice, as having, -through the medium of his Ariosto, "enriched our poetry by a -communication of new stores of fiction and imagination, both of the -romantic and comic species, of Gothic machinery and familiar -manners."<a name="FNanchor_i_629:B_1247" id="FNanchor_i_629:B_1247"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_629:B_1247" class="fnanchor">[629:B]</a> His version of the Orlando Furioso, of which the first -<!-- Page 630 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_630" id="Page_i_630">[630]</a></span>edition was published in 1591, procured him a large share of celebrity. -Stowe, in his Annals, has classed him among those "excellent poets which -worthily flourish, in their own works, and lived together in Queen -Elizabeth's reign<a name="FNanchor_i_630:A_1248" id="FNanchor_i_630:A_1248"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_630:A_1248" class="fnanchor">[630:A]</a>;" and Fuller<a name="FNanchor_i_630:B_1249" id="FNanchor_i_630:B_1249"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_630:B_1249" class="fnanchor">[630:B]</a>, Philips, Dryden, and -others, to the middle of the eighteenth century, have spoken of him in -terms of similar commendation. In point of poetical execution, however, -his translation, whatever might be its incidental operation on our -poetic literature, must now be considered as vulgar, tame, and -inaccurate. Sir John was born at Kelston near Bath, in 1561, and died -there in 1612, aged fifty-one. His "Epigrams," in four Books, were -published after his death; first in 1615, when the fourth book alone was -printed; again in 1618, including the whole collection; and a third time -in 1625, small 8vo.<a name="FNanchor_i_630:C_1250" id="FNanchor_i_630:C_1250"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_630:C_1250" class="fnanchor">[630:C]</a> The poetical merit of these pieces is very -trifling, but they throw light upon contemporary character and -manners.<a name="FNanchor_i_630:D_1251" id="FNanchor_i_630:D_1251"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_630:D_1251" class="fnanchor">[630:D]</a></p> - -<p>22. <span class="smcap">Jonson, Benjamin.</span> Of this celebrated poet, the friend and companion -of Shakspeare, a very brief notice, and limited to his <!-- Page 631 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_631" id="Page_i_631">[631]</a></span>minor pieces, -will here be necessary, as his dramatic works and some circumstances of -his life, will hereafter occupy their due share of attention. His poems -were divided by himself into "Epigrams," "The Forest," "Under-woods," -and a translation of "Horace's Art of Poetrie;" to which his late -editors have added, "Miscellaneous Pieces." The <i>general</i> cast of these -poems is not such as will recommend them to a modern ear; they are but -too often cold and affected; but occasionally, instances of a -description the very reverse of these epithets, are to be found, where -simplicity and beauty of expression constitute the prominent features. -It is chiefly, if not altogether, among his minor pieces in the lyric -measure that we meet with this peculiar neatness and concinnity of -diction: thus, in "The Forest," the lines from Catullus, beginning -"Come, my Celia, let us prove," and the well-known song</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Drink to me only with thine eyes;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">in the "Underwoods," the stanzas commencing</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"For Love's sake kisse me once again;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Or scorne, or pittie on me take;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and, among his "Songs," these with the initial lines</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Queene and huntresse, chaste and faire;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Still to be neat, still to be drest;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">are striking proofs of these excellencies.</p> - -<p>We must also remark that, among his "Epistles" and "Miscellaneous -Pieces," there are discoverable a few very conspicuous examples of the -union of correct and nervous sentiment with singular force and dignity -of elocution. Of this happy combination, the Lines to the Memory of -Shakspeare, an eulogium which will claim our attention in a future page, -may be quoted as a brilliant model.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 632 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_632" id="Page_i_632">[632]</a></span>23. <span class="smcap">Lodge, Thomas</span>, M. D. This gentleman, though possessing celebrity, -in his day, as a physician, is chiefly entitled to the attention of -posterity as a poet. He was a native of Lincolnshire, and born about -1556; educated at Oxford, of which he became a member about 1573, and -died of the plague at London, in September 1625. He has the double -honour of being the first who published, in our language, a Collection -of Satires, so named, and of having suggested to Shakspeare the plot of -his <span class="smcap">As You Like It</span>. Philips, in his Theatrum Poetarum, characterises him -as "one of the writers of those pretty old pastoral songs, which were -very much the strain of those times<a name="FNanchor_i_632:A_1252" id="FNanchor_i_632:A_1252"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_632:A_1252" class="fnanchor">[632:A]</a>;" but has strangely -overlooked his satirical powers; these, however, have been noticed by -Meres, who remarks, that "as Horace, Lucilius, Juvenal, Persius and -Lucullus are the best for Satyre among the Latins, so with us in the -same faculty, these are chiefe: Piers Plowman, <span class="smcap">Lodge</span>, Hall of Emanuel -Colledge in Cambridge, the author of Pigmalion's Image," &c.<a name="FNanchor_i_632:B_1253" id="FNanchor_i_632:B_1253"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_632:B_1253" class="fnanchor">[632:B]</a> The -work which gives him precedence, as a writer of professed satires, is -entitled "<span class="smcap">A Fig for Momus</span>; containing pleasant Varietie, included in -<i>Satyrs</i>, Eclogues, and Epistles, by T. L. of Lincolnes Inne, Gent." -1595.<a name="FNanchor_i_632:C_1254" id="FNanchor_i_632:C_1254"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_632:C_1254" class="fnanchor">[632:C]</a> It is dedicated to "William, Earle of Darbie," and though -published two years before the appearance of Hall's Satires, possesses a -spirit, ease and harmony, which that more celebrated poet has not -surpassed. Than the following lines, selected from the first satire, we -know few which, in the same department, can establish a better claim to -vigour, truth, and melody:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"All men are willing with the world to haulte,</div> - <div class="line indentq">But no man takes delight to knowe his faulte—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Tell bleer-eid Linus that his sight is cleere,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Heele pawne himselfe to buy thee bread and beere;—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Find me a niggard that doth want the shift</div> - <div class="line indentq">To call his cursed avarice good thrift;</div> - <!-- Page 633 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_633" id="Page_i_633">[633]</a></span><div class="line indentq">A rakehell sworne to prodigalitie,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That dares not terme it liberalitie;</div> - <div class="line indentq">A letcher that hath lost both flesh and fame,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That holds not letcherie a pleasant game:—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thus with the world, the world dissembles still,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And to their own confusions follow will,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Holding it true felicitie to flie,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Not from the sinne, but from the seeing eie."<a name="FNanchor_i_633:A_1255" id="FNanchor_i_633:A_1255"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_633:A_1255" class="fnanchor">[633:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The debt of Shakspeare to our author is to be found in a pamphlet -entitled "Rosalynde: Euphues Golden Legacie, found after his Death in -his Cell at Silexdra, by T. L. Gent." The poetical pieces interspersed -through this tract correspond with the character given of Lodge's -composition by Phillips; for they are truly pastoral, and are finished -in a style of great sweetness, delicacy, and feeling. Want of taste, or -want of intimacy with this production, has induced Mr. Steevens to give -a very improper estimate of it; "Shakspeare," he remarks, "has followed -Lodge's novel more exactly than is his general custom when he is -indebted to such <i>worthless</i> originals; and has sketched some of his -principal characters, and borrowed a few expressions from it."<a name="FNanchor_i_633:B_1256" id="FNanchor_i_633:B_1256"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_633:B_1256" class="fnanchor">[633:B]</a></p> - -<p>The poetry of Lodge is to be gleaned from his pamphlets; particularly -from the two which we have mentioned, and from the two now to be -enumerated, namely, "Phillis: honoured with pastorall sonnets, elegies -and amorous delights. Where-unto is annexed, the tragicall complaynt of -Elstred," 1593, 4to., and "A most pleasant historie of Glaucus and -Scilla: with many excellent poems, and delectable sonnets," 1610, 4to. -He contributed, likewise, to the Collections termed <i>The Phœnix Nest</i>, -1593, and <i>England's Helicon</i>, 1600; and in the Preface, by Sir Egerton -Brydges, to the third edition of the latter Miscellany, so just a -tribute is paid to his genius as imperatively demands insertion; more -particularly if we consider the obscurity into which this poet has -fallen. "In ancient writings," <!-- Page 634 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_634" id="Page_i_634">[634]</a></span>observes the critic, "we frequently meet -with beautiful passages; but whole compositions are seldom free from the -most striking inequalities; from inharmonious verses; from lame, or -laboured and quaint expressions; and creeping or obscure thoughts. In -Lodge we find whole pastorals and odes, which have all the ease, polish, -and elegance of a modern author. How natural is the sentiment, and how -sweet the expression of the following in <i>Old Damon's Pastoral</i>:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Homely hearts do harbour quiet;</div> - <div class="line i1q">Little fear, and mickle solace;</div> - <div class="line indentq">States suspect their bed and diet;</div> - <div class="line i1q">Fear and craft do haunt the palace.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Little would I, little want I,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Where the mind and store agreeth;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Smallest comfort is not scanty;</div> - <div class="line i1q">Least he longs that little seeth.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Time hath been that I have longed.</div> - <div class="line i1q">Foolish I to like of folly,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To converse where honour thronged,</div> - <div class="line i1q">To my pleasures linked wholly:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Now I see, and seeing sorrow</div> - <div class="line i1q">That the day consum'd returns not:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Who dare trust upon to-morrow,</div> - <div class="line i1q">When nor time nor life sojourns not!"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"How charmingly he breaks out in <i>The Solitary Shepherd's Song</i>:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"O shady vale, O fair enriched meads,</div> - <div class="line i1q">O sacred flowers, sweet fields, and rising mountains;</div> - <div class="line indentq">O painted flowers, green herbs where Flora treads,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Refresh'd by wanton winds and watry fountains!"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"Is there one word or even accent obsolete in this picturesque and truly -poetical stanza?</p> - -<p>"But if such a tender and moral fancy be ever allowed to trifle, is -there any thing of the same kind in the whole compass of English poetry -more exquisite, more delicately imagined, or expressed with more -finished and happy artifice of language, than Rosalind's Madrigal, -beginning—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <!-- Page 635 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_635" id="Page_i_635">[635]</a></span><div class="line">"Love in my bosom, like a bee,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Doth suck his sweet:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Now with his wings he plays with me,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Now with his feet.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Within mine eyes he makes his rest;</div> - <div class="line indentq">His bed amidst my tender breast;</div> - <div class="line indentq">My kisses are his daily feast;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And yet he robs me of my rest.</div> - <div class="line i2q">Ah, wanton, will ye?"—</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"Compare Dr. Lodge not only with his cotemporaries but his successors, -and who, except Breton, has so happily anticipated the taste, -simplicity, and purity of the most refined age."<a name="FNanchor_i_635:A_1257" id="FNanchor_i_635:A_1257"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_635:A_1257" class="fnanchor">[635:A]</a></p> - -<p>Beside his miscellaneous poetry, Lodge published two dramatic -pieces<a name="FNanchor_i_635:B_1258" id="FNanchor_i_635:B_1258"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_635:B_1258" class="fnanchor">[635:B]</a>, and may be considered as a voluminous prose writer. Seven -of his prose tracts are described by Mr. Beloe<a name="FNanchor_i_635:C_1259" id="FNanchor_i_635:C_1259"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_635:C_1259" class="fnanchor">[635:C]</a>, and he translated -the works of Josephus and Luc. An. Seneca.<a name="FNanchor_i_635:D_1260" id="FNanchor_i_635:D_1260"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_635:D_1260" class="fnanchor">[635:D]</a></p> - -<p>24. <span class="smcap">Marlow, Christopher.</span> As the fame of this poet, though once in high -repute as a dramatic writer, is now supported merely by one of his -miscellaneous pieces, which is, indeed, of exquisite beauty, it has been -thought necessary briefly to introduce him here; a more extended notice -being deferred to a subsequent page. His earliest attempt appeared in -1587, when he was about twenty-five years of age, in a Translation of -Coluthus's Rape of Helen into English rhyme. This was followed by -"Certaine of Ovid's Elegies," licensed in 1593, but not printed until -1596. His next and happiest version was given to the public in 1598, -under the title of "The Loves of Hero and Leander," being, like the -preceding, a posthumous publication; for the author died prematurely in -1593, leaving this translation, of which the original is commonly but -erroneously ascribed to Musæus, unfinished. Phillips, in his character -of Marlow, comparing him with Shakspeare, says, that he resembled him -not only in his dramatic <!-- Page 636 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_636" id="Page_i_636">[636]</a></span>circumstances, "but also because in his begun -poem of Hero and Leander, he seems to have a resemblance of that clean, -and unsophisticated wit, which is natural to that incomparable -poet."<a name="FNanchor_i_636:A_1261" id="FNanchor_i_636:A_1261"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_636:A_1261" class="fnanchor">[636:A]</a> Marlow translated also "Lucans first booke, line for -line," in blank verse, which was licensed in 1593, and printed in 1600; -but the production which has given him a claim to immortality, and which -has retained its popularity even to the present day, first made its -appearance in "England's Helicon," under the appellation of <i>The -Passionate Shepheard to his Love</i>. Of an age distinguished for the -excellence of its rural poetry, this is, without doubt, the most -admirable and finished pastoral.</p> - -<p>25. <span class="smcap">Marston, John</span>, who has a claim to introduction here, from his powers -as a satirical poet. In 1598, he published "The Metamorphosis, or -Pigmalion's Image. And certaine Satyres." Of these the former is an -elegant and luxurious description of a well-known fable, and to this -sportive effusion Shakspeare seems to allude in his "Measure for -Measure," where Lucio exclaims, "What, is there none of Pygmalion's -images, newly made woman, to be had now?"<a name="FNanchor_i_636:B_1262" id="FNanchor_i_636:B_1262"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_636:B_1262" class="fnanchor">[636:B]</a> His fame as a satirist -was established the year following, by the appearance of his "Scourge of -Villanie. Three Bookes of Satyres."</p> - -<p>A reprint of these pieces was given to the world by Mr. Bowles, in the -year 1764, who terms the author the "<i>British Persius</i>," and adds, that -very little is recorded of him with certainty. "Antony a Wood," he -remarks, "who is generally exact in his accounts of men, and much to be -relied upon, is remarkably deficient with respect to him; indeed there -seems to be little reason to think he was of Oxford: it is certain from -his works, that he was of Cambridge, where he was cotemporary with Mr. -Hall, with whom, as it appears from his satyre, called Reactio, and from -the Scourge of Villanie, sat. 10., he had some dispute.—It has not been -generally known who <!-- Page 637 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_637" id="Page_i_637">[637]</a></span>was the author of Pigmalion and the five satyres: -but that they belong to Marston is clear from the sixth and tenth -satyres of the Scourge of Villanie: and to this may be added the -evidence of the collector of England's Parnassus, printed 1600, who -cites the five first lines of the dedication to opinion, prefixed to -Pigmalion by the name of J. Marston, p. 221."</p> - -<p>"These satyres," says Mr. Warton, "in his observations on Spenser, -contain many well drawn characters, and several good strokes of a -satyrical genius, but are not, upon the whole, so finished and classical -as Bishop Hall's: the truth is, they were satyrists of a different cast: -Hall turned his pen against his cotemporary writers, and particularly -versifiers; <i>Marston</i> chiefly inveighed against the growing foibles and -vices of the age."<a name="FNanchor_i_637:A_1263" id="FNanchor_i_637:A_1263"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_637:A_1263" class="fnanchor">[637:A]</a></p> - -<p>There is undoubtedly a want of polish in the satirical muse of Marston, -which seems, notwithstanding, the result rather of design than -inability; for the versification of "Pigmalion's Image," is in many of -its parts highly melodious. Strength, verging upon coarseness, is, -however, the characteristic of the "Scourge of Villanie," and may -warrant the assertion of the author of "The Returne from Parnassus," -that he was "a ruffian in his stile."<a name="FNanchor_i_637:B_1264" id="FNanchor_i_637:B_1264"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_637:B_1264" class="fnanchor">[637:B]</a> Yet he is highly -complimented by Fitz-Geoffry, no mean judge of poetical merit, who -declares that he is</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">—————— "satyrarum proxima primæ,</div> - <div class="line">Primaque, fas primas si numerare duas."<a name="FNanchor_i_637:C_1265" id="FNanchor_i_637:C_1265"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_637:C_1265" class="fnanchor">[637:C]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>26. <span class="smcap">Niccols, Richard.</span> This elegant poet was born in 1584, was entered of -Magdalen College, Oxford, 1602, and took his bachelor's degree in 1606. -In 1607, he published "The Cuckow, a Poem," in the couplet measure, -which displays very vivid powers of description. His next work was a new -and enlarged edition of "The <!-- Page 638 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_638" id="Page_i_638">[638]</a></span>Mirror for Magistrates," dated 1610, and -to which, as a third and last part, he has added, with a distinct title, -"A Winter Night's Vision. Being an Addition of such Princes, especially -famous, who were exempted in the former Historie. By Richard Niccols, -Oxon. Magd. Hall, &c." This supplement consists of an Epistle to the -Reader, a Sonnet to Lord Charles Howard, an Induction, and the Lives of -King Arthur; Edmund Ironside; Prince Alfred; Godwin, Earl of Kent; -Robert Curthose; King Richard the First; King John; King Edward the -Second; the two young Princes murdered in the Tower, and King Richard -the Third; a selection, to which, with little accordancy, he has -subjoined, in the octave stanza, a poem entitled "England's Eliza: or -the victorious and triumphant reigne of that virgin empresse of sacred -memorie, Elizabeth Queene of Englande, &c." This is preceded by a Sonnet -to Lady Elizabeth Clere, an Epistle to the Reader, and an Induction.</p> - -<p>Niccols' addition to this popular series of Legends merits considerable -praise, exhibiting many touches of the pathetic, and several -highly-wrought proofs of a strong and picturesque imagination. In the -Legend of Richard the Third, he appears to have studied with great -effect the Drama of Shakspeare.</p> - -<p>In 1615, our author published "Monodia: or, Waltham's Complaint upon the -Death of the most virtuous and noble Lady, late deceased, the Lady Honor -Hay;" and in the subsequent year, an elaborate poem, under the title of -"London's Artillery, briefly containing the noble practise of that -worthie Societie; with the moderne and ancient martiall exercises, -natures of armes, vertue of Magistrates, Antiquitie, Glorie and -Chronography of this honourable Cittie." 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_638:A_1266" id="FNanchor_i_638:A_1266"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_638:A_1266" class="fnanchor">[638:A]</a> This work, -dedicated to "the Right Honourable Sir John Jolles, Knight, Lord Maior," -&c. is introduced by two Sonnets, a Preface to the Reader, and a -metrical Induction; it consists of ten cantos, in couplets, with copious -illustrative notes; but, in <!-- Page 639 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_639" id="Page_i_639">[639]</a></span>point of poetical execution, is greatly -inferior to his Cuckow, and Winter Night's Vision. Niccols, after -residing several years at Oxford, left that University for the capital, -where, records Wood, he "obtained an employment suitable to his -faculty."<a name="FNanchor_i_639:A_1267" id="FNanchor_i_639:A_1267"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_639:A_1267" class="fnanchor">[639:A]</a></p> - -<p>27. <span class="smcap">Raleigh, Sir Walter.</span> Of this great, this high-minded, but -unfortunate man, it will not be expected that, in his military, naval, -or political character, any detail should here be given; it is only with -Sir Walter, as a poet, that we are at present engaged, and therefore, -after stating that he was born in 1552, at Hayes Farm, in the parish of -Budley in Devonshire, and that, to the eternal disgrace of James the -First, he perished on a scaffold in 1618, we proceed to record the -singular circumstance, that, until the year 1813, no lover of our -literature has thought it necessary to collect his poetry. The task, -however, has at length been performed, in a most elegant and pleasing -manner, by Sir Egerton Brydges<a name="FNanchor_i_639:B_1268" id="FNanchor_i_639:B_1268"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_639:B_1268" class="fnanchor">[639:B]</a>, and we have only to regret that -the pieces which he has been able to throw together, should prove so -few. Yet we may be allowed to express some surprise, that two poems -quoted as Sir Walter's in Sir Egerton's edition of Phillips's "Theatrum -Poetarum," should not have found a place in this collection. Of these, -the first is attributed to Raleigh, on the authority of MSS. in the -British Museum, and is entitled, "Sir Walter Raleigh in the Unquiet Rest -of his last Sickness," a production equally admirable for its sublimity -and Christian morality, and for the strength and concinnity of its -expression<a name="FNanchor_i_639:C_1269" id="FNanchor_i_639:C_1269"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_639:C_1269" class="fnanchor">[639:C]</a>; the second, of which the closing couplet is quoted by -Puttenham<a name="FNanchor_i_639:D_1270" id="FNanchor_i_639:D_1270"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_639:D_1270" class="fnanchor">[639:D]</a> as our author's, is given entire by Oldys from a -transcript by Lady Isabella Thynne, where it is designated as "The -Excuse written by Sir Walter Raleigh in his younger years<a name="FNanchor_i_639:E_1271" id="FNanchor_i_639:E_1271"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_639:E_1271" class="fnanchor">[639:E]</a>," and -though vitiated by conceit, <!-- Page 640 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_640" id="Page_i_640">[640]</a></span>appears to be well authenticated. These, -together with two fragments preserved by Puttenham<a name="FNanchor_i_640:A_1272" id="FNanchor_i_640:A_1272"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_640:A_1272" class="fnanchor">[640:A]</a>, would have -proved welcome additions to the volume, and, with the exception of his -"Cynthia," a poem in praise of the Queen, and now lost, might probably -have included all that has been attributed to the muse of Raleigh.</p> - -<p>The poetry of our bard seems to have been highly valued in his own days; -Puttenham says, that "for dittie and amorous ode, I finde Sir Walter -Rawleygh's vayne most loftie, insolent, and passionate<a name="FNanchor_i_640:B_1273" id="FNanchor_i_640:B_1273"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_640:B_1273" class="fnanchor">[640:B]</a>;" and -Bolton affirms, that "the English poems of Sir Walter Raleigh are not -easily to be mended<a name="FNanchor_i_640:C_1274" id="FNanchor_i_640:C_1274"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_640:C_1274" class="fnanchor">[640:C]</a>;" opinions which, even in the nineteenth -century, a perusal of his poems will tend to confirm. Of vigour of -diction, and moral energy of thought, the pieces entitled, "<i>A -Description of the Country's Recreations</i>;" a "<i>Vision upon the Fairy -Queen</i>;" the "<i>Farewell</i>," and the <i>Lines</i> written in "<i>his last -Sickness</i>," may be quoted as exemplars: and for amatory sweetness, and -pastoral simplicity, few efforts will be found to surpass the poems -distinguished as "<i>Phillida's Love-call</i>;" "<i>The Shepherd's Description -of Love</i>;" the "<i>Answer to Marlow</i>," and "<i>The Silent Lover</i>."</p> - -<p>The general estimate of Raleigh as a poet, has been sketched by Sir E. -Brydges with his usual felicity of illustration, and as the impression -with which he has favoured the public is very limited, and must -necessarily soon become extremely scarce, a transcript from this portion -of his introductory matter, will have its due value with the reader.</p> - -<p>"Do I pronounce <span class="smcap">Raleigh</span> a poet? Not, perhaps, in the judgment of a -severe criticism. <span class="smcap">Raleigh</span>, in his better days, was too much occupied in -action to have cultivated all the powers of a poet, which require -solitude and perpetual meditation, and a refinement of sensibility, such -as intercourse with business and the world deadens!</p> - -<p><!-- Page 641 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_641" id="Page_i_641">[641]</a></span>"But, perhaps, it will be pleaded, that his long years of imprisonment -gave him leisure for meditation, more than enough! It has been -beautifully said by Lovelace, that</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Stone walls do not a prison make,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Nor iron bars a cage,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">so long as the mind is free. But broken spirits, and indescribable -injuries and misfortunes, do not agree with the fervour required by the -Muse. Hope, that 'sings of promised pleasure,' could never visit him in -his dreary bondage; and Ambition, whose lights had hitherto led him -through difficulties and dangers and sufferings, must now have kept -entirely aloof from one, whose fetters disabled him to follow as a -votary in her train. Images of rural beauty, quiet, and freedom might, -perhaps, have added, by the contrast, to the poignancy of his present -painful situation; and he might rather prefer the severity of mental -labour in unravelling the dreary and comfortless records of perplexing -History in remote ages of war and bloodshed, than to quicken his -sensibilities by lingering amid the murmurs of Elysian waterfalls!</p> - -<p>"There are times when we dare not stir our feelings or our fancies; when -the only mode of reconciling ourselves to the excruciating pressure of -our sorrows is the encouragement of a dull apathy, which will allow none -but the coarser powers of the intellect to operate.</p> - -<p>"The production of an <i>Heroic Poem</i> would have nobly employed this -illustrious Hero's mighty faculties, during the lamentable years of his -unjust incarceration. But how could <i>He</i> delight to dwell on the tale of -Heroes, to whom the result of Heroism had been oppression, imprisonment, -ruin, and condemnation to death?</p> - -<p>"We have no proof that <span class="smcap">Raleigh</span> possessed the copious, vivid, and -creative powers of Spenser; nor is it probable that any cultivation -would have brought forth from him fruit equally rich. But even in the -careless fragments now presented to the reader, I think we can perceive -some traits of attraction and excellence which, <!-- Page 642 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_642" id="Page_i_642">[642]</a></span>perhaps, even Spenser -wanted. If less diversified than that gifted bard, he would, I think, -have sometimes been more forcible and sublime. His images would have -been more gigantic, and his reflections more daring. With all his mental -attention keenly bent on the busy state of existing things in political -society, the range of his thoughts had been lowered down to practical -wisdom; but other habits of intellectual exercise, excursions into the -ethereal fields of fiction, and converse with the spirits which inhabit -those upper regions, would have given a grasp and a colour to his -conceptions as magnificent as the fortitude of his soul!"<a name="FNanchor_i_642:A_1275" id="FNanchor_i_642:A_1275"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_642:A_1275" class="fnanchor">[642:A]</a></p> - -<p>28. <span class="smcap">Sackville, Thomas</span>, Lord Buckhurst, was born at Withyam, in Sussex, -in 1527.<a name="FNanchor_i_642:B_1276" id="FNanchor_i_642:B_1276"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_642:B_1276" class="fnanchor">[642:B]</a> Though a statesman of some celebrity in the reign of -Elizabeth, his fame with posterity rests entirely on his merits as a -poet, and these are of the highest order. He possesses the singular -felicity of being the first writer of a genuine English tragedy, and the -primary inventor of "The Mirrour for Magistrates;" two obligations -conferred upon poetry of incalculable extent.</p> - -<p>Of Gorboduc, which was acted in 1561, and surreptitiously printed in -1563, we shall elsewhere have occasion to speak, confining our notice, -in this place, to his celebrated <i>Induction</i> and <i>Legend of Henry Duke -of Buckingham</i>, which were first published in the <i>Second Part</i> and -<i>Second Edition of Baldwin's Mirrour for Magistrates</i>, printed in 1563. -To this collection we are, indeed, most highly indebted, if the -observation of Lord Orford be correct:—"Our historic plays," he -remarks, "are allowed to have been founded on the heroic narratives in -the Mirrour for Magistrates; to that plan, and to the boldness of lord -Buckhurst's new scenes, perhaps we owe <span class="smcap">Shakspeare</span>!"<a name="FNanchor_i_642:C_1277" id="FNanchor_i_642:C_1277"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_642:C_1277" class="fnanchor">[642:C]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 643 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_643" id="Page_i_643">[643]</a></span>Our gratitude to this nobleman will be still further enhanced, when we -recollect, that he was more assuredly a model for <i>Spenser</i>, the -allegorical pictures in his <i>Induction</i> being, in the opinion of Warton, -"so beautifully drawn, that, in all probability, they contributed to -direct, at least to stimulate, Spenser's imagination." In fact, whoever -reads this noble poem of Lord Buckhurst with attention must feel -convinced, that it awoke into being the allegorical groupes of Spenser; -and that, in force of imagination, in pathos, and in awful and -picturesque delineation, it is not inferior to any canto of the Fairie -Queen. Indeed from the nature of its plan, the scene being laid in hell, -and <i>Sorrow</i> being the conductor of the hapless complainants, it often -assumes a deeper tone and exhibits a more sombre hue than the muse of -Spenser, and more in consonance with the severer intonations of the harp -of Dante. How greatly is it to be lamented that the effusions of this -divine bard are limited to the pieces which we have enumerated, and that -so early in life he deserted the fountains of inspiration, to embark on -a troubled sea of politics. Lord Buckhurst died, full of honours, at the -Council-Table at Whitehall, on April 19th, 1608, aged eighty-one.</p> - -<p>Sir Egerton Brydges, speaking of his magnificent seat at Knowle in -West-Kent, tells us, that, "though restored with all the freshness of -modern art, it retains the character and form of its Elizabethan -splendour. The visitor may behold the same walls, and walk in the same -apartments, which witnessed the inspiration of him, who composed <i>The -Induction</i>, and <i>the Legend of the Duke of Buckingham</i>! He may sit under -the same oaks, and behold, arrayed in all the beauty of art, the same -delightful scenery, which cherished the day-dreams of the glowing poet! -Perchance he may behold the same shadowy beings glancing through the -shades, and exhibiting themselves in all their picturesque attitudes to -his entranced fancy!"<a name="FNanchor_i_643:A_1278" id="FNanchor_i_643:A_1278"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_643:A_1278" class="fnanchor">[643:A]</a></p> - -<p>29. <span class="smcap">Southwell, Robert.</span> This amiable but unfortunate Roman Catholic -Priest was born at St. Faith's in Norfolk, 1560; he was <!-- Page 644 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_644" id="Page_i_644">[644]</a></span>educated at the -University of Douay, became a member of the Society of Jesus at Rome, -when but sixteen, and finally prefect in the English college there. -Being sent as a missionary to England, in 1584, he was betrayed and -apprehended in 1592, and after being imprisoned three years, and racked -ten times, he was executed, as an agent for Popery, at Tyburn, on the -21st of February 1595.</p> - -<p>Whatever may have been his religious intemperance or enthusiasm, his -works, as a poet and a moralist, place him in a most favourable light; -and we are unwilling to credit, that he who was thus elevated, just, and -persuasive in his writings, could be materially incorrect in his -conduct. In 1595, appeared his "Saint Peters Complaint, with other -poems:" 4to., which went through a second impression in the same year, -and was followed by "Mœoniæ. Or certaine excellent poems and spiritual -Hymns; omitted in the last impression of Peter's complaint; being -needefull thereunto to be annexed, as being both divine and wittie," -1595-1596. 4to. These two articles contain his poetical works; his other -publications, under the titles of "Marie Magdalen's Funerall Tears;" -"The Triumphs over Death; or a consolatorie Epistle, for afflicted -minds, in the effects of dying friends," and "Short Rules of Good Life," -being tracts in prose, though interspersed with occasional pieces of -poetry.</p> - -<p>The productions of Southwell, notwithstanding the unpopularity of his -religious creed, were formerly in great request; "it is remarkable," -observes Mr. Ellis, "that the very few copies of his works which are now -known to exist, are the remnant of at least seventeen different -editions, of which eleven were printed between 1593 and 1600."<a name="FNanchor_i_644:A_1279" id="FNanchor_i_644:A_1279"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_644:A_1279" class="fnanchor">[644:A]</a> -The most ample edition of his labours was printed in 1620 in 16mo., and -exhibits five distinct title-pages to the several pieces which we have -just enumerated.</p> - -<p>Bolton in his "Hypercritica," written about 1616, does credit, to his -taste, by remarking that "never must be forgotten St. Peter's Complaint, -and those other serious poems, said to be father <!-- Page 645 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_645" id="Page_i_645">[645]</a></span>Southwells: the -English whereof, as it is most proper, so the sharpness and light of wit -is very rare in them."<a name="FNanchor_i_645:A_1280" id="FNanchor_i_645:A_1280"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_645:A_1280" class="fnanchor">[645:A]</a> From this period, however, oblivion seems -to have hidden the genius of Southwell from observation, until Warton, -by reproducing the criticism of Bolton, in the third volume of his -History of English Poetry 1781, recalled attention to the neglected -bard. Two years afterwards, Mr. Waldron, in his notes to Ben Jonson's -Sad Shepherd, gave us three specimens of Southwell's poetry; Mr. Headley -reprinted these in 1787<a name="FNanchor_i_645:B_1281" id="FNanchor_i_645:B_1281"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_645:B_1281" class="fnanchor">[645:B]</a>; Mr. Ellis extracted an additional piece -from the "Mœoniæ" in 1801; in 1802 Ritson presented us with a list of -his writings accompanied by the notes of Mr. Park<a name="FNanchor_i_645:C_1282" id="FNanchor_i_645:C_1282"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_645:C_1282" class="fnanchor">[645:C]</a>; and lastly, in -1808, Mr. Haslewood favoured us with an essay on his life and -works.<a name="FNanchor_i_645:D_1283" id="FNanchor_i_645:D_1283"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_645:D_1283" class="fnanchor">[645:D]</a></p> - -<p>Both the poetry and the prose of Southwell possess the most decided -merit; the former, which is almost entirely restricted to moral and -religious subjects, flows in a vein of great harmony, perspicuity, and -elegance, and breathes a fascination resulting from the subject and the -pathetic mode of treating it, which fixes and deeply interests the -reader.</p> - -<p>Mr. Haslewood, on concluding his essay on Southwell, remarks, that -"those who 'least love the religion,' still must admire and praise the -author, and regret that neither his simple strains in prose, nor his -'polished metre,' have yet obtained a collected edition of his works for -general readers." The promise of such an edition escaped from the pen of -Mr. Headley; at least it was his intention to re-publish "the better -part of Southwell's poetry;" but death, most unhappily, precluded the -attempt.</p> - -<p>30. <span class="smcap">Spenser, Edmund.</span> This great poet, who was born in London in 1553, -has acquired an ever-during reputation in pastoral and epic poetry, -especially in the last. His "Shepheard's Calender: conteining <!-- Page 646 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_646" id="Page_i_646">[646]</a></span>twelve -aeglogues, proportionable to the twelve monethes," was published in -1579; it is a work which has conferred upon him the title of the Father -of the English pastoral, and has almost indissolubly associated his name -with those of Theocritus and Virgil. Yet two great defects have -contributed deeply to injure the popularity of his Calender; the -adoption of a language much too old and obsolete for the age in which it -was written, and the too copious introduction of satire on -ecclesiastical affairs. The consequence of this latter defect, this -incongruous mixture of church polemics, has been, that the aeglogues for -May, July, and September, are any thing but pastorals. Simplicity of -diction is of the very essence of perfection in pastoral poetry; but -vulgar, rugged, and obscure terms, can only be productive of disgust; a -result which was felt and complained of by the contemporaries of the -poet, and which not all the ingenuity of his old commentator, E. K., can -successfully palliate or defend. The pieces which have been least -injured by this "ragged and rustical rudeness," as the scholiast aptly -terms it, are the pastorals for January, June, October and December, -which are indeed very beautiful, and the genuine offspring of the rural -reed.</p> - -<p>It is, however, to the <i>Fairie Queene</i> that we must refer for a just -delineation of this illustrious bard. It appears to have been commenced -about the year 1579; the first three books were printed in 1590, and the -fourth, fifth, and sixth, in 1596. Whether the remaining six books, -which were to have completed the design, were finished or not, continues -yet unascertained; Browne, the author of Britannias Pastorals<a name="FNanchor_i_646:A_1284" id="FNanchor_i_646:A_1284"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_646:A_1284" class="fnanchor">[646:A]</a>, -and Sir Aston Cokain<a name="FNanchor_i_646:B_1285" id="FNanchor_i_646:B_1285"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_646:B_1285" class="fnanchor">[646:B]</a>, consider the poem to have been left nearly -in its present unfinished state; while Sir James Ware asserts<a name="FNanchor_i_646:C_1286" id="FNanchor_i_646:C_1286"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_646:C_1286" class="fnanchor">[646:C]</a> -that the latter books were lost by the carelessness of the poet's -servant whom he had sent before him into England on the breaking out of -the rebellion, and, what seems still more to the <!-- Page 647 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_647" id="Page_i_647">[647]</a></span>purpose, Sir John -Stradling, a contemporary of Spenser, and a highly respectable -character, positively declares that some of his manuscripts were burnt -when his house in Ireland was fired by the rebels.<a name="FNanchor_i_647:A_1287" id="FNanchor_i_647:A_1287"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_647:A_1287" class="fnanchor">[647:A]</a> Now, as two -cantos of a lost book, entitled <i>The Legend of Constancy</i>, were actually -published in 1609 as a part of Spenser's manuscripts which had escaped -the conflagration of his castle, it is highly probable that the -declaration of Sir John Stradling is correct, and that the poet, if he -did not absolutely finish the Fairie Queene, had made considerable -progress in the work, and that his labours perished with his mansion.</p> - -<p>The defects which have vitiated the <i>Shepheard's Calender</i>, are not -apparent in the <i>Fairie Queene</i>; the charge of obsolete diction, which -has been so generally urged against the latter poem, must have arisen -from the just censure which, in this respect, was bestowed upon the -former, and the transference may be considered as a striking proof of -critical negligence, and of the long-continued influence of opinion, -however erroneous. The language of the Fairie Queene is, in fact, the -language of the era in which it was written, and even in the present -day, with few and trifling exceptions, as intelligible as are the texts -of Shakspeare and Milton.<a name="FNanchor_i_647:B_1288" id="FNanchor_i_647:B_1288"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_647:B_1288" class="fnanchor">[647:B]</a></p> - -<p>Had Spenser, in this admirable poem, preserved greater unity in the -construction of his fable; had he, following the example of Ariosto, -employed human instead of allegorical heroes, he would <!-- Page 648 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_648" id="Page_i_648">[648]</a></span>undoubtedly have -been at once the noblest and most interesting of poets. But, as it is, -the warmest admirer of his numerous excellencies must confess, that the -Personifications which conduct the business of the poem, and are -consequently exposed to the broad day-light of observation, are too -unsubstantial in their form and texture, too divested of all human -organisation, to become the subjects of attachment or anxiety. They flit -before us, indeed, as mere abstract and metaphysical essences, as beings -neither of this nor any other order of planetary existence. A witch, a -fairy, or a magician, is a creation sufficiently blended with humanity, -to be capable of exciting very powerful emotion; but the meteor-shades -of Holiness or Chastity, personally conducting a long series of -adventures, is a contrivance so very remote from all earthly, or even -what we conceive of supernatural, agency, as to baffle and revolt the -credulities of the reader, however ductile or acquiescent.</p> - -<p>Yet, notwithstanding these great and obvious errors in the very -foundation of the structure, the merits of Spenser in every other -respect are of so decided and exalted a nature, as to place him, in -spite of every deduction, in the same class with Homer, Dante, -Shakspeare, and Milton. His versification is, in general, uncommonly -sweet and melodious; his powers of description such, with respect to -beauty, fidelity, and minute finishing, as have not since been equalled; -while in strength, brilliancy, and fertility of imagination, it will be -no hyperbole to assert, that he takes precedence of almost every poet -ancient or modern.</p> - -<p>One peculiar and endearing characteristic of the Fairie Queene, is the -exquisite tenderness which pervades the whole poem. It is impossible -indeed to read it without being in love with the author, without being -persuaded that the utmost sweetness of disposition, and the purest -sincerity and goodness of heart distinguished him who thus delighted to -unfold the kindest feelings of our nature, and whose language, by its -singular simplicity and energy, seems to breathe the very stamp and -force of truth. How grateful is it to record, that the personal conduct -of the bard corresponded with the impression <!-- Page 649 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_649" id="Page_i_649">[649]</a></span>resulting from his works; -that gentleness, humility, and piety, were the leading features of his -life, as they still are the most delightful characteristics of his -poetry.<a name="FNanchor_i_649:A_1289" id="FNanchor_i_649:A_1289"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_649:A_1289" class="fnanchor">[649:A]</a></p> - -<p>Yet amiable and engaging as is the general cast of Spenser's genius, he -has nevertheless exhibited the most marked excellence as a delineator of -those passions and emotions which approach to, or constitute, the -sublime. No where do we find the agitations of fear, astonishment, -terror, and despair, drawn with such bold and masterly relief; they -start in living energy from his pen, and bear awful witness to the -grandeur and elevation of his powers.</p> - -<p>It is almost superfluous to add, after what has been already observed, -that the morality of the Fairie Queene is throughout pure and -impressive. It is a poem which, more than any other, inculcates those -mild and passive virtues, that patience, resignation, and forbearance, -which owe their influence to Christian principles. While vice and -intemperance are developed in all their hideous deformity, those -self-denying efforts, those benevolent and social sympathies, which -soften and endear existence, are painted in the most bewitching colours: -it is, in short, a work from the study of which no human being can rise -without feeling fresh incitement to cherish and extend the charities of -life.</p> - -<p>Spenser died comparatively, though not actually, indigent, on the 16th -of January, 1598.</p> - -<p>31. <span class="smcap">Stirling, William Alexander, Earl of.</span> This accomplished nobleman was -born at Menstrie, in the county of Clackmannan, Scotland, 1580, a -descendant of the family of Macdonald. He was a favourite both of James -the First, and of his son Charles, and by the latter was created -Viscount Canada, and subsequently Earl of <!-- Page 650 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_650" id="Page_i_650">[650]</a></span>Stirling. From an early -period he gave promise of more than common genius, and his attachment to -poetry was fostered, as in Drummond, by the sorrows of unrequited love. -To the stimulus of this powerful passion we are indebted for his -"Aurora: containing the first Fancies of the Author's Youth," 4to., -which was published, together with some other pieces, in 1604. This -elegant production, the solace of a rural retreat, on his return from a -tour on the continent, consists of one hundred and six sonnets, ten -songs or odes, some madrigals, elegies, &c., and places the talents of -the writer in a very favourable point of view: for the versification is -often peculiarly harmonious, and many beauties, both in imagery and -sentiment, are interspersed through the collection, which, though a -juvenile production, must be pronounced the most poetical of his works. -The diction approximates, indeed, so nearly to that of the present -century, that a specimen may be considered as a curiosity, and will -confirm the assertion of Lord Orford, that he "was <i>greatly superior to -the style of his age</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_650:A_1290" id="FNanchor_i_650:A_1290"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_650:A_1290" class="fnanchor">[650:A]</a> With the exception of a little quaintness -in the second line, the subsequent sonnet will equal the expectation of -the reader:—</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">SONNET X.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"<span class="smcap">I sweare</span>, Aurora, by thy starrie eyes,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And by those golden lockes whose locke none slips,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And by the corall of thy rosie lippes,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And by the naked snowes which beautie dies;</div> - <div class="line indentq">I sweare by all the jewels of thy mind,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whose like yet never worldly treasure bought,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thy solide judgement and thy generous thought,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Which in this darkened age have clearly shin'd:</div> - <div class="line indentq">I sweare by those, and by my spotless love,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And by my secret, yet most fervent fires,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That I have never nurc'd but chast desires,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And such as modestie might well approve.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then since I love those vertuous parts in thee,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Shouldst thou not love this vertuous mind in me?"<a name="FNanchor_i_650:B_1291" id="FNanchor_i_650:B_1291"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_650:B_1291" class="fnanchor">[650:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p><!-- Page 651 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_651" id="Page_i_651">[651]</a></span>The remaining poems of Stirling consist of four tragedies in alternate -rhyme, termed by their author "monarchicke;" namely, Darius, published -in 1603; Crœsus, in 1604; and the Alexandrean Tragedy, and Julius Cæsar, -in 1607. These pieces are not calculated for the stage; but include some -admirable lessons for sovereign power, and several choruses written with -no small share of poetic vigour. With the Aurora in 1604, appeared his -poem entitled, "A Parænesis to the Prince," a production of great value -both in a moral and literary light, and which must have been highly -acceptable to a character so truly noble as was that of Henry, to whose -memory he paid a pleasing tribute, by printing an "Elegie on his Death," -in 1612.</p> - -<p>The most elaborate of this nobleman's works was given to the public at -Edinburgh, in 1614, in 4to., and entitled, "Domes-day; or the great Day -of the Lord's Judgment." It is divided into twelve <i>Houres</i> or <i>Cantos</i>, -and has an encomium prefixed by Drummond. Piety and sound morality, -expressed often in energetic diction, form the chief merit of this long -poem, for it has little pretension to either sublimity or pathos. It had -excited, however, the attention of Addison; for when the first two books -of Domes-day were re-printed by A. Johnstoun in 1720, their editor tells -us, "that Addison had read the author's whole works with the greatest -satisfaction; and had remarked, that 'the beauties of our ancient -English poets were too slightly passed over by modern writers, who, out -of a peculiar singularity, had rather take pains to find fault than -endeavour to excel.'"<a name="FNanchor_i_651:A_1292" id="FNanchor_i_651:A_1292"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_651:A_1292" class="fnanchor">[651:A]</a></p> - -<p>Lord Stirling republished the whole of his poetical works, with the -exception of the "Aurora," in 1637, in a folio volume, including a new -but unfinished poem, under the title of <i>Jonathan</i>. This impression had -undergone a most assiduous revision, and was the last labour of its -author, who died on the 12th of February, 1640, in his sixtieth year.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 652 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_652" id="Page_i_652">[652]</a></span>32. <span class="smcap">Sydney, Sir Philip</span>, one of the most heroic and accomplished -characters in the annals of England, was born at Penshurst<a name="FNanchor_i_652:A_1293" id="FNanchor_i_652:A_1293"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_652:A_1293" class="fnanchor">[652:A]</a>, in -West Kent, on Nov. 29th, 1554, and died at the premature age of -thirty-one, on the 17th of October, 1586, having been mortally wounded -on the 26th of the preceding September, in a desperate engagement near -Zutphen. "As he was returning from the field of battle," records his -friend, Lord Brooke, "pale, languid, and thirsty with excess of -bleeding, he asked for water to quench his thirst. The water was -brought; and had no sooner approached his lips, than he instantly -resigned it to a dying soldier, whose ghastly countenance attracted his -notice—speaking these ever-memorable words; <i>This</i> man's necessity is -still greater than mine."<a name="FNanchor_i_652:B_1294" id="FNanchor_i_652:B_1294"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_652:B_1294" class="fnanchor">[652:B]</a></p> - -<p>Had Sir Philip paid an exclusive attention to the poetical art, there is -every reason to suppose that he would have occupied a master's place in -this department; as it is, his poetry, though too often vitiated by an -intermixture of antithesis and false wit, and by an attempt to introduce -the classic metres, is still rich with frequent proofs of vigour, -elegance, and harmony. His "Arcadia," originally published in 1590, -abounds in poetry, among which are some pieces of distinguished merit. -In 1591, was printed his "Astrophel and Stella," a collection of one -hundred and eight sonnets, and eleven songs, and of these several may be -pronounced beautiful. They were annexed to the subsequent editions of -the Arcadia, together with "Sonets," containing miscellaneous pieces of -lyric poetry, several of which had appeared in Constable's "Diana," -1594. To these may be added, as completing his poetical works, fifteen -contributions to "England's Helicon," a few sonnets in "England's -Parnassus," three songs in "The Lady of May, a masque," subjoined to the -Arcadia, two pastorals in Davison's poems, 1611, and an English version -of the Psalms of David.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 653 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_653" id="Page_i_653">[653]</a></span>That Sydney possessed an exquisite taste for, and a critical knowledge -of poetry, is sufficiently evident from his eloquent "Defence of Poesy," -first published in 1595. This, with his Collected Poetry, would form a -very acceptable reprint, especially if recommended by an introduction -from the elegant and glowing pen of Sir Egerton Brydges, whose favourite -Sydney avowedly is, and to whom he has already paid some very -interesting tributes.<a name="FNanchor_i_653:A_1295" id="FNanchor_i_653:A_1295"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_653:A_1295" class="fnanchor">[653:A]</a></p> - -<p>The moral character of this great man equalled his intellectual energy; -and the last years of his short life were employed in translating Du -Plessi's excellent treatise on the Truth of Christianity.</p> - -<p>33. <span class="smcap">Sylvester, Joshua</span>, a poet who has lately attracted a considerable -degree of attention, from the discovery of his having furnished to -Milton the <i>Prima Stamina</i> of his Paradise Lost.<a name="FNanchor_i_653:B_1296" id="FNanchor_i_653:B_1296"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_653:B_1296" class="fnanchor">[653:B]</a> He was educated -by his uncle, William Plumb, Esq., and died at Middleburgh, in Zealand, -on the 28th of September, 1618, aged fifty-five. His principal work, a -translation of the "Divine Weeks and Works" of Du Bartas, was commenced -in 1590, prosecuted in 1592, 1598, 1599, and completed in 1605, since -which period it has undergone six editions; three in quarto, and three -in folio, the last being dated 1641.</p> - -<p>Both the version of Sylvester, and his original poems, published with -it, are remarkable for their inequality, for great beauties, and for -glaring defects. His versification is sometimes exquisitely melodious, -and was recognised as such by his contemporaries, who distinguished him -by the appellation of "silver-tongued Sylvester."<a name="FNanchor_i_653:C_1297" id="FNanchor_i_653:C_1297"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_653:C_1297" class="fnanchor">[653:C]</a> His diction -also is occasionally highly nervous and energetic, and sometimes simply -elegant; but much more frequently is it disfigured by tumour and -bombast. Of the golden lines which his Du Bartas <!-- Page 654 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_654" id="Page_i_654">[654]</a></span>contains, it may be -necessary to furnish the reader some proof, and the following, we -imagine, cannot fail to excite his surprise:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"O thrice, thrice happy he, who shuns the cares</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of city-troubles, and of state affairs;</div> - <div class="line indentq">And, serving Ceres, tills with his own team</div> - <div class="line indentq">His own free land, left by his friends to him!—</div> - <div class="line indentq">And leading all his life at home in peace,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Always in sight of his own smoke; no seas,</div> - <div class="line indentq">No other seas he knows, nor other torrent,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Than that which waters with his silver current</div> - <div class="line indentq">His native meadows: and that very earth</div> - <div class="line indentq">Shall give him burial, which first gave him birth.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q">To summon timely sleep, he doth not need</div> - <div class="line indentq">Æthiops cold rush, nor drowsy poppy seed,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The stream's mild murmur, as it gently gushes,</div> - <div class="line indentq">His healthy limbs in quiet slumber hushes;—</div> - <div class="line indentq">——all self-private, serving God, he writes</div> - <div class="line indentq">Fearless, and sings but what his heart indites,</div> - <div class="line indentq">'Till Death, dread Servant of the Eternal Judge,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Comes very late to his sole-seated Lodge.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line i1q">Let me, Good Lord! among the Great unkenn'd,</div> - <div class="line indentq">My rest of days in the calm country end:</div> - <div class="line indentq">My company, pure thoughts, to work thy will,</div> - <div class="line indentq">My court, a cottage on a lowly hill."<a name="FNanchor_i_654:A_1298" id="FNanchor_i_654:A_1298"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_654:A_1298" class="fnanchor">[654:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>So popular was this version in the early part of the seventeenth -century, that Jonson, no indiscriminate encomiast, exclaims, in an -epigram to the translator,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Behold! the rev'rend shade of Bartas stands</div> - <div class="line indentq">Before my thought, and in thy right commands,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That to the world I publish for him this,</div> - <div class="line indentq">'Bartas doth wish thy English now were his.'</div> - <div class="line indentq">So well in that are his inventions wrought,</div> - <div class="line indentq">As <i>his</i> will now be the <i>translation</i> thought;</div> - <!-- Page 655 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_655" id="Page_i_655">[655]</a></span><div class="line indentq">Thine the <i>original</i>; and France shall boast</div> - <div class="line indentq">No more the maiden glories she has lost."<a name="FNanchor_i_655:A_1299" id="FNanchor_i_655:A_1299"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_655:A_1299" class="fnanchor">[655:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">The greatest compliment, however, which Sylvester has received, is the -imitation of Milton.</p> - -<p>The virtues of Sylvester were superior to his talents; he was, in fact, -to adopt the language of one of his intimate friends, a poet</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Whom Envy scarce could hate; whom all admir'd,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Who liv'd beloved, and a Saint expir'd."<a name="FNanchor_i_655:B_1300" id="FNanchor_i_655:B_1300"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_655:B_1300" class="fnanchor">[655:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>34. <span class="smcap">Turberville, George</span>, a younger son of Nicholas Turberville, of -Whitechurch, in Dorsetshire, a gentleman of respectable family, was born -about the year 1540. He was educated at Winchester and Oxford, and in -1562 became a member of one of the Inns of Court. Here the reputation -which he had acquired for talents and the dispatch of business, obtained -for him the appointment of secretary to Thomas Randolph, Esq., -ambassador to the Court of Russia, and, whilst in this country, he -employed his leisure in writing poems descriptive of its manners and -customs, addressed to Spenser, Dancie, and Park, and afterwards -published in Hakluyt's Voyages, 1598, vol. i. pp. 384, 385.</p> - -<p>On his return from this tour, he added greatly to his celebrity, as a -scholar and a gentleman, by the publication of his "Epitaphes, epigrams, -songs, and sonets, with a discourse of the friendly affections of -Tymetes to Pyndara his ladie," 8vo. 1567. This year, indeed, appears to -have been fully occupied by him in preparing his works for the press; -for, during its course, independent of the collection just mentioned, he -printed "The Heroycall Epistles of the learned Poet Publius Ovidius -Naso: with Aulus Sabinus aunsweres to certaine of the same," 8vo., and -"The Eclogs of the poet B. Mantuan Carmelitan, turned into English -verse, and set forth with <!-- Page 656 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_656" id="Page_i_656">[656]</a></span>the argument to every eglogue." 12mo. These -productions, with his "Tragical Tales, translated in time of his -troubles, out of Sundrie Italians, with the argument and L'Envoye to ech -tale," printed in 1576, and again in 1587, with annexed "Epitaphs and -Sonets, and some other broken pamphlettes and Epistles," together with -some pieces of poetry in his "Art of Venerie," and in his "Booke of -Faulconrie or Hauking," 1575, and a few commendatory stanzas addressed -to his friends, form the whole of his poetical works.</p> - -<p>Turberville enjoyed, as a writer of songs, sonnets, and minor poems, a -high degree of popularity in his day; it was not, however, calculated -for durability, and he appears to have been forgotten, as a poet, before -the close of the seventeenth century. His muse has experienced a -temporary revival, through the medium of Mr. Chalmers's English Poets, -and to the antiquary, and lover of old English literature, this reprint -will be acceptable; but, for the general reader, he will be found -deficient in many essential points. Fancy, it is true, may be discovered -in his pieces, although forced and quaint; but of nature, simplicity, -and feeling, the portion is unfortunately small. Occasional felicity of -diction, a display of classical allusion, and imagery taken from the -amusements and customs of the age, are not wanting; but the warmth, the -energy, and the enthusiasm of poetry are sought for in vain.</p> - -<p>Our author survived the year 1594, though the date of his death is not -known.</p> - -<p>35. <span class="smcap">Tusser, Thomas</span>, one of the most popular, and, assuredly, one of the -most useful of our elder poets, was born, according to Dr. Mavor, about -1515, and died about 1583.<a name="FNanchor_i_656:A_1301" id="FNanchor_i_656:A_1301"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_656:A_1301" class="fnanchor">[656:A]</a> The work which ushers him to notice -here, and has given him the appellation of the English Varro, was -published in 1557, and entitled "A Hundreth Good Pointes of Husbandrie," -a small quarto of thirteen leaves. It was shortly followed by "One -Hundreth Good Poyntes of Huswiffry;" and in 1573, the whole was enlarged -with the title of "Five <!-- Page 657 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_657" id="Page_i_657">[657]</a></span>Hundreth Points of Good Husbandry, united to as -many of Good Huswifery." The most complete edition, however, and the -last in the author's life-time, was printed in 1580. So acceptable did -this production prove to the lovers of poetry and agriculture, that it -underwent nineteen editions during its first century, and Dr. Mavor's -edition, published in 1812, forms the last, and twenty-fourth. The -mutilated state of the old copies, indeed, exemplifies, more than any -thing else, the practical use to which they were subjected; "some -books," remarks Mr. Haslewood, "became heir-looms from value, and -Tusser's work, for useful information in every department of -agriculture, together with its quaint and amusing observations, perhaps -passed the copies from father to son, till they crumbled away in the -bare shifting of the pages, and the mouldering relic only lost its -value, by the casual mutilation of time."<a name="FNanchor_i_657:A_1302" id="FNanchor_i_657:A_1302"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_657:A_1302" class="fnanchor">[657:A]</a> That the estimation in -which the poems of Tusser were held by his contemporaries, might lead to -such a result, it may be allowable to conclude from the assertion of -Googe, who, speaking of our author's works, says, that "in his fancie, -they may, without any presumption, compare with any of the Varros, -Columellas, or Palladios of Rome."<a name="FNanchor_i_657:B_1303" id="FNanchor_i_657:B_1303"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_657:B_1303" class="fnanchor">[657:B]</a></p> - -<p>The great merit of Tusser's book, independent of the utility of its -agricultural precepts, consists in the faithful picture which it -delineates of the manners, customs, and domestic life of the English -farmer, and in the morality, piety, and benevolent simplicity, which -pervade the whole. In a poetical light its pretensions are not great. -The part relative to Husbandry is divided into months, and written in -quatrains, of eleven syllables in each line, which are frequently -constructed with much terseness, and with a happy epigrammatic brevity. -The abstracts prefixed to each month, are given in short verses of four -and five syllables each; and numerous illustrative pieces, and nearly -the whole of the Huswifery, present us with a vast variety of <!-- Page 658 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_658" id="Page_i_658">[658]</a></span>metres, -among which, as Ritson has observed, "may be traced the popular stanza -which attained so much celebrity in the pastoral ballads of -Shenstone."<a name="FNanchor_i_658:A_1304" id="FNanchor_i_658:A_1304"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_658:A_1304" class="fnanchor">[658:A]</a> Little that can be termed ornamental, either in -imagery or episode, is to be found in this poem; but the sketches of -character and costume, of rural employment and domestic economy, are so -numerous, and given with such fidelity, raciness, and spirit, as to -render the work in a very uncommon degree interesting and amusing.</p> - -<p>36. <span class="smcap">Warner, William.</span> Of the biography of this fine old poet, little has -descended to posterity. He is supposed to have been born about the year -1558; and that he died at Amwell in Hertfordshire, and was by profession -an attorney, are two of the principal facts which, by an appeal to the -parish register of Amwell, have been clearly ascertained. In a note to -his poem on this village, Mr. Scott first communicated this curious -document:—"1608-1609. Master William Warner, a man of good yeares, and -of honest reputation: by his profession an atturnye of the Common Pleas: -author of Albion's England, diynge suddenly in the night in his bedde, -without any former complaynt or sicknesse, on Thursday night, beeinge -the 9th day of March: was buried the Saturday following, and lyeth in -the church at the corner, under the stone of Gwalter Fader."<a name="FNanchor_i_658:B_1305" id="FNanchor_i_658:B_1305"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_658:B_1305" class="fnanchor">[658:B]</a></p> - -<p>The lines which gave occasion to this extract form a pleasing tribute to -the memory of the bard:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"He, who in verse his Country's story told,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Here dwelt awhile; perchance here sketch'd the scene,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Where his fair Argentile, from crowded courts</div> - <div class="line indentq">For pride self-banish'd, in sequester'd shades</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sojourn'd disguis'd, and met the slighted youth</div> - <div class="line indentq">Who long had sought her love—the gentle bard</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sleeps here, <i>by Fame forgotten</i>."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The words in Italics which close this passage, were not at the time they -were written correctly true, for Warner had then been a <!-- Page 659 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_659" id="Page_i_659">[659]</a></span>subject of -great and judicious praise, both to Mrs. Cooper and Dr. Percy; and, -since the era of Scott, he has been imitated, re-edited, and liberally -applauded. He is conjectured to have been a native of Warwickshire, to -have been educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and to have left the -University without a degree, for the purpose of cultivating his poetical -genius in the metropolis. His <i>Albion's England</i>, on which his fame is -founded, was first printed in 1586, when the poet was probably about -eight and twenty. It underwent six subsequent editions during the -author's life-time, namely, in 1589, 1592, 1596, 1597, 1602, and -1606.<a name="FNanchor_i_659:A_1306" id="FNanchor_i_659:A_1306"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_659:A_1306" class="fnanchor">[659:A]</a></p> - -<p>This extensive poetic history, which is deduced from the deluge to the -reign of Elizabeth, is distributed into twelve books, and contains -seventy-seven chapters; it is dedicated to Henry Cary, Lord Hunsdon, -under whose patronage and protection Warner appears to have spent the -latter portion of his life. Such was the popularity of "Albion's -England," that it threw into the shade what had formerly been the -favourite collection, the "Mirror for Magistrates;" Warner was ranked by -his contemporaries, says Dr. Percy, on a level with Spenser; they were -called the Homer and Virgil of their age<a name="FNanchor_i_659:B_1307" id="FNanchor_i_659:B_1307"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_659:B_1307" class="fnanchor">[659:B]</a>; and Meres, speaking of -the English tongue, declares, that by his (Warner's) pen, it "was much -enriched and gorgeously invested in rare ornaments and resplendent -habiliments."<a name="FNanchor_i_659:C_1308" id="FNanchor_i_659:C_1308"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_659:C_1308" class="fnanchor">[659:C]</a> Less hyperbolical, and, therefore, more judicious -praise, was allotted him by Drayton, who, after noticing his -incorrectnesses, adds with a liberal spirit—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">————————— "yet thus let me say</div> - <div class="line">For my old friend, some passages there be</div> - <div class="line">In him, which I protest have taken me</div> - <div class="line">With almost wonder, so fine, so clear, and new,</div> - <div class="line">As yet they have been equalled by few;"<a name="FNanchor_i_659:D_1309" id="FNanchor_i_659:D_1309"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_659:D_1309" class="fnanchor">[659:D]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">a decision which subsequent criticism has confirmed.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 660 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_660" id="Page_i_660">[660]</a></span>One of his most pleasing episodes, "Argentile and Curan," was inserted -by Mrs. Cooper in her "Muses' Library," who justly terms it "a tale full -of beautiful incidents, in the romantic taste, extremely affecting, rich -in ornament, wonderfully various in stile, and, in short, one of the -most beautiful pastorals I ever met with."<a name="FNanchor_i_660:A_1310" id="FNanchor_i_660:A_1310"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_660:A_1310" class="fnanchor">[660:A]</a> This was again -republished by Percy in his "Reliques<a name="FNanchor_i_660:B_1311" id="FNanchor_i_660:B_1311"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_660:B_1311" class="fnanchor">[660:B]</a>," and finally honoured by -Mason in the third volume of his Poems, 1796, where it forms a -<i>Legendary Drama in five acts, written on the old English model</i>. -Ritson, Headley, and Ellis, have furnished us with additional extracts, -and at length <i>Albion's England</i> has found its place in the body of our -English Poetry through the taste and exertions of Mr. Chalmers.<a name="FNanchor_i_660:C_1312" id="FNanchor_i_660:C_1312"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_660:C_1312" class="fnanchor">[660:C]</a></p> - -<p>Ease, simplicity, and pathos, are the leading virtues of Warner's muse. -He eminently excelled in depicting rural and pastoral lite, and in -developing those simple and touching emotions which pervade the innocent -and artless bosom. His vices were those of his age, and may be included -under the heads of indelicacy, inequality, and quaintness; these -expunged, his finer parts strongly interest our affections, and endear -to us the memory of the good old bard.</p> - -<p>37. <span class="smcap">Watson, Thomas</span>, a once popular writer of sonnets, was born in -London, and educated at Oxford, whence he returned to the metropolis for -the purpose of practising the law. In 1581, his principal poetical work -was entered on the Stationers' books, and afterwards published with the -following title, though without date:—"The ΕΚΑΤΟΜΠΑΘΙΑ, or Passionate -Centurie of Love, divided into two Parts: whereof the first expresseth -the Author's Sufferance in Love: the latter, his long Farewell to Love -and all his Tyrannie. Composed by Thomas Watson, Gentleman; and -published at the Request of certeine Gentlemen his very Friends."</p> - -<p>Of this Collection, which occupies a thin 4to., black letter, with a -sonnet on each page, an admirable critical analysis has been given <!-- Page 661 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_661" id="Page_i_661">[661]</a></span>by -Sir Egerton Brydges, in the twelfth number of the British Bibliographer, -accompanied by seventeen specimens of the sonnets, and from this -critique, and from the Theatrum Poetarum, edited by the same elegant -scholar, we have drawn our account, for the original is so scarce, as to -be of hopeless acquisition.</p> - -<p>It will strike the reader, in the first place, that the poems which -Watson termed Sonnets, have no pretensions, in point of mechanism and -form, to the character of the legitimate sonnet. Instead of the -beautiful though artificial construction of the Petrarcan model, they -consist of eighteen lines, including three quatrains in alternate rhyme, -and a couplet appended to each quatrain; a system of verse totally -destitute of the union and dignity which distinguish this branch of -poetry in the practice of the Italians. It should be remarked, however, -that our poet has occasionally given us a sonnet in Latin verse, in -which he confines himself to fourteen lines, and, as he observes, in the -Introduction to his sixth sonnet, "commeth somwhat neerer unto the -Italian phrase than the English doth."<a name="FNanchor_i_661:A_1313" id="FNanchor_i_661:A_1313"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_661:A_1313" class="fnanchor">[661:A]</a> Watson was, indeed, an -elegant Latin poet, and in the matter prefixed to his first and sixth -sonnets, informs us that he had written a poem "De Remedio Amoris," and -that he was then "busied in translating Petrarch his sonnets into -Latin,—which one day may perchance come to light."<a name="FNanchor_i_661:B_1314" id="FNanchor_i_661:B_1314"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_661:B_1314" class="fnanchor">[661:B]</a> In fact there -appears to be more of true poetry in his Latin than in his English -verse; for though to the "Centurie of Love" must be attributed great -purity, correctness, and perspicuity of diction, and a versification -uncommonly polished, harmonious, and well sustained, yet the soul of -poetry, tenderness, simplicity, and energy of sentiment, will be found -wanting. In their place Watson has bestowed upon us a multitude of -metaphysical conceits, an exuberant store of classical mythology, and an -abundance of learned allusion; but, to adopt the interesting -observations of the critic mentioned in the preceding paragraph, "to -meditate upon a subject, <!-- Page 662 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_662" id="Page_i_662">[662]</a></span>till it is broken into a thousand remote -allusions and conceits; to accustom the mind to a familiarity with -metaphysical subtleties and casual similitudes in contradictory objects, -is to cultivate intellectual habits directly opposite to those from -whence real poetry springs; and to produce effects directly opposite to -those which real poetry is intended to produce.</p> - -<p>"The real poet does but pursue, fix, and heighten those day-dreams which -every intellectual being more or less at times indulges; though the -difference of the degree, as well as of the frequency, in which -individuals indulge them, is incalculable; arising from the difference -of mental talent and sensibility, as well as of cultivation. But who is -there in whose fancy some absent image does not occasionally revive? And -who is there so utterly dull and hard, that in him it arises -unassociated with the slightest emotion of pain or pleasure? Yet in what -abundance and richness of colouring such images are constantly springing -up in the mind of the poet? Visions adhere to the boughs of every tree; -and painting what he sees and feels with his natural enthusiasm, he -carries the reader of sensibility along with him; kindles his fainter -ideas into a flame; draws forth the yet weak impression into body and -form; and irradiates his whole brain with his own light. The chords of -the heart are touched; and while thus played upon produce enchanting -music; till, as the spell is silent, the object of this borrowed -inspiration is astonished to find, that all this brilliant entertainment -sprung from the wand of the poetical magician.</p> - -<p>"If this be the secret of true poetry, what is he who seeks to convey -images so unnatural, that no one had ever even an imperfect glimpse of -them before, and no one can sympathize with them when expressed? Can he -whose thoughts find no mirror in the minds of others be a poet? Is not a -<i>metaphysical poet</i> a contradiction of terms?</p> - -<p>"He who adopts these principles, will think of Watson as I do.—Has he -painted the natural emotions of the mind, or the heart? Has he given</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"A local habitation and a name"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 663 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_663" id="Page_i_663">[663]</a></span>to those 'airy nothings' which more or less haunt every fancy? Or has -he not sat down rather to exercise the subtlety of his wit, than to -discharge the fullness of his bosom?"<a name="FNanchor_i_663:A_1315" id="FNanchor_i_663:A_1315"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_663:A_1315" class="fnanchor">[663:A]</a></p> - -<p>Yet has Watson, with these vital defects, been pronounced by Mr. -Steevens superior as a sonneteer to Shakspeare<a name="FNanchor_i_663:B_1316" id="FNanchor_i_663:B_1316"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_663:B_1316" class="fnanchor">[663:B]</a>; a preference -which we shall have occasion to consider in the chapter appropriated to -the minor poems of our great dramatist.</p> - -<p>Beside the "Hekatompathia," Watson published, in 1581, a Latin -translation of the Antigone of Sophocles; in 1582, "Ad Olandum de -Eulogiis serenissimæ nostræ Elizabethæ post Anglorum prœlia cantatis, -Decastichon;" in 1586, a Paraphrase in Latin verse of the "Raptus -Helenæ," of Coluthus; in 1590, an English Version of Italian Madrigalls, -and "Melibœus, a Latin Eclogue on the Death of Sir Francis Walsingham," -4to.; in 1592, he printed "Amintæ Gaudia," in hexameter verses, 4to.; -and beside other fugitive pieces, two poems of his are inserted in the -"Phœnix Nest," 1593, and in "England's Helicon," 1600.</p> - -<p>Watson has been highly praised by Nash<a name="FNanchor_i_663:C_1317" id="FNanchor_i_663:C_1317"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_663:C_1317" class="fnanchor">[663:C]</a>, by Gabriel Harvey<a name="FNanchor_i_663:D_1318" id="FNanchor_i_663:D_1318"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_663:D_1318" class="fnanchor">[663:D]</a>, -and by Meres; the latter asserting that "as Italy had Petrarch, so -England had Thomas Watson."<a name="FNanchor_i_663:E_1319" id="FNanchor_i_663:E_1319"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_663:E_1319" class="fnanchor">[663:E]</a> He is supposed to have died about the -year 1595, for Nash, in his "Have with you to Saffron Walden," printed -in 1596, speaks of him as then deceased, adding, that "for all things he -has left few his equals in England."</p> - -<p>38. <span class="smcap">Willobie, Henry.</span> From the Preface of Hadrian Dorrell, to the first -edition of Willobie's "Avisa" in 1594, in which he terms the author, "a -young man, and a scholar of very good hope," there is foundation for -conjecturing that our poet was born about the year 1565. It appears also -from this prefatory matter that, "being desirous <!-- Page 664 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_664" id="Page_i_664">[664]</a></span>to see the fashions of -other countries for a time, he not long sithence departed voluntarily to -her majestie's service," and that Dorrell, in his friend's absence, -committed his poem to the press.<a name="FNanchor_i_664:A_1320" id="FNanchor_i_664:A_1320"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_664:A_1320" class="fnanchor">[664:A]</a> He gave it the following title, -"Willobie his Avisa; or the true picture of a modest Maide and of a -chast and constant wife. In hexameter<a name="FNanchor_i_664:B_1321" id="FNanchor_i_664:B_1321"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_664:B_1321" class="fnanchor">[664:B]</a> verse. The like argument -whereof was never heretofore published:" 4to. A second edition was -published by the same editor in 1596, with an Apology for the work, -dated June 30, and concluding with the information, that the author was -"of late gone to God." A fourth impression "corrected and augmented," -consisting of 72 leaves 4to., made its appearance in 1609<a name="FNanchor_i_664:C_1322" id="FNanchor_i_664:C_1322"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_664:C_1322" class="fnanchor">[664:C]</a>, with -the addition of "the victorie of English Chastitie never before -published," and subscribed "Thomas Willoby, <i>frater Henrici Willoby -nuper defuncti</i>."</p> - -<p>Mr. Haslewood conjectures from Dorrell's calling Willobie his -<i>chamber-fellow</i>, and then dating his Preface from his chamber in -<!-- Page 665 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_665" id="Page_i_665">[665]</a></span>Oxford; and from a passage in the "Avisa" itself, that our author was -educated in that university, and that he was a native of Kent.<a name="FNanchor_i_665:A_1323" id="FNanchor_i_665:A_1323"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_665:A_1323" class="fnanchor">[665:A]</a> We -are told likewise by Dorrell, in his "Apologie," that his friend had -written a poem entitled "Susanna," which still remained in manuscript.</p> - -<p>The "Avisa," which consists of a great number of short cantos, is -written to exemplify and recommend the character of a chaste woman, -under all the temptations to which the various situations incident to -her life, expose her. "In a void paper," says the editor, "rolled up in -this book, I found this very name Avisa, written in great letters, a -pretty distance asunder, and under every letter a word beginning with -the same letter, in this forme:—</p> - -<table summary="format of Avisa by Willobie" border="0"> - <tr> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">A.</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">V.</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">I.</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">S.</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">A.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">Amans.</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">Vxor.</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">Inviolata.</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">Semper.</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">Amanda.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>"That is, in effect, A loving wife that never violated her faith is -alwayes to be beloved. Which makes me conjecture, that he minding for -his recreation to set out the idea of a constant wife (rather describing -what good wives should do than registring what any hath done,) devised a -woman's name that might fitly expresse this woman's nature whom he would -aime at: desirous in this (as I conjecture) to imitate a far off, either -Plato in his commonwealth, or More in his Utopia."<a name="FNanchor_i_665:B_1324" id="FNanchor_i_665:B_1324"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_665:B_1324" class="fnanchor">[665:B]</a> Prefixed are -two commendatory copies of verses, of which the second, signed -<i>Contraria Contrariis</i>, is remarkable for an allusion to Shakspeare's -"Rape of Lucrece," and will be noticed hereafter.</p> - -<p>Of invention and enthusiasm, the poet's noblest boast, few traits are -discoverable in the Avisa, nor can it display any vivid delineation of -passion; but it occasionally unfolds a pleasing vein of description, and -both the diction and metre are uniformly clear, correct, and flowing. -Indeed, the versification may be pronounced, for the age in which it -appeared, peculiarly sweet and well modulated, and the whole <!-- Page 666 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_666" id="Page_i_666">[666]</a></span>poem, in -language and rhythm, makes a close approximation to modern usage.</p> - -<p>39. <span class="smcap">Wither, George.</span> This very voluminous writer is introduced here, in -consequence of his <i>Juvenilia</i>, which constitute the best of his works, -having been all printed or circulated before the death of Shakspeare. He -was born at Bentworth, near Alton in Hampshire, in 1590, and, after a -long life of tumult, vicissitude, and disappointment, died in his -seventy-eighth year in 1667. He continued to wield his pen to the last -month of his existence, and more than one hundred of his pieces, in -prose and verse, have been enumerated by Mr. Park in a very curious and -elaborate catalogue of his works.<a name="FNanchor_i_666:A_1325" id="FNanchor_i_666:A_1325"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_666:A_1325" class="fnanchor">[666:A]</a> We shall confine ourselves, -however, for the reason already assigned, to that portion of his poetry -which was in circulation previous to 1616.</p> - -<p>It appears from Wither's own catalogue of his works<a name="FNanchor_i_666:B_1326" id="FNanchor_i_666:B_1326"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_666:B_1326" class="fnanchor">[666:B]</a>, that four of -his earliest poems, entitled "Iter Hibernicum," "Iter Boreale," -"Patrick's Purgatory," and "Philarete's Complaint," were lost in -manuscript. The first of his published productions was printed in 1611, -under the title of "<i>Abuses Stript and Whipt</i>: or Satyricall Essays. -Divided into two Bookes;" 8vo., to which were annexed "The Scourge," a -satire, and "Certaine Epigrams." This book, he tells us<a name="FNanchor_i_666:C_1327" id="FNanchor_i_666:C_1327"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_666:C_1327" class="fnanchor">[666:C]</a>, was -written in 1611, and its unsparing severity involved him in persecution, -and condemned him for several months to a prison. It was nevertheless -highly popular, and underwent an eighth impression in 1633.</p> - -<p>An elegant writer in the British Bibliographer has subjoined the -following very just and interesting remarks to his notice of these -poignant satires. "The reign of King James," he observes, "was not -propitious to the higher orders of poetry. All those bold features, -which nourished the romantic energies of the age of his predecessor, had -been suppressed by the selfish pusillanimity and pedantic policy <!-- Page 667 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_667" id="Page_i_667">[667]</a></span>of -this inglorious monarch. Loving flattery and a base kind of luxurious -ease, he was insensible to the ambitions of a gallant spirit, and -preferred the cold and barren subtleties of scholastic learning to the -breathing eloquence of those who were really inspired by the muse. -Poetical composition therefore soon assumed a new character. Its -exertions were now overlaid by learning, and the strange conceits of -metaphysical wit took place of the creations of a pure and -unsophisticated fancy. It was thus that Donne wasted in the production -of unprofitable and short-lived fruit the powers of a most acute and -brilliant mind. It was thus that Phineas Fletcher threw away upon an -unmanageable subject the warblings of a copious and pathetic -imagination. The understanding was more exercised in the ingenious -distortion of artificial stores, than the faculties which mark the poet -in pouring forth the visions of natural fiction.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Such scenes as youthful poets dream,</div> - <div class="line indentq">On summer eve, by haunted stream,</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">were now deemed insipid. The Fairy Fables of Gorgeous Chivalry were -thought too rude and boisterous, and too unphilosophical for the erudite -ear of the book-learned king!</p> - -<p>"As writers of verse now brought their compositions nearer to the nature -of prose, the epoch was favourable to the satyrical class, for which so -much food was furnished by the motley and vicious manners of the nation. -Wither, therefore, bursting with indignation at the view of society -which presented itself to his young mind, took this opportunity to -indulge in a sort of publication, to which the prosaic taste of the -times was well adapted; but he disdained, and, perhaps, felt himself -unqualified, to use that glitter of false ornament, which was now -substituted for the true decorations of the muse. 'I have arrived,' says -he<a name="FNanchor_i_667:A_1328" id="FNanchor_i_667:A_1328"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_667:A_1328" class="fnanchor">[667:A]</a>, 'to be as plain as a pack-saddle.'—'Though you understand -them not, yet because you see this wants some <i>fine phrases and -<!-- Page 668 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_668" id="Page_i_668">[668]</a></span>flourishes</i>, as you find other men's writings stuffed withal, perhaps -you will judge me unlearned.'—'Yet I could with ease have amended it; -for it cost me, I protest, more labour to observe this plainness, than -if I had more poetically trimmed it.'"<a name="FNanchor_i_668:A_1329" id="FNanchor_i_668:A_1329"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_668:A_1329" class="fnanchor">[668:A]</a></p> - -<p>The plainness of which Wither here professes himself to have been -studious, forms one of the noblest characteristics of his best writings. -Dismissing with contempt the puerilities and conceits which deformed the -pages of so many of his contemporaries, he cultivated, with almost -uniform assiduity, a simplicity of style, and an expression of natural -sentiment and feeling, which have occasioned the revival of his choicest -compositions in the nineteenth century<a name="FNanchor_i_668:B_1330" id="FNanchor_i_668:B_1330"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_668:B_1330" class="fnanchor">[668:B]</a>, and will for ever stamp -them with a permanent value.</p> - -<p>Returning to his Juvenilia, we find that in 1612 he published in a thin -quarto, "<i>Prince Henrie's Obsequies</i>; or mournfull Elegies upon his -Death. With a supposed Interlocution betweene the Ghost of Prince Henry -and Great Britaine;" which was followed the succeeding year by his -"<i>Epithalamia</i>: or Nuptiall Poemes," 4to., on the marriage of Frederick -the Fifth, with Elizabeth, only daughter of James the First. These -pieces have been re-printed, by Sir Egerton Brydges, in his "Restituta:" -the <i>Obsequies</i> contain forty-five elegiac sonnets, succeeded by an -<i>Epitaph</i>, the <i>Interlocution</i>, and a <i>Sonnet of Death</i>, in Latin -rhymes, with a paraphrastic translation. Among the numerous -sonnet-writers of the age of Shakspeare, Wither claims a most -respectable place, and many of these little elegies deserve a rescue -from oblivion. We would particularly point out Nos. 14 and 17, from -which an admirable sonnet might be formed by subjoining six lines of the -former to the first two quatorzains of the latter, and this without <!-- Page 669 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_669" id="Page_i_669">[669]</a></span>the -alteration of a syllable; the <i>octave</i> will then consist of a soliloquy -by the poet himself, and the <i>sestain</i> be addressed to Elizabeth the -sister of Prince Henry; a transition which is productive of a striking -and happy effect:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Thrice happy had I been, if I had kept</div> - <div class="line indentq">Within the circuit of some little Village,</div> - <div class="line indentq">In ignorance of Courts and Princes slept,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Manuring of an honest halfe-plough tillage:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or else, I would I were as young agen</div> - <div class="line indentq">As when <i>Eliza</i>, our last <i>Phœnix</i> died;</div> - <div class="line indentq">My childish yeares had not conceived then</div> - <div class="line indentq">What 'twas to lose a Prince so dignified:—</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thy brother's well: and would not change estates</div> - <div class="line indentq">With any prince that reigns beneath the skie:</div> - <div class="line indentq">No, not with all the world's great potentates:</div> - <div class="line indentq">His plumes have born him to eternitie!—</div> - <div class="line i2q">He shall escape (for so th' Almighty wills)</div> - <div class="line i2q">The stormy Winter of ensuing ills."<a name="FNanchor_i_669:A_1331" id="FNanchor_i_669:A_1331"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_669:A_1331" class="fnanchor">[669:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In 1614, our author published "A <i>Satyre</i> written to the King's most -excellent Majestie," 8vo.; and "<i>The Shepherds Pipe</i>," 8vo.; the latter, -a production of high poetical merit, having being composed in -conjunction with Browne, the author of Britannia's Pastorals.</p> - -<p>In 1615, appeared "<i>The Shepheards Hunting</i>: Being certaine Eglogues, -written during the time of the Author's imprisonment in the Marshalsey," -8vo. This was intended as a continuation of the "Shepheard's Pipe," and -is fully equal, if not superior, to the prior portion: Phillips, indeed, -speaking of Wither, says, "the most of poetical fancy, which I remember -to have found in any of his writings, is in a little piece of pastoral -poetry, called <i>The Shepherd's Hunting</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_669:B_1332" id="FNanchor_i_669:B_1332"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_669:B_1332" class="fnanchor">[669:B]</a></p> - -<p>The next work with which Wither favoured us, though not published for -<i>general</i> circulation before 1619, yet, as the stationer, <!-- Page 670 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_670" id="Page_i_670">[670]</a></span>George -Norton, tells us, had been "long since imprinted for the use of the -author, to bestow on such as had voluntarily requested it <i>in way of -adventure</i>;" words which seem to intimate, that it had been dispersed -for the purpose of <i>pecuniary</i> return, and probably with the intent of -supporting the bard during his imprisonment in the Marshalsea. It has -accordingly a title-page which implies a second impression, and is -termed "<i>Fidelia</i>. Newly corrected and augmented." This is a work which -ought to have protected the memory of Wither from the sarcasms of -Butler, Swift, and Pope; for it displays a vein of poetry at once highly -elegant, impassioned, and descriptive. To <i>Fidelia</i> was first annexed -the two exquisite songs, reprinted by Dr. Percy, commencing</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Shall I, wasting in dispaire,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Hence away, thou Syren, leave me."<a name="FNanchor_i_670:A_1333" id="FNanchor_i_670:A_1333"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_670:A_1333" class="fnanchor">[670:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>We shall close the list of those works of Wither that fall within the -era to which we are limited, by noticing his "<i>Faire Virtue</i>: the -Mistresse of Phil'arete," 8vo. This beautiful production, glowing with -all the ardours of a poetic fancy, was one of his earliest compositions, -and is alluded to in his "Satire to the King," in 1614, before which -period there is reason to suppose it was widely circulated in -manuscript; for in a prefatory epistle to the copy of 1622, published by -John Grismand, but which was originally prefixed to an anonymous edition -printed by John Marriot, and not now supposed to be in existence, Wither -tells us, that "the poem was composed many years agone, and, unknown to -the author, got out of his custody by an acquaintance;" and he adds, -"when I first composed it, I well liked thereof, and it well enough -became my years." To high praise of this work in its poetical capacity, -Mr. Dalrymple has annexed the <!-- Page 671 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_671" id="Page_i_671">[671]</a></span>important remark, that it unfolds a more -perfect system of female tuition than is any where else to be -discovered.</p> - -<p>The great misfortune of Wither was, that the multitude of his subsequent -publications, many of which were written during the effervescence of -party zeal, and are frequently debased by coarse and vulgar language, -overwhelmed the merits of his earlier productions. Yet it must be -conceded, that his prose, during the whole period of his authorship, -generally exhibits great strength, perspicuity, and freedom from -affectation; and on the best of his poetical effusions we may cheerfully -assent to the following encomium of an able and impartial judge:—</p> - -<p>"If poetry be the power of commanding the imagination, conveyed in -measure and expressive epithets, Wither was truly a poet. Perhaps there -is no where to be found a greater variety of English measure than in his -writings, (Shakspeare excepted,) more energy of thought, or more -frequent developement of the delicate filaments of the human -heart."<a name="FNanchor_i_671:A_1334" id="FNanchor_i_671:A_1334"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_671:A_1334" class="fnanchor">[671:A]</a></p> - -<p>40. <span class="smcap">Wotton, Sir Henry.</span> This elegant scholar and accomplished gentleman -was forty-eight years of age when Shakspeare died, being born at -Boughton-Hall in Kent, in 1568. His correspondence with Milton on the -subject of Comus in 1638, is on record, and it is highly probable that, -on his return from the continent in 1598, after a long residence of nine -years in Germany and Italy, he would not long remain a stranger either -to the reputation or the person of the great Dramatic Luminary of his -times.</p> - -<p>Having mentioned these great poets as contemporaries of Sir Henry -Wotton, it may be a subject of pleasing speculation to conjecture how -far they could be personally known to each other. The possibility of -some intercourse of this kind, though transient, seems to have forcibly -struck the mind of an elegant poet and critic of the <!-- Page 672 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_672" id="Page_i_672">[672]</a></span>present day; -speaking of Comus, presented at Ludlow-Castle in 1634, he -remarks,—"Much it has appeared to me of the <i>Shaksperean</i> diction and -numbers and form of sentiment may be traced in this admirable and -delightful Drama: in which the streams of the <i>Avon</i> mix with those of -the <i>Arno</i>, of the <i>Mincius</i>, and the <i>Ilissus</i>. Part of <span class="smcap">Milton's</span> -affectionate veneration, beside what arises from congenial mind, may -have arisen from <i>personal</i> respect. At the <i>death</i> of <span class="smcap">Shakspeare</span>, -<span class="smcap">Milton</span> was in his <i>eighth</i> year.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——— "Heroum laudes et facta Parentum</div> - <div class="line">Jam legere, et quæ sit poterat cognoscere Virtus."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"It is hardly probable that they never met. <span class="smcap">Shakspeare</span>, if they did see -each other, could not but be charmed with the countenance and manners of -a boy like <span class="smcap">Milton</span>: and <span class="smcap">Milton</span>, whose mind was never childish, and whose -countenance at ten has the modest but decisive character of his high -destiny, would feel the interview: his young heart would dilate, and -every recollection would bring <span class="smcap">Shakspeare</span>, once seen and heard, to his -remembrance and imagination with increasing force."<a name="FNanchor_i_672:A_1335" id="FNanchor_i_672:A_1335"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_672:A_1335" class="fnanchor">[672:A]</a></p> - -<p>The most powerful circumstance which militates against this interesting -supposition, is, that, if such an interview had taken place, we should, -in all probability, have found it recorded in the minor poems, Latin or -English, of Milton, who has there preserved many of the occurrences of -his youthful days, and would scarcely have failed, we think, to put the -stamp of immortality on such an event.</p> - -<p>The poetry of Wotton, though chiefly written for the amusement of his -leisure, and through the excitement of casual circumstances, possesses -the invaluable attractions of energy, simplicity, and the most touching -morality; it comes warm from the heart, and whether employed on an -amatory or didactic subject, makes its appropriate impression with an -air of sincerity which never fails to delight. Of <!-- Page 673 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_673" id="Page_i_673">[673]</a></span>this description are -the pieces entitled, "A Farewell to the Vanities of the World;" the -"Character of a Happy Life," and the Lines on the Queen of Bohemia. One -of his earliest pieces, being "written in his youth," was printed in -Davison's "Poetical Rapsody," 1602, and his Remains were collected and -published by his amiable friend Isaac Walton. Sir Henry died, Provost of -Eton, in December 1639, in the seventy-third year of his age.</p> - -<p>In drawing up these Critical Notices of the principal poets who, -independent of the Drama, flourished during the life-time of Shakspeare, -we have been guided chiefly by the consideration of their positive -merit, or great incidental popularity; and few, if any, who, on these -bases, call for admission, have probably been overlooked. There is one -poet, however, whose memory has been preserved by Phillips, and of whom, -from the high character given of him by this critic, it may be necessary -to say a few words; for if the following eulogium on the compositions of -this writer be not the result of a marked partiality, it should -stimulate to an ardent enquiry after manuscripts so truly valuable.</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">John Lane</span>, a fine old Queen Elizabeth's gentleman, who was living -within my remembrance, and whose several Poems, had they not had the ill -fate to remain unpublisht, when much better meriting than many, that are -in print, might possibly have gained him a name not much inferior, if -not equal to Drayton, and others of the next rank to Spencer; but they -are all to be produc't in manuscript, namely his '<i>Poetical Vision</i>,' -his '<i>Alarm to the Poets</i>,' his '<i>Twelve Months</i>,' his '<i>Guy of Warwick, -a Heroic Poem</i>' (at least as much as many others that are so entitled), -and lastly his '<i>Supplement to Chaucer's Squire's Tale</i>.'"<a name="FNanchor_i_673:A_1336" id="FNanchor_i_673:A_1336"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_673:A_1336" class="fnanchor">[673:A]</a></p> - -<p>It has happened unfortunately for Lane, that the only specimen of his -writings which has met the eye of a modern critic, has proved a source -of disappointment. Warton, after recording that a copy of <!-- Page 674 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_674" id="Page_i_674">[674]</a></span>Lane's -supplement to Chaucer existed in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, adds, -"I conceived great expectations of him on reading Phillips's account. -But I was greatly disappointed, for Lane's performance, upon perusal, -proved to be not only an inartificial imitation of Chaucer's manner, but -a weak effort of invention."<a name="FNanchor_i_674:A_1337" id="FNanchor_i_674:A_1337"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_674:A_1337" class="fnanchor">[674:A]</a> This discovery, however, should not -arrest all future research; for his four preceding poems, of which the -latter two must necessarily, from their titles, be of considerable -length, may yet warrant the decision of Phillips.<a name="FNanchor_i_674:B_1338" id="FNanchor_i_674:B_1338"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_674:B_1338" class="fnanchor">[674:B]</a></p> - -<p>To this brief summary of Master-Bards we shall now subjoin, in a tabular -and alphabetic form, a catalogue of those numerous minor poets who were -content to follow in the train of more splendid talent. In carrying this -arrangement into execution it will not be necessary, after the example -of Ritson, to dignify with the name of poet every <!-- Page 675 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_675" id="Page_i_675">[675]</a></span>individual who -contributed a single copy of verses, as a tribute to contemporary -merit—a prostitution of the title which appears truly ridiculous; for -though bulk be no proof of excellence, yet were we to assign the name of -poet to every penner of a stanza, the majority of those who barely read -and write, might be included in the list. To those alone, therefore, who -either published themselves, or had their productions thrown into a -collective form by others, will the appellation be allotted.</p> - -<p>With a view to simplicity and brevity, the Table will consist but of -three parts; the first, occupied by the names of the poets; the second, -by abbreviated titles of their works, with their dates; and the third, -in order to prevent the frequent repetition of similar epithets, will -contain arbitrary marks, designative of the general merit of their -writings, and forming a kind of graduated scale. Thus <i>mediocrity</i> will -be designated by a broad black line (|); <i>excellence</i> will be expressed -by eight asterisks before the mark of mediocrity, (* * * * * * * *|), and -absolute <i>worthlessness</i> by eight after it (|* * * * * * * *); while the -intermediate shades of merit will be sufficiently pointed out by the -intervening asterisks. Occasional <i>notes</i>, where peculiarity of any kind -may call for them, will be added.</p> - -<p>On this plan of <i>tabular</i> construction, the tediousness of a mere -catalogue will, in a great measure, be avoided; and, at the same time, -an adequately accurate view be given of the multiplicity and diffusion -of poetical composition which pervaded this fertile period.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr"><!-- Page 676 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_676" id="Page_i_676">[676]</a></span><i>TABLE of Minor Miscellaneous Poets, during the Age of <span class="smcap">Shakspeare</span>.</i></p> - -<p class="center">SCALE.</p> - -<table summary="scale for evaluating minor poets of the time of Shakspeare" border="0"> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">E</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">M</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">AW</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">* * * * * * * *</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">* * * * * * * *</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table summary="key to scale for evaluating minor poets" border="0"> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad" rowspan="3">Key:</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">E</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">=</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><i>Excellence.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">M</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">=</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><i>Mediocrity.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">AW</td> - <td class="tdcenter tdpad">=</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><i>Absolute Worthlessness.</i></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table summary="Rating of minor poets during the age of Shakspeare" border="0"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Acheley, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>A most lamentable and tragical Historie.</i>" -12mo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1576</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">A translation from a novel of Bandello</td> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Anderson, James.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Ane godly treatis</i>, calit the first and -second cumming of Christ, with the tone of the -wintersnycht. 16mo. Edin.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Andrewe, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Unmasking of a feminine Machiavell.</i> -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1604</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Anneson, James.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Carolana</i>, that is to say, a Poeme in -Honour of our King, Charles-James, Queen -Anne, and Prince Charles, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1614</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Arthington, Henry.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Principall Points of Holy Profession.</i> -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1607</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Aske, James.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Elizabetha Triumphans.</i> 4to. Blank Verse.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1588</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Avale, Lemeke.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Commemoration or Dirge</i> of bastarde -Edmonde Boner. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1659</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Balnevis, Henry.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Confession of Faith</i>, conteining how the -troubled man should seeke refuge at his God. -12mo. Edin.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1584</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Barnefielde, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Cynthia</i> with certeyne Sonnettes -and the Legend of Cassandra.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1594</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><!-- Page 677 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_677" id="Page_i_677">[677]</a></span>The <i>Affectionate Shepherd</i>. 16mo.<a name="FNanchor_i_677:A_1339" id="FNanchor_i_677:A_1339"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_677:A_1339" class="fnanchor">[677:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Encomion of Lady Pecunia.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1598</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Barnes, Barnabe.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Parthenophil and Parthenope.</i> Sonnettes, -Madrigals, Elegies and Odes.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1593</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Divine Centurie of Spirituall Sonnettes.</i><a name="FNanchor_i_677:B_1340" id="FNanchor_i_677:B_1340"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_677:B_1340" class="fnanchor">[677:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Bastard, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Chrestoleros.</i> Seven Books of Epigrams. -8vo.<a name="FNanchor_i_677:C_1341" id="FNanchor_i_677:C_1341"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_677:C_1341" class="fnanchor">[677:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Batman, Stephen.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Travayled Pylgrime.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1569</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">***</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Beverley, Peter.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The History of Ariodanto and Jeneura.</i> -8vo. 2d edit. From Ariosto.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1600</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Bieston, Roger.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Bayte and Snare of Fortune.</i> Folio. -ten leaves. No date.<a name="FNanchor_i_677:D_1342" id="FNanchor_i_677:D_1342"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_677:D_1342" class="fnanchor">[677:D]</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Blenerhasset, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Seconde Part of the Mirrour -for Magistrates.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Bourcher, Arthur.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Fable of Æsop</i> Versified. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1566</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Bourman, Nicholas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Friendelie Well Wishinge</i> to such -as endure. A Ballad.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1581</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Bradshaw, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Shepherd's Starre.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1591</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Brathwayte, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Golden Fleece</i>, with other -poems. Sm. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1611</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><!-- Page 678 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_678" id="Page_i_678">[678]</a></span><i>The Poets Willow</i>, or the Passionate Shepherd. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1614</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Strappado for the Divell.</i> Epigrams and Satyres. - 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1615</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Brice, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Courte of Venus Moralized.</i></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1567</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Songes and Sonnettes.</i></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1567</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Broughton, Rowland.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Briefe Discourse</i> of the Lyfe -and Death of the late Right High and Hon<sup>ble</sup> Sir -Will<sup>m</sup> Pawlet, Knight.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1572</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Brooke, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Certayne Verses</i> in the time of his -imprisonment, the day before his deathe. -Norwich.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1570</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Brooke, Christopher.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Elegy</i> on Prince Henry.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1613</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Eclogues.</i> Dedicated to W<sup>m</sup> Browne.<a name="FNanchor_i_678:A_1343" id="FNanchor_i_678:A_1343"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_678:A_1343" class="fnanchor">[678:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1614</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Bryskett, Lodowick.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Mourning Muses</i> of Lod. -Bryskett upon the deathe of the most noble Sir -Philip Sydney knight.<a name="FNanchor_i_678:B_1344" id="FNanchor_i_678:B_1344"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_678:B_1344" class="fnanchor">[678:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1587</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Buc, Sir George.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">Δαφνις Πολυστεφανος. An Eclog treating -of Crownes, and of Garlandes, and to whom of -right they appertaine. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1605</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><!-- Page 679 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_679" id="Page_i_679">[679]</a></span><span class="smcap">Carew, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>Godfrey of Bulloigne</i>, or the Recoverie -of Hierusalem." First Five Cantos translated -from Tasso. First edition, no date. -Second, 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1594</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Carpenter, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Sorrowfull Song</i> for sinfull soules. -8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1586</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Chester, Robert.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>Loves Martyr</i>, or Rosalins Complaint." -From the Italian of Torquato Cœliano. "With the true Legend of famous -King Arthur."<a name="FNanchor_i_679:A_1345" id="FNanchor_i_679:A_1345"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_679:A_1345" class="fnanchor">[679:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">1601</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Chettle, Henry.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Pope's pitiful Lamentation</i> for the -death of his deere darling Don Joan of Austria. -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>The Forest of Fancy.</i>" Consisting of apothegmes, - histories, songs, sonnets, and epigrams. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1579</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Dolefull Ditty</i> or sorowful sonet of the Lord - Darly, some time King of Scots.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1579</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Chute, Anthony.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Beawtie Dishonoured</i>, written under the -title of Shore's Wife. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1593</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Procris and Cephalus.</i><a name="FNanchor_i_679:B_1346" id="FNanchor_i_679:B_1346"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_679:B_1346" class="fnanchor">[679:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1593</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Clapham, Henoch.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Briefe of the Bible's History</i>; Drawne -first into English poesy. 8vo. Edin.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1596</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">***</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Copley, Anthony.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Loves Owle</i>: an idle conceited Dialogue -betwene Love and an Olde-man. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Fig for Fortune.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1596</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Cottesford, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Prayer to Dannyell.</i></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1570</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 680 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_680" id="Page_i_680">[680]</a></span><span class="smcap">Cotton, Roger.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>An Armor of Proofe</i>, brought from the -Tower of David. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1596</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Spirituall Song.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1596</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Culrose, Elizabeth.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Ane Godly Dream.</i> 4to. Edin.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Cutwode, T.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Caltha-poetarum</i>, or the Bumble Bee, 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1599</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Davidstone, Johne.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Ane Brief Commendation</i> of Uprichtnes, -&c. in Inglis Meter. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1573</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Memorial of the Life and Death</i> of two worthye - Chrittians. In English Meter. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Davies, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Scourge of Folly.</i> Consisting of satyricall -Epigramms, &c. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1611</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Humours Heavn on Earth.</i></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1605</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Microcosmos.</i> The Discovery of the Little World, - with the government thereof. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Muses Sacrifice</i>; or Divine Meditations. 12mo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1612</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Wittes Pilgrimage</i>, (by Poeticall Essaies,) Through - a World of amorous Sonnets, &c. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_680:A_1347" id="FNanchor_i_680:A_1347"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_680:A_1347" class="fnanchor">[680:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">16</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Select Second Husband</i> for Sir Thos. Overburie's - Wife. Small 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1616</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Mirum in Modum.</i><a name="FNanchor_i_680:B_1348" id="FNanchor_i_680:B_1348"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_680:B_1348" class="fnanchor">[680:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1602</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><span class="smcap">Davison, Francis.</span><br /> - <span class="smcap">Davison, Walter.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Sonnets, Odes, Elegies, Madrigals, and Epigrams</i>, - by Francis and Walter Davison, brethren. 12mo.<a name="FNanchor_i_680:C_1349" id="FNanchor_i_680:C_1349"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_680:C_1349" class="fnanchor">[680:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1602</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 681 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_681" id="Page_i_681">[681]</a></span><span class="smcap">Delone, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Strange Histories</i>, or songes and sonnets -of kinges, princes, dukes, lords, ladyes, knights, -and gentlemen: &c. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_681:A_1350" id="FNanchor_i_681:A_1350"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_681:A_1350" class="fnanchor">[681:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1612</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Derricke, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Image of Irelande.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1581</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Dowricke, Ann.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The French Historie.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1589</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Drant, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Medicinable Morall</i>, that is, the two -bookes of Horace his satyres, englyshed, &c. -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1566</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Horace his Arte of Poetrie</i>, pistles, and satyres, englished. - 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1567</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Greg. Nazianzen</i>, his epigrammes, and spirituall - sentences. 8vo.<a name="FNanchor_i_681:B_1351" id="FNanchor_i_681:B_1351"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_681:B_1351" class="fnanchor">[681:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1568</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Edwardes, C.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">The Mansion of Myrthe</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1581</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Elderton, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Elderton's Solace</i> in tyme of his sickness, -contayning sundrie sonets upon many -pithe parables.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Various Ballads</i> from 1560 to<a name="FNanchor_i_681:C_1352" id="FNanchor_i_681:C_1352"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_681:C_1352" class="fnanchor">[681:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1590</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Elviden, Edmond.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Closet of Counselles.</i> Translated -<!-- Page 682 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_682" id="Page_i_682">[682]</a></span>and collected out of divers aucthors into English -verse. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1569</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The History of Pisistratus and Catanea.</i> 12mo.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Evans, Lewes.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Fyrste twoo Satars or Poyses of Orace.</i></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1564</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Evans, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Thamesiades</i>, or Chastities Triumph. 8vo.<a name="FNanchor_i_682:A_1353" id="FNanchor_i_682:A_1353"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_682:A_1353" class="fnanchor">[682:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1602</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Fenner, Dudley.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Song of Songs.</i> Translated out of -the Hebrue into Englishe Meeter. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1587</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Fennor, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Fennor's Descriptions.</i> 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_682:B_1354" id="FNanchor_i_682:B_1354"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_682:B_1354" class="fnanchor">[682:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1616</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Ferrers, George.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Legends</i> of Dame Eleanor Cobham and -Humfrey Plantagenet—in the Myrrour for -Magistrates, edition<a name="FNanchor_i_682:C_1355" id="FNanchor_i_682:C_1355"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_682:C_1355" class="fnanchor">[682:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Fetherstone, Christopher.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Lamentations of Jeremie</i>, -in prose and meeter, with apt notes to singe -them withall. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1587</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Fleming, Abraham.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Bucolikes of P. Virgilius Maro</i>, -with alphabeticall annotations.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1575</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Georgiks or Ruralls</i>: conteyning four books. - 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_682:D_1356" id="FNanchor_i_682:D_1356"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_682:D_1356" class="fnanchor">[682:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1589</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Fletcher, Robert.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>An Epitaph</i> or briefe Lamentation for -the late Queene. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Fraunce, Abraham.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Lamentations of Amintas</i> for the -<p><!-- Page 683 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_683" id="Page_i_683">[683]</a></span></p>death of Phillis: paraphrastically translated out -of Latine into English hexameters. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1588</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>The Arcadian Rhetoricke.</i>" Verse and Prose. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1588</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Countess of Pembroke's Emanuel.</i> Conteining - the nativity, passion, burial, and resurrection - of Christ: togeather with certaine psalmes of - David. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1591</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Countesse of Pembroke's Ivychurch.</i> Conteining - the affectionate life, and unfortunate death of - Phillis and Amyntas. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_683:A_1357" id="FNanchor_i_683:A_1357"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_683:A_1357" class="fnanchor">[683:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1591</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Third Part of</i> the Countesse of Pembrokes Ivychurch: - entitled: Amintas Dale. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1592</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Heliodorus's Ethiopics.</i> 8vo.<a name="FNanchor_i_683:B_1358" id="FNanchor_i_683:B_1358"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_683:B_1358" class="fnanchor">[683:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1591</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Freeman, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Rub and a Great Cast</i>: and Runne, and -a Great Cast. The second bowle. In 200 -Epigrams. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_683:C_1359" id="FNanchor_i_683:C_1359"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_683:C_1359" class="fnanchor">[683:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1614</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Fulwell, Ulpian.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Flower of Fame.</i> Containing the -bright Renowne, and most fortunate raigne of -King Henry the viij. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1575</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Gale, Dunstan.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Pyramus and Thisbe.</i><a name="FNanchor_i_683:D_1360" id="FNanchor_i_683:D_1360"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_683:D_1360" class="fnanchor">[683:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1597</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 684 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_684" id="Page_i_684">[684]</a></span><span class="smcap">Gamage, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Linsi-Woolsie</i>: or Two Centuries of -Epigrammes. 12mo.<a name="FNanchor_i_684:A_1361" id="FNanchor_i_684:A_1361"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_684:A_1361" class="fnanchor">[684:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1613</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*****</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Garter, Barnard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Tragicall History of two English -Lovers.</i> 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1565</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Gifford, Humphrey.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Posie of Gilloflowers</i>, eche differing -from other in colour and odour, yet all -sweete. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1580</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Golding, Arthur.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The <span class="smcap">XV.</span> Bookes of P. Ovidius Naso</i>, -entytuled Metamorphosis, a worke very pleasaunt -and delectable. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1567</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Googe, Barnaby.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Zodiake of Life</i>, written by the -godly and learned poet Marcellus Pallingenius -Stellatus, wherein are conteyned twelve bookes. -Newly translated into English Verse. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1565</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Popish Kingdome</i>, or reigne of Antichrist. - Written in Latine verse by Thomas Naogeorgus, - and Englyshed by Barnaby Googe. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_684:B_1362" id="FNanchor_i_684:B_1362"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_684:B_1362" class="fnanchor">[684:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1570</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The overthrow of the Gowte</i>: written in Latin - verse, by Chr. Balista, translated by B. G. - 8vo.<a name="FNanchor_i_684:C_1363" id="FNanchor_i_684:C_1363"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_684:C_1363" class="fnanchor">[684:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1577</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Gordon, Patrick.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Famous History of the Valiant -Bruce</i>, in heroic verse. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1615</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Gorges, Sir Arthur.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Olympian Catastrophe</i>, dedicated -to the memory of the most heroicall Lord -<p><!-- Page 685 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_685" id="Page_i_685">[685]</a></span></p>Henry, late illustrious Prince of Wales, &c. -By Sir Arthur Gorges, Knight.<a name="FNanchor_i_685:A_1364" id="FNanchor_i_685:A_1364"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_685:A_1364" class="fnanchor">[685:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1612</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Lucan's Pharsalia</i>: containing the Civill Warres - betweene Cæsar and Pompey. Written in Latine - Heroicall Verse by M. Annæus Lucanus. - Translated into English verse by Sir Arthur - Gorges, Knight.<a name="FNanchor_i_685:B_1365" id="FNanchor_i_685:B_1365"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_685:B_1365" class="fnanchor">[685:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1614</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Gosson, Stephen.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Speculum Humanum.</i> In stanzas of -eleven lines.<a name="FNanchor_i_685:C_1366" id="FNanchor_i_685:C_1366"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_685:C_1366" class="fnanchor">[685:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1580</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Grange, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>His Garden</i>: pleasant to the eare and -delightful to the reader, if he abuse not the -scent of the floures. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_685:D_1367" id="FNanchor_i_685:D_1367"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_685:D_1367" class="fnanchor">[685:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1577</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Greene, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Poets Vision</i> and a Prince's Glorie. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 686 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_686" id="Page_i_686">[686]</a></span><span class="smcap">Greepe, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The true and perfect Newes</i> of the -woorthy and valiaunt exploytes, performed and -doone by that valiant knight Syr Frauncis -Drake. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_686:A_1368" id="FNanchor_i_686:A_1368"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_686:A_1368" class="fnanchor">[686:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1587</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Grevile, Sir Fulke.</span> Poems, viz.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Cælica</i>, a collection of 109 songs.</td> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Treatise of Human Learning</i>, in 150 stanzas.</td> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Upon Fame and Honour</i>, in 86 stanzas.</td> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Treatise of Wars</i>, in 68 stanzas.</td> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Remains</i>, consisting of political and philosophical - poems.</td> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Poems in England's Helicon.</i><a name="FNanchor_i_686:B_1369" id="FNanchor_i_686:B_1369"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_686:B_1369" class="fnanchor">[686:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1600</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Griffin, B.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>Fidessa, more chaste than kinde.</i>" A collection -of amatory sonnets. 12mo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1596</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Griffith, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">The Epitaph of the worthie Knight -Sir Henry Sidney, Lord President of Wales. -Small 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1591</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Grove, Matthew.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The most famous and tragical historie</i> -of Pelops and Hippodamia. Whereunto are -adjoyned sundrie pleasant devises, epigrams, -songes, and sonnettes. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1587</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Grymeston, Elizabeth.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Miscellanea</i>—Meditations—Memoratives.<a name="FNanchor_i_686:C_1370" id="FNanchor_i_686:C_1370"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_686:C_1370" class="fnanchor">[686:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1604</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Hake, Edward.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Commemoration</i> of the most prosperous -and peaceable raigne of our gratious and deere -soveraigne lady Elizabeth. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1575</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Touchstone</i> for the time present, &c. 12mo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1574</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><!-- Page 687 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_687" id="Page_i_687">[687]</a></span><i>Of Gold's Kingdom</i> and this unhelping age, described - in sundry poems. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1604</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Hall, Arthur.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>Ten Books of Homer's Iliades.</i>" Translated -from the French of Hugues Salel. -4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_687:A_1371" id="FNanchor_i_687:A_1371"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_687:A_1371" class="fnanchor">[687:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1581</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Hall, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Courte of Vertue</i>, contayning many holy -or spretuall songes, sonnettes, psalms, balletts, -and shorte sentences, &c. 16 mo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1565</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Harbert, Sir William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Sidney, or Baripenthes</i>, briefely -shadowing out the rare and never-ending laudes -of that most honorable and praise-worthy gent. -Sir Philip Sidney, knight. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1586</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Harbert, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Prophesie of Cadwallader</i>, last -King of the Britaines, &c. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_687:B_1372" id="FNanchor_i_687:B_1372"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_687:B_1372" class="fnanchor">[687:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1604</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Harvey, Gabriel.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Four Letters and Certaine Sonnets.</i><a name="FNanchor_i_687:C_1373" id="FNanchor_i_687:C_1373"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_687:C_1373" class="fnanchor">[687:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1592</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Hawes, Edward.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Trayterous Percyes and Catesbyes Prosopopeia.</i> -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1606</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Heath, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Two Centuries of Epigrammes.</i> 12mo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1610</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Herbert, Mary.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Dialogue between two shepheards</i>, in -praise of Astrea, by the Countesse of Pembroke.<a name="FNanchor_i_687:D_1374" id="FNanchor_i_687:D_1374"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_687:D_1374" class="fnanchor">[687:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1602</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Heywood, Jasper.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Various Poems and Devises.</i><a name="FNanchor_i_687:E_1375" id="FNanchor_i_687:E_1375"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_687:E_1375" class="fnanchor">[687:E]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1576</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 688 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_688" id="Page_i_688">[688]</a></span><span class="smcap">Heywood, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Troia Britanica</i>: or, Great Britaine's -Troy. A Poem, devided into 17 severall Cantons, -&c.<a name="FNanchor_i_688:A_1376" id="FNanchor_i_688:A_1376"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_688:A_1376" class="fnanchor">[688:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1609</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Higgins, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The First Part of the Mirour of Magistrates</i>, -contayning the falles of the first infortunate -Princes of this Lande: from the comming -of Brute to the incarnation of our Saviour, &c. -4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_688:B_1377" id="FNanchor_i_688:B_1377"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_688:B_1377" class="fnanchor">[688:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1575</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Holland, Robert.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Holie Historie</i> of our Lord and -Saviour Jesus Christ's nativitie, life, actes, -miracles, doctrine, death, passion, resurrection -and ascension: gathered into English meeter, -&c. 8vo.<a name="FNanchor_i_688:C_1378" id="FNanchor_i_688:C_1378"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_688:C_1378" class="fnanchor">[688:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1594</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Howell, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Arbor of Amitie</i>; wherein is comprised -pleasant poems and pretie poesies. -12mo.<a name="FNanchor_i_688:D_1379" id="FNanchor_i_688:D_1379"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_688:D_1379" class="fnanchor">[688:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1568</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Thomas Howell's Devises</i> for his owne exercise and - his friend's pleasure. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1581</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Hubbard, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Tragicall and Lamentable Historie</i> -of two faythfull mates, Ceyx kynge of -Thrachyne, and Alcione his Wife.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1569</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 689 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_689" id="Page_i_689">[689]</a></span><span class="smcap">Hudson, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Historie of Judith</i> in forme of a -Poeme. Translated from Du Bartas. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1584</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Hume, Alexander.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Hymnes, or Sacred Songes</i>, wherein -the right Use of Poesie may be espied. Edin. -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1599</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Hunnis, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Hyve full of Hunnye</i>, contayning the -firste booke of Moses called Genesis. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Handfull of Honisuckles.</i></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Seven Sobs of a Sorrowfull Soule for Sinne</i>, &c. &c. - 24to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1585</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Jackson, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Battle of Floddon</i> in nine fits.<a name="FNanchor_i_689:A_1380" id="FNanchor_i_689:A_1380"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_689:A_1380" class="fnanchor">[689:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1564</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Jeney, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Discours of the present troobles -in Fraunce</i>, and miseries of this time, compyled -by Peter Ronsard, gentilman of Vandome;—translated -by Thomas Jeney, gentilman. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1568</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Jenynges, Edward.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Notable Hystory of Two Faithfull -Lovers</i>, named Alfagus and Archelaus. Whearin -is declared the true figure of amytie and freyndship. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1574</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Johnson, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Nine Worthies of London.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1592</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Anglorum Lachrymæ</i>, in a sad passion, complayning - the death of our late Queene Elizabeth. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Kelly, Edmund.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Poems</i> on Chemistry, and on the Philosophers -Stone.<a name="FNanchor_i_689:B_1381" id="FNanchor_i_689:B_1381"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_689:B_1381" class="fnanchor">[689:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1591</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Kempe, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Dutifull Invective</i> against the moste -haynous treasons of Ballard and Babington, &c. -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1587</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 690 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_690" id="Page_i_690">[690]</a></span><span class="smcap">Kendall, Timothy.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>Flowers of Epigrammes</i>, out of sundrie -the most singular authors, as well auncient -as late writers." To which, as a second part, -are added</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Trifles</i>, by Timothie Kendal, devised and written - (for the moste part) at sundrie tymes in his - yong and tender age. 16mo.<a name="FNanchor_i_690:A_1382" id="FNanchor_i_690:A_1382"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_690:A_1382" class="fnanchor">[690:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1577</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Knell, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>An Epitaph</i> on the life and death of -D. Boner, sometime unworthy Bishop of London, -&c. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1569</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Answere</i> to the most heretical and trayterous papistical - bil, cast in the streets of Northampton, - &c.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1570</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Kyffin, Maurice.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Blessednes of Brytaine</i>, or a celebration -of the Queene's holyday, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1587</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><!-- Page 691 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_691" id="Page_i_691">[691]</a></span><span class="smcap">Leighton, Sir William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Teares or Lamentations</i> of a -Sorrowfull Soule. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1613</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Lever, Christopher.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Queene Elizabeth's Teares</i>; or Her -resolute bearing the Christian Crosse, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1607</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Linche, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Fountaine of Ancient Fiction.</i> -Wherein is lively depictured the Images and -Statues of the Gods of the Ancients, &c. Done -out of Italian into English. Verse and Prose. -4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_691:A_1383" id="FNanchor_i_691:A_1383"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_691:A_1383" class="fnanchor">[691:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1599</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Lisle, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Babilon</i>, a part of the seconde weeke of -Guillaume de Saluste Seigneur du Bartas, with -the Commentarie, and marginall notes of -S. G. S.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1596</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Colonyes of Bartas</i>, with the commentarye of - S. G. S.<a name="FNanchor_i_691:B_1384" id="FNanchor_i_691:B_1384"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_691:B_1384" class="fnanchor">[691:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1597</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Lloyd, Lodowick.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Pilgrimage of Queenes.</i><a name="FNanchor_i_691:C_1385" id="FNanchor_i_691:C_1385"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_691:C_1385" class="fnanchor">[691:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1573</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Hilaria</i>: or the triumphant feast for the fift of - August.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1607</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Lok, Henry.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Booke of Ecclesiastes</i>; and Sundry -<!-- Page 692 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_692" id="Page_i_692">[692]</a></span>Christian Passions, contayned in two hundred -Sonnets. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_692:A_1386" id="FNanchor_i_692:A_1386"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_692:A_1386" class="fnanchor">[692:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1597</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">***</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Lovell, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Dialogue between Custome and Veritie</i>, -concerning the use and abuse of dauncing and -minstrelsie. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1581</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Marbeck, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Holie Historie of King David.</i> -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1579</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Markham, Gervase.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Poem of Poems</i>, or Sion's Muse, -contayning the divine song of king Saloman, -devided into eight eclogues. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Most Honorable Tragedy</i> of Sir Richard Grenvill - knight; a heroick poem. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>Devoreux.</i> Vertues Tears for the losse of the most - Christian King Henry, third of that name, king - of Fraunce; and the untimely death of the - most noble and heroicall gentleman, Walter - Devoreux." From the French of Madam - Geneuuesne Petau Maulette. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1597</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Tears of the Beloved</i>, or the Lamentation of - St. John, containing the death and passion of - Christ. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1600</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Marie Magdalens Lamentations</i> for the losse of her - Master Jesus. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_692:B_1387" id="FNanchor_i_692:B_1387"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_692:B_1387" class="fnanchor">[692:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1601</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Ariosto's Satyres.</i> 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_692:C_1388" id="FNanchor_i_692:C_1388"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_692:C_1388" class="fnanchor">[692:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1608</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><!-- Page 693 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_693" id="Page_i_693">[693]</a></span><i>The Famous Whore, or Noble Curtizan</i>, conteining - the lamentable complaint of Paulina, the - famous Roman curtezan, sometimes Mrs. unto - the great cardinall Hypolito, of Est. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1609</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Maxwell, James.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Laudable Life, and Deplorable -Death</i>, of our late peerlesse Prince Henry, &c. -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1612</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Middleton, Christopher.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Historie of Heaven</i>, containing -the poetical fictions of all the starres in -the firmament. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1596</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Legend of Humphrey Duke of Gloucester</i>, - 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1600</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Middleton, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Wisdome of Solomon</i> paraphrased, -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1597</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Montgomery, Alexander.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Cherrie and the Slae</i>, Edin. -4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_693:A_1389" id="FNanchor_i_693:A_1389"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_693:A_1389" class="fnanchor">[693:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">**</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Muncaster, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Nœnia Consolans</i>, or a comforting -complaint. Latin and English. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Munday, Anthony.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Mirrour of Mutabilitie.</i> Selected -out of the sacred Scriptures. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1579</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Pain of Pleasure.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1580</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Fountayne of Fame.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1580</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Sweet Sobbes and Amorous Complaints</i> of Sheppardes - and Nymphes.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1583</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><!-- Page 694 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_694" id="Page_i_694">[694]</a></span><i>Munday's Strangest Adventure</i> that ever happened. - 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1601</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Murray, David.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>The Tragicall Death of Sophonisba</i>;" -in seven line stanzas, to which is added <i>Cœlia</i>: -containing certaine Sonets. 12mo.<a name="FNanchor_i_694:A_1390" id="FNanchor_i_694:A_1390"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_694:A_1390" class="fnanchor">[694:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1611</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Newton, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Atropoion Delion</i>: or the Death of -Delia, with the teares of her funerall. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Pleasant New History</i>: or, a fragrant posie made - of three flowers, rosa, rosalynd, and rosemary.<a name="FNanchor_i_694:B_1391" id="FNanchor_i_694:B_1391"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_694:B_1391" class="fnanchor">[694:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1604</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Nicholson, Samuel.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Acolastus</i>, his after witte. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1600</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Nixon, Anthony.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Christian Navy</i>, wherein is playnely -described the perfect course to sayle to the -haven of happiness. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1602</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Norden, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Storehouse of Varieties</i>, an elegiacall -poeme. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1601</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Pensive Soules Delight.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Labyrinth of Mans Life</i>, or Vertues Delyght, - and Envie's Opposite.<a name="FNanchor_i_694:C_1392" id="FNanchor_i_694:C_1392"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_694:C_1392" class="fnanchor">[694:C]</a> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1614</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Overbury, Sir Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">A Wife: now the Widdow of Sir -Thomas Overburye: being a most exquisite -and singular poem of the Choise of a Wife. -4to. 4th edition.<a name="FNanchor_i_694:D_1393" id="FNanchor_i_694:D_1393"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_694:D_1393" class="fnanchor">[694:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1614</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><!-- Page 695 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_695" id="Page_i_695">[695]</a></span><span class="smcap">Parkes, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Curtaine-Drawer of the World</i>: -or, the Chamberlaine of that great Inne of -Iniquity, &c. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_695:A_1394" id="FNanchor_i_695:A_1394"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_695:A_1394" class="fnanchor">[695:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1612</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Parrot, Henry.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Mouse Trap.</i> Consisting of 100 -Epigrams. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1606</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The More the Merrier</i>: containing three-score and - odde headlesse epigrams, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1608</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>Epigrams.</i>" Containing 160. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1608</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Laquei Ridiculosi</i>: or Springes for Woodcoks. In - 2 books. 12mo.<a name="FNanchor_i_695:B_1395" id="FNanchor_i_695:B_1395"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_695:B_1395" class="fnanchor">[695:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1613</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Partridge, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Most Famouse and Worthie Historie</i> -of the worthy Lady Pandavola, &c. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1566</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Worthye Historie</i> of the most noble and - valiaunt knight Plasidas, &c. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1566</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Notable Historie</i> of two famous princes Astianax - and Polixona. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1566</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Payne, Christopher.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Christenmas-Carrolles</i></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1569</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Peacham, Henry.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Minerva Britanna</i>, or a Garden of Heroical -Devises. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1612</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Peele, George.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Farewell</i>, entituled to the famous and -fortunate generalls of our English forces: Sir -John Norris and Syr Francis Drake, knights, -<!-- Page 696 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_696" id="Page_i_696">[696]</a></span>&c. Whereunto is annexed a tale of Troy. -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1589</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Polyhymnia</i> describing the honourable triumphs at - tylt, before her Majestie, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1590</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Honour of the Garter</i>: displaced in a poeme - gratulatorie, &c. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_696:A_1396" id="FNanchor_i_696:A_1396"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_696:A_1396" class="fnanchor">[696:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1593</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Peend, Thomas De la.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Pleasant Fable of Hermaphroditus -and Salmacis.</i> 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1565</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Historie of John Lord Mandozze.</i> From the - Spanish. 12mo.<a name="FNanchor_i_696:B_1397" id="FNanchor_i_696:B_1397"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_696:B_1397" class="fnanchor">[696:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1565</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Percy, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Sonnets to the fairest Cælia.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1594</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Petowe, Henry.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">The Second Part of the Loves of Hero -and Leander, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1598</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Philochasander and Elanira</i> the faire Lady of Britaine, - &c. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_696:C_1398" id="FNanchor_i_696:C_1398"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_696:C_1398" class="fnanchor">[696:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1599</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Elizabetha quasi vivans</i>, Elizas funerall, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Whipping of Runawaies.</i></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Pett, Peter.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Times Journey</i> to seek his Daughter Truth, -and Truths letter to Fame, of England's -excellencie. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1599</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Phillip, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Rare and Strange Historicall Novell</i> of -Cleomenes and Sophonisba, surnamed Juliet; -very pleasant to reade. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1577</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Commemoration</i> of the Right Noble and Vertuous - Ladye Margrit Duglases Good Grace, Countes - of Lennox, &c.<a name="FNanchor_i_696:D_1399" id="FNanchor_i_696:D_1399"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_696:D_1399" class="fnanchor">[696:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 697 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_697" id="Page_i_697">[697]</a></span><span class="smcap">Phiston, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Lamentacion of Englande</i>, for the -Right Reverent Father in God, John Ivele, -Doctor of Divinitie: and Bisshop of Sarisburie. -8vo.<a name="FNanchor_i_697:A_1400" id="FNanchor_i_697:A_1400"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_697:A_1400" class="fnanchor">[697:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1571</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Welspring of Wittie Conceights</i>, 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_697:B_1401" id="FNanchor_i_697:B_1401"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_697:B_1401" class="fnanchor">[697:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1584</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Plat, Hugh.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Floures of Philosophie</i>, with the Pleasures -of Poetrie annexed to them, &c. 8vo.<a name="FNanchor_i_697:C_1402" id="FNanchor_i_697:C_1402"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_697:C_1402" class="fnanchor">[697:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1572</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Powell, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Passionate Poet</i>, with a description -of the Thracian Ismarus, in verse. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1601</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Preston, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Geliflower</i> or swete marygolde, wherein -the frutes of teranny you may beholde.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1569</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Pricket, Robert.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Souldier's Wish</i> unto his Sovereign -Lord, King James. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Proctor, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Pretie Pamphlets.</i> 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_697:D_1403" id="FNanchor_i_697:D_1403"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_697:D_1403" class="fnanchor">[697:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Puttenham, George.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Partheniades.</i><a name="FNanchor_i_697:E_1404" id="FNanchor_i_697:E_1404"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_697:E_1404" class="fnanchor">[697:E]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1579</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><!-- Page 698 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_698" id="Page_i_698">[698]</a></span><span class="smcap">Ramsey, Laurence.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Ramsie's Farewell</i> to his late lord and -master therle of Leicester</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1588</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Rankins, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Seven Satyres</i>, &c.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1596</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Raynolds, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Dolarny's Primerose</i>; or the first part of -the Passionate Hermit, &c. Written by a -Practitioner in Poesie and a stranger amongst -Poets. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_698:A_1405" id="FNanchor_i_698:A_1405"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_698:A_1405" class="fnanchor">[698:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1606</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Rice, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>An Invective</i> against vices taken for vertue: -gathered out of the Scriptures, &c. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1581</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Robinson, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Rewarde of Wickednesse</i>, discoursing -the sundrye monstrous abuses of -wicked and ungodly Worldelings, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1574</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Dyall of Dayly Contemplacion</i>, or divine Exercise - of the Mind, &c. Verse and Prose.<a name="FNanchor_i_698:B_1406" id="FNanchor_i_698:B_1406"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_698:B_1406" class="fnanchor">[698:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Rolland, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Ane Treatise callit the Court of Venus</i>, -devidit into four Buikes. Edin. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1575</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Sevin Seages</i>, translatit out of Prois into Scottis - meiter. Edin. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_698:C_1407" id="FNanchor_i_698:C_1407"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_698:C_1407" class="fnanchor">[698:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Rosse, J.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Author's Teares</i> upon the death of his -honorable freende Sir William Sackvile knight -of the ordre de la Colade in Fraunce: sonne -<p><!-- Page 699 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_699" id="Page_i_699">[699]</a></span></p>to the right ho. the lorde Buckhurst Anno -Dni.<a name="FNanchor_i_699:A_1408" id="FNanchor_i_699:A_1408"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_699:A_1408" class="fnanchor">[699:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1592</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Rous, Francis.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Thule, or Vertues Historie.</i> In two books. -The first booke 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1598</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Rowland, Samuel.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">1. <i>The Betraying of Christ</i>, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1598</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">2. <i>The Famous History of</i> Guy Earle of Warwicke. - 4to.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">3. <i>The Letting of Humours Blood</i> in the head-vaine: - &c. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_699:B_1409" id="FNanchor_i_699:B_1409"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_699:B_1409" class="fnanchor">[699:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1600</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">4. <i>Looke to it for ile stabbe ye.</i> 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1604</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">5. <i>Democritus.</i></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1607</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">6. <i>Humors Looking-Glasse.</i> 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1608</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">7. <i>Hell Broke Loose</i>, &c. 4to.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">8. <i>Doctor Merrieman</i>, or nothing but mirth. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1609</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">9. <i>Martin Markal</i>, beadle of Bridewell. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1610</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">10. <i>The Knave of Clubs</i>, or 'tis merrie when Knaves - meet. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1611</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">11. <i>The Knave of Hearts.</i> 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_699:C_1410" id="FNanchor_i_699:C_1410"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_699:C_1410" class="fnanchor">[699:C]</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">12. <i>More Knaves Yet</i>; the Knaves of Spades and - Diamonds. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_699:D_1411" id="FNanchor_i_699:D_1411"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_699:D_1411" class="fnanchor">[699:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1613</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">13. <i>The Melancholie Knight.</i> 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_699:E_1412" id="FNanchor_i_699:E_1412"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_699:E_1412" class="fnanchor">[699:E]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1615</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><!-- Page 700 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_700" id="Page_i_700">[700]</a></span>14. <i>Tis Merrie when Gossips Meet</i>; newly enlarged, - with divers songs. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_700:A_1413" id="FNanchor_i_700:A_1413"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_700:A_1413" class="fnanchor">[700:A]</a></td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Sabie, Francis.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Pan his Pipe</i>: conteyning three pastorall -Eglogues in Englyshe hexameter; with other -delightfull verses. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Fissher-mans Tale</i>: of the famous Actes, Life - and love of Cassander a Grecian Knight. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Floras Fortune.</i> The second part and finishing of - the Fisherman's Tale, &c.<a name="FNanchor_i_700:B_1414" id="FNanchor_i_700:B_1414"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_700:B_1414" class="fnanchor">[700:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1595</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Saker, Aug.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Labirinth of Liberty.</i></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1579</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Sampson, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Fortune's Fashion</i>, Pourtrayed in the -troubles of the Ladie Elizabeth Gray, wife to -Edward the Fourth. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1613</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Sandford, James.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Certayne Poems</i> dedicated to the queenes -moste excellent majestie. 8vo.<a name="FNanchor_i_700:C_1415" id="FNanchor_i_700:C_1415"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_700:C_1415" class="fnanchor">[700:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1576</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Scoloker, Anthony.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Daiphantus</i>, or the Passions of Love, -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1604</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Scot, Gregory.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Briefe Treatise</i> agaynst certaine errors -of the Romish Church. 12mo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1570</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Scott, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Four Paradoxes</i>: of Arte, of Lawe, of -Warre, of Service. Small 8vo.<a name="FNanchor_i_700:D_1416" id="FNanchor_i_700:D_1416"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_700:D_1416" class="fnanchor">[700:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1602</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">**</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 701 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_701" id="Page_i_701">[701]</a></span><span class="smcap">Scott, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Phylomythie</i>, or Philomythologie: wherein -Outlandish Birds, Beasts, and Fishes, are -taught to speake true English plainely.<a name="FNanchor_i_701:A_1417" id="FNanchor_i_701:A_1417"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_701:A_1417" class="fnanchor">[701:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1616</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Smith, Jud.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Misticall Devise</i> of the spirituall and godly -love between Christ the spouse, and the Church -or congregation. Firste made by the wise -prince Salomon, and now newly set forth in -Verse, &c. Small 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1575</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Smith, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Chloris</i>, or the complaint of the passionate -despised shepheard. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1596</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Soothern, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Pandora</i>, the Musique of the Beautie of -his Mistresse Diana. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_701:B_1418" id="FNanchor_i_701:B_1418"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_701:B_1418" class="fnanchor">[701:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1584</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*****</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Stanyhurst, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The First Four Bookes of Virgil's -Æneis</i>, translated into English heroicall verse -by Richard Stanyhurst: with other poeticall -devises thereto annexed. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_701:C_1419" id="FNanchor_i_701:C_1419"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_701:C_1419" class="fnanchor">[701:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1583</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">******</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 702 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_702" id="Page_i_702">[702]</a></span><span class="smcap">Storer, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey</i>, -cardinall, divided into three parts: his aspiring, -triumph, and death. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_702:A_1420" id="FNanchor_i_702:A_1420"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_702:A_1420" class="fnanchor">[702:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1599</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Stubbs, Philip.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A View of Vanitie</i>, and Allarum to England, -or retrait from sinne. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1582</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Stewart, James the First, King of England.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Essayes -of a Prentise</i> in the Divine Art of Poesie. 4to. -Edin.<a name="FNanchor_i_702:B_1421" id="FNanchor_i_702:B_1421"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_702:B_1421" class="fnanchor">[702:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1584</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>His Majesties Poeticall Exercises</i> at Vacant Houres. - 4to. Edin.<a name="FNanchor_i_702:C_1422" id="FNanchor_i_702:C_1422"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_702:C_1422" class="fnanchor">[702:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1591</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Tarlton, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Toyes</i>: in Verse.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1576</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Tragicall Treatises</i>, conteyninge sundrie discourses - and pretie conceipts, bothe in prose and verse.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1577</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Tarlton's Repentance</i>, or his farewell to his frendes - in his sickness, a little before his deathe.<a name="FNanchor_i_702:D_1423" id="FNanchor_i_702:D_1423"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_702:D_1423" class="fnanchor">[702:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1589</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 703 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_703" id="Page_i_703">[703]</a></span><span class="smcap">Taylor, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Heaven's Blessing and Earth's Joy</i>, &c. on -the marriage of Frederick Count Palatine, and -the Princess Elizabeth; including Epithalamia, -&c.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1613</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Nipping or Snipping of Abuses</i>, or the Wool-gathering - of Wit.<a name="FNanchor_i_703:A_1424" id="FNanchor_i_703:A_1424"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_703:A_1424" class="fnanchor">[703:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1614</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Tofte, Roberte.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Two Tales</i> translated out of Ariosto, -&c. With certaine other Italian stanzas and -proverbes. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1597</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Laura.</i> The toyes of a traveller; or the feast of - fancie, divided into 3 parts. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1597</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Orlando Inamorato.</i> The three first bookes, &c. - Done into English heroicall verse. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1598</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Alba</i>, the month's minde of a melancholy lover. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1598</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Honours Academy</i>, or the famous pastorall of the - faire shepherdesse Julietta. Verse and prose. - Folio.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1610</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Fruits of Jealousie.</i> Contayning the disastrous - Chance of two English Lovers, overthrowne - through meere Conceit of Jealousie. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_703:B_1425" id="FNanchor_i_703:B_1425"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_703:B_1425" class="fnanchor">[703:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1615</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 704 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_704" id="Page_i_704">[704]</a></span><span class="smcap">Treego, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Daintie Nosegay</i> of divers smelles, -containing many pretie ditties to diverse effects.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1577</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Tudor, Elizabeth, Queen of England.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Two Little Anthemes</i>, -or things in meeter of hir majestie.<a name="FNanchor_i_704:A_1426" id="FNanchor_i_704:A_1426"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_704:A_1426" class="fnanchor">[704:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Turner, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Nosce Te</i> (<i>Humors.</i>)<a name="FNanchor_i_704:B_1427" id="FNanchor_i_704:B_1427"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_704:B_1427" class="fnanchor">[704:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1607</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Twyne, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The whole <span class="upright">xij</span> Bookes of the Œneidos of -Virgill</i>. Whereof the first ix. and part of the -tenth, were converted into English meeter by -Thomas Phaër esquier, and the residue supplied, -and the whole worke together newly set -forth, by Thomas Twyne gentleman. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1573</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Tye, Christopher.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Notable Historye</i> of Nastagio and -Traversari, no less pitiefull than pleasaunt, -translated out of Italian into English. 12mo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1569</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Underdowne, Thomas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Ovid his Invective</i> against Ibis. -8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1569</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Excellent Historye</i> of Theseus and Ariadne, &c. - Written in English Meeter. 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1566</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><!-- Page 705 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_705" id="Page_i_705">[705]</a></span><span class="smcap">Vallans, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Tale of Two Swannes</i>, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1590</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Vennard, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork">"<i>The Miracle of Nature</i>," and other -poems. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_705:A_1428" id="FNanchor_i_705:A_1428"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_705:A_1428" class="fnanchor">[705:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1601</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Verstegan, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Odes</i>: in imitation of the Seaven -Penitential Psalms. With sundry other poemes -and Ditties, tending to devotion and pietie. -8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1601</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Warren, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Pleasant New Fancie</i>, of a fondling's -device, intituled and cald, The nurcerie -of names, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1581</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Webbe, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The First and Second Eclogues of Virgil.</i> -In English hexameters, and printed in his -"Discourse of English Poetrie."</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1586</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Webster, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Moste Pleasant and Delightful -Historie</i> of Curan, a prince of Danske, and the -fayre princesse Argentill, &c. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_705:B_1429" id="FNanchor_i_705:B_1429"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_705:B_1429" class="fnanchor">[705:B]</a></td> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Wedderburn.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Ane Compendious Booke of Godly and Spirituall -Songs</i>, collectit out of sundrie partes of -the Scripture, with sundrie of other Ballates -changed out of Prophane Sanges, for avoyding -of Sinne and Harlotrie. 12mo. Edin.<a name="FNanchor_i_705:C_1430" id="FNanchor_i_705:C_1430"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_705:C_1430" class="fnanchor">[705:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1597</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Weever, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Little Book of Epigrams.</i> 8vo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1599</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Mirror of Martyrs</i>, or the life and death of - that thrice valiant capitaine and most godly - martyre, Sir John Oldcastle knight, lord Cobham. - 18mo.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1601</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 706 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_706" id="Page_i_706">[706]</a></span><span class="smcap">Wenman, Thomas</span>,</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Legend of Mary, Queen of Scots</i>, -with other Poems.<a name="FNanchor_i_706:A_1431" id="FNanchor_i_706:A_1431"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_706:A_1431" class="fnanchor">[706:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1601</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Wharton, John.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Wharton's Dreame</i>: conteyninge an invective -agaynst certaine abhominable caterpillars, -&c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1578</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Whetstone, George.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Rocke of Regard</i>: divided into -foure parts. The first, the Castle of Delight, -&c. The second, the Garden of Unthriftinesse, -&c. The thirde, the Arbour of Virtue, &c.; -and the fourth, the Orchard of Repentance, -4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_706:B_1432" id="FNanchor_i_706:B_1432"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_706:B_1432" class="fnanchor">[706:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1576</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Report of the Vertues</i> of the right valiant and - worthy knight S. Frauncis, Lord Russell, 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_706:C_1433" id="FNanchor_i_706:C_1433"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_706:C_1433" class="fnanchor">[706:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1585</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Whitney, Geoffrey.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Choice of Emblemes</i>, and other -devises. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1586</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Fables or Epigrams.</i> 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_706:D_1434" id="FNanchor_i_706:D_1434"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_706:D_1434" class="fnanchor">[706:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1586</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Wilkinson, Edward.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Isahac's Inheritance</i>; dew to ovr -high and mightie Prince, James the sixt of -Scotland, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Willet, Andrew.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Sacrorum Emblematum</i> centura una, in -Latin and English verse. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_706:E_1435" id="FNanchor_i_706:E_1435"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_706:E_1435" class="fnanchor">[706:E]</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Willymat, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>A Princes Looking Glasse</i>, or a -Princes Direction, &c. 4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1603</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><!-- Page 707 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_707" id="Page_i_707">[707]</a></span><span class="smcap">Wyrley, William.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Lord Chandos.</i> The glorious life and -honourable death of Sir John Chandos, &c. -4to.</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1592</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Capitall de Buz.</i> The honourable life and languishing - death of Sir John de Gralhy Capitall de - Buz. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_707:A_1436" id="FNanchor_i_707:A_1436"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_707:A_1436" class="fnanchor">[707:A]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1592</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">**</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Yates, James.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Castell of Courtesie</i>, whereunto is -adjoyned The Holde of Humilitie; with the -Chariot of Chastitie thereunto annexed. Also -a Dialogue betweene Age and Youth; and -other matters herein conteined. 4to.<a name="FNanchor_i_707:B_1437" id="FNanchor_i_707:B_1437"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_707:B_1437" class="fnanchor">[707:B]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1582</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">*</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthang"><span class="smcap">Yong, Bartholomew.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>Diana of George of Montemayer.</i> -Translated out of Spanish into English. Prose -and Verse. Folio.<a name="FNanchor_i_707:C_1438" id="FNanchor_i_707:C_1438"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_707:C_1438" class="fnanchor">[707:C]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1598</td> - <td class="tdrbottom tdpad">*</td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdnewletter"><span class="smcap">Zouche, Richard.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleftwork"><i>The Dove</i>, or Passages of Cosmography, -by Richard Zouche, Civilian of New -College, in Oxford.<a name="FNanchor_i_707:D_1439" id="FNanchor_i_707:D_1439"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_707:D_1439" class="fnanchor">[707:D]</a></td> - <td class="tdlbottom tdpad">1613</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">|</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>Several articles in this table, it will be observed, are without any -mark designating their merit in the scale, a defalcation which has -occurred from our not having been able to procure either the works -themselves, or even specimens of them, a circumstance not exciting -wonder, if we consider the extreme rarity of the greater part of the -pieces which form the catalogue.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 708 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_708" id="Page_i_708">[708]</a></span>Another result which may immediately strike the reader will be, that of -<i>one hundred and ninety-three</i> poets included in this list, so few -should have risen even one degree above mediocrity, and so many should -have fallen below it; but it should be recollected that the nobler -bards, amounting to <i>forty</i>, had been previously enumerated, and that -poetic excellence is, at all times, of very rare attainment.</p> - -<p>The most legitimate subject of admiration, indeed, arising from a review -of these details, is the extraordinary fecundity of the Shakspearean -era; that in the course of fifty-two years, and independent of any -consideration of dramatic effort, or of the various contributors to -collections of poetry, nearly <i>two hundred and thirty-three</i> bards in -the miscellaneous department should have been produced: and these, not -the writers of scattered or insulated verses, but the publishers of -their own collected works.</p> - -<p>A still more heightened conception of the fertility of the period will -accrue from a survey of its numerous <span class="smcap">Poetical Miscellanies</span>, a species of -publication which constitutes a remarkable feature of the age.</p> - -<p>Before the reign of Elizabeth, only one production of the kind had made -its appearance, namely, the Collection, called by Tottel "The Poems of -Uncertaine Auctors," and appended to his edition of Surrey and Wyat in -1557. But, during the first year after the accession of our maiden -queen, appeared the <span class="smcap">Mirrour</span> for <span class="smcap">Magistrates</span>, a quarto volume containing -nineteen legends or characters drawn from English history. The plan -originated with Sackville, who, not finding leisure to write more than -an Induction and the Legend of Henry Duke of Buckingham, transferred the -completion of the work to <i>Richard Baldwyne</i> and <i>George Ferrers</i>, who -were further assisted in its prosecution by <i>Churchyard</i>, <i>Phayer</i>, -<i>Skelton</i>, <i>Dolman</i>, <i>Seagers</i>, and <i>Cavyl</i>. A second edition, of what -may be termed Baldwyne's Mirrour, was printed in 1563, with the addition -of eight legends; a third issued from the press in 1571, and a fourth in -1575. With the exception of Sackville's two pieces, on which an eulogium -has already been given, <!-- Page 709 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_709" id="Page_i_709">[709]</a></span>mediocrity may be said to characterise the -productions of Baldwyne and his associates.</p> - -<p>In the same year which produced the fourth edition of Baldwyne's -Collection, a new series of Legends was published in 4to. by <i>John -Higgins</i>, which, commencing at an earlier period than his predecessor's -work, he entitled "The firste Part of the Mirour for Magistrates." This -portion commences, after an Induction, with the legend of King Albanact, -the youngest son of Brutus, and terminates with that of Lord Irenglas, -"slayne about the yeere before Christ;" including seventeen histories, -the sole composition of Higgins. It was reprinted, with little or no -alteration, in 1578, and occasioned Baldwyne's prior publication to be -called "The Last Part."</p> - -<p>The year 1578, however, not only produced this second impression of -Higgins's Mirrour, but witnessed a fifth and separate edition of -Baldwyne's labours, with the addition of two legends, and an -intermediate part written by <i>Thomas Blener-Hasset</i>, containing <i>twelve</i> -stories, and entitled "The Seconde part of the Mirrour of Magistrates, -conteining the falles of the infortunate Princes of this Lande: from the -Conquest of Cæsar unto the commyng of Duke William the Conquerer," 4to.</p> - -<p>A much more complete edition of this very curious collection of of -poetic biography at length appeared in 1587, under the care of Higgins, -who, blending Baldwyne's pieces with his own former publications, and -adding greatly to both parts, produced a quarto volume consisting of -seventy-three legends.</p> - -<p>Enlarged and improved as this impression must necessarily be deemed, it -was still further augmented, and, in fact, digested anew by Richard -Niccols, who, in 1610, published his copy of the work with the following -title: "<i>A Mirrour for Magistrates</i>, being a true Chronicle-history of -the untimely falles of such unfortunate princes and men of note as have -happened since the first entrance of Brute into this Iland untill this -our age. Newly enlarged with a last part called a <i>Winter Night's -Vision</i>, being an addition of such Tragedies especially famous <!-- Page 710 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_710" id="Page_i_710">[710]</a></span>as are -exempted, in the former Historie, with a poem annexed called <i>England's -Eliza</i>."</p> - -<p>Niccols's edition forms a thick quarto of eight hundred and seventy-five -pages, including ninety legends, and embracing, with the exception of -four pieces, all the parts previously published, in chronological order, -and super-adding an induction and ten poems of his own composition. He -has taken the liberty, however, of modernising and abbreviating some of -the earliest stories, with the view of rendering the series more -acceptable to his contemporaries.</p> - -<p>Of the <i>Mirror for Magistrates</i>, the poetical merit must, of course, be -various and discrepant. Sackville stands pre-eminent and apart, the -author, indeed, of a poem, which, for strength and distinctness of -imagery, is almost unrivalled. Next, but with many a length between, -Niccols claims our attention for sweetness of versification, perspicuity -of diction, and occasional flights of fancy. In his legend of Richard -the Third, he is evidently indebted to Shakspeare, and his poem assumes, -on that account, a higher imaginative tone. The other writers of this -bulky collection are as much inferior to Niccols, as he is to Sackville. -The best production of Higgins is his legend of Queen Cordelia; and from -Baldwyne and Ferrers, a few stanzas, animated by the breath of poetry, -might be quoted; but Blener-Hasset seldom, if ever, reaches mediocrity.</p> - -<p>The popularity of this work, and its influence on our national poetry -throughout the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First, were very -considerable. Even in its earliest and most unfinished state it had -attracted the admiration of Sir Philip Sidney, who says, "I account the -Mirrour of Magistrates, meetely furnished of beautiful partes<a name="FNanchor_i_710:A_1440" id="FNanchor_i_710:A_1440"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_710:A_1440" class="fnanchor">[710:A]</a>;" -and in its last and most perfect form, it seems to have been considered -as a book necessary to the accomplished gentleman; for in Chapman's -Comedy, entitled <i>May-Day</i>, and printed in 1611, a character versed in -the elegant literature of the time, is described as "One that <!-- Page 711 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_711" id="Page_i_711">[711]</a></span>has read -Marcus Aurelius, Gesta Romanorum, and the <i>Mirrour of -Magistrates</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_711:A_1441" id="FNanchor_i_711:A_1441"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_711:A_1441" class="fnanchor">[711:A]</a></p> - -<p>That this Collection contributed to accelerate the progress of dramatic -poetry, and to familiarise the events of our history, there can be -little doubt, if we reflect that, previous to its appearance, historical -plays were scarcely known; that its pages present us with innumerable -specimens of dramatic speeches, incidents, and characters, and that it -has thrown into a metrical form the most interesting passages of the -ancient chroniclers, a medium through which the best parts of those -massive compilations soon descended to the lower orders of society.</p> - -<p>The next work which calls for our attention is <span class="smcap">The Paradyse of Daynty -Devises</span>, originally published in 1576 with the following title:—"The -Paradyse of daynty devises, aptly furnished with sundry pithie and -learned inventions: devised and written for the most part by M. Edwards, -sometimes of her Majesties Chappel: the rest by sundry learned -Gentlemen, both of honor, and worshippe: viz.</p> - -<table summary="secondary authors of The Paradyse of Daynty Devises" border="0"> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">S. Barnarde.</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Jasper Heywood.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">E. O.</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">F. K.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">L. Vaux.</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">M. Bewe.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">D. S.</td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">R. Hill.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdctrbottom tdpad">M. Yloop, with others.</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>Imprinted at London, by Henry Disle, dwellyng in Paules Church-yard, at -the South west doore of Saint Paules Church, and are there to be solde," -4to.</p> - -<p>Though, until the late re-print by Sir Egerton Brydges, this miscellany -had become extremely rare<a name="FNanchor_i_711:B_1442" id="FNanchor_i_711:B_1442"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_711:B_1442" class="fnanchor">[711:B]</a>, yet numerous editions of it were -called for during the first thirty years of its existence. In 1577, and -1578, Disle again published it in quarto, and it is remarkable for being -the only book of his printing which has reached the present <!-- Page 712 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_712" id="Page_i_712">[712]</a></span>age. The -edition of 1578 differs, in some respects, from the preceding, and from -all, in including a poem by George Whetstone, no where else -discoverable.</p> - -<p>A fourth edition, from the press of Disle, appeared in 1580, varying so -greatly from the earlier copies, that it omits eighteen poems contained -in the first impression, and substitutes eighteen others in their place.</p> - -<p>In 1585, the public attention was fixed on a fifth edition by Edward -White, who also republished the work in 1596 and 1600 in 4to. The two -latter impressions were printed by Edward Allde for White, and exhibit -some variations from the copy of 1580, omitting four pieces in that -edition, and adding seven new ones. Beside these, there was an edition, -without date, printed by Allde for White, and constituting an <i>eighth</i> -impression.</p> - -<p>That a Collection which ran through so many editions in so short a -period, must possess a considerable share of merit, will be a natural -inference; nor will the readers of the Reprint lately published be -disappointed in such an expectation. It is true that the <i>Paradise of -Daintie Devises</i> contains no piece of such high poetic character as the -<i>Induction</i> of Sackville; for its contributions are chiefly on subjects -of an ethic and didactic cast; but it displays a vast variety of short -compositions, on love, friendship, and adversity; on the consolations of -a contented mind, on the instability of human pleasures, and on many of -the minor morals and events of life. These are expressed, in many -instances, with simplicity and vigour, and often with a flow of -versification and perspicuity of diction, which, considering the age of -their production, is truly remarkable. If no splendour of imagery, or -sublimity of sentiment, arrest the attention, it cannot be denied that -several of these poems make their way to the heart, by attractions -resulting from a clear perception, that the writers wrote from their own -unadulterated feelings, from the instant pressure of what they suffered -or enjoyed.</p> - -<p>Of the contributors to this Miscellany, which, in its most perfect -state, consists of one hundred and twenty-four poems, more than one -<!-- Page 713 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_713" id="Page_i_713">[713]</a></span>half was communicated by six individuals; by Lord Vaux fourteen pieces; -by Richard Edwardes fourteen; by William Hunnis twelve; by Francis -Kinwelmarsh ten; by Jasper Heywood eight; and by the Earl of Oxford -seven.</p> - -<p>The compositions of Lord Vaux, are uniformly of a moral and pensive -cast, and breathe a spirit of religion and resignation often truly -touching, and sometimes bordering on the sublime. Of this description -more particularly are the poems entitled "Of the instabilitie of youth;" -"Of a contented mind;" and on "Beying asked the occasion of his white -head," from the last of which a few lines will afford a pleasing -specimen of the pathetic tone and unaffected style of this noble bard:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"These heeres of age are messingers,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whiche bidd me fast, repent and praie:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thei be of death the harbingers,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That doeth prepare and dresse the waie,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Wherefore I joye that you mai see,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Upon my head such heeres to bee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Thei be the line that lead the length,</div> - <div class="line indentq">How farre my race was for to ronne:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thei saie my yongth is fledde with strength,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And how old age is well begonne.</div> - <div class="line indentq">The whiche I feele, and you maie see,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Upon my head such lines to bee."<a name="FNanchor_i_713:A_1443" id="FNanchor_i_713:A_1443"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_713:A_1443" class="fnanchor">[713:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of a character still higher for poetic power are the effusions of -Richard Edwards, who excels alike in descriptive, ethic, and pathetic -strains. Of the first, his two pieces called "May" and "I may not" are, -with the exception of the third stanza of the latter poem, very striking -instances; of the second, he has afforded us several proofs; and of the -last, his lines on the maxim of Terence, <i>Amantium iræ amoris -redintegratio est</i>, form one of the most lovely exemplifications <!-- Page 714 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_714" id="Page_i_714">[714]</a></span>in the -language. Of the opening stanza it is scarcely possible to resist giving -a transcription:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"In going to my naked bed, as one that would have slept,</div> - <div class="line indentq">I heard a wife syng to her child, that long before had wept:</div> - <div class="line indentq">She sighed sore and sang full sore, to bryng the babe to rest,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That would not rest but cried still in suckyng at her brest:</div> - <div class="line indentq">She was full wearie of her watche, and grieved with her child,</div> - <div class="line indentq">She rocked it and rated it, untill on her it smilde:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then did she saie nowe have I founde the proverbe true to prove,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The fallyng out of faithfull frends renewing is of love."<a name="FNanchor_i_714:A_1444" id="FNanchor_i_714:A_1444"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_714:A_1444" class="fnanchor">[714:A]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"The happiness of the illustration," remarks Sir Egerton Brydges, "the -facility, elegance, and tenderness of the language, and the exquisite -turn of the whole, are above commendation; and show to what occasional -polish and refinement our literature even then had arrived. Yet has the -treasure which this gem adorned, lain buried and inaccessible, except to -a few curious collectors, for at least a century and an half."<a name="FNanchor_i_714:B_1445" id="FNanchor_i_714:B_1445"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_714:B_1445" class="fnanchor">[714:B]</a></p> - -<p>Edwards has a song of four stanzas "In commendation of Musick,"<a name="FNanchor_i_714:C_1446" id="FNanchor_i_714:C_1446"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_714:C_1446" class="fnanchor">[714:C]</a> -of which the first has been quoted by Shakspeare in <i>Romeo and -Juliet</i><a name="FNanchor_i_714:D_1447" id="FNanchor_i_714:D_1447"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_714:D_1447" class="fnanchor">[714:D]</a>, affording a proof, if any were wanted, that the -madrigals of Edwards were very popular in their day.</p> - -<p>Of the poetry of <i>William Hunnis</i> the more remarkable features are a -peculiar flow of versification, and a delicate turn upon the words, -which approximate his songs, in an extraordinary degree, to the standard -of the present age. By dividing his lines of sixteen syllables into two, -this similarity becomes more apparent; for instance,—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"When first mine eyes did view and mark</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thy beauty fair for to behold,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And when mine eares gan first to hark</div> - <div class="line indentq">The pleasant words that thou me told;</div> - <div class="line indentq">I would as then I had been free</div> - <div class="line indentq">From ears to hear and eyes to see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> -<!-- Page 715 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_715" id="Page_i_715">[715]</a></span> <div class="line indentq">And when in mind I did consent</div> - <div class="line indentq">To follow thus my fancy's will,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And when my heart did first relent</div> - <div class="line indentq">To taste such bait myself to spill,</div> - <div class="line indentq">I would my heart had been as thine,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or else thy heart as soft as mine.<a name="FNanchor_i_715:A_1448" id="FNanchor_i_715:A_1448"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_715:A_1448" class="fnanchor">[715:A]</a></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="tb">————</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">O flatterer false, thou traitor born,</div> - <div class="line indentq">What mischief more might thou devise,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Than thy dear friend to have in scorn,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And him to wound in sundry wise?</div> - <div class="line indentq">Which still a friend pretends to be,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And art not so by proof I see.</div> - <div class="line i1q">Fie, fie, upon such treachery."<a name="FNanchor_i_715:B_1449" id="FNanchor_i_715:B_1449"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_715:B_1449" class="fnanchor">[715:B]</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>From the ten contributions by Kinwelmarsh, three may be selected as -pleasing, both from their sentiment and melody, viz. "On learning;" "All -thinges are vain," which is a truly beautiful poem; and "The complaint -of a Sinner."<a name="FNanchor_i_715:C_1450" id="FNanchor_i_715:C_1450"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_715:C_1450" class="fnanchor">[715:C]</a> Neither the productions of Heywood, nor of the Earl -of Oxford, surmount mediocrity.</p> - -<p>Of the remaining writers who assisted in forming this collection, <i>M. -Bew</i> has written five pieces; <i>Arthur Bourcher</i>, one; <i>M. Candish</i>, one; -<i>Thos. Churchyard</i>, one; <i>G. Gashe</i>, one; <i>Richard Hill</i>, seven; -<i>Lodowick Lloyd</i>, one; <i>T. Marshall</i>, two; <i>Barnaby Rich</i>, one; <i>D. -Sands</i>, five; <i>M. Thorn</i>, two; <i>Yloop</i>, two, and there are five with the -signature of <i>My lucke is losse</i>. There are sixteen poems also with -initials only subjoined, and seven anonymous contributions. Most of -these consist of moral precepts versified, and, though little entitled -to the appellation of poetry, from any display either of imagery or -invention, are yet of high value as developing the progress both of -literary and intellectual cultivation.</p> - -<p>The popularity of Edwards's Miscellany produced, two years afterward, -another collection of a similar kind, under the title of "<span class="smcap">A Gorgious -Gallery of Gallant Inventions</span>. Garnished and decked with Divers Dayntie -Devises, right delicate and delightfull, to recreate <!-- Page 716 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_716" id="Page_i_716">[716]</a></span>eche modest minde -withall. First framed and fashioned in sundrie formes, by Divers Worthy -Workemen of late dayes: and now joyned together and builded up: By T. P. -Imprinted at London, for Richard Jones. 1578."</p> - -<p>Of this work, "one copy only," relates Mr. Park, "is known to have -survived the depredation of time. This was purchased by Dr. Farmer, with -the choice poetical stores of Mr. Wynne, which had been formed in the -seventeenth century by Mr. Narcissus Luttrell. At Dr. Farmer's book-sale -this <i>unique</i> was procured by Mr. Malone; from whose communicative -kindness a transcript was obtained, which furnished the present reprint. -One hiatus, occasioned by the loss of a leaf, occurs at p. 102, which it -will be hopeless to supply, unless some chance copy should be lurking in -the corner of a musty chest, a family-library, or neglected -lumber-closet; though, in consequence of the estimation in which all -antiquated rarities are now held, even such hiding-places have become -very assiduously explored."<a name="FNanchor_i_716:A_1451" id="FNanchor_i_716:A_1451"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_716:A_1451" class="fnanchor">[716:A]</a></p> - -<p>By the Initials T. P. we are to understand <i>Thomas Proctor</i>, the editor -of this "Gorgious Gallery," and who has been noticed in the preceding -table on account of his "Pretie Pamphlets," which commence at p. 125 of -Mr. Park's Reprint. His verses following this title are numerous, and in -various metres, and indicate him to have been no mean observer of life -and manners. If he display little of the fancy of the poet, he is not -often deficient in moral weight of sentiment, and though not remarkable -for either the melody or correctness of his versification, he may be -considered as having passed the limits of mediocrity.</p> - -<p>Of the other contributors our information is so scanty, that we can only -mention <i>Anthony Munday</i> and <i>Owen Royden</i>, and this in consequence of -the first having prefixed a copy of verses "In commendation of this -Gallery," and the second a more elaborate poem, "To the curious company -of Sycophants." It is probable that they were both coadjutors in the -body of the work.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 717 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_717" id="Page_i_717">[717]</a></span>The "Gorgious Gallery of Gallant Inventions" consists of seventy-four -poems, and some, especially the "History of Pyramus and Thisbie," of -considerable length. Too many of them are written in drawling couplets -of fourteen syllables in a line, and with too flagrant a partiality for -the meretricious garb of alliteration.<a name="FNanchor_i_717:A_1452" id="FNanchor_i_717:A_1452"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_717:A_1452" class="fnanchor">[717:A]</a> There appears to be also -too little variety in the selection of topics, and some of the pieces -are reprinted from "Tottel's Miscellany" and the "Paradyse of Dayntie -Devises." It must be pronounced, indeed, inferior to these its -predecessors in the essential points of invention, harmony of metre, and -versatility of style, though it seems to have shared with them no small -portion of popular favour; for Nashe, in his life of Jacke Wilton, 1594, -alluding to the Gardens of Rome, says, that "to tell you of their rare -pleasures, their baths, their vineyards, their galleries, were to write -a second part of the <i>Gorgious Gallerie of Gallant Devices</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_717:B_1453" id="FNanchor_i_717:B_1453"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_717:B_1453" class="fnanchor">[717:B]</a></p> - -<p>In 1584 was published, in 16mo., "<span class="smcap">A Handefull of Pleasant Delites</span>: -containing Sundrie new Sonets and delectable Histories in divers kindes -of meeter. Newly devised to the newest tunes, that are now in use to be -sung: everie sonet orderly pointed to his proper tune. With new -additions of certain songs, to verie late devised notes, not commonly -knowen, nor used heretofore. By Clement Robinson: and divers others. At -London, printed by Richard Jhones: dwelling at the signe of the Rose and -Crowne, neare Holburne Bridge."</p> - -<p>Only one copy of the printed original of this Miscellany, which is in -the Marquis of Blandford's library, is supposed to be in existence. The -editor, Clement Robinson, if all the pieces unappropriated to others, be -of his composition, must be deemed worthy of high praise for numerous -productions of great lyric sweetness in point of <!-- Page 718 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_718" id="Page_i_718">[718]</a></span>versification, and -composed in a vein of much perspicuity with regard to diction. His -associates, as far as we have any authority from the work itself, amount -only to five; and these, with the exception of <i>Leonard Gibson</i>, who -claims only one piece, consist of names unknown elsewhere in the annals -of poetry. Two effusions are attributed to <i>J. Tomson</i>; two to <i>Peter -Picks</i>; one to <i>Thomas Richardson</i>, and one to <i>George Mannington</i>. This -last production, denominated "A sorrowfull Sonet," if we make allowance -for a commencement too alliterative, possesses a large share of moral -pathos, and unaffected simplicity.<a name="FNanchor_i_718:A_1454" id="FNanchor_i_718:A_1454"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_718:A_1454" class="fnanchor">[718:A]</a></p> - -<p>Thirty-two poems occupy the pages of this pleasing little volume, among -which, at p. 23., is <i>A New Courtly Sonet of the Lady Greensleeves, to -the new tune of Greensleeves</i>, alluded to by Shakspeare in the <i>Merry -Wives of Windsor</i>, Act ii. Sc. 1., and which throws some curious light -on the female dress of the period.</p> - -<p>In point of interest, vivacity, and metrical harmony, this compilation -has a decided superiority over the "Gorgious Gallery of Gallant -Inventions." It is, in a great measure, formed of ballads and songs, -adapted to well-known popular tunes, and, though its poets have been -arbitrarily confined in the structure of their verse by the pre-composed -music, yet many of their lyrics have a smoothness and sweetness in the -composition of their stanzas, which may even arrest the attention of a -modern ear.</p> - -<p>To the publication of Clement Robinson succeeded, in 1593, "<span class="smcap">The Phœnix -Nest</span>. Built up with the most rare and refined workes of Noblemen, worthy -Knights, gallant Gentlemen, Masters of Arts, and brave Scholers. Full of -varietie, excellent invention, and singular delight. Never before -published. Set foorth by R. S. of the Inner Temple, Gentleman. Imprinted -at London, by John Jackson, 4to."</p> - -<p>The opening of Mr. Park's "Advertisement" to his Reprint of this -Collection includes so much just, and elegantly expressed, criticism <!-- Page 719 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_719" id="Page_i_719">[719]</a></span>on -our elder poetry, and on Shakspeare, that we seize with pleasure the -opportunity of transferring it to our pages.</p> - -<p>"Between the Gorgious Gallery of Gallant Inventions," he remarks, -"printed in 1578, and the present miscellany in 1593, an interval of -only fifteen years, there will be traced no inconsiderable advance -towards poetical elegance and sentimental refinement. Watson, Breton, -Peele, and Lodge, contributed very materially to the grace, and melody, -and strength, of our amatory, lyric, and satiric verse; while Spenser, -Daniel, and Drayton enlarged the sphere of the allegoric, and historic, -and descriptive Muse. But the magnitude of the works of the two latter -poets, owing to the subjects they unhappily selected, has conduced to -deaden that reputation which several of their minor effusions were -calculated to keep alive. The very labours which might otherwise have -extended their fame, have fatally contracted it. Their ponderous -productions are incorporated indeed with the late general collections of -British Poets, but where is the poetic amateur who peruses them? They -resemble certain drugs in a family-dispensary, which, though seldom if -ever taken, still eke out the assemblage. From reading the fair -specimens put forth by Mr. Ellis, many may be allured to covet the -entire performances of our elder bards: but should these be obtained, -they will probably be found (as Mr. Steevens said by the Shakspearian -quartos) of little more worth than a squeezed orange. The flowers will -appear to have been culled and distilled by the hand of judgment; and -the essence of early poetry, like most other essences, will be -discovered to lie in a narrow compass. 'Old poets in general,' says Mr. -Southey, 'are only valuable because they are old.' It must be allowed -that few poems of the Elizabethan æra are likely to afford complete -satisfaction to a mere modern reader, from the fastidious delicacy of -modern taste. Some antiquated alloy, either from incongruous metaphor or -infelicitous expression, will commonly jar upon his mind or ear. The -backward footstep of Time will be audible, if not visible. Yet the songs -of our unrivalled Shakspeare combine an almost uniform exception to this -remark. They are exquisite in thought, feeling, language, <!-- Page 720 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_720" id="Page_i_720">[720]</a></span>and -modulation. They blend simplicity with beauty, sentiment with passion, -picture with poesy. They unite symmetry of form with consistency of -ornament, truth of nature with perfection of art, and must ever furnish -models for lyric composition. As a sonnet-writer Shakspeare was not -superior to some of his contemporaries: he was certainly inferior to -himself. In lighter numbers and in blank verse, peculiar and -transcendent was his excellence. His songs never have been surpassed, -his dramas never are likely to be."<a name="FNanchor_i_720:A_1455" id="FNanchor_i_720:A_1455"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_720:A_1455" class="fnanchor">[720:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of the editor of the Phœnix Nest, intended by the initials R. S., no -certain information has been obtained. The work has been attributed to -<i>Richard Stanyhurst</i>, <i>Richard Stapleton</i>, and to <i>Robert Southwell</i>, by -Coxeter, by Warton, and by Waldron; but their claims, founded merely on -conjecture, are entitled to little confidence. It is perhaps more -interesting to know, that the chief contributors to this miscellany were -among the best lyric poets of their age, that <i>Thomas Watson</i>, <i>Nicholas -Breton</i>, and, above all, <i>Thomas Lodge</i>, assisted the unknown editor. -Not less than sixteen pieces have the initials of this last bard, and -many of them are among the most beautiful productions of his genius. -Beside these, <i>George Peele</i>, <i>William Smith</i>, <i>Matthew Roydon</i>, Sir -<i>William Herbert</i>, the <i>Earl of Oxford</i>, and several others, aided in -completing this elegant volume.</p> - -<p>The "Phœnix Nest," which comprehends not less than seventy-nine poems, -is certainly one of the most attractive of the Elizabethan miscellanies, -whether we regard its style, its versification, or its choice of -subject, and will probably be deemed inferior only to "England's -Helicon," which, indeed, owes a few of its beauties to this work.</p> - -<p>Of the valuable Collection thus mentioned, the first edition made its -appearance in 1600, with the following title-page: "<span class="smcap">England's Helicon</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Casta placent superis</div> - <div class="line i1">pura cum veste venite,</div> - <div class="line">Et manibus puris</div> - <div class="line i1">sumite fontis aquam.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 721 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_721" id="Page_i_721">[721]</a></span>At London. Printed by J. R. for John Flasket, and are to be sold in -Paules Church-yard, at the signe of the Beare." 4to.</p> - -<p>The second edition was published in 1614, and entitled, "England's -Helicon, or the Muses Harmony.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">The Courts of Kings heare no such straines,</div> - <div class="line">As daily lull the Rusticke Swaines.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">London: Printed for Richard More; and are to be sould at his shop in S. -Dunstanes Church-yard." 8vo.</p> - -<p>England's Helicon, which, in its first impression, contained one hundred -and fifty poems, and in its second one hundred and fifty-nine, has the -felicity of enrolling among its contributors all the principal poets of -its era. These, enumerated alphabetically, are as follow:—<i>Richard -Barnefield</i> has two pieces; <i>Thomas Bastard</i>, one; <i>Edmund Bolton</i>, -five; <i>Nicholas Breton</i>, eight; <i>Christopher Brooke</i>, one; <i>William -Browne</i>, one; <i>Henry Constable</i>, four; <i>John Davis</i>, one; <i>Michael -Drayton</i>, five; Sir <i>Edward Dyer</i>, six; <i>John Ford</i>, one; <i>Robert -Greene</i>, seven; <i>Fulke Grevile</i>, two; <i>John Gough</i>, one; <i>Howard, Earle -of Surrie</i>, two; <i>Howell</i>, one: <i>William Hunnis</i>, two; <i>Thomas Lodge</i>, -ten; <i>Jervis Markham</i>, two; <i>Christopher Marlow</i>, one; <i>Earle of -Oxenford</i>, one: <i>George Peele</i>, three; Sir <i>Walter Raleigh</i>, fourteen; -<i>William Shakspeare</i>, two; Sir <i>Philip Sidney</i>, fourteen; <i>William -Smith</i>, one; <i>Edmund Spenser</i>, three; <i>Shepherd Tonie</i>, seven; <i>Thomas -Watson</i>, five; <i>John Wootton</i>, two, and <i>Bartholomew Yong</i>, twenty-five. -Of anonymous contributions there are sixteen.</p> - -<p>Amid this galaxy of bards we cannot fail to distinguish for their -decided superiority, the productions of <i>Breton</i>, <i>Greene</i>, <i>Lodge</i>, -<i>Marlow</i>, and <i>Raleigh</i>, which might confer celebrity on any selection. -The principal feature, indeed, of England's Helicon is its <i>pastoral</i> -beauty, and in this department how few have surpassed, or even equalled, -the exquisite strains of Lodge or Marlow!</p> - -<p>"It cannot be idle or useless," remarks Sir Egerton Brydges, "to study -this early Collection of Pastoral compositions. Here is the <!-- Page 722 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_722" id="Page_i_722">[722]</a></span>fountain of -that diction, which has since been employed and expanded in the -description of rural scenery. Here are the openings of those reflections -on the imagery of nature, in which subsequent poets have so much dealt. -They show us to what occasional excellence, both in turn of thought and -polish of language, the literature of Queen Elizabeth had arrived; and -how little the artificial and incumbered prose of mere scholars of that -time exhibits a just specimen of either the sentiment or phrase of the -court or people! In the best of these productions, even the accentuation -and rhythm scarce differs from that of our days. Lodge and Breton in -particular, who are characterised by their simplicity, are striking -proofs of this!—</p> - -<p>"To such as could enjoy the rough and far-fetched subtlety of -metaphysical verses, this Collection must have appeared inexpressibly -insipid and contemptible. To those whose business it was to draw -similitudes from the most remote recesses of abstruse learning, how -childish must seem the delineation of flowers that were open to every -eye, and images which found a mirror in every bosom!!</p> - -<p>"But, O, how dull is the intricate path of the philosopher, how -uninteresting is all the laboured ingenuity of the artist, compared with -the simple and touching pleasures which are alike open to the peasant, -as to the scholar, the noble, or the monarch! It is in the gift of -exquisite senses, and not in the adventitious circumstances of birth and -fortune, that one human being excels another!</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The common air, the sun, the skies,</div> - <div class="line indentq">To him are opening Paradise."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>"We are delighted to see reflected the same feelings, the same pleasures -from the breasts of our ancestors. We hear the voices of those bearded -chiefs, whose portraits adorn the pannels of our halls and galleries, -still bearing witness to the same natural and eternal truths; still -inveighing against the pomp, the fickleness, and the treachery of -courts; and uttering the songs of the shepherd and the <!-- Page 723 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_723" id="Page_i_723">[723]</a></span>woodman, in -language that defies the changes of time, and speaks to all ages the -touching effusions of the heart.</p> - -<p>"If some little additional prejudice in favour of these compositions be -given by the association in our ideas of their antiquity, if we connect -some reverence, and some increased force, with expressions which were in -favourite use with those who for two centuries have slept in the grave, -the profound moral philosopher will neither blame nor regret this -effect. It is among the most generous and most ornamental, if not among -the most useful habits of the mind!</p> - -<p>"Such are among the claims of this Collection to notice. But the seal -that has been hitherto put upon this treasure; the deep oblivion in -which the major parts of its contents have for ages been buried, ought -to excite curiosity, and impart a generous delight at its revival. Who -is there so cold as to be moved with no enthusiasm at drawing the mantle -from the figure of Time? For my part, I confess how often I have watched -the gradual developement with eager and breathless expectation; and -gazed upon the reviving features till my warm fancy gave them a glow and -a beauty, which perhaps the reality never in its happiest moments -possessed."<a name="FNanchor_i_723:A_1456" id="FNanchor_i_723:A_1456"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_723:A_1456" class="fnanchor">[723:A]</a></p> - -<p>That very nearly two hundred years should have elapsed between the -second and third editions of this miscellany is a striking proof of the -neglect to which even the best of our ancient poetry has been hitherto -subjected. The rapidly increasing taste of the present age, however, for -the reliques of long-departed genius, cannot fail of precluding in -future any return of such undeserved obscurity.</p> - -<p>In 1600 the industry of Robert Allot presented the public with a large -collection of extracts from the most popular poets of his times, under -the title of "<span class="smcap">England's Parnassus</span>: or the choysest flowers of our -moderne poets, with their poeticall comparisons. Descriptions of -Bewties, Personages, Castles, Pallaces, Mountaines, Groves, Seas, -Springs, Rivers, &c. Whereunto are annexed other various discourses, -both pleasant and profitable." Small 8vo. pp. 510.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 724 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_724" id="Page_i_724">[724]</a></span>Had the editor of this curious volume, beside citing the names of his -authors, added the titles of the works from which he culled his -specimens, an infinity of trouble would have been saved to subsequent -research; yet the deficiency has served, in a peculiar manner, to mark -the successful progress of modern bibliography. When Oldys wrote his -Preface to Hayward's British Muse, which was first published in 1738, he -complains grievously of this omission, observing that most of Allot's -poets "were now so obsolete, that not knowing what they wrote, we can -have no recourse to their works, if still extant."<a name="FNanchor_i_724:A_1457" id="FNanchor_i_724:A_1457"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_724:A_1457" class="fnanchor">[724:A]</a> Since this -sentence was written, such has been the industry of our literary -antiquaries, that almost every poem which Allot laid under contribution -in forming his volume, has been ascertained, and rendered accessible to -the curious enquirer; and so far from the writers being obsolete, after -nearly eighty years have been added to their antiquity, we may venture -to affirm that, excepting about half-a-dozen, they are as familiar to us -as the poets of the present reign. It is but just, however, to -acknowledge that a considerable portion of this intimacy may be ascribed -to Allot's book, which, by its numerous passages from bards rendered -scarce by neglect, has stimulated the bibliographical enthusiasm of the -last twenty years to achieve their detection. An enumeration of the -contributors to England's Parnassus, will serve to illustrate and -confirm these remarks:—</p> - -<table summary="authors listed in Englands Parnassus by Robert Allot" border="0"> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Thomas Achelly.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Thomas Bastard.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">George Chapman.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Thomas Churchyard.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Henry Constable.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">6.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Samuel Daniel.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">7.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">John Davies.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">8.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Thomas Dekkar.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">9.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Michael Drayton.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">10.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Edmund Fairfax.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">11.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Charles Fitzgeffrey.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">12.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Abraham Fraunce.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">13.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">George Gascoigne.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">14.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Edward Gilpin.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">15.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Robert Greene.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">16.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Sir John Harrington.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">17.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">John Higgins.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">18.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Thomas Hudson.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">19.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">James, King of Scots.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">20.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Benjamin Jonson.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad"><!-- Page 725 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_725" id="Page_i_725">[725]</a></span>21.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Thomas Kyd.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">22.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Thomas Lodge.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">23.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Gervase Markham.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">24.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Christopher Marlowe.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">25.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">John Marston.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">26.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Christopher Middleton.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">27.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Thomas Nash.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">28.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Oxford, Earl of.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">29.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">George Peele.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">30.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Matthew Roydon.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">31.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Sackville, Lord Buckhurst.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">32.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">William Shakspeare.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">33.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Edmund Spenser.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">34.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Thomas Storer.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">35.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Surrey, Earl of.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">36.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Sir Philip Sidney.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">37.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Joshua Sylvester.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">38.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">George Turberville.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">39.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">William Warner.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">40.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Thomas Watson.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">41.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">John Weever.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">42.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">William Weever.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">43.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Sir Thomas Wyatt.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>Though Oldys has severely blamed the judgment of the editor in his -selection of authors and extracts, yet a much more consummate critic, -the highly-gifted Warton, considers him as having exhibited taste in his -choice, and it must be acknowledged that the volume has preserved many -exquisite passages from poets who, but for this selection, had probably -been irrecoverably merged in oblivion.</p> - -<p>In the same year with England's Parnassus came forth another -compilation, to which its editor, <i>John Bodenham</i>, gave the following -title: "<span class="smcap">Bel-vedere, or the Garden of the Muses</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">Quem referent Musæ vivet, dum robora tellus,</div> - <div class="line">Dum cælum stellas, dum vehit amnis aquas.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Imprinted at London, by F. K. for Hugh Astley, dwelling at Saint Magnus -Corner. 1600." Small 8vo. pp. 236.</p> - -<p>This collection, which underwent a second impression in 1610, with the -omission of its first appellative, Bel-vedere, though it contain a vast -number of quotations, is, on two accounts, inferior to the "Parnassus." -In the first place, no authors' names are annexed to the extracts, and, -in the second, a much greater defect has arisen from the editor's -determination to confine his specimens to one or two lines at most, a -brevity which almost annihilates the interest of the work. To obviate, -however, in some degree, the inconveniences arising from the first of -these plans, he has recourse, in his <i>Proemium</i>, to the following -detail, which, as it gives a very curious narrative of the construction -of the book, will have its due value with the reader:—</p> - -<p><!-- Page 726 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_726" id="Page_i_726">[726]</a></span>"Now that every one may be fully satisfied concerning this Garden, that -no man doth assume to him-selfe the praise thereof, or can arrogate to -his owne deserving those things, which have been derived from so many -rare and ingenious spirits; I have set down both how, whence, and where, -these flowres had their first springing, till thus they were drawne -together into the Muses Garden; that every ground may challenge his -owne, each plant his particular, and no one be injured in the justice of -his merit.</p> - -<p>"First, out of many excellent speeches, spoken to her Majestie, at -tiltings, triumphes, maskes, and shewes, and devises perfourmed in -prograce: as also out of divers choise ditties sung to her; and some -especially, proceeding from her owne most sacred selfe! Here are great -store of them digested into their meete places, according as the method -of the worke plainly delivereth. Likewise out of private poems, sonnets, -ditties, and other wittie conceits, given to her honourable Ladies and -vertuous Maids of Honour; according as they could be obtained by sight, -or favour of copying, a number of most wittie and singular sentences. -Secondly, looke what workes of poetrie have been put to the world's eye, -by that learned and right royall king and poet, James King of Scotland; -no one sentence of worth hath escaped, but are likewise here reduced -into their right roome and place. Next, out of sundrie things extant, -and many in private, done by these right honourable persons following:</p> - -<ul class="list"> - <li>Thomas, (Henry) Earl of Surrey.</li> - <li>The Lorde Marquesse of Winchester.</li> - <li>Mary Countess of Pembrooke.</li> - <li>Sir Philip Sidney.</li> -</ul> - -<p>"From poems and workes of these noble personages extant:</p> - -<ul class="list"> - <li>Edward, Earle of Oxenford.</li> - <li>Ferdinando, Earle of Derby.</li> - <li>Sir Walter Raleigh.</li> - <li>Sir Edward Dyer.</li> - <li>Fulke Grevile, Esq.</li> - <li>Sir John Harrington.</li> -</ul> - -<p>"From divers essayes of their poetrie; some extant among other -honourable personages writings, some from private labours and -translations.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 727 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_727" id="Page_i_727">[727]</a></span></p> - -<ul class="list"> - <li>Edmund Spencer.</li> - <li>Henry Constable, Esq.</li> - <li>Samuel Daniell.</li> - <li>Thomas Lodge, Doctor of Physicke.</li> - <li>Thomas Watson.</li> - <li>Michaell Drayton.</li> - <li>John Davies.</li> - <li>Thomas Hudson.</li> - <li>Henrie Locke, Esq.</li> - <li>John Marstone.</li> - <li>Chr. Marlowe.</li> - <li>Benjn. Johnson.</li> - <li>William Shakspeare.</li> - <li>Thomas Churchyard, Esq.</li> - <li>Tho. Nash.</li> - <li>Tho. Kidde.</li> - <li>Geo. Peele.</li> - <li>Robert Greene.</li> - <li>Josuah Sylvester.</li> - <li>Nicolas Breton.</li> - <li>Gervase Markham.</li> - <li>Thomas Storer.</li> - <li>Robert Wilmot.</li> - <li>Chr. Middleton.</li> - <li>Richard Barnefield.</li> -</ul> - -<p>"These being moderne and extant poets, that have lived together, from -many of their extant workes, and some kept in private.</p> - -<ul class="list"> - <li>Thomas Norton, Esq.</li> - <li>George Gascoigne, Esq.</li> - <li>Frauncis Hindlemarsh, Esq.</li> - <li>Thomas Atchelow.</li> - <li>George Whetstones.</li> -</ul> - -<p>"These being deceased, have left divers extant labours, and many more -held back from publishing, which for the most part have been perused, -and their due right here given them in the Muses Garden.</p> - -<p>"Besides, what excellent sentences have been in any presented Tragedie, -Historie, Pastorall, or Comedie, they have been likewise gathered, and -are here inserted in their proper places."<a name="FNanchor_i_727:A_1458" id="FNanchor_i_727:A_1458"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_727:A_1458" class="fnanchor">[727:A]</a></p> - -<p>It will be perceived that eleven poets are here enumerated, who had no -share in England's Parnassus; and it may be worth while to remark, that, -among the verses prefixed in praise of the book, are some lines by <i>R. -Hathway</i>, whom Mr. Malone conjectures to have been the kinsman of <i>Ann -Hathaway</i>, the wife of our immortal bard.<a name="FNanchor_i_727:B_1459" id="FNanchor_i_727:B_1459"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_727:B_1459" class="fnanchor">[727:B]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 728 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_728" id="Page_i_728">[728]</a></span>A small contribution of pieces by a few of the chief poets of the age, -was, in 1601, annexed to a production by Robert Chester, entitled, -"<span class="smcap">Love's Martyr, or Rosalin's Complaint</span>, allegorically shadowing the -Truth of Love in the constant fate of the Phœnix and Turtle. A poem, -enterlaced with much varietie and raritie; now first translated out of -the venerable Italian Torquato Cæliano, by Robert Chester. With the true -legend of famous King Arthur, the last of the nine worthies; being the -first Essay of a new British poet: collected out of authenticall -records. <i>To these are added some new compositions of several modern -writers; whose names are subscribed to their severall workes; upon the -first subject; viz. the Phœnix and Turtle.</i>"</p> - -<p>These <i>new compositions</i> have the following second title immediately -preceding them: "<i>Hereafter follow diverse poetical essaies on the -former subject; viz. the Turtle and Phœnix. Done by the best and -chiefest of our modern writers, with their names subscribed to their -particular workes. Never before extant. And now first consecrated by -them all generally to the love and merit of the truly noble Knight, Sir -John Salisburie.</i>"</p> - -<p>The only known copy of this collection was in Major Pierson's -possession, and it is solely from Mr. Malone, to whom we are indebted -for the above titles, that we learn the names of the principal -contributors; these are <i>Shakspeare</i>, <i>Ben Jonson</i>, <i>Marston</i>, and -<i>Chapman</i>.<a name="FNanchor_i_728:A_1460" id="FNanchor_i_728:A_1460"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_728:A_1460" class="fnanchor">[728:A]</a> Shakspeare's contribution forms the twentieth poem in -"The Passionate Pilgrim," commencing</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Let the bird of loudest lay," &c.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>A miscellany upon a more extensive scale than the preceding, and of -great value for the taste exhibited in its selection, succeeded in 1602, -under the appellation of "<span class="smcap">A Poetical Rapsodîe</span>; containing diverse -Sonnets, Odes, Elegies, Madrigals, Epigrams, Pastorals, <!-- Page 729 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_729" id="Page_i_729">[729]</a></span>Eglogues, with -other Poems, both in Rime and Measured Verse. For varietie and pleasure, -the like never yet published.</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">The Bee and Spider by a diverse power,</div> - <div class="line">Sucke hony and poyson from the selfe-same flower.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">London. 12mo."</p> - -<p>The editor and principal contributor, was <i>Francis Davison</i>, a poet of -no mean talents, and son of that Secretary of State, who experienced in -so remarkable a degree the duplicity of Elizabeth, in relation to Mary -Queen of Scots. In an Address to the Reader, he thus accounts for the -form which the volume assumes:—"Being induced by some private reasons, -and by the instant entreaty of speciall friends, to suffer some of my -worthlesse poems to be published, I desired to make some written by my -deere friends <i>Anonymoi</i>, and my deerer <i>Brother</i>, to beare them -company: both, without their consent; the latter being in the -low-country warres, and the rest utterly ignorant thereof. My friends -names I concealed; mine owne and my brother's, I willed the printer to -suppresse, as well as I had concealed the other, which he having put in -without my privity, we must now undergo a sharper censure perhaps than -our namelesse workes should have done; and I especially. For if their -poems be liked, the praise is due to their invention; if disliked, the -blame both by them and all men will be derived upon me, for publishing -that which they meant to suppresse."</p> - -<p>He then enters upon a defence of poetry, experience proving, he remarks, -"by examples of many, both dead and living, that divers delighted and -excelling herein, being princes or statesmen, have gouerned and -counselled as wisely; being souldiers, have commanded armies as -fortunately; being lawyers, have pleaded as judicially and eloquently; -being divines, have written and taught as profoundly; and being of any -other profession, have discharged it as sufficiently, as any other men -whatsoever;" and concludes by alleging, as an excuse "for these poems in -particular, that those under the name of <!-- Page 730 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_730" id="Page_i_730">[730]</a></span><i>Anonymos</i> were written (as -appeareth by divers things to Sir Philip Sidney living, and of him dead) -almost twenty years since, when poetry was farre from that perfection to -which it hath now attained: that my brother is by profession a souldier, -and was not eighteen years old when he writ these toys: that mine owne -were made most of them sixe or seven yeares since, at idle times as I -journeyed up and downe during my travails."</p> - -<p>The division of the "Rapsodie" more peculiarly occupied by these kindred -bards, is that including "Sonnets, Odes, Elegies, Madrigals, and -Epigrams, by Francis and Walter Davison, brethren;" and they were -assisted in that, and the residue of the work, by Spenser, Sidney, Sir -John Davis, Mary Countess of Pembroke, Thomas Campion, Thomas Watson, -Charles Best, Thomas Spelman, and by others, whose initials are supposed -to indicate Henry Constable, Walter Raleigh, Henry Wotton, Robert -Greene, Andrew Willet, and Joshua Sylvester.<a name="FNanchor_i_730:A_1461" id="FNanchor_i_730:A_1461"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_730:A_1461" class="fnanchor">[730:A]</a></p> - -<p>The "Poetical Rapsodie" is dedicated by Davison in a sonnet, "To the -most noble, honorable, and worthy Lord William Earl of Pembroke, Lord -Herbert of Cardiffe, Marmion, and St. Quintine," and was successively -republished with augmentations in 1608, 1611, and 1621. It may be said -to present us, not only with a felicitous choice of topics, but it -claims the merit of having preserved several valuable poems not -elsewhere to be discovered, and which, owing to the rarity of the book, -although four times subjected to the press, have not, until lately, -attracted the notice that is due to them.</p> - -<p>Independent of the <i>ten</i> miscellanies which we have now enumerated, an -immense multitude of <i>Airs</i>, <i>Madrigals</i>, and <i>Songs</i>, set to music, and -printed in Parts, were published during the latter part of the reign of -Elizabeth, and during the reign of James the First. These Collections -contain a variety of lyric poems not elsewhere to be met with, and which -were either written expressly for the <!-- Page 731 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_731" id="Page_i_731">[731]</a></span>Composers, or selected by the -latter from manuscripts, or rare and insulated printed copies. Foremost -among these Professors of Music, who thus indirectly contributed to -enrich the stores of English Poetry, stands <i>William Byrd</i>. This -celebrated composer's first printed work in English was licensed in -1587, and has the following title:—"<i>Tenor. Psalmes, Sonets, and Songs -of sadnes and pietie, made into musicke of five parts: whereof, some of -them going a broad among divers, in untrue coppies, are heere truely -corrected, and the other being Songs very rare and newly composed, are -heere published, for the recreation of all such as delight in Musicke. -By William Byrd, one of the Gent. of the Queene's Maiesties Royall -Chappell.</i>" 4to.</p> - -<p>The volume is dedicated to Sir Christopher Hatton; and he tells his -reader, in an epistle subscribed the most assured friend to all that -love or learne musicke, William Byrd,—"heere is offered unto thy -courteous acceptation, musicke of sundrie sorts, and to content divers -humors. If thou bee disposed to pray, heere are psalmes. If to bee -merrie, heere are sonets. If to lament for thy sins, heere are songs of -sadnesse and pietie. If thou delight in musicke of great cõpasse, heere -are divers songs, which beeing originally made for instruments to -expresse the harmony, and one voyce to pronounce the dittie, are now -framed in all parts for voyces to sing the same. If thou desire songs of -smal compasse and fit for the reach of most voyces, heere are most in -number of that sort."</p> - -<p>Next to Byrd, whose publications of this kind are numerous, we may -mention <i>Thomas Morley</i>, no less remarkable for his skill in music, and -for his fertility in the production of <i>madrigals</i>, <i>ballets</i>, and -<i>canzonets</i>. How fashionable and universal had become the practice of -singing these compositions at every party of amusement, may be drawn -from one of the elementary works of this writer:—"Being at a banquet," -he relates, "supper being ended, and music books brought to table, the -mistress of the house, <i>according to custom</i>, presented me with a part, -earnestly intreating me to sing; when, after many excuses, I protested -unfeignedly that I could not, <i>every <!-- Page 732 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_732" id="Page_i_732">[732]</a></span>one began to wonder</i>, yea, some -whispered to others demanding <i>how I was brought up</i>."<a name="FNanchor_i_732:A_1462" id="FNanchor_i_732:A_1462"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_732:A_1462" class="fnanchor">[732:A]</a></p> - -<p>Of the various collections of lyric poetry adapted to music and -published by Morley, who died about the period of the accession of James -the First, we shall notice two; one as indicatory of the manners of the -age, and the other of the estimation in which the science was held by -our composer, who seems, on this occasion, to have partaken the -enthusiasm of Shakspeare; for in a dedication, "To the Worshipfull Sir -Gervis Clifton, Knight," prefixed to "<i>Madrigals to five voyces. -Selected out of the best approved Italian Authors. By Thomas Morley, -Gentleman of hir Maiesties Royall Chappell</i>, 1598," he tells his worthy -patron, "I ever held this sentence of the poet, as a canon of my creede; -<i>That whom God loveth not, they love not Musique</i>. For as the Art of -Musique is one of the most Heavenly gifts, so the very love of Musique -(without art) is one of the best engrafted testimonies of Heavens love -towards us."</p> - -<p>In 1601, Morley published in quarto, "Cantus Madrigales. The triumphes -of Oriana, to 5 and 6 voices: composed by divers severall aucthors,"—a -collection remarkable for its object, as it consisted of twenty-five -songs, composed by twenty-four several musicians, for the express -purpose of commemorating the beauty and virginity of Elizabeth, under -the appellation of Oriana, and who was now in the sixty-eighth year of -her age, one, among innumerable proofs, of the extreme vanity of this -singular woman.</p> - -<p>That a great proportion of these musical miscellanies consisted of -translations from the Italian, is evident from the publications of -<i>Byrd</i> and <i>Morley</i>, and from the <i>Musica Transalpina</i> of <i>Nicolas -Yonge</i>, printed in two parts, in the years 1588 and 1597, where, -however, equal industry appears to have been exerted in collecting -English songs; the dedication, indeed, points out very distinctly the -sources <!-- Page 733 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_733" id="Page_i_733">[733]</a></span>whence these popular works were derived. "I endeavoured," says -Yonge, "to get into my hands all such English songes as were praise -worthie, and amongst others I had the hap to find in the hands of some -of my good friends certaine Italian Madrigales translated most of them -five years ago by a gentleman for his private delight." The two parts of -Musica Transalpina contain eighty-one songs.</p> - -<p>It seems probable, indeed, from <i>Orlando Gibbons</i>'s dedication of his -"First set of Mardrigals and Mottets" to Sir Christopher Hatton, dated -1612, that the courtiers of that period sometimes employed themselves in -writing lyrics for their domestic Lutenists; for Orlando tells his -lord,—"They were most of them composed in your own house, and do -therefore properly belong unto you as lord of the soil; <i>the language -they speak you provided them</i>; I only furnished them with tongues to -utter the same." It may be, however, that Sir Christopher was only a -selector of poetry for the lyre of Gibbons.</p> - -<p>To enumerate the multitude of music-stricken individuals, who, during -this period, were occupied in procuring and collecting lyric poetry for -professional purposes, would fill a volume. Among the most -indefatigable, may be mentioned <i>John Wilbye</i>, <i>Thomas Weelkes</i>, <i>John -Dowland</i> and <i>Robert Jones</i>; "<i>The Musicall Dream</i>," 1609, and "<i>The -Muse's Gardin of Delights</i>," 1610, by the last of these gentlemen, were -held in great esteem.</p> - -<p>We cannot close this subject, indeed, without acknowledging our -obligations to this numerous class for the preservation of many most -beautiful specimens of lyric poetry, which, it is highly probable, -without their care and accompaniments, would either not have existed, or -would have perished prematurely.<a name="FNanchor_i_733:A_1463" id="FNanchor_i_733:A_1463"></a><a href="#Footnote_i_733:A_1463" class="fnanchor">[733:A]</a></p> - -<p><!-- Page 734 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_734" id="Page_i_734">[734]</a></span>As a further elucidation of the Poetical Literature of this period, and -with the view of condensing its retrospect, by an arrangement under -general heads, it may prove satisfactory, if we briefly throw into -classes, the names of those poets who may be considered as having given -ornament or extension to their art. The following divisions, it is -expected, will include all that, in this place, it can now be necessary -to notice.</p> - -<ul class="list"> - <li class="lihead"><i>Epic Poetry.</i></li> - <li>Spenser.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="list"> - <li class="lihead"><i>Historic.</i></li> - <li>Sackville.</li> - <li>Higgins.</li> - <li>Niccols.</li> - <li>Warner.</li> - <li>Daniel.</li> - <li>Drayton.</li> - <li>Shakespeare.</li> - <li>Marlow.</li> - <li>Fitzgeffrey.</li> - <li>Storer.</li> - <li>Willobie.</li> - <li>Beaumont.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="list"> - <li class="lihead"><i>Lyric.</i></li> - <li>Gascoigne.</li> - <li>Greene.</li> - <li>Raleigh.</li> - <li>Breton.</li> - <li>Lodge.</li> - <li>Shakespeare.</li> - <li>Jonson.</li> - <li>Wotton.</li> - <li>Wither.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="list"> - <li class="lihead"><i>Didactic.</i></li> - <li>Tusser.</li> - <li>Davies Sir J.</li> - <li>Davors.</li> - <li>Fletcher G.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="list"> - <li class="lihead"><i>Satiric.</i></li> - <li>Lodge.</li> - <li>Hall.</li> - <li>Marston.</li> - <li>Donne.</li> - <li>Wither.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="list"> - <li class="lihead"><i>Sonnet.</i></li> - <li>Spenser.</li> - <li>Sidney.</li> - <li>Constable.</li> - <li>Watson.</li> - <li>Shakespeare.</li> - <li>Daniel.</li> - <li>Drayton.</li> - <li>Barnes.</li> - <li>Barnefield.</li> - <li>Smith.</li> - <li>Stirling.</li> - <li>Drummond.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="list"> - <li class="lihead"><i>Pastoral.</i></li> - <li>Spenser.</li> - <li>Chalkhill.</li> - <li>Marlow.</li> - <li>Drayton.</li> - <li>Fairefax.</li> - <li>Brown.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="list"> - <li class="lihead"><i>Translators.</i></li> - <li>Chapman.</li> - <li>Harrington.</li> - <li>Fairefax.</li> - <li>Sylvester.</li> - <li>Golding.</li> -</ul> - -<p>We have thus, in as short a compass as the nature of the subject would -admit, given, we trust, a more accurate view of the poetry of the -Shakspearean era, as it existed independent of the Drama, than has -hitherto been attempted.</p> - -<p>That Shakspeare was an assiduous reader of English Poetry; that he -studied with peculiar interest and attention his immediate predecessors -and contemporaries, there is abundant reason to conclude from a careful -perusal of his volume of miscellaneous poetry, which is modelled on a -strict adherence to the taste which prevailed at the opening of his -career. The collection, indeed, may, with no impropriety, be classed -under the two divisions of <i>Historic</i> and <i>Lyric</i> poetry; the former -concluding "Venus and Adonis," and the "Rape of Lucrece," and the latter -the "Sonnets," the "Passionate Pilgrim," and the "Lover's Complaint."</p> - -<p>The great models of Historic poetry, during the prior portion of -Shakspeare's life, were the "Mirror for Magistrates" and "Warner's -Albion's England;" but for the mythological story of Venus and <!-- Page 735 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i_735" id="Page_i_735">[735]</a></span>Adonis, -though deviating in several important circumstances from its prototype, -we are probably indebted to Golding's Ovid; and for the Rape of Lucrece -and the structure of the stanza in which it is composed, to the -reputation and the metre of the <i>Rosamond</i> of Daniel, printed in 1592. -For the Sonnets, he had numerous examples in the productions of Spenser, -Sidney, Watson, and Constable; and, through the wide field of amatory -lyric composition, excellence of almost every kind, in the form of ode, -madrigal, and song, might be traced in the varied effusions of -Gascoigne, Greene and Raleigh, Breton and Lodge.</p> - -<p>How far our great bard exceeded, or fell beneath, the models which he -possessed; in what degree he was independent of their influence, and to -what portion of estimation his miscellaneous poetry is justly entitled, -will be the subjects of the next chapter, in which we shall venture to -assign to these efforts of his early days a higher rank in the scale of -excellence than it has hitherto been their fate to obtain.</p> - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_596:A_1187" id="Footnote_i_596:A_1187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_596:A_1187"><span class="label">[596:A]</span></a> Preface to Gondibert. Vide Chalmers's English Poets, -vol. vi. p. 351.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_597:A_1188" id="Footnote_i_597:A_1188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_597:A_1188"><span class="label">[597:A]</span></a> Headley's Select Beauties of Ancient English Poetry, -vol. i. Introduction, p. 19. edit. 1810.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_602:A_1189" id="Footnote_i_602:A_1189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_602:A_1189"><span class="label">[602:A]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_602:B_1190" id="Footnote_i_602:B_1190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_602:B_1190"><span class="label">[602:B]</span></a> Act ii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_603:A_1191" id="Footnote_i_603:A_1191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_603:A_1191"><span class="label">[603:A]</span></a> Vol. ix. p. 163.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_603:B_1192" id="Footnote_i_603:B_1192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_603:B_1192"><span class="label">[603:B]</span></a> Arte of English Poesie, reprint of 1811. p. 49.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_603:C_1193" id="Footnote_i_603:C_1193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_603:C_1193"><span class="label">[603:C]</span></a> Vide Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 47.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_603:D_1194" id="Footnote_i_603:D_1194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_603:D_1194"><span class="label">[603:D]</span></a> Percy's Reliques, vol. iii. p. 62.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_603:E_1195" id="Footnote_i_603:E_1195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_603:E_1195"><span class="label">[603:E]</span></a> Specimens of the Early English Poets, vol. ii. p. 240.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_603:F_1196" id="Footnote_i_603:F_1196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_603:F_1196"><span class="label">[603:F]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. ix. pp. 159. 161.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_603:G_1197" id="Footnote_i_603:G_1197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_603:G_1197"><span class="label">[603:G]</span></a> Shaw's Staffordshire, vol. i. p. 442. Ritson's -Bibliographia Poetica, p. 143.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_603:H_1198" id="Footnote_i_603:H_1198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_603:H_1198"><span class="label">[603:H]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 268. col. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_604:A_1199" id="Footnote_i_604:A_1199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_604:A_1199"><span class="label">[604:A]</span></a> Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books, vol. -vi. p. 58. et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_604:B_1200" id="Footnote_i_604:B_1200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_604:B_1200"><span class="label">[604:B]</span></a> It is sufficient praise, however, to remark, that -Milton, both in his L'Allegro and his Lycidas, is under many obligations -to our author.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_605:A_1201" id="Footnote_i_605:A_1201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_605:A_1201"><span class="label">[605:A]</span></a> We are told by Prince, in his "Worthies of Devonshire," -that as Browne "had honoured his country with his sweet and elegant -Pastorals, so it was expected, and he also entreated a little farther to -grace it by his drawing out the line of his poetic ancestors, beginning -in Joseph Iscanus, and ending in himself." Had this design been -executed, how much more full and curious had our information been with -regard to Shakspeare and his contemporaries, and how much is it to be -lamented that so noble a scheme was relinquished.</p> - -<p>Since these critical notices were written, Sir Egerton Brydges has -favoured the world with some hitherto unpublished poems of Browne; -productions which not only support the opinions given in the text, but -which tend very considerably to heighten our estimation of the genius -and imagination of this fine old bard.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_606:A_1202" id="Footnote_i_606:A_1202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_606:A_1202"><span class="label">[606:A]</span></a> Muses Library, 1741. p. 315.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_606:B_1203" id="Footnote_i_606:B_1203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_606:B_1203"><span class="label">[606:B]</span></a> Bagster's edit. 1808. p. 156. 276.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_607:A_1204" id="Footnote_i_607:A_1204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_607:A_1204"><span class="label">[607:A]</span></a> Muses Library, pp. 317. 319. 327.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_607:B_1205" id="Footnote_i_607:B_1205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_607:B_1205"><span class="label">[607:B]</span></a> See Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 83. Ritson has -erroneously dated this publication 1598.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_608:A_1206" id="Footnote_i_608:A_1206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_608:A_1206"><span class="label">[608:A]</span></a> Vide Pope's Preface to the Iliad; and Warton's History -of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 442, 443.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_609:A_1207" id="Footnote_i_609:A_1207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_609:A_1207"><span class="label">[609:A]</span></a> In his "Challenge," he tells us, that his first -publication was "a book named <i>Davie Dicars Dream</i>, in King Edward's -daies."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_609:B_1208" id="Footnote_i_609:B_1208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_609:B_1208"><span class="label">[609:B]</span></a> This publication, which was likewise called "A Musicall -Consort of heavenly Harmonie," is not mentioned by Ritson.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_609:C_1209" id="Footnote_i_609:C_1209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_609:C_1209"><span class="label">[609:C]</span></a> Vide Bibliographia Poetica, p. 169.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_610:A_1210" id="Footnote_i_610:A_1210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_610:A_1210"><span class="label">[610:A]</span></a> Vide Birch's Memoirs of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i.; and -Winwood's Memor. vol. ii. p. 36.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_610:B_1211" id="Footnote_i_610:B_1211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_610:B_1211"><span class="label">[610:B]</span></a> Underwood's edit. of 1640, folio, p. 196.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_610:C_1212" id="Footnote_i_610:C_1212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_610:C_1212"><span class="label">[610:C]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 49. col. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_610:D_1213" id="Footnote_i_610:D_1213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_610:D_1213"><span class="label">[610:D]</span></a> Brydge's Theatrum Poetarum, p. 268.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_610:E_1214" id="Footnote_i_610:E_1214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_610:E_1214"><span class="label">[610:E]</span></a> Athenæ Oxonienses, vol. i. p. 14.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_610:F_1215" id="Footnote_i_610:F_1215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_610:F_1215"><span class="label">[610:F]</span></a> Origin of the English Drama, vol. iii. p. 212.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_610:G_1216" id="Footnote_i_610:G_1216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_610:G_1216"><span class="label">[610:G]</span></a> Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 292. -note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_610:H_1217" id="Footnote_i_610:H_1217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_610:H_1217"><span class="label">[610:H]</span></a> Todd's Milton, 2d. edit. vol. vi. p. 439.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_612:A_1218" id="Footnote_i_612:A_1218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_612:A_1218"><span class="label">[612:A]</span></a> Percy's Reliques, vol. i. p. 328.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_612:B_1219" id="Footnote_i_612:B_1219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_612:B_1219"><span class="label">[612:B]</span></a> Park's Royal and Noble Authors, vol. iii. p. 167. -note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_612:C_1220" id="Footnote_i_612:C_1220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_612:C_1220"><span class="label">[612:C]</span></a> Thus Drayton speaks of him as</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">——— "too much historian in verse.</div> - <div class="line">His rhimes were smooth, his metres well did close;</div> - <div class="line">But yet his manner better fitted prose;"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and Bolton describes his works as containing "somewhat a flat, but yet -withal a very pure and copious English, and words as warrantable as any -man's, and fitter perhaps for prose than measure."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_613:A_1221" id="Footnote_i_613:A_1221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_613:A_1221"><span class="label">[613:A]</span></a> Brydges's Theatrum Poetarum, p. 273.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_614:A_1222" id="Footnote_i_614:A_1222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_614:A_1222"><span class="label">[614:A]</span></a> Vide Bagster's edit. p. 128.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_618:A_1223" id="Footnote_i_618:A_1223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_618:A_1223"><span class="label">[618:A]</span></a> Lord Woodhouslee, speaking of our author's poem -entitled, Forth Feasting, observes that it "attracted the envy as well -as the praise of Ben Jonson, is superior, in harmony of numbers, to any -of the compositions of the contemporary poets of England; and is, in its -subject, one of the most elegant panegyrics that ever were addressed by -a poet to a prince."—Life of Lord Kaimes.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_618:B_1224" id="Footnote_i_618:B_1224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_618:B_1224"><span class="label">[618:B]</span></a> Theatrum Poetarum, p. 195. original edition.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_619:A_1225" id="Footnote_i_619:A_1225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_619:A_1225"><span class="label">[619:A]</span></a> Dr. Johnson was of opinion that the translation of Mr. -Hoole would entirely supersede the labours of Fairefax. With no -discriminating judge of poetry, however, will this ever be the case; -there is a lameness and mediocrity in the version of Mr. Hoole, which -must always place it far beneath the spirited copy of the elder bard. -Had Mr. Brookes completed the Jerusalem with the same harmony and vigour -which he has exhibited in the first three books, a desideratum in -English literature had been supplied, and the immortal poem of Tasso had -appeared clothed in diction and numbers worthy of the most polished era -of our poetry.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_620:A_1226" id="Footnote_i_620:A_1226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_620:A_1226"><span class="label">[620:A]</span></a> Muses Library, 1741. p. 363.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_620:B_1227" id="Footnote_i_620:B_1227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_620:B_1227"><span class="label">[620:B]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 295. col. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_621:A_1228" id="Footnote_i_621:A_1228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_621:A_1228"><span class="label">[621:A]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 53.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_621:B_1229" id="Footnote_i_621:B_1229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_621:B_1229"><span class="label">[621:B]</span></a> Vide British Bibliographer, No. VII. p. 118.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_622:A_1230" id="Footnote_i_622:A_1230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_622:A_1230"><span class="label">[622:A]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 79. col. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_622:B_1231" id="Footnote_i_622:B_1231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_622:B_1231"><span class="label">[622:B]</span></a> Ibid. vol. vi. p. 81.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_624:A_1232" id="Footnote_i_624:A_1232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_624:A_1232"><span class="label">[624:A]</span></a> Whetstone published a pamphlet, entitled, "A -Remembrance of the wel imployed life and godly end of George Gaskoigne -Esquire, who deceased at Stalmford in Lincolne Shire, the 7th of October -1577. The reporte of George Whetstone Gent. an eye witness of his Godly -and charitable end in this world. <i>Formæ nulla Fides.</i> Imprinted At -London for Edward Aggas, dwelling in Pauls Churchyard and are there to -be solde." "Since the antiquities of poetry," observes Mr. Chalmers, -"have become a favourite study, many painful inquiries have been made -after this tract, but it could not be found in Tanner's Library, which -forms part of the Bodleian, or in any other collection, private or -public, and doubts were entertained whether such a pamphlet had ever -existed. About three years ago, however, it was discovered in the -collection of a deceased gentleman, a Mr. Voight, of the Custom-house, -London, and was purchased at his sale by Mr. Malone. It consists of -about thirteen pages small quarto, black letter, and contains, certainly -not much <i>life</i>, but some particulars unknown to his -biographers."—English Poets, vol. ii. p. 447, 448.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_624:B_1233" id="Footnote_i_624:B_1233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_624:B_1233"><span class="label">[624:B]</span></a> For further particulars of his life see Chalmers's -English Poets, vol. ii. p. 447. et seq., Censura Literaria, vol. i. p. -110., and British Bibliographer, vol. i. 73.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_625:A_1234" id="Footnote_i_625:A_1234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_625:A_1234"><span class="label">[625:A]</span></a> Gratulationes Valdinenses, edit. Binneman, 1578, 4to. -lib. iv. p. 22.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_625:B_1235" id="Footnote_i_625:B_1235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_625:B_1235"><span class="label">[625:B]</span></a> In his Dedication prefixed to his Translation of Ten -Books of Homer.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_625:C_1236" id="Footnote_i_625:C_1236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_625:C_1236"><span class="label">[625:C]</span></a> In his Address to Gentlemen Students, prefixed to -Green's Arcadia.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_625:D_1237" id="Footnote_i_625:D_1237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_625:D_1237"><span class="label">[625:D]</span></a> Discourse of English Poetrie, 1586.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_625:E_1238" id="Footnote_i_625:E_1238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_625:E_1238"><span class="label">[625:E]</span></a> Arte of Poesie, 1589, reprint, p. 51.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_626:A_1239" id="Footnote_i_626:A_1239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_626:A_1239"><span class="label">[626:A]</span></a> Todd's Spenser, vol. i. p. 191. Glosse to November.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_626:B_1240" id="Footnote_i_626:B_1240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_626:B_1240"><span class="label">[626:B]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. ii. p. 455.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_626:C_1241" id="Footnote_i_626:C_1241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_626:C_1241"><span class="label">[626:C]</span></a> Observations on the Fairy Queen, vol. ii. p. 168.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_626:D_1242" id="Footnote_i_626:D_1242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_626:D_1242"><span class="label">[626:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. p. 144. note 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_627:A_1243" id="Footnote_i_627:A_1243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_627:A_1243"><span class="label">[627:A]</span></a> Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 191. et seq.; and vol. -vi. p. 1. 21.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_627:B_1244" id="Footnote_i_627:B_1244"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_627:B_1244"><span class="label">[627:B]</span></a> The reprint which has just appeared of our author's -<i>Philomela</i>, is a proof, however, that his prose was occasionally the -medium of sound instruction; for the moral of this piece is -unexceptionable. We may also remark, that the confessions wrung from him -in the hour of repentance are highly monitory, and calculated to make -the most powerful and salutary impression.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_628:A_1245" id="Footnote_i_628:A_1245"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_628:A_1245"><span class="label">[628:A]</span></a> Mason's Gray, p. 224.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_629:A_1246" id="Footnote_i_629:A_1246"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_629:A_1246"><span class="label">[629:A]</span></a> Vide Chalmers's English Poets, vol. v. p. 226.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_629:B_1247" id="Footnote_i_629:B_1247"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_629:B_1247"><span class="label">[629:B]</span></a> Warton's Hist. of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 485.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_630:A_1248" id="Footnote_i_630:A_1248"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_630:A_1248"><span class="label">[630:A]</span></a> Nugæ Antiquæ, apud Park, vol. i. p. xxii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_630:B_1249" id="Footnote_i_630:B_1249"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_630:B_1249"><span class="label">[630:B]</span></a> This writer terms Sir John "one of the most ingenious -poets of our English nation," and says "he was a Poet in all things, -save in his wealth, leaving a fair estate to a learned and religious -son."—Worthies, part iii. p. 28.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_630:C_1250" id="Footnote_i_630:C_1250"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_630:C_1250"><span class="label">[630:C]</span></a> They were also annexed to the third edition of the -Translation of "Orlando Furioso," fol. 1634.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_630:D_1251" id="Footnote_i_630:D_1251"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_630:D_1251"><span class="label">[630:D]</span></a> The popularity of these epigrams, notwithstanding their -poetical mediocrity, may be estimated from the opinion of the publisher -of the edition of 1625. "If in poetry," he remarks, "heraldry were -admitted, he would be found in happiness of wit near allied to the great -Sidney: yet but near; for the Apix of the Cœlum Empyrium is not more -inaccessible, than is the height of Sidney's poesy, which by imagination -we may approach, by imitation never attain to."—Dedication to George -Villiers Duke of Buckingham.</p> - -<p>A subsequent writer has also gifted them with extraordinary longevity:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Still lives the Muse's Apollonian son,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The Phœnix of his age, rare <span class="smcap">Harington</span>!</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whose <i>Epigrams</i>, when time shall be no more,</div> - <div class="line indentq">May die, perhaps, but never can before."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Beedome's Poems, 1641.</p> - -<p class="noindent">Vide Nugæ Antiquæ, vol. i. p. xxiii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_632:A_1252" id="Footnote_i_632:A_1252"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_632:A_1252"><span class="label">[632:A]</span></a> Edition of 1800, by Sir Egerton Brydges, p. 197, 198.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_632:B_1253" id="Footnote_i_632:B_1253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_632:B_1253"><span class="label">[632:B]</span></a> Vide Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, vol. ii. p. 114.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_632:C_1254" id="Footnote_i_632:C_1254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_632:C_1254"><span class="label">[632:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 115.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_633:A_1255" id="Footnote_i_633:A_1255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_633:A_1255"><span class="label">[633:A]</span></a> Vide Beloe on Scarce Books, vol. ii. pp. 115-117.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_633:B_1256" id="Footnote_i_633:B_1256"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_633:B_1256"><span class="label">[633:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. viii. p. 3.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_635:A_1257" id="Footnote_i_635:A_1257"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_635:A_1257"><span class="label">[635:A]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. 11. Preface to England's -Helicon, pp. 6, 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_635:B_1258" id="Footnote_i_635:B_1258"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_635:B_1258"><span class="label">[635:B]</span></a> Biographia Dramatica, vol. i. p. 287. edit. 1782.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_635:C_1259" id="Footnote_i_635:C_1259"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_635:C_1259"><span class="label">[635:C]</span></a> Vol. ii. p. 159. et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_635:D_1260" id="Footnote_i_635:D_1260"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_635:D_1260"><span class="label">[635:D]</span></a> Phillips's Theatrum apud Brydges, p. 199.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_636:A_1261" id="Footnote_i_636:A_1261"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_636:A_1261"><span class="label">[636:A]</span></a> Theatrum Poetarum, edit. of 1800, p. 113.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_636:B_1262" id="Footnote_i_636:B_1262"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_636:B_1262"><span class="label">[636:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 318. Act iii. sc. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_637:A_1263" id="Footnote_i_637:A_1263"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_637:A_1263"><span class="label">[637:A]</span></a> Miscellaneous Pieces of Antient English Poesie, -preface.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_637:B_1264" id="Footnote_i_637:B_1264"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_637:B_1264"><span class="label">[637:B]</span></a> Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 49.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_637:C_1265" id="Footnote_i_637:C_1265"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_637:C_1265"><span class="label">[637:C]</span></a> Affaniæ, lib. ii. Ad Johannem Marstonium.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_638:A_1266" id="Footnote_i_638:A_1266"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_638:A_1266"><span class="label">[638:A]</span></a> British Bibliographer, vol. i. p. 363.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_639:A_1267" id="Footnote_i_639:A_1267"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_639:A_1267"><span class="label">[639:A]</span></a> Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. col. 402.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_639:B_1268" id="Footnote_i_639:B_1268"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_639:B_1268"><span class="label">[639:B]</span></a> "The Poems of Sir Walter Raleigh: now first collected. -With a Biographical and Critical Introduction:" Dedicated to William -Bolland, Esq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_639:C_1269" id="Footnote_i_639:C_1269"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_639:C_1269"><span class="label">[639:C]</span></a> Phillips's Theatrum apud Brydges, p. 308, 309.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_639:D_1270" id="Footnote_i_639:D_1270"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_639:D_1270"><span class="label">[639:D]</span></a> Arte of English Poesie, reprint of 1811. p. 168.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_639:E_1271" id="Footnote_i_639:E_1271"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_639:E_1271"><span class="label">[639:E]</span></a> Phillips's Theatrum apud Brydges, p. 314, 315.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_640:A_1272" id="Footnote_i_640:A_1272"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_640:A_1272"><span class="label">[640:A]</span></a> Arte of English Poesie, reprint, p. 165. 167.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_640:B_1273" id="Footnote_i_640:B_1273"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_640:B_1273"><span class="label">[640:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 51.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_640:C_1274" id="Footnote_i_640:C_1274"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_640:C_1274"><span class="label">[640:C]</span></a> Vide Phillips's Theatrum apud Brydges, p. 269.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_642:A_1275" id="Footnote_i_642:A_1275"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_642:A_1275"><span class="label">[642:A]</span></a> Biographical and Critical Introduction, pp. 43-46.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_642:B_1276" id="Footnote_i_642:B_1276"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_642:B_1276"><span class="label">[642:B]</span></a> The date of this nobleman's birth has been variously -given: thus Ritson affirms in his Bibliographia, p. 324., he was born in -1536; and Sir Egerton Brydges in his edition of the "Theatrum Poetarum," -also expressly tells us, that "Sackville was not born till 1536," p. 66; -but in "The British Bibliographer" he has corrected this assertion, and -places his nativity in 1527, which is the true era, as he died aged 81, -in 1608.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_642:C_1277" id="Footnote_i_642:C_1277"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_642:C_1277"><span class="label">[642:C]</span></a> Park's edition of Lord Orford's Royal and Noble -Authors, vol. ii. p. 130.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_643:A_1278" id="Footnote_i_643:A_1278"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_643:A_1278"><span class="label">[643:A]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. IV. p. 295.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_644:A_1279" id="Footnote_i_644:A_1279"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_644:A_1279"><span class="label">[644:A]</span></a> Specimens of the Early English Poets, 1st edit. vol. -ii. p. 166.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_645:A_1280" id="Footnote_i_645:A_1280"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_645:A_1280"><span class="label">[645:A]</span></a> Vide Warton, vol. iii.; or, Phillips's Theatrum apud -Brydges, p. 268.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_645:B_1281" id="Footnote_i_645:B_1281"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_645:B_1281"><span class="label">[645:B]</span></a> Select Beauties of Antient English Poetry, vol. ii. -Kett's edit. pp. 2. 5. 86.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_645:C_1282" id="Footnote_i_645:C_1282"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_645:C_1282"><span class="label">[645:C]</span></a> Bibliographia Poetica, p. 340, 341.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_645:D_1283" id="Footnote_i_645:D_1283"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_645:D_1283"><span class="label">[645:D]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. vi. p. 285-298.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_646:A_1284" id="Footnote_i_646:A_1284"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_646:A_1284"><span class="label">[646:A]</span></a> Book ii. Song 1. See Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. -p. 276. col. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_646:B_1285" id="Footnote_i_646:B_1285"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_646:B_1285"><span class="label">[646:B]</span></a> Poems, edit. 1658. p. 8.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_646:C_1286" id="Footnote_i_646:C_1286"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_646:C_1286"><span class="label">[646:C]</span></a> Preface to Spenser's View of the State of Ireland, -1633.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_647:A_1287" id="Footnote_i_647:A_1287"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_647:A_1287"><span class="label">[647:A]</span></a> Epigrammatum Libri quatuor, 1607, p. 100. For this -striking testimony we are indebted to Mr. Todd's valuable edition of -Spenser, vol. i. p. cxxi.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_647:B_1288" id="Footnote_i_647:B_1288"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_647:B_1288"><span class="label">[647:B]</span></a> To the charge of "critical negligence," in this -respect, I am sorry to say, that I must plead guilty in my "Literary -Hours;" where, in delineating the character of Spenser, I have brought -forward this accusation of <i>obsolete diction</i>, without the proper -discrimination. Vide Literary Hours, 3d edit. vol. ii. p. 161.—In every -other respect I consider the criticism as correct. I had then read -Spenser but twice through; a further familiarity with the Fairie Queene -has induced me to withdraw the censure, and to accede to the opinion of -Mr. Malone, who conceives the language of the <i>Fairie Queene</i> to have -been "perfectly intelligible to every reader of poetry in the time of -Queen Elizabeth, though the <i>Shepheards Calendar</i> was not even then -understood without a commentary."—See his Dryden's Prose Works, vol. -iii. p. 94.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_649:A_1289" id="Footnote_i_649:A_1289"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_649:A_1289"><span class="label">[649:A]</span></a> It is impossible to view the portrait prefixed to Mr. -Todd's valuable edition of Spenser, without being incredulous as to its -authenticity. There is a pertness and satirical sharpness in its -expression very inconsistent, not only with the disposition of the poet, -but with the features given to him in every other representation, of -which the leading character is an air of pensive sweetness.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_650:A_1290" id="Footnote_i_650:A_1290"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_650:A_1290"><span class="label">[650:A]</span></a> Royal and Noble Authors apud Park, vol. v. p. 73.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_650:B_1291" id="Footnote_i_650:B_1291"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_650:B_1291"><span class="label">[650:B]</span></a> Chalmers's English Poets, vol. v. p. 298.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_651:A_1292" id="Footnote_i_651:A_1292"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_651:A_1292"><span class="label">[651:A]</span></a> Orford's Royal and Noble Authors apud Park, vol. v. p. -76.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_652:A_1293" id="Footnote_i_652:A_1293"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_652:A_1293"><span class="label">[652:A]</span></a> "Its rude grandeur, its immense hall, its castellated -form, its numerous apartments, well accord with the images of chivalry, -which the memory of Sydney inspires."—British Bibliographer, vol. i. p. -293.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_652:B_1294" id="Footnote_i_652:B_1294"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_652:B_1294"><span class="label">[652:B]</span></a> Zouch's Life of Sydney, 4to. p. 256.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_653:A_1295" id="Footnote_i_653:A_1295"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_653:A_1295"><span class="label">[653:A]</span></a> Vide Poems, 1807, 12mo. 4th. edit.; and British -Bibliographer, vol. i. p. 81-105. and 289-295. Censura Literaria, vol. -ii. p. 175. et seq.; and vol. iii. p. 389.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_653:B_1296" id="Footnote_i_653:B_1296"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_653:B_1296"><span class="label">[653:B]</span></a> Considerations on Milton's Early Reading, and the Prima -Stamina of his Paradise Lost; together with Extracts from a Poet of the -Sixteenth Century. In a Letter to William Falconer, M. D., from Charles -Dunster, Esq. M. A. London, 1800.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_653:C_1297" id="Footnote_i_653:C_1297"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_653:C_1297"><span class="label">[653:C]</span></a> Vide Wood's Athenæ, vol. i. p. 594.; and Phillips's -Theatrum.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_654:A_1298" id="Footnote_i_654:A_1298"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_654:A_1298"><span class="label">[654:A]</span></a> For further observations on, and numerous extracts -from, Sylvester's Du Bartas, see Dunster's Considerations, and Drake's -Literary Hours, 3d edit. vol. iii. Nos. 49, 50, and 51.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_655:A_1299" id="Footnote_i_655:A_1299"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_655:A_1299"><span class="label">[655:A]</span></a> One of the Epigrams prefixed to the folio edition of -Sylvester's Works. Ten pages in the copy of 1641 are occupied by -commendatory Poems on the Translator.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_655:B_1300" id="Footnote_i_655:B_1300"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_655:B_1300"><span class="label">[655:B]</span></a> Lines by Viccars, under the portrait of Sylvester, in -the edition of 1641.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_656:A_1301" id="Footnote_i_656:A_1301"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_656:A_1301"><span class="label">[656:A]</span></a> Vide Preliminary Dissertation to his edition of Tusser, -pp. 5. 13. 20, 21. 25.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_657:A_1302" id="Footnote_i_657:A_1302"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_657:A_1302"><span class="label">[657:A]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. III. p. 286.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_657:B_1303" id="Footnote_i_657:B_1303"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_657:B_1303"><span class="label">[657:B]</span></a> Preface to his Translation of Conradus Heresbachius, -printed in 1596, and 1601.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_658:A_1304" id="Footnote_i_658:A_1304"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_658:A_1304"><span class="label">[658:A]</span></a> Bibliographia Poetica, p. 374.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_658:B_1305" id="Footnote_i_658:B_1305"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_658:B_1305"><span class="label">[658:B]</span></a> See Sharpe's British Poets, No. LXXIX. p. 17. note 20.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_659:A_1306" id="Footnote_i_659:A_1306"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_659:A_1306"><span class="label">[659:A]</span></a> Ritson's Bibliographia Poetica, p. 384.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_659:B_1307" id="Footnote_i_659:B_1307"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_659:B_1307"><span class="label">[659:B]</span></a> Reliques, vol. ii. p. 239. 4th edit.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_659:C_1308" id="Footnote_i_659:C_1308"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_659:C_1308"><span class="label">[659:C]</span></a> Wit's Academy, part ii. p. 280. edit. of 1598.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_659:D_1309" id="Footnote_i_659:D_1309"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_659:D_1309"><span class="label">[659:D]</span></a> Of Poets and Poesy, Chalmers's English Poets, vol. iv. -p. 399. col. 2.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_660:A_1310" id="Footnote_i_660:A_1310"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_660:A_1310"><span class="label">[660:A]</span></a> Edit. 1741. p. 157.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_660:B_1311" id="Footnote_i_660:B_1311"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_660:B_1311"><span class="label">[660:B]</span></a> Vol. ii. p. 238.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_660:C_1312" id="Footnote_i_660:C_1312"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_660:C_1312"><span class="label">[660:C]</span></a> Vol. iv. p. 499.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_661:A_1313" id="Footnote_i_661:A_1313"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_661:A_1313"><span class="label">[661:A]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. XII. p. 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_661:B_1314" id="Footnote_i_661:B_1314"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_661:B_1314"><span class="label">[661:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 5. 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_663:A_1315" id="Footnote_i_663:A_1315"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_663:A_1315"><span class="label">[663:A]</span></a> British Bibliographer, No. XII. p. 3, 4.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_663:B_1316" id="Footnote_i_663:B_1316"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_663:B_1316"><span class="label">[663:B]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 31.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_663:C_1317" id="Footnote_i_663:C_1317"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_663:C_1317"><span class="label">[663:C]</span></a> Epistle prefixed to Greene's Menaphon.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_663:D_1318" id="Footnote_i_663:D_1318"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_663:D_1318"><span class="label">[663:D]</span></a> Foure Letters and certaine Sonnets, 1592.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_663:E_1319" id="Footnote_i_663:E_1319"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_663:E_1319"><span class="label">[663:E]</span></a> Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 47.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_664:A_1320" id="Footnote_i_664:A_1320"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_664:A_1320"><span class="label">[664:A]</span></a> In the Apologie of Dorrell, dated 1596, and annexed to -the second edition, he tells us, that "this poetical fiction was penned -by the author at least for thirty and five yeares sithence." "If there -was sufficient ground for this assertion," remarks Mr. Haslewood, "it -fixes the time of the composition about 1561, and supposing the author -then, as seems reasonable to presume, to have attained his twenty-first -year, it places the time of his birth, as conjecturally fixed by Mr. -Ellis, at 1540. However, some doubt arises whether this inference is not -contradicted by the preface of 1594; which describes the author not only -as 'a scholar of very good hope,' but also as a 'young man,' who, -desirous of seeing the fashions of other countries, had, 'not long -sithence,' departed voluntarily in Her Majesty's service. Here the most -enlarged meaning bestowed on the expression 'not long sithence,' can -neither explain the sentence that calls him a 'scholar of very good -hope,' nor that of a 'young man,' whereby they shall be terms applicable -to a person who had written thirty years before, and from the above -inference might have been then in the fifty-fourth year of his age. It -is probable the preface may be relied on; otherwise the author's -departure from this country will be found too remote for the term of any -voluntary engagement, civil or military, that could be attached to -foreign service. Dorrell's subsequent anachronism may be ascribed to -inadvertency: to a zealous, but hurried attempt to parry the attack of -the critic, by the supposed youth of the writer; and by fixing the -composition at a period sufficiently early to prevent an unfavourable -comparison with more recent productions." British Bibliographer, No. -XIV. p. 242.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_664:B_1321" id="Footnote_i_664:B_1321"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_664:B_1321"><span class="label">[664:B]</span></a> The term <i>hexameter</i> is here meant to designate stanzas -consisting of <i>six lines</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_664:C_1322" id="Footnote_i_664:C_1322"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_664:C_1322"><span class="label">[664:C]</span></a> Ritson dates this fourth impression 1609, but Mr. -Haslewood 1605: see Brit. Bibliogr., No. XIV. p. 241.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_665:A_1323" id="Footnote_i_665:A_1323"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_665:A_1323"><span class="label">[665:A]</span></a> Brit. Bibliogr., No. XIV. p. 243.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_665:B_1324" id="Footnote_i_665:B_1324"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_665:B_1324"><span class="label">[665:B]</span></a> Ibid., p. 245.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_666:A_1325" id="Footnote_i_666:A_1325"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_666:A_1325"><span class="label">[666:A]</span></a> Brit. Bibliogr., No. III. p. 17, et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_666:B_1326" id="Footnote_i_666:B_1326"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_666:B_1326"><span class="label">[666:B]</span></a> At the end of his "Fides Anglicanæ," 1660.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_666:C_1327" id="Footnote_i_666:C_1327"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_666:C_1327"><span class="label">[666:C]</span></a> In his "Warning-piece to London," 1665.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_667:A_1328" id="Footnote_i_667:A_1328"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_667:A_1328"><span class="label">[667:A]</span></a> Vide Preface to "Abuses Stript and Whipt."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_668:A_1329" id="Footnote_i_668:A_1329"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_668:A_1329"><span class="label">[668:A]</span></a> Brit. Bibliogr., No. I. p. 4, 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_668:B_1330" id="Footnote_i_668:B_1330"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_668:B_1330"><span class="label">[668:B]</span></a> A Selection from Wither's Works, in three volumes 8vo., -was promised, five years ago, by a gentleman of Bristol. In 1785 Mr. -Alexander Dalrymple published Extracts from his Juvenilia; and -"Fidelia," "Faire Virtue," "The Shepheard's Hunting," and "Abuses Stript -and Whipt," are now separately reprinting from the press of Longman and -Co.—October 1814.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_669:A_1331" id="Footnote_i_669:A_1331"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_669:A_1331"><span class="label">[669:A]</span></a> Restituta, No. VI. p. 394, 395.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_669:B_1332" id="Footnote_i_669:B_1332"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_669:B_1332"><span class="label">[669:B]</span></a> Theatrum Poetarum, edition of 1675.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_670:A_1333" id="Footnote_i_670:A_1333"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_670:A_1333"><span class="label">[670:A]</span></a> Reliques, vol. iii., 4th edit. p. 190-264.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_671:A_1334" id="Footnote_i_671:A_1334"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_671:A_1334"><span class="label">[671:A]</span></a> Dalrymple's Extracts from Wither's Juvenilia, 1785.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_672:A_1335" id="Footnote_i_672:A_1335"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_672:A_1335"><span class="label">[672:A]</span></a> "Laura: or an Anthology of Sonnets." By Capel Lofft. 5 -vols. Preface, vol. i. p. cxliv. cxlv.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_673:A_1336" id="Footnote_i_673:A_1336"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_673:A_1336"><span class="label">[673:A]</span></a> Theatrum Poetarum apud Brydges, p. 318, 319.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_674:A_1337" id="Footnote_i_674:A_1337"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_674:A_1337"><span class="label">[674:A]</span></a> Observations on Spenser, vol. i. p. 155, 156.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_674:B_1338" id="Footnote_i_674:B_1338"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_674:B_1338"><span class="label">[674:B]</span></a> It may be useful in this note, to place, in immediate -juxta-position, the names of the Poets whom we have thus enumerated, as -leaders of a great portion of their Art, during a period of half a -century.</p> - -<table summary="Lane inferior to many other poets" border="0"> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Beaumont, Sir John.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">21.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Harrington.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Breton.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">22.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Jonson.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Browne.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">23.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Lodge.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Chalkhill.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">24.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Marlow.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Chapman.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">25.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Marston.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">6.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Churchyard.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">26.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Niccols.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">7.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Constable.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">27.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Raleigh.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">8.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Daniel.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">28.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Sackville.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">9.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Davies.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">29.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Southwell.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">10.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Davors.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">30.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Spenser.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">11.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Donne.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">31.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Stirling.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">12.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Drayton.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">32.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Sydney.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">13.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Drummond.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">33.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Sylvester.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">14.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Fairfax.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">34.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Turberville.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">15.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Fitzgeffrey.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">35.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Tusser.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">16.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Fletcher, Giles.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">36.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Warner.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">17.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Fletcher, Phineas.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">37.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Watson.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">18.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Gascoigne.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">38.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Willobie.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">19.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Greene.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">39.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Wither.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright tdpad">20.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Hall.</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">40.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Wotten.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlane" colspan="5" rowspan="21">Lane.</td> - </tr> -</table> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_677:A_1339" id="Footnote_i_677:A_1339"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_677:A_1339"><span class="label">[677:A]</span></a> "Here, through the course of twenty sonnets, not -inelegant, and which were exceedingly popular, the poet bewails his -unsuccessful love for a beautiful youth, by the name of Ganymede, in a -strain of the most tender passion, yet with professions of the chastest -affection." Warton's Hist. vol. iii. p. 405.—It was the fashion, at -this period, to imitate the second Eclogue of Virgil.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_677:B_1340" id="Footnote_i_677:B_1340"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_677:B_1340"><span class="label">[677:B]</span></a> The Sonnets of Barnes, which are written in strict -adherence to the recurring <i>rima</i> of the Italian school, frequently -possess no inconsiderable beauties. The Sonnet on Content, selected by -Mr. Beloe (vol. ii. p. 78.), from Parthenophil, is highly pleasing and -harmonious, and at least twenty of his centenary may be pronounced, both -in imagery and versification, above mediocrity.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_677:C_1341" id="Footnote_i_677:C_1341"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_677:C_1341"><span class="label">[677:C]</span></a> Sheppard, in his Poems, 1651, remarks that "none in -England, save Bastard and Harington, have divulged epigrams worth -notice." A beautiful specimen of his Epigrams is given by Mr. Park, in -Censura Literaria, vol. iv. p. 375.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_677:D_1342" id="Footnote_i_677:D_1342"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_677:D_1342"><span class="label">[677:D]</span></a> To this poet, Nash dedicated his "Strange Newes," &c. -1592, in the subsequent curious terms: "To the most copious carminist of -our time, and famous persecutor of Priscian, his verie friend maister -<i>Apis lapis</i>."—Vide Ritson, p. 131. note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_678:A_1343" id="Footnote_i_678:A_1343"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_678:A_1343"><span class="label">[678:A]</span></a> For an account of this author, see British -Bibliographer, No. VIII. p. 235. In this, as in other instances, I have -only inserted the pieces published during the life of Shakspeare.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_678:B_1344" id="Footnote_i_678:B_1344"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_678:B_1344"><span class="label">[678:B]</span></a> Two pieces by this writer, entitled "The Mourning Muse -of Thestylis," and "A Pastorall Aeglogue upon the Death of Sir Philip -Sidney," have been inserted in Spenser's Works (Todd's edit. vol. viii. -p. 66. et seq.), and probably form the contents of "The Mourning Muses." -He is described by Spenser as a swain</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Of gentle wit and daintie sweet device,"</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and if, as Ritson asserts, (Bibliograph. Poet. p. 146,) "we probably owe -much that has descended to us of the incomparable "Faery Queen," to this -poet, we are greatly his debtors indeed. That Bryskett had importuned -his friend for the continuance of his immortal poem, is evident from -Spenser's thirty-third sonnet, which pleads, as an excuse, -disappointment in love, and closes with the following petitionary -couplet:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Cease then, till she vouchsafe to grawnt me rest;</div> - <div class="line indentq">Or lend you me another living breast."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Vol. viii. p. 137.</p> - -<p class="noindent">Bryskett succeeded Spenser as Clerk of the Council of Munster.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_679:A_1345" id="Footnote_i_679:A_1345"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_679:A_1345"><span class="label">[679:A]</span></a> To these poems by Chester, are added on the first -subject, which, he tells us, "allegorically shadows the truth of love, -in the constant fate of the phœnix and turtle," poems by Shakspeare, -Jonson, Marston, Chapman, and others.—Vide Ritson, p. 159.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_679:B_1346" id="Footnote_i_679:B_1346"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_679:B_1346"><span class="label">[679:B]</span></a> Ritson remarks,—"This is probably the poem alluded to -in the <i>Midsummer-Night's Dream</i>:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true,</div> - <div class="line indentq">As Shafalus to Procrus, I to you."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Page 170.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_680:A_1347" id="Footnote_i_680:A_1347"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_680:A_1347"><span class="label">[680:A]</span></a> That Wittes Pilgrimage was written before 1614, is -evident from its being alluded to in his <i>Scourge for -Paper-Persecutors</i>: annexed to the <i>Scourge of Folly</i>, printed in this -year.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_680:B_1348" id="Footnote_i_680:B_1348"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_680:B_1348"><span class="label">[680:B]</span></a> Beside these productions here enumerated, Davies -published, in 1617, "<i>Wits Bedlam</i>," 8vo.; containing not less than 400 -Epigrams, and about 80 Epitaphs. This writer usually designated himself -by the title of <i>John Davies of Hereford</i>,—See Censura Literaria, vols. -i. ii. v. vi. Brit. Bibliographer, No. VIII, Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. -ii., and Wood's Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. p. 445. He also wrote <i>The Holy -Rood, or Christ's Crosse</i>, 1609.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_680:C_1349" id="Footnote_i_680:C_1349"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_680:C_1349"><span class="label">[680:C]</span></a> These poetical brothers published their poems with the -above title, in a valuable Collection of Metrical Miscellanies, called -"A Poetical Rapsodie," 1602, which will be noticed hereafter. They are -introduced in the Table as being the principal contributors, and as -distinguishing their pieces by a separate title or division.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_681:A_1350" id="Footnote_i_681:A_1350"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_681:A_1350"><span class="label">[681:A]</span></a> This writer was the most popular ballad-maker of his -day; he was by trade a silk-weaver, and the compiler of various -Garlands, under the titles of "The Garland of Good Will;" "The Garland -of Delight," &c. &c. Nash, in his "Have with you to Saffron-Walden," -1596, says, that "his muse from the first peeping forth, hath stood at -livery at an alehouse wispe, never exceeding a penny a quart day nor -night; and this deere yeare, together with the silencing of his looms, -scarce that; he being constrained to betake himself to carded ale: -whence it proceedeth, that since <i>Candlemas</i>, or his jigge of <i>John for -the King</i>, not one merrie dittie will come from him, but <i>The -thunder-bolt against swearers</i>, <i>Repent England repent</i>, and <i>The -strange judgements of God</i>."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_681:B_1351" id="Footnote_i_681:B_1351"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_681:B_1351"><span class="label">[681:B]</span></a> Drant was a copious Latin Poet, having published two -miscellanies under the titles of <i>Sylva</i>, and <i>Poemata Varia</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_681:C_1352" id="Footnote_i_681:C_1352"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_681:C_1352"><span class="label">[681:C]</span></a> A quotation from one of the songs or ballads of this -drunken rhymer, is to be found in <i>Much Ado about Nothing</i>, (Reed's -Shakspeare, vol. vi. p. 196.) commencing</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"The god of love,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That sits above."</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_682:A_1353" id="Footnote_i_682:A_1353"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_682:A_1353"><span class="label">[682:A]</span></a> This poem, of which a prior edition is noticed in -Censura Literaria, vol. v. p. 349, as published in 4to. 1600, is -conjectured by Ritson, p. 201, to have been the production of William -Evans, who is well known to the lovers of old English poetry, by his -eulogium prefixed to the first edition of Spenser's "Faerie Queene," -1590. The Thamesiades, which consists of three books or cantos, is -written with vigour, and exhibits some pleasing poetical pictures.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_682:B_1354" id="Footnote_i_682:B_1354"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_682:B_1354"><span class="label">[682:B]</span></a> This thin volume of 22 leaves, consists of seven -poetical speeches "spoken before the King and Queens most excellent -Majestie, the Prince his highnesse, and the Lady Elizabeth's Grace."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_682:C_1355" id="Footnote_i_682:C_1355"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_682:C_1355"><span class="label">[682:C]</span></a> He contributed also to the previous editions of 1559 -and 1563.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_682:D_1356" id="Footnote_i_682:D_1356"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_682:D_1356"><span class="label">[682:D]</span></a> The "Georgiks" were added to a new version of the -"Bucolikes," forming one volume, 4to. Both are in regular Alexandrines -without rhyme.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_683:A_1357" id="Footnote_i_683:A_1357"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_683:A_1357"><span class="label">[683:A]</span></a> This production consists of a pastoral and an elegy; -the former being a translation of the Aminta of Tasso.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_683:B_1358" id="Footnote_i_683:B_1358"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_683:B_1358"><span class="label">[683:B]</span></a> Fraunce also published in a work of his, entitled "The -Lawyers Logicke," 1586, an hexameter version of Virgil's Alexis. His -affectation of Latin metres has condemned him to oblivion, for as -Phillips justly remarks, "they neither become the English, nor any other -modern language."—Edit. apud Brydges, p. 109.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_683:C_1359" id="Footnote_i_683:C_1359"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_683:C_1359"><span class="label">[683:C]</span></a> Wood tells us (Ath. Oxon. vol. i. p. 398.), that -Freeman was held in esteem by Donne, Daniel, Chapman, and Shakspeare; -and to these poets, and to Spenser, he has addressed epigrams. For -numerous specimens of this poet, see Warton, vol. iv., Ellis, and Park -in Censura Lit. vol. iv. p. 129.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_683:D_1360" id="Footnote_i_683:D_1360"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_683:D_1360"><span class="label">[683:D]</span></a> This poem was afterwards annexed to Greene's "History -of Arbasto," 1617, where it is termed "a lovely poem." It was reprinted -in 1626. On Greene's authority, I have ranked it beyond mediocrity.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_684:A_1361" id="Footnote_i_684:A_1361"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_684:A_1361"><span class="label">[684:A]</span></a> A collection which consists, observes Mr. Park, "of the -saddest trash that ever assumed the name of Epigrams; and which, with a -very slight alteration, well merits the sarcasm bestowed by Shenstone on -the poems of a Kidderminster bard:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Thy verses, friend, are <i>linsey woolsey</i> stuff,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And we must own—you've measur'd out enough."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Censura Lit. vol. v. p. 348.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_684:B_1362" id="Footnote_i_684:B_1362"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_684:B_1362"><span class="label">[684:B]</span></a> The "Popish Kingdome" consists of four books, of which -the last contains a curious and interesting description of feasts, -holidays, and Christmas games; including, of course, many of the -customs, and almost all the amusements of the period in which it was -written.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_684:C_1363" id="Footnote_i_684:C_1363"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_684:C_1363"><span class="label">[684:C]</span></a> Besides these works, Googe published in 1563, "Eglogs, -Epitaphs, and Sonnets," 12mo.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_685:A_1364" id="Footnote_i_685:A_1364"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_685:A_1364"><span class="label">[685:A]</span></a> "A Poem in manuscript, of considerable length, together -with some Sonnets, preserved amongst numerous treasures of a similar -nature, which belonged to the late Duke of Bridgewater, and now belong -to the Marquis of Stafford."—Todd's Spenser, vol. i. p. 87. Mr. Todd -has given us a specimen of Sir Arthur's talents, by the production of a -Sonnet from this manuscript treasure, which indicates no common genius, -and induces us to wish for the publication of the whole.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_685:B_1365" id="Footnote_i_685:B_1365"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_685:B_1365"><span class="label">[685:B]</span></a> Sir Arthur was the intimate friend of Spenser, who -lamented the death of Lady Gorges in a beautiful elegy entitled -"Daphnaida:" he has recorded, likewise, the conjugal affection and the -talents of her husband, under the name of <i>Alcyon</i>, in the following -elegant lines:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"And there is sad Alcyon, bent to mourne,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Though fit to frame an everlasting dittie,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Whose gentle spright for Daphne's death doth tourne</div> - <div class="line indentq">Sweet layes of love to endlesse plaints of pittie.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Ah pensive boy, pursue that brave conceipt,</div> - <div class="line indentq">In thy sweet eglantine of Meriflure,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Lift up thy notes unto their wonted height,</div> - <div class="line indentq">That may thy Muse and mates to mirth allure."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Todd's Spenser, vol. viii. p. 23.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_685:C_1366" id="Footnote_i_685:C_1366"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_685:C_1366"><span class="label">[685:C]</span></a> This poem was printed, says Ritson, at the end of -Kenton's "Mirror of man's life," 1580. Gosson is introduced here in -consequence of the celebrity attributed to him by Wood, who declares, -that "for his admirable penning of pastorals, he was ranked with Sir P. -Sidney, Tho. Chaloner, Edm. Spenser, Abrah. Fraunce, and Rich. -Bernfield."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_685:D_1367" id="Footnote_i_685:D_1367"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_685:D_1367"><span class="label">[685:D]</span></a> This forms the second part of a work by the same -writer, called "The Golden Aphroditis," and consists of 19 pieces, four -of which are in prose.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_686:A_1368" id="Footnote_i_686:A_1368"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_686:A_1368"><span class="label">[686:A]</span></a> Greepe's poem has been, through mistake, attributed by -Mr. Beloe to Thomas Greene; and Ritson, by a second error, charged with -its omission.—Vide Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 89.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_686:B_1369" id="Footnote_i_686:B_1369"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_686:B_1369"><span class="label">[686:B]</span></a> These pieces, written before 1620, were collected in -his Works, folio, 1633, and in his "Remains," 1670. 8vo.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_686:C_1370" id="Footnote_i_686:C_1370"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_686:C_1370"><span class="label">[686:C]</span></a> Vide Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 109.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_687:A_1371" id="Footnote_i_687:A_1371"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_687:A_1371"><span class="label">[687:A]</span></a> Warton observes, that "this translation has no other -merit than that of being the first appearance of a part of the Iliad in -an English dress."—Vol. iii. p. 440.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_687:B_1372" id="Footnote_i_687:B_1372"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_687:B_1372"><span class="label">[687:B]</span></a> Ritson appears to have confounded these two writers, -Sir William, and William Harbert, and classed them as one. The latter -speaks of his <i>unripened yeares</i> in 1604.—Vide British Bibliographer, -No. IV. p. 300.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_687:C_1373" id="Footnote_i_687:C_1373"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_687:C_1373"><span class="label">[687:C]</span></a> Beside these Sonnets, amounting to twenty-three, Harvey -was the introducer of the miserable attempts to imitate the Latin -metres, and boasts in this publication of being the first who exhibited -English hexameters.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_687:D_1374" id="Footnote_i_687:D_1374"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_687:D_1374"><span class="label">[687:D]</span></a> The celebrated sister of Sir Philip Sydney.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_687:E_1375" id="Footnote_i_687:E_1375"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_687:E_1375"><span class="label">[687:E]</span></a> All that are printed of these, appear in the Paradise -of Daintie Devises, of the date annexed. He had previously translated -three tragedies from Seneca, and died in 1598.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_688:A_1376" id="Footnote_i_688:A_1376"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_688:A_1376"><span class="label">[688:A]</span></a> A writer known to greater advantage by his <i>Hierarchie -of the Blessed Angels</i>, folio, 1635; a work of singular curiosity and -much amusement.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_688:B_1377" id="Footnote_i_688:B_1377"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_688:B_1377"><span class="label">[688:B]</span></a> Higgins termed this the <i>first part</i>, merely in -reference to the collection by Baldwin in 1559, which, commencing at a -much later period, was afterwards called "the last part." Higgins's -publication, in 1575, contains 17 Legends from Albanact to Irenglas; but -in 1587 he edited an edition of the Mirrour, including Baldwin's part, -and with the addition of 24 Legends of his own composition, which -carries forward his department to the death of Caracalla.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_688:C_1378" id="Footnote_i_688:C_1378"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_688:C_1378"><span class="label">[688:C]</span></a> In the Dedication of this work, the fashionable reading -of the times is thus reprobated:—"Novelties in these days delight -dainty eares, and fine filed phrases to fit some fantasy's, that no book -except it abound with the one or the other, or both of these, is brooked -of them. Some read <i>Gascoyne</i>, some <i>Guevasia</i>, some praise the <i>Palace -of Pleasure</i>, and the like, whereon they bestow whole days, yea, some -whole months and years, that scarce bestow one minute on the Bible, -albeit the work of God."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_688:D_1379" id="Footnote_i_688:D_1379"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_688:D_1379"><span class="label">[688:D]</span></a> For specimens of this volume, which is supposed to be -unique, see British Bibliographer, No. II. p. 105.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_689:A_1380" id="Footnote_i_689:A_1380"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_689:A_1380"><span class="label">[689:A]</span></a> An edition of this "famous old ballad" was published by -Thomas Gent of York, about 1740, who tells us, that it was "taken from -an antient manuscript, which was transcribed by Mr. Richard Guy, late -schoolmaster at Ingleton, in Yorkshire." Subsequent editions have been -published by Lambe and Weber.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_689:B_1381" id="Footnote_i_689:B_1381"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_689:B_1381"><span class="label">[689:B]</span></a> Printed in Ashmole's <i>Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_690:A_1382" id="Footnote_i_690:A_1382"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_690:A_1382"><span class="label">[690:A]</span></a> Perhaps the only piece above mediocrity in Kendall's -Epigrams is the following which I consider as very happily rendered:—</p> - -<p class="center">"MARTIAL.</p> - -<p class="center"><i>To Himselfe.</i></p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line"><span class="smcap">Martial</span>, the thinges that do attaine</div> - <div class="line">The hapy life be these I finde:</div> - <div class="line">The riches left, not got with paine;</div> - <div class="line">The fruitefull ground, the quiet minde.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">The egall frend; no grudge no strife;</div> - <div class="line">No charge of rule, nor governaunce:</div> - <div class="line">Without disease the healthfull life;</div> - <div class="line">The household of continuance.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">The mean dyet, no delicate fare;</div> - <div class="line">True wisdome joynd with simplenes;</div> - <div class="line">The night discharged of all care,</div> - <div class="line">Where wine the wit may not oppresse.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">The faithfull wife without debate;</div> - <div class="line">Such sleepes as may beguile the night;</div> - <div class="line">Content thyself with thine estate,</div> - <div class="line">Ne wishe for death, nor feare his might."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Fol. 18, b.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_691:A_1383" id="Footnote_i_691:A_1383"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_691:A_1383"><span class="label">[691:A]</span></a> This writer transcends mediocrity in consequence of the -singular purity and harmony of his diction and versification. The -subsequent lines, forming the prior part of a sonnet, have the air of -being written rather in the 19th than the 16th century:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Hard is his hap who never finds content,</div> - <div class="line i1q">But still must dwell with heavy-thoughted sadnesse:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Harder that heart that never will relent,</div> - <div class="line i1q">That may, and will not turne these woes to gladnesse;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line indentq">Then joies adue, comfort and mirth, farewell;</div> - <div class="line i1q">For I must now exile me from all pleasure,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Seeking some uncouth cave where I may dwell,</div> - <div class="line i1q">Pensive and solitarie without measure."</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_691:B_1384" id="Footnote_i_691:B_1384"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_691:B_1384"><span class="label">[691:B]</span></a> For an account of this author, and of a poem of his -printed in 1631, see Wood's Fasti, vol. i. col. 147; and Censura -Literaria, vol. i. p. 291.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_691:C_1385" id="Footnote_i_691:C_1385"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_691:C_1385"><span class="label">[691:C]</span></a> A poem in Alexandrines, printed at the end of the first -edition of his "Pilgrimage of Princes."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_692:A_1386" id="Footnote_i_692:A_1386"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_692:A_1386"><span class="label">[692:A]</span></a> The 200 Sonnets are followed by 100, entitled "Sundry -affectionate Sonets of a feeling conscience;" by 20, called "An -Introdution to peculiar prayers," and by 59, termed "Sonnets of the -Author to divers." In "The Return from Parnassus," Lok is thus, not -undeservedly, sentenced to oblivion:—"Locke and Hudson, sleep you, -quiet shavers, among the shavings of the press, and let your books lie -in some old nook amongst old boots and shoes: so, you may avoid my -censure."—Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 49.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_692:B_1387" id="Footnote_i_692:B_1387"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_692:B_1387"><span class="label">[692:B]</span></a> This is attributed to Markham on the authority of Mr. -Haslewood. See British Bibliographer, No. IV. p. 381.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_692:C_1388" id="Footnote_i_692:C_1388"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_692:C_1388"><span class="label">[692:C]</span></a> Mr. Park conceives this translation to be the -production of Robert Tofte, rather than of Markham.—Ritson's -Bibliographia, p. 274, note.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_693:A_1389" id="Footnote_i_693:A_1389"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_693:A_1389"><span class="label">[693:A]</span></a> It is to be regretted that no complete edition of the -Works of Montgomery has hitherto been published. Those printed by Foulis -and Urie in 1751 and 1754, are very imperfect; but might soon be -rendered faithful by consulting the manuscript collection of -Montgomery's Poems, presented by Drummond to the University of -Edinburgh. This MS., extending to 158 pages 4to., contains, beside odes, -psalms, and epitaphs, 70 sonnets, written on the Petrarcan model; and, -if we may judge from the six published by Mr. Irving, exhibiting a -considerable portion of poetic vigour. <i>The Cherrie and the Slae</i>, -which, as the critic just mentioned observes, "has maintained its -popularity for the space of two hundred years," must be pronounced in -some of its parts, beautiful, and, as a whole, much above mediocrity. -Sibbald has printed ten of our author's poems in the third volume of his -Chronicle of Scottish Poetry.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_694:A_1390" id="Footnote_i_694:A_1390"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_694:A_1390"><span class="label">[694:A]</span></a> The Sonnets of Murray appeared five years anterior to -those of Drummond, and though not equal to the effusions of the bard of -Hawthornden, are yet entitled to the praise of skilful construction and -frequently of poetic expression. A copy is now seldom to be met with; -but specimens may be found in Campbell's History of Poetry in Scotland, -and in Censura Literaria, vol. x. p. 374, 375.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_694:B_1391" id="Footnote_i_694:B_1391"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_694:B_1391"><span class="label">[694:B]</span></a> This poet, who, in the former part of his life, -practised as a physician, at Butley, in Cheshire, was a Latin poet of -some eminence, and one of the translators of Seneca's Tragedies, -published in 1581.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_694:C_1392" id="Footnote_i_694:C_1392"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_694:C_1392"><span class="label">[694:C]</span></a> For a specimen of this poem, see Beloe's Anecdotes, -vol. ii. p. 104.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_694:D_1393" id="Footnote_i_694:D_1393"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_694:D_1393"><span class="label">[694:D]</span></a> Though said to be the fourth edition, this copy is -supposed by Mr. Neve to be really the first impression. (See Cursory -Remarks on Ancient English Poets, 1789, p. 27.) Few poems have been more -popular than Overbury's "Wife;" owing partly to the good sense with -which it abounds, and partly to the interesting and tragic circumstances -which accompanied the author's fate. It was speedily and frequently -imitated; in 1614, appeared "<i>The Husband. A poeme expressed in a -compleat man</i>," by an anonymous writer; in 1616, "<i>A Select Second -Husband for Sir Thomas Overburie's Wife</i>," by John Davies of Hereford; -in 1619, "<i>The Description of a Good Wife</i>," by Richard Brathwaite; and -in the same year, "<i>A Happy Husband, or Directions for a Maid to chuse -her Mate</i>," by Patrick Hannay. These pieces are inferior to their -prototype, which, though not displaying much poetic inspiration, is -written with elegance and perspicuity.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_695:A_1394" id="Footnote_i_695:A_1394"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_695:A_1394"><span class="label">[695:A]</span></a> This work is a composition of verse and prose. Mr. -Douce terms Parkes a "writer of great ability and poetical talents, -though undeservedly obscure." Vide Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 75.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_695:B_1395" id="Footnote_i_695:B_1395"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_695:B_1395"><span class="label">[695:B]</span></a> Warton, in the Fragment of his fourth volume of the -History of English Poetry, remarks at p. 73, that many of Parrot's -epigrams "are worthy to be revived in modern collections." The <i>Laquei</i> -contain many of the epigrams which he had previously published.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_696:A_1396" id="Footnote_i_696:A_1396"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_696:A_1396"><span class="label">[696:A]</span></a> Peele, who will afterwards be noticed as a dramatic -poet, may be classed with Scoggan, Skelton, and Tarleton, as a buffoon -and jester. He died before 1598, and his "Merrie conceited Jests" were -published in 4to. in 1627.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_696:B_1397" id="Footnote_i_696:B_1397"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_696:B_1397"><span class="label">[696:B]</span></a> An ample analysis of "The Historie of Lord Mandozze," -has been given in the British Bibliographer, No. X. p. 523.; and No. XI. -p. 587. Of the poetry of this very rare version, little laudatory can be -said.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_696:C_1398" id="Footnote_i_696:C_1398"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_696:C_1398"><span class="label">[696:C]</span></a> Of this scarce poem, unknown to Ritson, the reader will -find a description by Mr. Haslewood in the British Bibliographer, No. -III. p. 214.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_696:D_1399" id="Footnote_i_696:D_1399"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_696:D_1399"><span class="label">[696:D]</span></a> Mr. Beloe conjectures this "Commemoration," not noticed -by Ritson, to have been the production of a writer different from the -<i>John Phillip</i> of the Bibliographia (p. 299.), and assigns for his -reason, the signature, at the conclusion, namely, <i>John Phyllips</i>; but -it is remarkable that the inscription, copied by Mr. Beloe, runs thus: -"To all Right Noble, Honorable, Godlye and Worshipfull Ladyes, <i>John -Phillip</i> wisheth," &c. a variation in the orthography which warrants an -inference as to their identity. Vide Beloe, vol. ii. p. 111. et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_697:A_1400" id="Footnote_i_697:A_1400"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_697:A_1400"><span class="label">[697:A]</span></a> Mr. Haslewood supposes this poem to have been written -by William Phiston, of London, Student; who is considered by Herbert, p. -1012., as the same person mentioned by Warton, vol. iii. p. 308. under -the appellation of W. Phist.—See Brit. Bibliogr. vol. v. p. 569.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_697:B_1401" id="Footnote_i_697:B_1401"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_697:B_1401"><span class="label">[697:B]</span></a> Ritson, in his Bibliographia, says, that no one except -Warton appears to have met with this publication; extracts from it, -however, may be found in the Monthly Mirror, vol. xiv. p. 17.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_697:C_1402" id="Footnote_i_697:C_1402"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_697:C_1402"><span class="label">[697:C]</span></a> These Flowers are the production of one of the most -celebrated agriculturists of the 16th century, the author of the "Jewell -House of Art and Nature;" the "Paradise of Flora;" the "Garden of Eden," -&c. &c.; but, in his poetical capacity, they prove, as Mr. Park remarks, -that he "did not attain to 'a plat of rising ground in the territory of -Parnassus.'"—Censura Lit. vol. viii. p. 7.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_697:D_1403" id="Footnote_i_697:D_1403"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_697:D_1403"><span class="label">[697:D]</span></a> These are printed in the latter part of the miscellany, -entitled "A Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_697:E_1404" id="Footnote_i_697:E_1404"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_697:E_1404"><span class="label">[697:E]</span></a> Beside these verses in honour of Elizabeth, Puttenham -wrote the "Isle of Great Britain," a little brief romance; "Elpine," an -eclogue; "Minerva," an hymn; and, throughout his "Arte of Poesie," are -interspersed a number of <i>verses</i>, <i>epigrams</i>, <i>epitaphs</i>, -<i>translations</i>, <i>imitations</i>, &c. Mr. Haslewood has prefixed a copy of -the <i>Partheniades</i> to his reprint of "The Arte of English Poesie," -1811.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_698:A_1405" id="Footnote_i_698:A_1405"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_698:A_1405"><span class="label">[698:A]</span></a> For specimens of this poem, the British Bibliographer, -No. II. p. 153., may be consulted. Why it was called Dolarny's Primerose -does not appear. Reynolds possesses some merit as a descriptive poet.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_698:B_1406" id="Footnote_i_698:B_1406"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_698:B_1406"><span class="label">[698:B]</span></a> Of this work, not mentioned by Ritson, an account has -been given by Mr. Haslewood in Censura Literaria, vol. iv. p. 241. The -"Rewarde of Wickednesse" is written on the plan of the "Mirror for -Magistrates," and was composed during the author's night-watches as one -of the sentinels employed to guard the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots. -Robinson is supposed to be author of "The ruffull tragedy of Hemidos and -Thelay," licensed in 1570.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_698:C_1407" id="Footnote_i_698:C_1407"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_698:C_1407"><span class="label">[698:C]</span></a> To Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, vol. iii. p. -287., and to <i>Restituta</i>, No. III. p. 177., I refer the reader for the -only account which I can recollect of this obscure writer. Irving and -Pinkerton merely mention the titles of his poems. Mr. Gillies, in a very -interesting article in the Restituta, has given us an ample specimen of -his "Seven Sages."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_699:A_1408" id="Footnote_i_699:A_1408"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_699:A_1408"><span class="label">[699:A]</span></a> Ritson says, that this is "a poem in 168 six-line -stanzas, of considerable merit, and with great defects: a 4to. MS. in -the possession of Francis Douce, Esq."—Vide Bibliographia Poetica, p. -315.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_699:B_1409" id="Footnote_i_699:B_1409"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_699:B_1409"><span class="label">[699:B]</span></a> Several extracts from this work, consisting of seven -satires, have been given by Warton in his Fragment of Vol. IV. See also -Censura Literaria, vol. vi. p. 277.; and Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. -125., where further notices of this medley may be found. It went through -subsequent editions in 1607 and 1611.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_699:C_1410" id="Footnote_i_699:C_1410"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_699:C_1410"><span class="label">[699:C]</span></a> This poem and the three succeeding are not recorded by -Ritson. See Censura Lit. vol. ii. p. 150., in an article by Mr. -Gilchrist.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_699:D_1411" id="Footnote_i_699:D_1411"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_699:D_1411"><span class="label">[699:D]</span></a> For a description of this copy see Brit. Bibliogr., No. -V. p. 548.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_699:E_1412" id="Footnote_i_699:E_1412"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_699:E_1412"><span class="label">[699:E]</span></a> Curious specimens from this publication have been given -by Mr. Haslewood in the Brit. Bibliographer, No. X. p. 549.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_700:A_1413" id="Footnote_i_700:A_1413"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_700:A_1413"><span class="label">[700:A]</span></a> Of this voluminous pamphleteer, five more pieces are -enumerated by Ritson, published posterior to 1616. Though a rapid and -careless writer, he occasionally exhibits considerable vigour, and has -often satirized with spirit the manners and follies of his period. He -may be justly classed as surmounting mediocrity, and he is therefore -designated as such at the close of this article.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_700:B_1414" id="Footnote_i_700:B_1414"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_700:B_1414"><span class="label">[700:B]</span></a> This poem, and the Fisherman's Tale, are written in -blank verse, a species of composition in which Sabie had been preceded -by Surrey, Gascoigne, Turberville, Riche, Peele, Higgins, Blenerhasset, -Aske, Vallans, Greene, Breton, Chapman, Marlowe, &c. A copious analysis -of these pieces has been given by Mr. Haslewood in No. V. of the British -Bibliographer, from p. 488. to 503.; but neither the genius nor the -versification of Sabie merit much notice: his <i>Pan</i>, however, contains -some beautiful rhymed lines.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_700:C_1415" id="Footnote_i_700:C_1415"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_700:C_1415"><span class="label">[700:C]</span></a> Annexed, says Ritson, to his "Hours of Recreation or -after dinners," 1576, 8vo.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_700:D_1416" id="Footnote_i_700:D_1416"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_700:D_1416"><span class="label">[700:D]</span></a> The "Four Paradoxes" occupy four portions, each -consisting of 18 six-line stanzas, and the whole is terminated by three -additional ones, entitled his "Resolution." The specimens of this poem -adduced by Mr. Park in Censura Literaria, vol. iii. and iv., speak -highly in its favour, and seem to justify the following -encomium:—"There is much manly observation, forcible truth, apt simile, -and moral pith in the poem itself; and it leaves a lingering desire upon -the mind, to obtain some knowledge of a writer, whose meritorious -production was unheralded by any contemporary verse-man, and whose name -remains unrecorded by any poetical biographer."—Vol. iii. p. 376.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_701:A_1417" id="Footnote_i_701:A_1417"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_701:A_1417"><span class="label">[701:A]</span></a> An accurate account of this volume, which was -republished in 1622 and 1640, may be found in Censura Literaria, vol. -iii, p. 381. "From the great disparity of merit between this and the -preceding article," observes Mr. Park, "there is little reason to -suppose them by the same author, though they bear the same name."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_701:B_1418" id="Footnote_i_701:B_1418"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_701:B_1418"><span class="label">[701:B]</span></a> A perfect copy of this miserable collection of poems, -consisting of sonnets, elegies, odes, odellets, &c. was purchased, at a -sale, by Mr. Triphook for twelve guineas. The only copy before known was -without a title, from which Ritson has given a full account, though, at -the same time, he terms the author an "arrogant and absurd coxcomb," and -condemns him for his "wretched style, profligate plagiarism, ridiculous -pedantry, and unnatural conceit."—Vide Bib. Poetica, p. 337. et seq.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_701:C_1419" id="Footnote_i_701:C_1419"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_701:C_1419"><span class="label">[701:C]</span></a> An ample and interesting description of Stanyhurst, and -his translation, will be found in Censura Literaria, vol. iv. pp. 225. -354., the production of Mr. Haslewood. Nash has not exaggerated when, -alluding to this poet, he says, "whose heroical poetry infired, I should -say inspired, with an hexameter furye, recalled to life whatever hissed -barbarism hath been buried this hundred yeare; and revived by his ragged -quill such carterly varietie, as no hedge plowman in a countrie but -would have held as the extremitie of clownerie: a patterne whereof I -will propound to your judgment, as near as I can, being part of one of -his descriptions of a tempest, which is thus:—</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Then did he make heaven's vault to rebound</div> - <div class="line i1q">With rounce robble bobble,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Of ruffe raffe roaring,</div> - <div class="line i1q">With thicke thwacke thurly bouncing."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Nash's Preface to Greene's Arcadia.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_702:A_1420" id="Footnote_i_702:A_1420"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_702:A_1420"><span class="label">[702:A]</span></a> Storer's Life of Wolsey, which is about to be -reprinted, has a claim upon our attention, both for its matter and -manner: he was a contributor also to "England's Helicon," and has been -highly extolled by his friend Fitzgeffrey, in Affanis, lib. i.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_702:B_1421" id="Footnote_i_702:B_1421"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_702:B_1421"><span class="label">[702:B]</span></a> The most interesting part of this volume, from the -nature of its subject, is "Ane schort Treatise conteining some Reulis -and Cautelis to be observit and eschewit in Scottis Poesie," in which -the regal critic observes, that "sindrie hes written of it in English," -an assertion which would lead to the supposition that some of our -earliest critics had perished; for Gascoigne's "Certayne Notes of -Instruction concerning the making of Verse or Rhyme," 1575, appears now -to be the only piece of criticism on poetic composition which preceded -James's "Essayes."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_702:C_1422" id="Footnote_i_702:C_1422"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_702:C_1422"><span class="label">[702:C]</span></a> The Poetical Exercises contain but two poems,—the -"Furies," translated from Du Bartas, and "The Lepanto," an original -piece. Several minor poems, introduced into his own works and those of -others, some sonnets and a translation of the psalms, were written by -James after his accession to the English throne.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_702:D_1423" id="Footnote_i_702:D_1423"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_702:D_1423"><span class="label">[702:D]</span></a> Of this far-famed comedian and jester, Fuller says, -that "when Queen Elizabeth was serious (I dare not say sullen) and out -of good humour, he could undumpish her at his pleasure. Her highest -favourites would in some cases go to Tarlton before they would go to the -Queen, and he was their usher to prepare their advantageous accession to -her. In a word, he told the Queen more of her faults than most of her -chaplains, and cured her melancholy better than all her physicians." -Indeed, in the language of a contemporary,</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Of all the jesters in the lande</div> - <div class="line i1q">He bare the praise awaie."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="attribution">Vide Ritson Bibl. p. 359.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_703:A_1424" id="Footnote_i_703:A_1424"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_703:A_1424"><span class="label">[703:A]</span></a> Of this voluminous scribbler, whose rhyming spirit, -remarks Granger, did not evaporate with his youth, who held the pen much -longer than he did the oar, and who was the poetaster of half a century, -I have only been able to insert two of his earliest productions, the -remainder being subsequent to 1616, and extending to 1653. He was -thirty-two when Shakspeare died; and "the waterman," observes Mr. -Chalmers, "must have often <i>sculled</i> Shakspeare, who is said to have -lived on <i>The Bankside</i>."—Apology, p. 101.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_703:B_1425" id="Footnote_i_703:B_1425"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_703:B_1425"><span class="label">[703:B]</span></a> <i>The Fruites of Jealousie</i>, a long poem in octave -measure, may be found at the close of <i>The Blazon of Jealousie</i>, -translated from the Italian of Varchi, of which an account is given in -Censura Literaria, vol. iv. p. 403.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_704:A_1426" id="Footnote_i_704:A_1426"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_704:A_1426"><span class="label">[704:A]</span></a> Beside these anthems, which were licensed to her -printer, Christ. Barker, Nov. 15., her Majesty wrote a variety of small -pieces, some of which have been preserved by Hentzner, Puttenham, and -Soothern, and reprinted by Percy, Ellis, and Ritson. The fourteenth -Psalm also, and the Speech of the Chorus in the second Act of the -Hercules Œtæus of Seneca, have been published by Mr. Park, the latter -poem being a specimen of blank verse.—Vide Park's Royal and Noble -Authors, vol. i. p. 102.</p> - -<p>Of the execrable flattery which was systematically bestowed on this -monarch, the following eulogium upon her poetry, is a curious instance. -After enumerating the best poets of his age, Puttenham thus -proceeds:—"But last in recitall and first in degree is the Queene our -soveraigne Lady, whose learned, delicate, noble Muse, easily surmounteth -all the rest that have written before her time or since, for sence, -sweetnesse and subtillitie, be it Ode, Elegie, Epigram, or any other -kinde of poeme, Heroick, Lyricke, wherein it shall please her Majestie -to employ her penne, even by as much oddes as her owne excellent estate -and degree exceedeth all the rest of her most humble vassalls."—The -Arte of English Poesie, reprint, p. 51.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_704:B_1427" id="Footnote_i_704:B_1427"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_704:B_1427"><span class="label">[704:B]</span></a> A Collection of Epigrams.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_705:A_1428" id="Footnote_i_705:A_1428"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_705:A_1428"><span class="label">[705:A]</span></a> These poems were published in a tract entitled "The -Right Way to Heaven, and the true testimony of a faithfull and loyall -subject," 1601.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_705:B_1429" id="Footnote_i_705:B_1429"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_705:B_1429"><span class="label">[705:B]</span></a> This copy is without date, but a second edition was -printed in 1617; it is a miserable paraphrase of Warner's exquisite -episode.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_705:C_1430" id="Footnote_i_705:C_1430"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_705:C_1430"><span class="label">[705:C]</span></a> Of this Collection Lord Hailes published a specimen in -1765; in 1801, Mr. J. Gr. Dalyell reprinted the whole, with the Scotish -poems of the 16th century. Edin. 2 vols. 12mo.; and Mr. Irving has given -some notices of the author in his Scotish poets, 2 vols. 8vo. 1804.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_706:A_1431" id="Footnote_i_706:A_1431"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_706:A_1431"><span class="label">[706:A]</span></a> Wenman's Legend and Poems have lately been printed by -Mr. Fry, in an octavo volume, from a quarto manuscript of 52 leaves. The -Legend appears to have been intended for insertion in the <i>Mirror for -Magistrates</i>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_706:B_1432" id="Footnote_i_706:B_1432"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_706:B_1432"><span class="label">[706:B]</span></a> For a very full account of "The Rocke of Regard," by -Mr. Park, see Censura Lit. vol. v. p. 1.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_706:C_1433" id="Footnote_i_706:C_1433"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_706:C_1433"><span class="label">[706:C]</span></a> This poem of 90 seven-line stanzas, is annexed to -Bindley's "Mirror of True Honour and Christian Nobility," &c. 1585. -4to.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_706:D_1434" id="Footnote_i_706:D_1434"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_706:D_1434"><span class="label">[706:D]</span></a> Of Whitney's Emblemes, which, being printed at Leyden, -is a very rare book, a description will be found in Censura Lit. vol. v. -p. 233.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_706:E_1435" id="Footnote_i_706:E_1435"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_706:E_1435"><span class="label">[706:E]</span></a> Willet's Emblems were written before 1598, as Meres -alludes to them in his "Palladis Tamia."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_707:A_1436" id="Footnote_i_707:A_1436"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_707:A_1436"><span class="label">[707:A]</span></a> These biographical poems were added to the author's -"True use of Armorie," 1592, 4to. Of the first poem an extract is given -in Censura Lit. vol. i. p. 149, 150.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_707:B_1437" id="Footnote_i_707:B_1437"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_707:B_1437"><span class="label">[707:B]</span></a> A copy of these poems, apparently unique, is in the -possession of Mr. Park, who has communicated a description of it in -Censura Lit. vol. iii. p. 175.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_707:C_1438" id="Footnote_i_707:C_1438"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_707:C_1438"><span class="label">[707:C]</span></a> This romance, which abounds with poetry, is of the -pastoral species; it is written on the plan of Sidney's Arcadia, and, -like it, exhibits many beautiful passages both in prose and verse: -twenty-seven of its poetical effusions have been inserted in "England's -Helicon," and several have been lately reprinted in "Restituta," No. -VII. accompanied by some interesting remarks from the pen of Sir Egerton -Brydges.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_707:D_1439" id="Footnote_i_707:D_1439"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_707:D_1439"><span class="label">[707:D]</span></a> For a specimen of this poem, which "is a concise -geographical description of three-quarters of the world, Asia, Africa, -and Europe, in the manner of Dionysius," and which Mr. Beloe believes to -be unique, see his Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 74.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_710:A_1440" id="Footnote_i_710:A_1440"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_710:A_1440"><span class="label">[710:A]</span></a> Sidney's Works, 7th edit., fol., 1629, p. 561.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_711:A_1441" id="Footnote_i_711:A_1441"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_711:A_1441"><span class="label">[711:A]</span></a> May-Day; a wittie comedie. Divers times acted at "The -Blacke Fryers;" 4to. Act iii. fol. 39.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_711:B_1442" id="Footnote_i_711:B_1442"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_711:B_1442"><span class="label">[711:B]</span></a> A copy of this Miscellany, of the edition of 1580, sold -at the Roxburghe Sale, for 55<i>l.</i> 13<i>s.</i>!</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_713:A_1443" id="Footnote_i_713:A_1443"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_713:A_1443"><span class="label">[713:A]</span></a> Reprint by Sir Egerton Brydges, 1810. p. 44.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_714:A_1444" id="Footnote_i_714:A_1444"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_714:A_1444"><span class="label">[714:A]</span></a> Reprint, p. 42.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_714:B_1445" id="Footnote_i_714:B_1445"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_714:B_1445"><span class="label">[714:B]</span></a> Preface to his reprint, p. vi.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_714:C_1446" id="Footnote_i_714:C_1446"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_714:C_1446"><span class="label">[714:C]</span></a> Reprint, p. 55.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_714:D_1447" id="Footnote_i_714:D_1447"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_714:D_1447"><span class="label">[714:D]</span></a> Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. p. 222. Act iv. sc. 5.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_715:A_1448" id="Footnote_i_715:A_1448"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_715:A_1448"><span class="label">[715:A]</span></a> Reprint, p. 57, 58.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_715:B_1449" id="Footnote_i_715:B_1449"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_715:B_1449"><span class="label">[715:B]</span></a> Ibid. p. 66.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_715:C_1450" id="Footnote_i_715:C_1450"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_715:C_1450"><span class="label">[715:C]</span></a> Ibid. p. 14. 37. 87.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_716:A_1451" id="Footnote_i_716:A_1451"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_716:A_1451"><span class="label">[716:A]</span></a> Vide Heliconia, Part I. Advertisement.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_717:A_1452" id="Footnote_i_717:A_1452"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_717:A_1452"><span class="label">[717:A]</span></a> For a notable instance of this figure, we refer the -reader to "The Lover in Bondage," at p. 50. of Mr. Park's reprint. Not -Holofernes himself could more "affect the letter."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_717:B_1453" id="Footnote_i_717:B_1453"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_717:B_1453"><span class="label">[717:B]</span></a> Quoted by Mr. Park in the Advertisement to his -reprint.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_718:A_1454" id="Footnote_i_718:A_1454"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_718:A_1454"><span class="label">[718:A]</span></a> Heliconia, Part II. p. 85.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_720:A_1455" id="Footnote_i_720:A_1455"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_720:A_1455"><span class="label">[720:A]</span></a> Heliconia, Part III. Advertisement.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_723:A_1456" id="Footnote_i_723:A_1456"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_723:A_1456"><span class="label">[723:A]</span></a> England's Helicon, reprint of 1812, Introduction, p. -xx. xxi. xxii.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_724:A_1457" id="Footnote_i_724:A_1457"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_724:A_1457"><span class="label">[724:A]</span></a> Preface, pp. 8, 9. This Collection of Hayward's had -three different titles; the last dated 1741. The second edition is -called "The Quintissence of English Poetry."</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_727:A_1458" id="Footnote_i_727:A_1458"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_727:A_1458"><span class="label">[727:A]</span></a> The curious Preface, from which we have given this long -extract, is only to be found in the first edition of the Belvedere; its -omission in the second is a singular defect, as it certainly forms the -most interesting part of the impression of 1600.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_727:B_1459" id="Footnote_i_727:B_1459"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_727:B_1459"><span class="label">[727:B]</span></a> See Malone's Inquiry.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_728:A_1460" id="Footnote_i_728:A_1460"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_728:A_1460"><span class="label">[728:A]</span></a> Supplement to Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 732.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_730:A_1461" id="Footnote_i_730:A_1461"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_730:A_1461"><span class="label">[730:A]</span></a> See Censura Literaria, vol. i. p. 229.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_732:A_1462" id="Footnote_i_732:A_1462"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_732:A_1462"><span class="label">[732:A]</span></a> Vide Morley's Plaine and easie Introduction to -Practical Musick.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_i_733:A_1463" id="Footnote_i_733:A_1463"></a><a href="#FNanchor_i_733:A_1463"><span class="label">[733:A]</span></a> For specimens of these interesting collections, I refer -my reader to <i>Censura Literaria</i>, vol. ix. p. 1. et seq.; vol. x. pp. -179. 294.; and to the <i>British Bibliographer</i>, No. IV. p. 343.; No. V. -p. 563.; No. VI. p. 59.; No. IX. p. 427.; No. XI. p. 652.; No. XII. p. -48.; and No. XV. p. 386. A well-chosen selection from the now scarce -volumes of these Professors of Vocal Music would be a valuable present -to the lovers of English poetry.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="newchapter" /> - -<p class="sectctr">END OF THE FIRST VOLUME</p> - -<p class="printer"> -<span class="indent">Printed by A. Strahan,</span><br /> -Printers-Street, London.</p> - - - - -<div class="newchapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<h2><a name="ii_INDEX" id="ii_INDEX"></a>INDEX.</h2> - -<p class="center"><i><span class="big"><b>*<sub>*</sub>*</b></span> The Roman Numerals refer to the Volumes; the Figures to the Pages -of each Volume.</i></p> -</div> - - -<ul class="list"> - <li class="newletter">A</li> - - <li><i>Acheley</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_676">676</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Acting</i>, art of, consummately known to Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_423">423</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Parts chiefly performed by him, <a href="#Page_i_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_i_425">425</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Actors</i>, companies of, when first licensed, ii. 202.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Placed under the superintendence of the masters of the revels, 203.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their remuneration, 204.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Patronized by the court, 205,</li> - <li class="subsubitem">and also by private individuals, whose names they bore, 205, 206.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Days and hours of their performance, 215, 216.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their remuneration, 223, 224.</li> - - <li><i>Admission</i> to the theatre, in the time of Shakspeare, prices of, ii. 216, 217.</li> - - <li><i>Adonis</i>, beautiful address of Venus to, ii. 25, 26.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">See <i><a href="#Venus_and_Adonis">Venus and Adonis</a></i>.</li> - - <li><i>Ægeon</i>, exquisite portrait of, in the Comedy of Errors, ii. 288.</li> - - <li><i>Æschylus</i>, striking affinity between the celebrated trilogy of, and Shakspeare's Macbeth, ii. 472, 473.</li> - - <li><i>Affection</i> (maternal), exquisite delineation of, ii. 421.</li> - - <li><i>Affections</i> (sympathetic), account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_i_374">374</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Agate</i> stone, supposed virtue of, i. <a href="#Page_i_368">368</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Agnus Dei</i>, a supposed charm against thunder, i. <a href="#Page_i_364">364</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Air</i>, spirits of, introduced into the Tempest, ii. 524.</li> - - <li><i>Akenside</i>'s "Pleasures of the Imagination" quoted, i. <a href="#Page_i_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_i_322">322</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Alchemistry</i>, a favourite pursuit of the age of Shakspeare, ii. 154.</li> - - <li><i>Alderson</i> (Dr.), opinion of, on the cause of spectral visitations, ii. 405, 406.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His application of them to the character of Hamlet, 408.</li> - - <li><i>Ale</i>, synonymous with merry making, i. <a href="#Page_i_175">175</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Different kinds of Ales, <a href="#Page_i_176">176</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Leet-ale, <a href="#Page_i_176">176</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Clerk-ale, <a href="#Page_i_176"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Church-ales, <a href="#Page_i_177">177-179</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Alehouses</i>, picture of, in Shakspeare's time, ii. 216-218.</li> - - <li><i>Alfs</i>, or bright and swart elves of the Scandinavians, account of, ii. 308, 309.</li> - - <li><i>All-Hallow-Eve</i>, festival of, i. <a href="#Page_i_341">341</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fires kindled on that eve, <a href="#Page_i_341"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Prayers offered for the souls of the departed, <a href="#Page_i_342">342</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed influence of fairies, spirits, &c. <a href="#Page_i_342">342-344</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Spells practised on that eve, <a href="#Page_i_344">344-347</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Alliterations</i>, in the English language, satirised by Sir Philip Sidney, i. <a href="#Page_i_444">444</a>.</li> - - <li><i>All's Well that Ends Well</i>, probable date of, ii. 422.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of its characters,—the Countess of Rousillon, 423.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Helen, <i>ib.</i> 424, 425.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the minor characters, 425.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama, which are illustrated in this work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Alls Well that Ends Well referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">424.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_108">108</a>. <a href="#Page_i_175">175</a>. ii. 434.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_143">143</a>. <a href="#Page_i_159">159</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">434.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">7.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">434.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">107. 425.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">10.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_362">362</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">12.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">192.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>All Saints' Day</i>, festival of, i. <a href="#Page_i_341">341</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Superstitious observances on its vigil, <a href="#Page_i_341">341-347</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Allot</i> (Robert), "English Parnassus," i. <a href="#Page_i_723">723</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of contributors to this collection of poems, <a href="#Page_i_724">724</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on the merits of his selection, <i>ibid.</i> <a href="#Page_i_725">725</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Amadis of Gaul</i> (Romance of), popularity of, i. <a href="#Page_i_515">515</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of English translations of it, <a href="#Page_i_546">546</a>, <a href="#Page_i_547">547</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Amusements</i> of the fairies, ii. 342-345.</li> - - <li><i>Amusements</i>, national, in the age of Shakspeare, enumerated, i. <a href="#Page_i_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_i_247">247</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the itinerant stage, <a href="#Page_i_247">247-252</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The Cotswold games, <a href="#Page_i_252">252-254</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hawking, <a href="#Page_i_255">255</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hunting, <a href="#Page_i_272">272</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fowling, <a href="#Page_i_287">287</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Bird-batting, <a href="#Page_i_289">289</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fishing, <a href="#Page_i_289">289</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Horse-racing, <a href="#Page_i_297">297</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The Quintaine, <a href="#Page_i_300">300</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Wild-goose chace, <a href="#Page_i_304">304</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hurling, <a href="#Page_i_305">305</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shovel-board, <a href="#Page_i_306">306</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shove-groat, <a href="#Page_i_307">307</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Juvenile sports, <a href="#Page_i_308">308-312</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Amusements of the metropolis and court, ii. 168.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Card playing, 169.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Tables and dice, 171.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Dancing, 172.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Bull-baiting and bear-baiting, 176.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Archery, 178.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Frequenting of Paul's Walk, 182.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Sagacious horses, 186.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Masques and pageants, 187.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Royal progresses, 193.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Dramatic performances, 201-226.</li> - - <li><i>Anderson</i> (James), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_676">676</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Andrewe</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_676">676</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Angels</i>, different orders of, i. <a href="#Page_i_335">335</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the doctrine of guardian angels prevalent in Shakspeare's time, <a href="#Page_i_336">336</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed number of angels, <a href="#Page_i_337">337-339</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on this doctrine by Bishop Horsley, <a href="#Page_i_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_i_340">340</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The supposed agency of angelic spirits, as believed in Shakspeare's time, critically analysed, ii. 399-405.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And applied to the introduction of the spirit in Hamlet, 407-416.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Superiority of Shakspeare's angelic spirits over those of all other dramatists, ancient or modern, 417, 418.</li> - - <li><i>Angling</i>, notice of books on the art of, i. <a href="#Page_i_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_i_291">291</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Contemplations of an angler, <a href="#Page_i_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_i_293">293</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His qualifications described, <a href="#Page_i_294">294-296</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Encomium on, by Sir Henry Wotton, <a href="#Page_i_297">297</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Beautiful verses on, by Davors, <a href="#Page_i_614">614</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Anglo-Norman</i> romances, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_523">523-531</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Animals</i>, sagacious, in the time of Shakspeare, notice of, ii. 186, 187.</li> - - <li><i>Anneson</i> (James), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_676">676</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Ante-suppers</i>, when introduced, ii. 128.</li> - - <li><i>Anthropophagi</i>, supposed existence of, i. <a href="#Page_i_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_i_386">386</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_385">385</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Antony and Cleopatra</i>, date of, ii. 492.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character and conduct of this drama, 493.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama which are illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Antony and Cleopatra referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_129">129</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_338">338</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">9.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_138">138</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">10.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Apemantus</i>, remarks on the character of, ii. 451, 452.</li> - - <li><i>Apes</i>, kept as companions for the domestic fools, ii. 146.</li> - - <li><i>Aphorisms</i> of Shakspeare, character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_517">517</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Apparitions</i>, probable causes of, ii. 406.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Application of them to the character of Hamlet, 406-408.</li> - - <li><i>Arcadia</i> of Sir Philip Sidney, critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_548">548-552</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Alluded to by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_573">573</a>, <a href="#Page_i_574">574</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Archery</i>, a favourite diversion in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 178.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The knights of Prince Arthur's round-table, a society of archers, instituted by Henry VIII., 179.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Encouraged in the reign of Elizabeth, 179, 180.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Decline of archery, 181, 182.</li> - - <li><i>Arden</i> or <i>Ardern</i> family, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_3">3</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shakspeare probably descended from, by the female line, <i><a href="#Page_i_3">ibid.</a></i></li> - - <li><i>Ardesoif</i> (Mr.), terrific death of, i. <a href="#Footnote_i_145:D_214">146. note</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Ariel</i>, analysis of the character of, ii. 506. 522, 523.</li> - - <li><i>Ariosto</i>'s Orlando Furioso, as translated by Sir John Harington, remarks on, i. <a href="#Page_i_629">629</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His "Supposes," a comedy, translated by Gascoigne, ii. 233.</li> - - <li><i>Armin</i> (Thomas), complaint of, against the critics of his day, i. <a href="#Page_i_456">456</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Arms</i>, supposed grant of, to John Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_1">1</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Real grant and confirmation of, to him, <a href="#Page_i_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_i_3">3</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Arras Hangings</i>, an article of furniture, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 114, 115.</li> - - <li><i>Arthington</i> (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_676">676</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Arthur</i> and Hubert, beautiful scene between, in the play of King John, ii. 422.</li> - - <li><i>Arthur's Chase</i>, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_i_378">378</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Arthur's Round Table</i>, a society of archers, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_562">562</a>, <a href="#Page_i_563">563</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Arval</i>, or Funeral Entertainment, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_238">238</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Ascham</i> (Roger), complaint of, on the little reward of schoolmasters, i. <a href="#Footnote_i_27:A_34">27. <i>note</i></a>, <a href="#Page_i_94">94</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Improved the English language, <a href="#Page_i_439">439</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks of, on the cultivation of classical literature in England, <a href="#Page_i_450">450</a>.;</li> - <li class="subsubitem">and of Italian literature, <a href="#Page_i_452">452</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his "Scholemaster," <a href="#Page_i_454">454</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His censure of the popularity of "La Morte d'Arthur," <a href="#Page_i_524">524</a>, <a href="#Page_i_525">525</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Design of his "Toxophilus," ii. 181.</li> - - <li><i>Aske</i> (James), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_676">676</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Asses' Heads</i>, absurd recipe for fixing on the shoulders of man, ii. 351, 352.</li> - - <li><i>As You Like It</i>, date of, ii. 431.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the general structure of its fable, 431, 432.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of the character of Jaques, 433, 434.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama which are illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="As You Like It referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_301">301</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_367">367</a>. <a href="#Page_i_403">403</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">7.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i. </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_55">55</a>. ii. 102.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">115.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_580">580</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_556">556</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_580">580</a>. ii. 157.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_288">288</a>. ii. 159.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad" colspan="4">The Epilogue,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_218">218</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Aubrey</i>, statement of, respecting Shakspeare's being a butcher, i. <a href="#Page_i_36">36</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probability of his account that Shakspeare had been a schoolmaster, <a href="#Page_i_45">45</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His character of the poet, ii. 615.</li> - - <li><i>Avale</i> (Lemeke), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_676">676</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Autolycus</i>, remarks on the character of, ii. 500.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">B</li> - - <li><i>Bacon</i> (Lord), character of his Henry VII., i. <a href="#Page_i_476">476</a>.,</li> - <li class="listsubitem">and of his "Essays," <a href="#Page_i_512">512</a>. <a href="#Page_i_517">517</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bag-Pipe</i>, the ancient accompaniment of the morris-dance and May-games, i. <a href="#Page_i_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_i_165">165</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Baldwyne</i>'s "Myrrour for Magistrates," account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_708">708</a>, <a href="#Page_i_709">709</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Ballads</i>, early English, notice of a collection of, i. <a href="#Page_i_574">574-576</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Quotations from and allusions to them by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_577">577-593</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Balnevis</i> (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_676">676</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bandello</i>, principal novels of, translated by Paynter, i. <a href="#Page_i_541">541</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His novels wholly translated by Warner or Webbe, <a href="#Page_i_543">543</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Banquets</i>, where taken, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 144.</li> - - <li><i>Barksted</i> (William), encomiastic verses of, on Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, ii. 30.</li> - - <li><i>Barley-Break</i>, verses on, i. <a href="#Page_i_309">309</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">How played, <a href="#Page_i_310">310</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical description of, <a href="#Page_i_311">311</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Scottish mode of playing, <a href="#Page_i_312">312</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Barnefielde</i> (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, works of, i. <a href="#Page_i_676">676</a>, <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his affectionate shepherd, <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>. <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_677:A_1339">[677:A]</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Verses of, on Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, and Lucrece, ii. 29.</li> - - <li><i>Barnes</i> (Barnabe), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his Sonnets, <a href="#Page_i_677"><i>ibid.</i></a> <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_677:B_1340">[677:B]</a>.</li> - - <li>—— (Juliana), the book of St. Alban's of, reprinted by Markham, i. <a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92">70. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dedication of it, <a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the edition, with extracts, <a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92">71</a>, <a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92">72</a>. <i>notes</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The treatyse of Fishing not written by her, <a href="#Page_i_290">290</a>. and <a href="#Footnote_i_290:A_547"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Different editions of this work, <a href="#Page_i_291">291</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Baronets</i>, order of, when created, ii. 527.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their arms, 528.</li> - - <li><i>Barry's</i> "Ram Alley," illustrated, i. <a href="#Page_i_224">224</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Barson</i> or Barston, village, allusion to by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_51">51</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bastard</i> (Thomas), notice of the epigrams of, i. <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>. and <i><a href="#Footnote_i_677:C_1341">note</a></i>.</li> - - <li><i>Batman</i> (Stephen), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Batman</i>'s translation of "Bartholome de Proprietatibus Rerum," well known to Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_485">485</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bear-baiting</i>, a fashionable amusement in the age of Elizabeth, ii. 176.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Prices of entrance to the bear-gardens, 178.</li> - - <li><i>Beards</i>, fashions of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 102, 103.</li> - - <li>"<i>Beards Wag all</i>," the proverb of, explained, i. <a href="#Page_i_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_i_144">144</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Beaufort</i> (Cardinal), dying scene of, i. <a href="#Page_i_390">390</a>.</li> - - <li><i><a name="Beaumont" id="Beaumont"></a>Beaumont</i> (Sir John), critical notices of, as a poet, i. <a href="#Page_i_601">601</a>, <a href="#Page_i_602">602</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His elegiac tribute to the memory of the Earl of Southampton, ii. 17, 18.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">How far he assisted Fletcher, 558.</li> - - <li><i>Beaumont and Fletcher</i>, illustrations of the plays of,</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Custom of the Country, i. <a href="#Page_i_477">477</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fair Maid of the Inn, i. <a href="#Page_i_329">329</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Knight of the Burning Pestle, i. <a href="#Page_i_477">477</a>. ii. 282. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Playhouse to Let, ii. 282. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Scornful Lady, i. <a href="#Page_i_224">224</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Woman Pleased, act iv. sc. 1. i. <a href="#Page_i_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_i_173">173</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Beauty</i>, exquisite taste for, discoverable in Shakspeare's works, ii. 616-618.</li> - - <li><i>Bedchambers</i>, furniture of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 117.</li> - - <li><i>Belemnites</i>, or Hag-Stones, supposed virtues of, i. <a href="#Page_i_367">367</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Belleforest</i>'s and <i>Boisteau</i>'s "Cent Histoires Tragiques," a collection of tales, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_544">544</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bells</i>, why tolled at funerals, i. <a href="#Page_i_232">232-234</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Worn by Hawks, <a href="#Page_i_268">268</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Beltein</i>, or rural sacrifice of the Scotch Highlanders on May-day, i. <a href="#Page_i_152">152</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Bel-vedere</i>, or the Garden of the Muses," a collection of poems, critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_725">725</a>, <a href="#Page_i_726">726</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of contributors to it, <a href="#Page_i_726">726</a>, <a href="#Page_i_727">727</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Benefices</i> bestowed in Elizabeth's time on menial servants, i. <a href="#Page_i_92">92</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Betrothing</i>, ceremony of, i. <a href="#Page_i_220">220-223</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Betterton</i> (Mr.), visits Stratford, in quest of information concerning Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_34">34</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Beverley</i> (Peter), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bevis</i> (Sir), of Southampton, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_565">565</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions by Shakspeare to the romance of, <a href="#Page_i_565">565</a>, <a href="#Page_i_566">566</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bezoar</i> stones, supposed virtues of, i. <a href="#Page_i_367">367</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bibliography</i>, cultivated by Queen Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_428">428</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Influence of her example, <a href="#Page_i_433">433</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of eminent bibliographers and bibliophiles of her court, <a href="#Page_i_433">433-436</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bidford Topers</i>, anecdote of them and Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_48">48-50</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bieston</i> (Roger), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Biographical Writers</i>, during the age of Elizabeth, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_482">482</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Birds</i>, different modes of taking in the 16th century, i. <a href="#Page_i_287">287</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">By means of stalking-horses, <a href="#Page_i_288">288</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Bird-batting described, <a href="#Page_i_289">289</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Blackfriars</i>, theatre in, account of, ii. 209, 210.</li> - - <li><i>Black Letter</i> books, chiefly confined to the time of Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_438">438</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Blenerhasset</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Additions made by him to the "Mirrour for Magistrates," <a href="#Page_i_709">709</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Boar's-head</i>, anciently the first dish brought to table, i. <a href="#Page_i_76">76</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ceremonies attending it, <a href="#Page_i_201">201</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Verses on, <i>ibid.</i> <a href="#Page_i_202">202</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Boccacio</i>, principal novels of, translated by Paynter, i. <a href="#Page_i_541">541</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bodenham's</i> (John), "Garden of the Muses," a collection of poems, i. <a href="#Page_i_725">725</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical notice of, <a href="#Page_i_726">726</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of contributors to it, <a href="#Page_i_726">726</a>, <a href="#Page_i_727">727</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bodley</i> (Sir Thomas), an eminent book collector, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_433">433</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Observation of King James I. on quitting the Bodleian library, <a href="#Page_i_434">434</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bolton</i> (Edward), critical notice of his "<i>Hypercritica</i>: or Rule of Judgment for writing or reading our Historys," i. <a href="#Page_i_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_i_470">470-471</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bond</i> (Dr. John), an eminent Latin philologer, i. <a href="#Page_i_454">454</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Booke of St. Albans</i>, curious title and dedication of Markham's edition of, i. <a href="#Page_i_70">70</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Rarity of the original edition, <a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92">71. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">extract from, <i>ibid.</i>, <a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92">72. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Book of Sports</i>, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_i_174">174</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Books</i>, taste for, encouraged by Queen Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_428">428</a>. <a href="#Page_i_433">433-435</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Were anciently placed with their leaves outwards, <a href="#Page_i_436">436</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Were splendidly bound in the time of Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_432">432</a>. and <a href="#Footnote_i_432:B_862"><i>note</i></a>, <a href="#Page_i_436">436</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hints on the best mode of keeping books, <a href="#Page_i_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_i_437">437</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the style in which they were executed, <a href="#Page_i_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_i_438">438</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Boors</i>, or country clowns, character of, in the 16th century, i. <a href="#Page_i_120">120-122</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Boots</i>, preposterous fashions of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 106, 107.</li> - - <li><i>Bourcher</i> (Arthur), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bourman</i> (Nicholas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Boys</i> (Rev. John), an eminent Grecian, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_454">454</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bradshaw</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Brathwait</i>'s English Gentleman cited, i. <a href="#Page_i_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_i_259">259</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Brathwayte</i> (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_677">677</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Brawls</i>, a fashionable dance in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 173.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Different sorts of, <i>ibid.</i></li> - - <li><i>Bread</i>, enumeration of different kinds of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 127.</li> - - <li><i>Breeches</i>, preposterous size of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 104. and <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Breton</i> (Nicholas), critical notice of the poems of, i. <a href="#Page_i_602">602</a>, <a href="#Page_i_603">603</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Brewer</i>'s "Lingua," illustration of, i. <a href="#Page_i_477">477</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Brice</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_678">678</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bridal Bed</i>, why blessed, i. <a href="#Page_i_226">226</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bride</i>, custom of kissing at the altar, i. <a href="#Page_i_225">225</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed visionary appearances of future brides and bridegrooms, on Midsummer-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_332">332-334</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">and on All-Hallow-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_344">344-347</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bride Ale</i> (Rustic), description of, i. <a href="#Page_i_227">227-229</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Britton</i> (Mr.), remarks of, on the monumental bust of Shakspeare, ii. 619, 620.</li> - - <li><i>Broke</i> (Arthur), account of his "Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet," ii. 359. and <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Brooke</i> (Christopher), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_678">678</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Brooke</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_678">678</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Broughton</i> (Rowland), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_678">678</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Browne</i>'s (William), Britannia's Pastorals, quotations from, illustrative of ancient customs:—on May-day, i. <a href="#Page_i_155">155</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical notice of his merits as a poet, <a href="#Page_i_603">603</a>, <a href="#Page_i_604">604</a>, <a href="#Page_i_605">605</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Causes of his being neglected, <a href="#Page_i_605">605</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Brownie</i>, a benevolent Scottish fairy, account of, ii. 330-336.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Resemblance between him and Shakspeare's Puck, 351.</li> - - <li><i>Brutus</i>, character of, ii. 492.</li> - - <li><i>Brydges</i> (Sir Egerton), on the merits of Lodge, as a poet, i. <a href="#Page_i_633">633-635</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Estimate of the poetical character of Sir Walter Raleigh, <a href="#Page_i_640">640-642</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical observations of, on the "Paradise of Daintie Devises," <a href="#Page_i_714">714</a>, <a href="#Page_i_715">715</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And on "England's Helicon," <a href="#Page_i_721">721-723</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bryskett</i> (Lodowick), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_678">678</a>. and <i>note</i>. <a href="#Footnote_i_678:B_1344">[678:B]</a></li> - - <li><i>Buck</i> (Sir George), a minor poet in the time of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_678">678</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Buchanan</i>'s "Rerum Scoticarum Historia," character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_477">477</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bull-baiting</i>, a fashionable amusement in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 176, 177.</li> - - <li><i>Bullokar</i>'s "Bref Grammar for English," notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_i_456">456</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His innovations in English spelling, satirised by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_472">472</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Burbadge</i>, the player, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_417">417</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Burial</i>, ceremony of, i. <a href="#Page_i_232">232</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Tolling the passing-bell, <a href="#Page_i_232"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_i_234">234</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Lake wakes, described, <a href="#Page_i_234">234-236</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Vestiges of, in the north of England, <a href="#Page_i_237">237</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Funeral entertainments, <a href="#Page_i_238">238</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Garlands of flowers sometimes buried with the deceased, <a href="#Page_i_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_i_241">241</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Graves planted with flowers, <a href="#Page_i_242">242-244</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Burns</i>, poetical description by, of the spells of All-Hallow-Eve, i. <a href="#Page_i_346">346</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Burton</i> (William), critical notice of his "History of Leicestershire," i. <a href="#Page_i_481">481</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Burton</i>'s apology for May-games and sports, i. <a href="#Page_i_174">174</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Invective against the extravagance at inns, <a href="#Page_i_219">219</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His list of sports pursued in his time, <a href="#Page_i_247">247</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Portrait of the illiterate country gentlemen of that age, <a href="#Page_i_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_i_431">431</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Eulogium on books and book collectors, <a href="#Page_i_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_i_435">435</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The popular song of "Fortune my Foe," cited by him, <a href="#Page_i_577">577</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Burton on the Heath</i>, allusion to, by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_50">50</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Bust</i> of Shakspeare, in Stratford church, originality of, proved, ii. 620.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its character and expression injured through Mr. Malone's interference, 621.</li> - - <li><i>Buttes</i> (John), "Dyets Dry Dinner," curious extract from, ii. 218.</li> - - <li><i>Byrd</i>'s (William), collection of "Tenor Psalmes, Sonets, and Songs, of Pietie," &c. account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_731">731</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Byron</i>'s (Lord), "Siege of Corinth" illustrated, ii. 411.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">C</li> - - <li><i>Cæsar</i>. See <i><a href="#Julius_Caesar">Julius Cæsar</a></i>.</li> - - <li><i>Caliban</i>, remarks on the character of, ii. 506. 523. 525.</li> - - <li><i>Camden</i> (William), character of his "Annals," i. <a href="#Page_i_477">477</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Campbell</i>'s "Pleasures of Hope," character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_599">599</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Campion</i> (Thomas), critical notice of his "Observations on the Art of English Poesie," i. <a href="#Page_i_468">468</a>, <a href="#Page_i_469">469</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Canary Dance</i>, account of, ii. 175.</li> - - <li><i>Candlemas-day</i>, origin of the festival, i. <a href="#Page_i_138">138</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Why called "Wives' Feast Day," <a href="#Page_i_138"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ceremonies for Candlemas-eve and day, <a href="#Page_i_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_i_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_i_141">141</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Capel</i> (Mr.), Erroneous notions of, concerning Shakspeare's marriage, i. <a href="#Page_i_62">62</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His text of Shakspeare, one of the purest extant, ii. 48. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Caps</i> worn by the ladies, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 95.</li> - - <li><i>Carbuncle</i>, imaginary virtues of, i. <a href="#Page_i_396">396</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to it, <i>ibid.</i> <a href="#Page_i_397">397-399</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cards</i>, fashionable games of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 169, 170.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Were played in the theatre by the audience before the performance commenced, 217.</li> - - <li><i>Carew</i> (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_679">679</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Carew</i>'s "Survey of Cornwall," notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_481">481</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Carols</i> (Christmas), account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_197">197-202</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Carpenter</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_679">679</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Castiglione</i>'s "Cortegiano" translated into English, i. <a href="#Page_i_453">453</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Chair</i> of Shakspeare, purchased by Princess Czartoryskya, i. <a href="#Page_i_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_i_23">23</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Chalkhill</i> (John), critical notice of the poems of, i. <a href="#Page_i_605">605</a>. <a href="#Page_i_607">607</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Singular beauty of his pastorals, <a href="#Page_i_606">606</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Chalmers</i> (Mr.), probable conjecture of, on the authenticity of Shakspeare's will, i. <a href="#Page_i_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_i_16">16</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His hypothesis, concerning the person to whom Shakspeare addressed his sonnets, disproved, ii. 61, 62.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Examination of his conjectures respecting the date of Romeo and Juliet, 357, 358.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Richard III. 370, 371.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Richard II. 376.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Henry IV. Parts I. and II. 379.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the Merchant of Venice, 385.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Hamlet, 391.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of King John, 419.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of All's Well that Ends Well, 422, 423.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His opinion on the traditionary origin of the Merry Wives of Windsor controverted, 435, 436.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His conjecture on the date of Troilus and Cressida, 438.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Henry VIII. 442.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Timon of Athens, 444.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Measure for Measure, 452.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of King Lear, 457.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the Tempest, 500-503.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Othello, 528.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Twelfth Night, 532, 533.</li> - - <li><i>Chapman</i> (George), critical merits of as a poet, i. <a href="#Page_i_607">607</a>, <a href="#Page_i_608">608</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His tribute to the memory of the Earl of Southampton, ii. 17.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Estimate of his merits as a dramatic poet, 569, 570.</li> - - <li><i>Characters</i>, notice of writers of, in the age of Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_509">509-511</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Sketch of the public and private character of Queen Elizabeth, ii. 146-151.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">and of James I. 151, 152.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of Shakspeare's drama, remarks on, ii. 545.</li> - - <li><i>Charlcott-House</i>, the seat of Sir Thomas Lucy, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_402">402</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Charms</i> practised on Midsummer-Eve, i. <a href="#Page_i_331">331-333</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On All-Hallow-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_344">344-347</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed influence of, <a href="#Page_i_362">362-365</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Chaucer</i>, poetical description of May-day by, i. <a href="#Page_i_153">153</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Illustration of his "Assemblie of Fooles," <a href="#Page_i_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_i_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_i_381">381</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of the carbuncle, <a href="#Page_i_396">396</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Alluded to, by Shakspeare, ii. 79.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions by Chaucer to fairy mythology, 313. 317.</li> - - <li><i>Chester</i> (Robert), a minor poet, of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_679">679</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical notice of his "Love's Martyr," <a href="#Page_i_728">728</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Chettle</i> (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_679">679</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Children</i>, absurdity of frightening by superstitious tales, i. <a href="#Page_i_317">317</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of legendary tales, of their being stolen or changed by fairies, ii. 325-327.</li> - - <li><i>Chivalric Amusements</i> of Shakspeare's age, described, i. <a href="#Page_i_553">553-556</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Chivalry</i>, influence of, on the poetry of the Elizabethan age, i. <a href="#Page_i_596">596</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusion to it, by Shakspeare, ii. 79.</li> - - <li><i>Chopine</i> or Venetian stilt, notice of, ii. 98.</li> - - <li><i>Chrismale or Chrism-Cloth</i>, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_231">231</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Christenings</i>, description of, i. <a href="#Page_i_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_i_231">231</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Christian</i> IV. (King of Denmark), drunken entertainment given to, ii. 124, 125.</li> - - <li><i>Christian Name</i>, the same frequently given to two successive children in the age of Queen Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_4">4</a>. <i><a href="#Footnote_i_4:C_8">note</a></i>.</li> - - <li><i>Christmas Brand</i>, superstitious notion concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_140">140</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Christmas</i>, festival of, i. <a href="#Page_i_193">193</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of Pagan origin, <a href="#Page_i_194">194</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ceremony of bringing in the Christmas block, <a href="#Page_i_194"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_195">195</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Houses decorated with ivy, &c. on Christmas-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_i_196">196</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Origin of this custom, <a href="#Page_i_196">196</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Custom of singing carols in the morning, <a href="#Page_i_197">197</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Gambols, anciently in use at this season, <a href="#Page_i_202">202-205</a>, <a href="#Page_i_206">206</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_206:B_356"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical description of, by Herrick, <a href="#Page_i_206">206</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">and by Mr. Walter Scott, <a href="#Page_i_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_i_208">208</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">At present how celebrated, <a href="#Footnote_i_208:A_357">208. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Church-Ales</i>, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_i_178">178</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Churles</i> and gentlemen, difference between, i. <a href="#Page_i_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_i_72">72</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Church-yard</i> (Thomas), critical notice of the poems of, i. <a href="#Page_i_608">608</a>, <a href="#Page_i_609">609</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Chute</i> (Anthony), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_679">679</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Chronological list</i> of Shakspeare's plays, ii. 261, 262.</li> - - <li><i>Cinthio</i> (Giraldi), principal novels of, translated in the time of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_543">543</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Citizens</i> of London, dress of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 110, 111.</li> - - <li><i>Clapham</i> (Henoch), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_679">679</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Classical literature</i>, diffusion of, in the reign of Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_28">28</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fashionable among country gentlemen, <a href="#Page_i_82">82</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cultivated generally, <a href="#Page_i_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_i_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_i_451">451</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The knowlege of Greek literature greatly promoted by Sir Thomas Smith, and Sir Henry Savile, <a href="#Page_i_453">453</a>.;</li> - <li class="subsubitem">and Dr. Boys, <a href="#Page_i_454">454</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Latin literature promoted by Ascham, Grant, Bond, Rider, and others, <a href="#Page_i_454">454</a>, <a href="#Page_i_455">455</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Claudio</i>, remarks on the character of, in Measure for Measure, ii. 455.</li> - - <li><i>Cleanliness</i>, attention of Shakspeare's fairies to, ii. 346, 347.</li> - - <li><i>Cleaton</i> (Ralph, a clergyman), character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_92">92</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cleopatra</i>, remarks on the character of, ii. 493.</li> - - <li><i>Clergymen</i>, anciently styled <i>Sir</i>, i. <a href="#Page_i_87">87-90</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Picture of country clergymen in the age of Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_i_91">91</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their degraded state under James I. <a href="#Page_i_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_i_93">93</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The younger clergy, chiefly schoolmasters, <a href="#Page_i_94">94</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Bishop Hall's picture of their depressed state, <a href="#Page_i_95">95</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Prohibited from hawking, <a href="#Page_i_259">259</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_259:B_478"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Clerk-ale</i>, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_176">176</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cloten</i>, remarks on the character of, in Cymbeline, ii. 468.</li> - - <li><i>Clothes</i>, materials of, in the age of Elizabeth, ii. 91.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">How preserved, <i>ibid.</i> 92.</li> - - <li><i>Clown</i> (country), character of in the 16th century, i. <a href="#Page_i_120">120-122</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Coaches</i>, when first introduced into England, ii. 146.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Extravagant number of, used by the great, 147.</li> - - <li>"<i>Cock and Pye</i>," explanation of the phrase, i. <a href="#Page_i_554">554</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cockayn</i> (Sir Aston), epigram of, on Wincot-ale, i. <a href="#Page_i_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_i_49">49</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cock-fighting</i>, a favourite sport in Shakspeare's age, i. <a href="#Page_i_145">145</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Awful death of a cock-fighter, <a href="#Footnote_i_145:D_214">146. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cocks</i>, throwing at, a barbarous sport on Shrove-Tuesday, i. <a href="#Page_i_145">145</a>. and <a href="#Footnote_i_145:D_214"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ridiculed by Hogarth, <a href="#Page_i_145"><i>ibid.</i></a>;</li> - <li class="subsubitem">and now completely put down, <a href="#Page_i_146">146</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Colet</i>'s (Dean), Grammatical Institutes, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_26">26</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Combe</i> (Mr. John), satyrical epitaph on, by Shakspeare, ii. 605.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His character, <i>ibid.</i></li> - - <li><i>Combe</i> (Mr. Thomas), notice of, ii. 629. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Bequest to him by Shakspeare, 629.</li> - - <li><i>Comedy</i>, "<i>Gammer Gurton's Needle</i>," the first ever performed in England, ii. 227.</li> - - <li><i>Comedy of Errors</i>, probable date of, ii. 286.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Mr. Steevens' opinion that this drama was not wholly Shakspeare's, controverted and disproved, 287, 288.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Superior to the Menæchmi of Plautus, whence its fable is borrowed, 286-288.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Exquisite portrait of Ægeon, 288.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">General observations on this drama, 288, 289.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama, which are cited and illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Comedy of Errors referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">364.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_394">394</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_556">556</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Comic Painting</i>, exquisite, of Shakspeare's dramas, ii. 550.</li> - - <li><i>Commentators</i> in the age of Shakspeare, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_470">470</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Compact</i> of witches with the devil, account of, ii. 183-185.</li> - - <li><i>Compliments</i>, extravagant, current in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 161, 162.</li> - - <li><i>Composition</i> of the poetry of the Elizabethan age considered, i. <a href="#Page_i_597">597</a>, <a href="#Page_i_598">598</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Compton</i> (Lady), moderate demands of, from her husband, ii. 145.</li> - - <li><i>Conduct</i> of Shakspeare's drama considered, ii. 541-544.</li> - - <li><i>Conjurors</i> and schoolmasters, frequently united in the same person in the 16th century, i. <a href="#Page_i_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_i_96">96</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Constable</i> (Henry), critical notice of the poems of, i. <a href="#Page_i_609">609</a>, <a href="#Page_i_610">610</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Particularly of his sonnets, ii. 55.</li> - - <li><i>Constance</i>, remarks on the character of, ii. 420, 421.</li> - - <li><i>Cooks</i>, in Shakspeare's time, overlooked by their masters, i. <a href="#Page_i_74">74</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Were better paid than clergymen, <a href="#Page_i_93">93</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cooper</i>'s Latin and English Dictionary, used by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_26">26</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The author preferred by Queen Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_27">27</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Copley</i> (Anthony), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_679">679</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Copyholder</i>, character of a poor one, in the time of Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_120">120</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Copyrights</i> of plays, how disposed of in Shakspeare's time, ii. 224, 225.</li> - - <li><i>Cordelia</i>, beautiful character of, ii. 465.</li> - - <li><i>Coriolanus</i>, date of the tragedy of, ii. 493.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on its conduct and the characters introduced, 494.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Coriolanus referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_397">397</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_554">554</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Cornwall</i>, May-day how celebrated in, i. <a href="#Page_i_153">153</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Observance of Midsummer-eve there, <a href="#Page_i_334">334</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Corpse-Candles</i>, superstitious notions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_358">358-360</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Coryate</i>'s "Crudities," critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_478">478</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cotswold games</i>, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_252">252-254</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Revived by Dover, <a href="#Page_i_253">253</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Similar sports in other places, <a href="#Page_i_255">255</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cottages</i> of farmers or yeomen, in the time of Elizabeth, described, i. <a href="#Page_i_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_i_100">100</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their furniture and household accommodations, <a href="#Page_i_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_i_103">103</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cottesford</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_679">679</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cotton</i> (Sir Robert), an eminent book collector, i. <a href="#Page_i_438">438</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cotton</i> (Roger), a minor poet, of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_680">680</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Country inns</i>, picture of, i. <a href="#Page_i_216">216-218</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Country life</i>, manners and customs during the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_68">68-122</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of its holidays and festivals, amusements, <a href="#Page_i_123">123-313</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Superstitions, <a href="#Page_i_314">314-400</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Literature but little cultivated, <a href="#Page_i_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_i_431">431</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Country squires</i>, rank of, in Shakspeare's age, i. <a href="#Page_i_68">68</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of their mansion houses, <a href="#Page_i_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_i_73">73</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And halls, <a href="#Page_i_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_i_77">77-79</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Distinctions observed at their tables, <a href="#Page_i_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_i_75">75</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their diet, <a href="#Page_i_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_i_76">76</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">But little skilled in literature, <a href="#Page_i_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_i_431">431</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Portrait of a country squire in the reign of Queen Anne, 88. <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_86:B_122">[86:B]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Courtiers</i> of Elizabeth, sometimes wrote lyrics, for music, i. <a href="#Page_i_731">731</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Instances of her rough treatment of them, ii. 150, 151.</li> - - <li><i>Courting chair</i> of Shakspeare, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_61">61</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Courtship</i>, how anciently conducted, i. <a href="#Page_i_220">220</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cox</i> (Captain), an eminent book collector, i. <a href="#Page_i_434">434</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of romances in his library, <a href="#Page_i_518">518</a>, <a href="#Page_i_519">519</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on it by Mr. Dibdin, <a href="#Page_i_520">520</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Crab-tree</i>, Shakspeare's, still remaining at Bidford, i. <a href="#Page_i_49">49</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Roasted crabs and ale a favourite mess, <a href="#Page_i_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_i_106">106</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Credulity</i> of the age of Shakspeare, instances of, i. <a href="#Page_i_314">314-400</a>. ii. 154.</li> - - <li><i>Criticism</i>, state of, in the age of Elizabeth and James I., i. <a href="#Page_i_456">456</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Severity of controversial criticism, <a href="#Page_i_457">457</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Lampooning critics, <a href="#Page_i_459">459</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of the critical labours of Gascoigne, <a href="#Page_i_461">461</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of James I. <a href="#Page_i_461"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_i_463">463</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Webbe, <a href="#Page_i_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_i_464">464</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Spenser, <a href="#Page_i_464">464</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Fraunce, <a href="#Page_i_464">464</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Hake, <a href="#Page_i_464"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_465">465</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Puttenham, <a href="#Page_i_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_i_466">466</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Sir John Harrington, <a href="#Page_i_466">466</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Sir Philip Sidney, <a href="#Page_i_467">467</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Meres, <a href="#Page_i_468">468</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Campion, <a href="#Page_i_468"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="subsubitem">and of Bolton, <a href="#Page_i_470">470</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Crocodiles</i>, legendary tales concerning, noticed, i. <a href="#Page_i_389">389</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cromek</i> (Mr.), accounts by, of the fairy superstitions in Scotland, ii. 325, 326.</li> - - <li><i>Cross-bow</i>, chiefly used for killing game, ii. 182.</li> - - <li><i>Culrose</i> (Elizabeth), a minor poetess of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_680">680</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Curiosity</i> of the age of Shakspeare, illustrations of, ii. 155.</li> - - <li><i>Cutwode</i> (T.), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_680">680</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Cymbeline</i>, probable date of, ii. 466.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Beauty of its fable, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the character of Imogen, 467.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of Cloten, 468.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama, illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Cymbeline referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">115. 117.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">113.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_297">297</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">91.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_243">243</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_214">214</a>. <a href="#Page_i_395">395</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_397">397</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Czartoryska</i> (Princess), the purchaser of Shakspeare's chair, i. <a href="#Page_i_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_i_23">23</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">D</li> - - <li>"<i>Damon and Pythias</i>," illustration of, i. <a href="#Page_i_106">106</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Dancing</i>, a favourite amusement in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 174.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of different kinds of dances, The Brawl, 175.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">The Pavin, <i>ibid.</i> 176.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Canary Dance, 177.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Corantoes, <i>ibid.</i> 178.</li> - - <li><i>Dancing Horse</i>, in the time of Shakspeare, notice of, ii. 186.</li> - - <li><i>Danes</i>, massacre of, i. <a href="#Page_i_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_i_150">150</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Danger</i>, supposed omens of, i. <a href="#Page_i_351">351-354</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Daniel</i> (Samuel), critical notice of his "Defence of Ryme," i. <a href="#Page_i_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_i_470">470</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of his poems, <a href="#Page_i_611">611</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Causes of the unpopularity of his poem on the "Civil Wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster," <a href="#Page_i_611"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">General observations on his style and versification, <a href="#Page_i_612">612</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his sonnets, ii. 55.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Was the prototype of Shakspeare's amatory verse, 57, 58.</li> - - <li><i>Daniel</i>'s History of England, character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_i_477">477</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Darwin's</i> (Dr.), poetical description of the night-mare, i. <a href="#Footnote_i_348:B_659">348. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Davenant</i> (Sir William), anecdote of his attachment to Shakspeare, ii. 589.</li> - - <li><i>Davidstone</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_680">680</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Davies</i> (Sir John), notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_613">613</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical merits of his poem, entitled "Nosce Teipsum," <a href="#Page_i_613"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - - <li><i>Davies</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, list of the pieces of, i. <a href="#Page_i_680">680</a>. and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_680:B_1348">[680:B]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Davison</i> (Francis and Walter), minor poets in the time of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_680">680</a>, <a href="#Page_i_681">681</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical notice of their "Poetical Rapsodie," i. <a href="#Page_i_728">728-730</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Davors</i> (John), critical remarks on the poems of, i. <a href="#Page_i_614">614</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Days</i> (particular), superstitious notions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_323">323</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">St. Valentine's-Day, <a href="#Page_i_324">324</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Midsummer-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_329">329</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Michaelmas-Day, <a href="#Page_i_334">334</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">All-Hallow-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_341">341</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Dead</i>, bodies, frequently rifled of their hair, ii. 92, 93.</li> - - <li><i>Death</i>, account of supposed omens of, i. <a href="#Page_i_351">351-362</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Delineation of, ii. 455, 456.</li> - - <li><i>Decker</i> (Thomas), character of as a miscellaneous writer, i. <a href="#Page_i_486">486</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his "Gul's Horn Booke," <a href="#Page_i_487">487</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of his "Belman in London," <a href="#Page_i_487"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of his "Lanthern and Candlelight," <a href="#Page_i_487"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">His quarrel with Ben Jonson, <a href="#Page_i_487"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable time of his death, <a href="#Page_i_488">488</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Estimate of his merits, as a dramatic poet, ii. 566, 567.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Extract from his "Gul's Horn Book," on the fashions of that age, ii. 102.</li> - - <li class="passages"><i>Passages of his Plays, which are illustrated or explained.</i></li> - <li class="subsubitem">The Honest Whore, i. <a href="#Page_i_75">75</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">More Dissemblers besides Women, ii. 147.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Seven Deadly Sinnes of London, i. <a href="#Page_i_251">251</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Villanies Discovered by Lantorne and Candle-light, i. <a href="#Page_i_273">273</a>. <a href="#Page_i_396">396</a>.</li> - - <li class="afterpassage"><i>Dedications</i> of plays, customary reward for, ii. 225.</li> - - <li><i>Dee</i> (Dr. John), an eminent book-collector, i. <a href="#Page_i_434">434</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And magician, ii. 510.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of his singular character, 510-513.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Catalogue of his library, 511, 512. <i>notes</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Deer-stealing</i>, Shakspeare punished for, i. <a href="#Page_i_404">404</a>, <a href="#Page_i_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_i_408">408</a>.</li> - - <li><i>De la Casa</i> (John), the "Galatea" of, translated into English, i. <a href="#Page_i_453">453</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Delone</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_681">681</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his "Ballads," <a href="#Page_i_681"><i>ibid.</i></a> <i>note</i> <a href="#FNanchor_i_681:A_1350">[681:A]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Demoniacal</i> voices and shrieks, superstitious notions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_355">355</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The presence of demons supposed to be indicated by lights burning blue, <a href="#Page_i_358">358</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Dennys</i>, or Davors, (John), "Treatyse on Fishing," notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_291">291</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Beautiful quotation from, <a href="#Page_i_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_i_293">293</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His book translated into prose by Markham, <a href="#Page_i_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_i_294">294</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Derricke</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_681">681</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Descriptions</i>, exquisite, in Shakspeare's "Venus and Adonis," ii. 21-26, 27.</li> - - <li><i>Desdemona</i>, beautiful ditty quoted by, i. <a href="#Page_i_592">592</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on her character, ii. 531.</li> - - <li><i>Desserts</i>, where taken, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 144.</li> - - <li><i>Devil</i>, supposed compact with, of witches, account of, ii. 483-485.</li> - - <li><i>Dibdin</i>'s (Rev. T. F.), "Bibliomania," notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_432">432</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His character of "Stubbes's Anatomie of Abuses," <a href="#Page_i_502">502</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of Dr. Dee's library, ii. 511, 512. <i>notes</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Dicer's Oaths</i>, falsehood of, illustrated, ii. 171, 172.</li> - - <li><i>Dictionaries</i>, list of, in use in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_25">25</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_25:A_32"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cooper's Latin and English Dictionary used by him, <a href="#Page_i_26">26</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Diet</i> of country squires in the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_i_76">76</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of country gentlemen, <a href="#Page_i_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_i_80">80</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of farmers or yeomen, on ordinary occasions, <a href="#Page_i_103">103-108</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On festivals, <a href="#Page_i_109">109</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of the sovereigns and higher classes during the age of Shakspeare, ii. 120-129.</li> - - <li><i>Digby</i> (Sir Kenelm), marvellous properties ascribed to his sympathetic powder, i. <a href="#Page_i_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_i_376">376</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Dinner</i>, hour of, in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 125.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the dinners of the higher classes, 126-129.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hands, why always washed before dinner, 145.</li> - - <li><i>Dionysius</i>'s angelic hierarchy, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_335">335</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Distaff's</i> (Saint) <i>Day</i>, festival of, i. <a href="#Page_i_135">135</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Verses on, <a href="#Page_i_135"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_136">136</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Diversions</i>, in the age of Shakspeare, enumeration of, i. <a href="#Page_i_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_i_247">247</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the itinerant stage, <a href="#Page_i_247">247-252</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cotswold games, <a href="#Page_i_252">252-254</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hawking, <a href="#Page_i_255">255</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hunting, <a href="#Page_i_272">272</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fowling, <a href="#Page_i_287">287</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Bird-batting, <a href="#Page_i_289">289</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fishing, <a href="#Page_i_289">289</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Horse-racing, <a href="#Page_i_297">297</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The Quintaine, <a href="#Page_i_300">300</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Wild-goose chace, <a href="#Page_i_304">304</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hurling, <a href="#Page_i_305">305</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shovel-board, <a href="#Page_i_306">306</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shove-groat, <a href="#Page_i_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Juvenile sports, <a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Barley breake, <a href="#Page_i_309">309</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Whipping a top, <a href="#Page_i_312">312</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Diversions of the metropolis and court, ii. 168.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Card-playing, 169.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Tables and dice, 171.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Dancing, 172.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Bull-baiting and bear-baiting, 176.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Archery, 178.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Frequenting of Paul's Walk, 182.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Sagacious horses, 186.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Masques and Pageants, 187.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Royal Progresses, 193.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">The stage, 201-226.</li> - - <li><i>Dives</i>, or evil genii of the Persians, ii. 303.</li> - - <li><i>Dogberry</i>, origin of the character of, ii. 589.</li> - - <li><i>Donne</i> (Dr.), critical notice of the poems of, i. <a href="#Page_i_615">615</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Doublets</i>, fashion of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 104, 105.</li> - - <li><i>Douce</i> (Mr.), beautiful version of a Christmas carol by, i. <a href="#Page_i_200">200</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the source of Shakspeare's Merchant of Venice, ii. 385, 386.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His vindication of Shakspeare's love of music, against Mr. Steevens's flippant censures, 390.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Conjectures on the probable date of Shakspeare's Tempest, 504.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His "Illustrations of Shakspeare" cited, <i>passim</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Dowricke</i> (Anne), a minor poetess of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_681">681</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Dragon</i>, introduction of, into the May-games, i. <a href="#Page_i_166">166</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Drake</i> (Sir Francis), costly new year's gift of, to Queen Elizabeth, ii. 99. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Tobacco first introduced into England by him, 135.</li> - - <li><i>Drake</i> (Lady), beautiful sonnet to, i. <a href="#Page_i_621">621</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Drama</i>, patronized by Elizabeth and her ministers, ii. 202. 205.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">By private individuals, whose names they bore, 205.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And by James I., 206.</li> - - <li><i>Dramatic Poets</i>, remuneration of, in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 224, 225.</li> - - <li><i>Dramatic Poetry</i>, sketch of, from the birth of Shakspeare to the period of his commencing a writer for the stage, i. <a href="#Page_i_227">227</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Mysteries, moralities, and interludes, the first performances, <a href="#Page_i_227"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ferrex and Porrex, the first regular tragedy, <a href="#Page_i_227"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Gammar Gurton's Needle, the first regular comedy, <a href="#Page_i_227"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dramatic Histories, <a href="#Page_i_228">228</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Composite drama of Tarleton, <a href="#Page_i_229">229</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of eminent dramatic poets during this period, <a href="#Page_i_230">230-251</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Conjectures as to the extent of Shakspeare's obligation to his predecessors, <a href="#Page_i_253">253-255</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Brief view of dramatic poetry, and its principal cultivators, during Shakspeare's connection with the stage, ii. 556.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the dramatic works of Fletcher, 557.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Massinger, 561.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Ford, 563.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Webster, 564.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Middleton, 565.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Decker, 566.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Marston, 567.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Heywood, 568.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Chapman, 569.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Rowley, 570.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Other minor dramatic poets, 570, 571.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Ben Jonson, 572-580.</li> - - <li><i>Drant</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_681">681</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Drayton</i> (Michael), notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_615">615</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on his historical poetry, <a href="#Page_i_615">615</a>, <a href="#Page_i_616">616</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">On his topographical, epistolary, and pastoral poems, <a href="#Page_i_616">616</a>, <a href="#Page_i_617">617</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And on his miscellaneous poetry, <a href="#Page_i_617">617</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical description by him of the dress, &c. of young women, i. <a href="#Page_i_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_i_84">84</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Robin Hood, <a href="#Page_i_159">159</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Tom the Piper, <a href="#Page_i_164">164</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Sheep-shearing, <a href="#Page_i_182">182</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the carbuncle, <a href="#Page_i_397">397</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Encomium on Lilly's Euphues, <a href="#Page_i_442">442</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Commendatory verses by, on Shakspeare's Rape of Lucrece, ii. 39.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His tragedies, totally lost, 571.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his Sonnets, ii. 56.</li> - - <li><i>Dreams</i>, considered as prognostics of good or evil, i. <a href="#Page_i_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_i_355">355</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Dress</i> of country gentlemen, in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_i_83">83</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of farmers or yeomen, <a href="#Page_i_110">110</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Wedding dress of a rustic, <a href="#Page_i_229">229</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proper for anglers, <a href="#Page_i_293">293</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_293:B_551"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of the inhabitants of London, during the age of Shakspeare, ii. 87-89.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of Queen Elizabeth, 89, 91.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of the ladies of that time, 91, 92. 100.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of the gentlemen, 87, 88, 89. 101-109.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of the citizen, 110, 111.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of servants, 138.</li> - - <li><i>Drinking</i> of healths, origin of, i. <a href="#Page_i_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_i_128">128</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Drummond</i> (William), biographical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_617">617</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His merits as a poet, considered, <a href="#Page_i_618">618</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Drunkenness</i>, propensity of the English to, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 128, 129.</li> - - <li><i>Dryden</i>'s testimony to the priority of Shakspeare's Pericles, considered, ii. 280, 281.</li> - - <li><i>Duelling</i>, prevalence of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 158.</li> - - <li><i>Dunlop</i> (Mr.), opinion of on the source of Shakspeare's Romeo and Juliet, ii. 360-362.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of Measure for Measure, 453.</li> - - <li><i>Durham</i>, Easter gambols at, i. <a href="#Page_i_148">148</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_148:C_222"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Dyer's</i> "Fleece," illustration of, i. <a href="#Page_i_183">183</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Dying</i>, form of prayers for, i. <a href="#Page_i_233">233</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Superstitious notions concerning the last moments of persons dying, i. <a href="#Page_i_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_i_391">391</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">E</li> - - <li><i>Earle</i> (Bishop), character of his "Microcosmography," i. <a href="#Page_i_511">511</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His portrait of an upstart country squire or knight, i. <a href="#Page_i_84">84</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of a country fellow, or clown, <a href="#Page_i_120">120-122</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Earthquake</i> of 1580, alluded to by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_52">52</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of, <a href="#Page_i_52"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_53">53</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Easter-tide</i>, festival of, i. <a href="#Page_i_146">146</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Early rising on Easter Sunday, <a href="#Page_i_146"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Amusements, <a href="#Page_i_146"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Handball, <a href="#Page_i_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_i_148">148</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Presenting of eggs, <a href="#Page_i_148">148</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Edgar</i>, remarks on the assumed madness of, i. <a href="#Page_i_588">588</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Contrast between his insanity and the madness of Lear, ii. 462. 464.</li> - - <li><i>Education</i>, state of, during Shakspeare's youth, i. <a href="#Page_i_25">25-28</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Edwardes</i> (C.), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_681">681</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Edward</i> (Richard), specimen of the poetical talents of, i. <a href="#Page_i_713">713</a>, <a href="#Page_i_714">714</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his dramatic compositions, ii. 231, 232.</li> - - <li><i>Eggs</i>, custom of giving, at Easter, i. <a href="#Page_i_148">148</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Elderton</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_681">681</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Elizabeth</i> (Queen), school books commanded by, to be used, i. <a href="#Page_i_26">26</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Visit of, to the Earl of Leicester, at Kenelworth Castle, <a href="#Page_i_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_i_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_i_39">39</a>. ii. 191-199.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of presents made to her on New-Year's Day, i. <a href="#Page_i_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_i_126">126</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Magnificent reception of her, at Norwich, <a href="#Page_i_192">192</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_192:A_325"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Her wisdom in establishing the Flemings in this country, <a href="#Page_i_192">192</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_192:B_326"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">A keen huntress, <a href="#Page_i_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_i_286">286</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Touched persons for the evil, <a href="#Page_i_371">371</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cultivated bibliography, <a href="#Page_i_428">428</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The ladies of her court skilled in Greek equally with herself, <a href="#Page_i_429">429</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Classical literature encouraged at her court, <a href="#Page_i_429"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_i_432">432</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of her Prayer-book, <a href="#Page_i_432">432</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Influence of her example, <a href="#Page_i_433">433</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of her works, <a href="#Page_i_451">451</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Deeply skilled in Italian literature, <a href="#Page_i_451"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of her poetical pieces, <a href="#Page_i_704">704</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_704:A_1426"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proof that Shakspeare's Sonnets were not, and could not be addressed to her, ii. 61, 73. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Instances of her vanity and love of dress, 90, 91.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of her dress, 89, 90.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Amount of her wardrobe, 91, 92.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Silk stockings first worn by her, 98.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Costly New-Year's gifts made to her, 99.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Furniture of her palaces, 111, 112.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of the mode in which her table was served, 122, 123.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Her character as a sovereign, 145, 146.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Her industry, 146.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Instances of her vanity and coquetry, 147.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Affectation of youth, 148.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Artfulness, 149.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Extreme jealousy, 150.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ill treatment of her courtiers, 150, 151.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Excelled in dancing, 172.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Delighted with bear-baiting, 176.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of her progresses, 193-199.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Passionately fond of dramatic performances, 202, 205.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ordered Shakspeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor," 435.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And bestowed many marks of her favour upon him, 590.</li> - - <li><i>Elfland</i> or Fairy Land, description of, ii. 318, 319.</li> - - <li><i>Elves</i> or fairies of the Scandinavians, ii. 308.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the Bright Elves, or benevolent fairies, 308, 309.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of the Swart Elves, or malignant fairies, 309, 310.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of the Scottish Elves, 314-336.</li> - - <li><i>Elviden</i> (Edmond), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_681">681</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>England's Helicon</i>," a collection of poems, critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_721">721-723</a>.</li> - - <li><i>English Language</i> but little cultivated prior to the time of Ascham, i. <a href="#Page_i_439">439</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Improved by the labours of Wilson, <a href="#Page_i_440">440</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Corrupted by Lilly, in the reign of Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_441">441</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And by the interlarding of Latin quotations in that of James I., <a href="#Page_i_442">442</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubsubitem">This affectation satyrised by Sir Philip Sidney, <a href="#Page_i_444">444</a>, <a href="#Page_i_445">445</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubsubsubitem">And by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_i_446">446</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The English language improved by Sir Walter Raleigh and his contemporaries, <a href="#Page_i_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_i_447">447</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the prose writers of the reign of James I., <a href="#Page_i_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_i_448">448</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of Mulcaster's labours for improving it, <a href="#Page_i_455">455</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of Bullokar's, <a href="#Page_i_455"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_456">456</a>.</li> - - <li><i>English Mercury</i>, the first newspaper ever published, i. <a href="#Page_i_508">508</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Specimen of, <a href="#Page_i_508"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - - <li><i>English nation</i>, character of, ii. 154.</li> - - <li>"<i>Epicedium</i>," a funeral song on the death of Lady Branch, ii. 38. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Extract from, in commendation of Shakspeare's Rape of Lucrece, 39. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Epilogue</i>, concluded with prayer in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 222, 223.</li> - - <li><i>Epitaph</i> on Shakspeare, in Stratford church, ii. 619.</li> - - <li><i>Epitaphs</i> by Shakspeare:—a satirical one on Mr. Combe, ii. 605.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On Sir Thomas Stanley, 607.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And on Elias James, 607. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Erskine</i> (Mr.) exquisite poetical allusions of, to fairy mythology, ii. 327, 328, 336.</li> - - <li><i>Espousals</i>, ceremony of, i. <a href="#Page_i_220">220-223</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Essays</i>, critical account of the writers of, in the age of Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_511">511-517</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Evans</i> (Lewes and William), minor poets of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_682">682</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Evergreens</i>, why carried at funerals, i. <a href="#Page_i_239">239</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Evil spirits</i>, supposed to be driven away by the sound of the passing-bell, i. <a href="#Page_i_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_i_233">233</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">F</li> - - <li><i>Facetiæ</i>, notice of writers of, during the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_515">515-517</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Faerie Queene</i>" of Spenser, critical remarks on, i. <a href="#Page_i_646">646-649</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fairefax</i> (Edward), biographical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_619">619</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Examination of his version of Tasso, <a href="#Page_i_619"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">His original poetry lost, <a href="#Page_i_620">620</a>.</li> - - <li><i><a id="Fairies"></a>Fairies</i>, superstitious traditions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_320">320</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their supposed influence on All-Hallow-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_333">333</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed to haunt fountains and wells, <a href="#Page_i_392">392</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical account of the fairy mythology of Shakspeare, ii. 302.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Oriental fairies, 302, 303.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The knowledge of the oriental fairy mythology introduced from the Italians, 303.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Origin of the Gothic system of fairy mythology, 304.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Known in England in the eleventh century, 306.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Scandinavian system of fairy mythology, 308-312.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Scandinavian system current in England in the thirteenth century, 313.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Scottish elves, <i>ibid.</i> 314.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Their dress and weapons, 315.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Lowland fairies, 316.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to fairy superstitions by Chaucer, 313. 317.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of Elf or Fairy-land, 318, 319.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Allusions to it by various poets, 319-321.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fairy processions at Roodsmass, 322.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fairies in Scotland supposed to appear most commonly by moonlight, 323.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Their supposed influence on pregnant women, 324.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Children said to be stolen and changed by them, 325, 326.</li> - <li class="subsubsubitem">Expedients for recovering them, 326, 327.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Their speech, food, and work, 328, 329.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the malignant fairy called the <i>Wee Brown Man of the Muirs</i>, 329, 330.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Traditions relative to the benevolent sprite, Brownie, 330-336.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The fairy mythology of Shakspeare, though partly founded on Scottish tradition, yet, from its novelty and poetic beauty, meriting the title of the <i>English System</i>, 337, 338.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Critical illustrations of his allusions to fairies and Fairy-land, 337-353.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Scandinavia the parent of our popular fairy mythology, which has undergone various modifications, 353-355.</li> - - <li><i>Fairs</i>, how celebrated antiently, i. <a href="#Page_i_214">214-216</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Falconer</i>, an important officer in the households of the great, i. <a href="#Page_i_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_i_266">266</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His qualifications, <a href="#Page_i_266">266</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Falconry</i>, when introduced into England, i. <a href="#Page_i_255">255</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Universal among the nobility and gentry, <a href="#Page_i_255"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_256">256</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notices of books on, <a href="#Page_i_257">257</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_257:A_476"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Falconry an expensive diversion, <a href="#Page_i_257">257-259</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Prohibited to the clergy, <a href="#Page_i_259">259</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_259:B_478"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on this sport, <a href="#Page_i_260">260-262</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical description of it by Massinger, <a href="#Page_i_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_i_263">263</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">A favourite diversion of the ladies, <a href="#Page_i_265">265</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Falcons</i>, different sorts of, i. <a href="#Page_i_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_i_264">264</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of their training, <a href="#Page_i_266">266-271</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Falstaff</i>, analysis of the character of, as introduced in Shakspeare's plays of Henry IV., Parts I. and II., ii. 381-384.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And in the Merry Wives of Windsor, 436.</li> - - <li><i>Fans</i>, structure and fashion of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 98, 99.</li> - - <li><i>Fare</i> of country squires in the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_i_76">76</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of country gentlemen, <a href="#Page_i_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_i_80">80</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of the sovereign and higher classes, ii. 120-129.</li> - - <li><i><a name="Farmers" id="Farmers"></a>Farmers</i>, character of, in the time of Edward VI., i. <a href="#Page_i_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_i_101">101</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">In Queen Elizabeth's time, <a href="#Page_i_98">98</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of their houses or cottages, <a href="#Page_i_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_i_100">100</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Their furniture and household accommodations, <a href="#Page_i_101">101</a>. <a href="#Page_i_103">103</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Their ordinary diet, <a href="#Page_i_103">103-108</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubsubitem">Diet on festivals, <a href="#Page_i_109">109</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dress, <a href="#Page_i_110">110</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Qualifications of a good farmer's wife, <a href="#Page_i_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_i_112">112</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Occupations, &c. of their servants, <a href="#Page_i_113">113</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Manners, &c. of Scottish farmers during the same period, <a href="#Page_i_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_i_118">118</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Progress of extravagance among this class of persons, <a href="#Page_i_119">119</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Farmer</i> (Dr.), conclusion of, as to the result of Shakspeare's school education, i. <a href="#Page_i_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_i_30">30</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His conclusion controverted, <a href="#Page_i_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_i_31">31</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His opinion as to the extent of Shakspeare's knowledge of French and Italian literature considered, <a href="#Page_i_54">54-56</a>, <a href="#Page_i_57">57</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Faulconbridge</i>, analysis of the character of, ii. 120.</li> - - <li><i>Feasts</i> (ordinary), curious directions for, i. <a href="#Page_i_80">80</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_80:A_106"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Felton</i>'s portrait of Shakspeare, authenticity of, ii. 623.</li> - - <li><i>Fenner</i> (Dudley), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_682">682</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fenton</i>'s (Geffray), account of his "Certain Tragicall Discourses," a popular collection of Italian novels, i. <a href="#Page_i_542">542</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fern-seed</i>, supposed to be visible on Midsummer-Eve, i. <a href="#Page_i_329">329</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Ferrex and Porrex</i>," the first regular tragedy ever performed in England, i. <a href="#Page_i_227">227</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Ferrers</i> (George), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_682">682</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Ferriar</i> (Dr.), theory of apparitions of, ii. 406.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Application of it to the character of Hamlet, 407.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His opinion of the merits of Massinger as a dramatic poet controverted, 562.</li> - - <li><i>Festivals</i>, account of those observed in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_123">123</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">New-Year's Day, <a href="#Page_i_123">123-126</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Twelfth Day, <a href="#Page_i_127">127-134</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">St. Distaff's Day, <a href="#Page_i_135">135</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Plough Monday, <a href="#Page_i_136">136-138</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Candlemas Day, <a href="#Page_i_138">138-140</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shrove Tide, <a href="#Page_i_141">141-145</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Easter Tide, <a href="#Page_i_146">146-148</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hock Day, <a href="#Page_i_149">149-151</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">May Day, <a href="#Page_i_152">152-174</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Whitsuntide, <a href="#Page_i_175">175-180</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Sheep-shearing, <a href="#Page_i_181">181-185</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Harvest-home, <a href="#Page_i_185">185-190</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Martinmas, <a href="#Page_i_192">192</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Christmas, <a href="#Page_i_193">193-208</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Wakes or fairs, <a href="#Page_i_209">209-249</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Weddings, <a href="#Page_i_219">219-229</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Christenings, <a href="#Page_i_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_i_231">231</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Burials, <a href="#Page_i_232">232-245</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fete</i>, magnificent, at Kenelworth Castle, given to Queen Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_37">37-39</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fetherstone</i> (Christopher), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_682">682</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fires</i> kindled on Midsummer-Eve, of Pagan origin, i. <a href="#Page_i_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_i_329">329</a>;</li> - <li class="listsubitem">and on All-Hallow-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_341">341</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fire Spirits</i>, machinery of, introduced in the Tempest, ii. 521, 522.</li> - - <li><i>Fishing</i>, pursued with avidity, in the 16th century, i. <a href="#Page_i_289">289</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of books on this sport, <a href="#Page_i_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_i_291">291</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical description of, <a href="#Page_i_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_i_293">293</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Qualifications requisite for, <a href="#Page_i_294">294-297</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fitzgeffrey</i> (Charles), Biographical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_620">620</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Specimen of his poetical talents, <a href="#Page_i_621">621</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fitzherbert</i> (Sir Anthony), notice of his agricultural treatises, i. <a href="#Footnote_i_115:A_165">115. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His precepts to a good housewife, 116, 117. <a href="#Footnote_i_115:A_165"><i>notes</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fleming</i> (Abraham), a miscellaneous writer, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_504">504</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his style, <a href="#Page_i_505">505</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poems of, <a href="#Page_i_682">682</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fletcher</i> (Robert), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_682">682</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fletcher</i> (Giles), critical remarks on the poetry of, i. <a href="#Page_i_621">621</a>, <a href="#Page_i_622">622</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fletcher</i> (Phineas), notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_622">622</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical observations on his "Purple Island," <a href="#Page_i_623">623</a>.;</li> - <li class="subsubitem">and on his "Piscatory Eclogues," <a href="#Page_i_623"><i>ib.</i></a></li> - - <li><i>Fletcher</i> (John), the chief author of the plays extant under his name, ii. 557.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">How far he was assisted by Beaumont, 558.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical estimate of his character as a dramatic poet, 558-560.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His feeble attempts to emulate Shakspeare, 560, 561.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His Faithful Shepherdess (act v. sc. 1.) illustrated, i. <a href="#Page_i_130">130</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">See also <a href="#Beaumont"><i>Beaumont</i></a>, in this index.</li> - - <li><i>Floralia</i> (Roman), perpetuated in May-Day, i. <a href="#Page_i_152">152</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Florio</i> (John), pedantry of, satyrised by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_415">415</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Appointed reader of the Italian language to the Queen of James I., <a href="#Page_i_451">451</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Flowers</i>, antiently scattered on streams at sheep-shearing time, i. <a href="#Page_i_185">185</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Garlands of flowers carried at funerals, and buried with the deceased, <a href="#Page_i_240">240-242</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Graves in Wales still decorated with flowers, <a href="#Page_i_242">242-244</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to this custom by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_243">243</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fools</i> of Shakspeare's plays, &c. remarks on, i. <a href="#Page_i_587">587</a>. ii. 550.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of their apparel and condition, ii. 141, 142.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Apes or monkies kept as companions for them, 145, 146.</li> - - <li><i>Ford</i>, merits of, as a dramatic poet, considered, ii. 563, 564.</li> - - <li><i>Forks</i>, when introduced into England, ii. 126.</li> - - <li><i>Fortescue</i>'s (Thomas), "Forest of Historyes," a popular collection of novels, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_543">543</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Fortune my Foe</i>," a popular song, quoted by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_477">477</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fountains</i> and wells, why superstitiously visited, i. <a href="#Page_i_391">391</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed to be the haunts of fairies and spirits, <a href="#Page_i_392">392</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Pilgrimages made to them, <a href="#Page_i_393">393</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fowling</i>, how pursued in the sixteenth century, i. <a href="#Page_i_287">287-289</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fox</i>'s "Acts and Monuments," character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_482">482</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fraunce</i> (Abraham), notice of his "Arcadian Rhetoricke," i. <a href="#Page_i_464">464</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his poetical works, <a href="#Page_i_682">682</a>, <a href="#Page_i_683">683</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Freeman</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_683">683</a>.</li> - - <li><i>French Language</i>, Shakspeare's knowledge of, when acquired, i. <a href="#Page_i_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_i_54">54</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proofs that he had some acquaintance with it, <a href="#Page_i_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_i_56">56</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of French grammars which he might have read, <a href="#Page_i_57">57</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Friar of Orders Grey</i>," a beautiful ballad, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_579">579</a>, <a href="#Page_i_580">580</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Quoted by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_589">589</a>, <a href="#Page_i_590">590</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Friend</i>, absence from, exquisitely pourtrayed by Shakspeare, ii. 78.</li> - - <li><i>Friendship</i>, beautiful delineation of, ii. 389.</li> - - <li><i>Fulbeck</i>'s account of Roman factions, i. <a href="#Page_i_476">476</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fulbroke Park</i>, the scene of Shakspeare's deer-stealing, i. <a href="#Page_i_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_i_403">403</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fuller</i> (Thomas), character of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_29">29</a>.;</li> - <li class="listsubitem">and of Dr. Dee, and his assistant Kelly, ii. 512, 513.</li> - - <li><i>Fullwell</i> (Ulpian), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_683">683</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Funeral ceremonies</i> described, i. <a href="#Page_i_232">232-237</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Entertainments given on those occasions, <a href="#Page_i_238">238</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Furniture</i>, splendid, of Queen Elizabeth's palaces, ii. 111, 112.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of the inhabitants of London, 112-120.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of the halls of country gentlemen, i. <a href="#Page_i_77">77-79</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Fuseli</i>'s picture of the night-mare, description of, i. <a href="#Page_i_348">348</a>. <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_348:B_659">[348:B]</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">G</li> - - <li><i>Gale</i> (Dunstan), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_683">683</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Gamage</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_684">684</a>, and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_684:A_1361">[684:A]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Games</i> (Cotswold), account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_252">252-254</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Gaming</i>, prevalence of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 157, 158.</li> - - <li>"<i>Gammer Gurton's Needle</i>," illustration of, i. <a href="#Page_i_106">106</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The earliest comedy ever written or performed in England, ii. 227.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on, 233.</li> - - <li><i>Garlands</i>, anciently used at funerals, and buried with the deceased, i. <a href="#Page_i_240">240-242</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Garnier</i>'s Henriade probably seen by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_i_55">55</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Garter</i> (Barnard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_684">684</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Garter</i> (Thomas), a dramatic poet in the reign of Elizabeth, character of, ii. 235.</li> - - <li><i>Gascoigne</i> (George), notice of the "Posies" of, i. <a href="#Page_i_461">461</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Biographical sketch of, <a href="#Page_i_623">623</a>, <a href="#Page_i_624">624</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on his poetry, <a href="#Page_i_624">624</a>, <a href="#Page_i_625">625</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of, as a dramatic poet, ii. 233, 234.</li> - - <li><i>Gastrell</i> (Rev. Francis), purchases Shakspeare's house at Stratford, ii. 584. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cuts down his mulberry tree, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">And destroys the house itself, 585. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Gay</i>'s Trivia, quotation from, on the influence of particular days, i. <a href="#Page_i_323">323</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_323:A_611"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical description of spells, <a href="#Page_i_332">332</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Genius</i> of Shakspeare's drama considered, ii. 536-541.</li> - - <li><i>Gentlemen</i>, different sorts of, in the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_69">69</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their virtues and vices, <a href="#Page_i_69"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_70">70</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of the mansion houses of country gentlemen, <a href="#Page_i_72">72-74</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their usual fare, <a href="#Page_i_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_i_80">80-82</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Employments and dress of their daughters, <a href="#Page_i_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_i_84">84</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of country gentlemen towards the commencement of the 17th century, <a href="#Page_i_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_i_85">85</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">When they began to desert their halls for the metropolis, <a href="#Page_i_85">85</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Portraits of, in the close of the 17th, and at the beginning of the 18th century, <a href="#Footnote_i_86:B_122">86, 87. <i>notes</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dress of gentlemen in the metropolis, ii. 87, 88, 89. 101-109.</li> - - <li><i>Gerbelius</i> (Nicholas), rapturous declamation of, on the restoration of some Greek authors, i. <a href="#Page_i_435">435</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Gerguntum</i>, a fabulous Briton, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_192">192</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_192:C_327"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Germans</i>, fairy mythology of, ii. 312.</li> - - <li><i>Gesta Romanorum</i>, a popular romance in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_534">534</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Different translations of the <i>continental Gesta</i>, <a href="#Page_i_534"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_535">535</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical account of the <i>English Gesta</i>, <a href="#Page_i_535">535</a>, <a href="#Page_i_536">536</a>. ii. 386.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of its different editions, i. <a href="#Page_i_537">537</a>, <a href="#Page_i_538">538</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Long continuance of its popularity, <a href="#Page_i_538">538</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Ghosts</i>, superstitious notions concerning, prevalent in the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_i_319">319</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the supposed agency of ghosts, as received at that time, ii. 399-405.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Considerations on the introduction of the ghost in Hamlet, and its strict consonance to the popular superstitions shewn, 411-417.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its superiority over all other ghostly representations, ancient or modern, 417, 418.</li> - - <li><i>Gifford</i> (Humphrey), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_684">684</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Gifford</i> (Mr.), conjecture of, on the date of Shakspeare's Henry VIII. ii. 442, 443.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Observations on the excellent plan of his notes on Massinger, 561. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His estimate of the merits of Ben Jonson, as a dramatic poet, 575, 576.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Vindicates Jonson from the cavils of Mr. Malone, 578. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Gilchrist</i> (Mr.) on the character of Puttenham's "Arte of English Poesie," i. <a href="#Page_i_466">466</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Gleek</i>, a fashionable game at cards, notice of, ii. 170.</li> - - <li><i>Glen Banchar</i>, anecdote of a peasant of, i. <a href="#Page_i_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_i_234">234</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Globe</i> Theatre, license to Shakspeare for, ii. 207, 208.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of it, 208, 209.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of its interior, 210-214.</li> - - <li><i>Gloves</i>, costly, presented to Elizabeth, ii. 99.</li> - - <li><i>Goblins</i> and spectres, superstitious notions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_i_317">317</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Machinery of goblins or spirits of earth, introduced into the Tempest, ii. 523, 524.</li> - - <li><i>Goder Norner</i>, or beneficent elves of the Goths, notice of, ii. 308.</li> - - <li><i>Godwin</i> (Mr.), remarks of, on Shakspeare's Troilus and Cressida, ii. 440, 441.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His estimate of the merits of Ben Jonson, as a dramatic poet, 574-579.</li> - - <li><i>Golding</i> (Arthur), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_684">684</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Googe</i> (Barnaby), description of Midsummer-Eve superstitions, i. <a href="#Page_i_328">328</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his poetical works, <a href="#Page_i_684">684</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Gorboduc</i>, critical remarks on Sackville's tragedy of, ii. 230, 231.</li> - - <li><i>Gordon</i> (Patrick), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_684">684</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions</i>," a collection of poems, critical account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_715">715-717</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Gorges</i> (Sir Arthur), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_684">684</a>, <a href="#Page_i_685">685</a>. and <a href="#Footnote_i_685:A_1364"><i>notes</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Gossipping</i>, prevalence of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 159, 160.</li> - - <li><i>Gosson</i> (Stephen), a Puritanical wit, in Shakspeare's time, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_500">500</a>, <a href="#Page_i_501">501</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his "<i>Speculum humanum</i>," <a href="#Page_i_685">685</a>. and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_685:C_1366">[685:C]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Gowns</i>, materials and fashions of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 97, 98.</li> - - <li><i>Grammars</i> and dictionaries, list of, in use in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_25">25</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_25:A_32"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Henry VII.'s grammar learned by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_26">26</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The English grammar but little cultivated, previous to the time of Ascham, <a href="#Page_i_439">439</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Improved by him, <a href="#Page_i_439"><i>ibid.</i></a>;</li> - <li class="subsubsubitem">and by Wilson, <a href="#Page_i_440">440</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of eminent Latin grammarians, <a href="#Page_i_454">454</a>, <a href="#Page_i_455">455</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">English grammar of Ben Jonson, <a href="#Page_i_456">456</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Grange</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_685">685</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Grant</i> (Edward), an eminent Latin philologer, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_454">454</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Graves</i>, why planted with flowers, i. <a href="#Page_i_242">242-244</a>. and <a href="#Footnote_i_244:A_441"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to this custom by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_243">243</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Grave-digger</i> in Hamlet, songs mis-quoted by, probably by design, i. <a href="#Page_i_591">591</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Greek</i> literature, cultivated and encouraged at the court of Queen Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_429">429-431</a>, <a href="#Page_i_432">432</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Promoted essentially by the labours of Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Henry Savile, and Dr. Boys, <a href="#Page_i_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_i_454">454</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of Greek authors, translated into English in the time of Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_483">483</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Greene</i> (Thomas), the barrister, an intimate friend of Shakspeare's, ii. 600.</li> - - <li><i>Greene</i> (Thomas), the player, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_417">417</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of, <a href="#Page_i_417"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Whether a townsman and relation of Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_420">420</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Greene</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_685">685</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Greene</i> (Robert), a miscellaneous writer in the time of Shakspeare, biographical account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_486">486</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Studies and dissipations of his early years, <a href="#Page_i_486">486</a>, <a href="#Page_i_487">487</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His marriage, <a href="#Page_i_487">487</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Pleasing sketch of his domestic life, <a href="#Page_i_488">488</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Returns to the dissipations of the metropolis, <a href="#Page_i_489">489</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Affectionate demeanour of his wife, <a href="#Page_i_490">490</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His beautiful address, "By a Mother to her Infant," <a href="#Page_i_492">492</a>, <a href="#Page_i_493">493</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Becomes a writer for bread, <a href="#Page_i_494">494</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of Greene as a prose writer, <a href="#Page_i_494">494</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his principal pieces, <a href="#Page_i_495">495</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical extract from his "Never Too Late," <a href="#Page_i_496">496</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Extract entitled "The Farewell of a Friend," <a href="#Page_i_497">497</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His death, <a href="#Page_i_497"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Miserable state of his latter days, <a href="#Page_i_498">498</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Satirical sonnet addressed to him, <a href="#Page_i_499">499</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical notice of his poetry, <a href="#Page_i_627">627</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his dramatic productions, with remarks, ii. 249-251.</li> - - <li>"<i>Green Sleeves</i>," a popular song, quoted by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_477">477</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Greepe</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_686">686</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Greville</i> (Sir Fulke), list of the poems of, i. <a href="#Page_i_686">686</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Griffin</i> (B.), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_686">686</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Griffith</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_686">686</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Grove</i> (Matthew), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_686">686</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Grymeston</i> (Elizabeth), a minor poetess of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_686">686</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Guardian angels</i>, superstitious notions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_336">336-339</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Observations on, by Dr. Horsley, <a href="#Page_i_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_i_340">340</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Guests</i>, ranks of, how distinguished at table, i. <a href="#Page_i_74">74</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Guteli</i>, or benevolent fairies of the Germans, notice of, ii. 312.</li> - - <li><i>Guy of Warwick</i>, allusions by Shakspeare to the legend of, i. <a href="#Page_i_566">566</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">H</li> - - <li><i>Haggard-Hawk</i>, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_270">270</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hair</i>, fashion of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 92.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The dead frequently plundered for, <i>ibid.</i> 93.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The hair thus obtained, dyed of a sandy colour, 93.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hair of unmarried women, how worn, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Various coverings for, 94.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The fashions for dressing hair, imported from Venice and Paris, <i>ibid.</i> 95.</li> - - <li><i>Hake</i> (Edward), notice of his "Touchstone of Wittes," i. <a href="#Page_i_464">464</a>, <a href="#Page_i_465">465</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his poetical pieces, <a href="#Page_i_686">686</a>, <a href="#Page_i_687">687</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hakluyt</i>'s Collection of Voyages and Travels, critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_477">477</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hall</i> (Arthur and John), minor poets of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_687">687</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hall</i> (Bishop), portraits by, of a domestic chaplain and tutor, i. <a href="#Page_i_95">95</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of an extravagant farmer's heir, <a href="#Page_i_119">119</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of a poor copyholder, <a href="#Page_i_120">120</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of horse-racing, <a href="#Page_i_298">298</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his poems, <a href="#Page_i_627">627</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on his satires, ii. 6.</li> - - <li><i>Hall</i> (Dr.), marries Shakspeare's daughter Susanna, ii. 598, 599.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Birth of his daughter Elizabeth, 599.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Notice of her, 629. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The executorship of Shakspeare's will, why intrusted to Dr. Hall, 613.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Epitaph on him, 631, 632. <i>notes</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Halls</i> of country squires and gentlemen, in Shakspeare's age, i. <a href="#Page_i_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_i_74">74</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of the nobility, how illuminated, ii. 116.</li> - - <li><i>Hamlet, Prince of Denmark</i>, date of, ii. 391.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of the character of Hamlet, 392-398.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the agency of spirits, as connected with the Ghost in this play, 399-405.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the nature of Hamlet's lunacy, 406-409.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The introduction of the Ghost critically considered, 411.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its strict consistency with the superstition of the times, 412-417.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Superiority of Shakspeare's introduction of spirits over ancient and modern dramatists, 417, 418.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in this work.</i></p> -<table summary="Hamlet referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_352">352</a>. ii. 414.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_238">238</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_129">129</a>. ii. 412, 413.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_379">379</a>. <a href="#Page_i_394">394</a>. ii. 414. 417.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_250">250</a>. <a href="#Page_i_397">397</a>. <a href="#Page_i_582">582</a>. ii. 394.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_571">571</a>. ii. 392. 395.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_171">171</a>. <a href="#Page_i_583">583</a>. ii. 106. 221.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">114.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_424">424</a>. ii. 409.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_224">224</a>. <a href="#Page_i_240">240</a>. <a href="#Page_i_326">326</a>. <a href="#Page_i_590">590</a>, <a href="#Page_i_591">591</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_i_243">243</a>. ii. 395.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_i_36">36</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Hand-ball</i>, playing at, a favourite sport at Easter, i. <a href="#Page_i_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_i_147">147</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Tansy cakes the constant prize, <a href="#Page_i_147">147</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Handfull of Pleasant Delites</i>," a collection of poems, critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_717">717</a>, <a href="#Page_i_718">718</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hands</i>, why always washed before dinner, ii. 145.</li> - - <li><i>Harbert</i> (Sir William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_687">687</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Harbert</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_687">687</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Harington</i> (Sir John), critical notice of his "Apologie of Poetry," i. <a href="#Page_i_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_i_467">467</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His "New Discourse of a stale Subject," <a href="#Page_i_515">515</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of his "Metamorphosis," <a href="#Page_i_516">516</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on his poetry, <a href="#Page_i_629">629</a>, <a href="#Page_i_630">630</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ludicrous account of a carousal given to the King of Denmark, ii. 124, 125.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The inventor of water-closets, 135. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His "Orders for Household Servantes," 139, 140.</li> - - <li><i>Harmony of the spheres</i>, doctrine of, a favourite source of embellishment, i. <a href="#Page_i_381">381</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to, by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_i_382">382</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And Milton, <a href="#Page_i_382">382</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Harrison</i> (Rev. William), character of his "Description of England," i. <a href="#Page_i_475">475</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Picture of rural mansions in the time of Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_73">73</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Delineation of country-clergymen, <a href="#Page_i_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_i_91">91</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of farmers, <a href="#Page_i_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_i_100">100</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubsubitem">And of their cottages and furniture, <a href="#Page_i_101">101-103</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of country-inns and ale-houses, <a href="#Page_i_216">216-218</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the fashionable mode of dress in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 87-89.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the hospitality and style of eating and drinking in the higher classes, 120-122.</li> - - <li><i>Hart</i> (Joan), Shakspeare's sister, bequest to, ii. 629.</li> - - <li><i>Harte</i> (William), Shakspeare's nephew, not the person to whom his sonnets were addressed, ii. 60.</li> - - <li><i>Harvest-Home</i>, festival of, how celebrated, i. <a href="#Page_i_185">185</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Distinctions of society then abolished, <a href="#Page_i_186">186</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The last load of corn accompanied home with music and dancing, <a href="#Page_i_187">187</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Alluded to by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_187"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical description of, by Herricke, <a href="#Page_i_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_i_189">189</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Thanksgivings offered in Scotland for the safe in-gathering of the harvest, <a href="#Page_i_341">341</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Harvey</i> (Gabriel), notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_457">457</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His quarrel with Nash, <a href="#Page_i_458">458</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Rarity of his works, <a href="#Page_i_458"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">His account of Greene's last days, <a href="#Page_i_498">498</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Satirical sonnet, addressed by him to Greene, <a href="#Page_i_499">499</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his sonnets, <a href="#Page_i_687">687</a>. <i>and note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_687:C_1373">[687:C]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hastings</i> (Henry), account of, i. <a href="#Footnote_i_86:B_122">86, 87. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hathaway</i> family, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_60">60</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their cottage still standing at Shottery, <a href="#Page_i_61">61</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hathaway</i> (Anne), the mistress of Shakspeare, spurious sonnet ascribed to, i. <a href="#Page_i_58">58</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_58:A_73"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Married to Shakspeare with her parents' consent, <a href="#Page_i_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_i_63">63</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His bequest to her, ii. 631.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Remarks thereon, 613.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Her epitaph, 631. <i>note</i>. i. <a href="#Page_i_60">60</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_60:A_75"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hats</i>, fashion of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 102.</li> - - <li><i>Hatton</i> (Sir Christopher), promoted for his skill in dancing, ii. 172.</li> - - <li><i>Haunted houses</i>, superstitious notions concerning, in the sixteenth century, i. <a href="#Page_i_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_i_321">321</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hawking</i>, when introduced into England, i. <a href="#Page_i_255">255</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Universal among the nobility and gentry, <a href="#Page_i_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_i_256">256</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of books on Hawks and Hawking, <a href="#Page_i_257">257</a>. and <a href="#Footnote_i_257:A_476"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Expense attending this pursuit, <a href="#Page_i_257">257-259</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Forbidden to the clergy, <a href="#Page_i_259">259</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_259:B_478"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Observations on this sport, <a href="#Page_i_260">260-262</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical description of, <a href="#Page_i_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_i_263">263</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Land and water hawking, <a href="#Page_i_264">264</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">A favourite pursuit of the ladies, <a href="#Page_i_265">265</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to hawking by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_i_271">271</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hawks</i>, different sorts of, i. <a href="#Page_i_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_i_264">264</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Penalties for destroying their eggs, <a href="#Page_i_264">264</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of their training, <a href="#Page_i_265">265-270</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hazlewood</i> (Mr.), character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_71">71</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his edition of Puttenham's "Arte of English Poesie," <a href="#Page_i_465">465</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His character of that work, <a href="#Page_i_466">466</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of Wright's Essays, <a href="#Page_i_511">511-513</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the "World's Folly," a collection of ballads, <a href="#Page_i_574">574-576</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Bibliographical notice of "Polimanteia," ii. 39. <i>note</i> [39:B].</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of Brokes' "Tragicall Historie of Romeus and Juliet," 359. and <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Hayward</i> (Sir John), character of his Histories, i. <a href="#Page_i_476">476</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Healths</i>, origin of drinking, i. <a href="#Page_i_128">128</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Helen</i>, analysis of the character of, in All's Well that Ends Well, ii. 423-425.</li> - - <li><i>Hell</i>, legendary punishments of, i. <a href="#Page_i_378">378-381</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The lower part of the stage so called in Shakspeare's time, ii. 214.</li> - - <li><i>Heminge</i>, the player, notice of, and of his family, i. <a href="#Page_i_417">417</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probably a countryman of Shakspeare's, <a href="#Page_i_417"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - - <li><i>Hemp-seed</i>, why sown on Midsummer Eve, i. <a href="#Page_i_332">332</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Henry</i> IV., Parts I. and II., probable date of, ii. 379.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical analysis of its principal characters, 380.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Contrast between Hotspur and Prince Henry, 380.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of the character of Falstaff, 381-384.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of the general construction of the fable of these plays, 384, 385.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Illustrations of King Henry IV. Part I. in the present work.</i></p> -<table summary="King Henry IV. Part I. referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_570">570</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_329">329</a>. <a href="#Page_i_556">556</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">105. 114. 131.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_354">354</a>. ii. 117.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_298">298</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_581">581</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_406">406</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p class="center"><i>Illustrations of King Henry IV. Part II.</i></p> - -<table summary="King Henry IV. Part II. referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_232">232</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_338">338</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_193">193</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>. <a href="#Page_i_338">338</a>. <a href="#Page_i_585">585</a>. ii. 107.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_254">254</a>. <a href="#Page_i_562">562</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_156">156</a>. <a href="#Page_i_201">201</a>. <a href="#Page_i_554">554</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_74">74</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_585">585</a>, <a href="#Page_i_586">586</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad" colspan="4">The epilogue,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">222, 223.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Henry</i> V. Prince of Wales, character of, ii. 380.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable date of the play of, 425.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of the admirable character of the King, 426-428.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the minor characters and general conduct of the play, 429.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of Henry V. illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Henry V. referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">426, 427.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_231">231</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_175">175</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">428.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">428.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">427.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">116.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_567">567</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Henry</i> VI., Parts I., II., and III.—The First Part of Henry VI., usually ascribed to Shakspeare, spurious, ii. 292.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Alterations probably made in it by him, 293.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Date of these two Parts, 294, 295.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Exquisite contrast between the characters of Henry VI. and Richard of Gloucester, 296.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The spurious play fit only for an appendix to Shakspeare's works, 297.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Illustrations of Henry VI. Part I. act i. scene 4., ii. 259.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Illustrations of Henry VI. Part II.</i></p> - -<table summary="Henry VI. Part II. referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">183.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_389">389</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_565">565</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_164">164</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_374">374</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_406">406</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Footnote_i_582:C_1151">583. <i>note</i></a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p class="center"><i>Illustrations of Henry VI. Part III.</i></p> - -<table summary="Henry VI. Part III. referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">374.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_372">372</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_423">423</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_363">363</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">6.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_354">354</a>. ii. 372. <i>note</i>. 373.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">7.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">372. <i>note</i>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Henry</i> VIII.'s Latin Grammar, exclusively taught in schools, i. <a href="#Page_i_26">26</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Henry</i> VIII., probable date of the play of, ii. 442-445.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on its characters, 445, 446.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Illustrations of this drama in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Henry VIII. referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_289">289</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">99.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_397">397</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_156">156</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">169.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_74">74</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Hentzner</i>'s (Paul), description of the dress of Queen Elizabeth, ii. 89, 90.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of the manner in which her table was served, 122, 123.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of the dress of servants, 138.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of the English nation, 154.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of an English bull-baiting and bear-whipping, 177.</li> - - <li><i>Herbert</i> (Mary), a minor poetess of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_687">687</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Herrick</i>, verses of, on Twelfth Night, i. <a href="#Page_i_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_i_134">134</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On Rock or St. Distaff's Day, <a href="#Page_i_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_i_136">136</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On Candlemas Eve, <a href="#Page_i_139">139-141</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And on Candlemas Day, <a href="#Page_i_140">140</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On May Day, <a href="#Page_i_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_i_157">157</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On Harvest-home, <a href="#Page_i_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_i_189">189</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On Christmas, <a href="#Page_i_195">195-206</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hesiod</i>, beautiful passage of, on the ministry of spirits, ii. 400.</li> - - <li><i>Heywood</i> (Jasper), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_687">687</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Heywood</i> (Thomas), complaint of, against the critics of his day, i. <a href="#Page_i_456">456</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his <i>Troia Britannica</i>, a poem, <a href="#Page_i_688">688</a>. ii. 44.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Vindicates Shakspeare from the charge of plagiarism, 44, 45.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his apology for actors, 44.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Estimate of his merits as a dramatic poet, ii. 568, 569.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Illustration of his "Woman killed with Kindness," i. <a href="#Page_i_213">213</a>. <a href="#Page_i_269">269</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Higgins</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_688">688</a>, and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_688:B_1377">[688:B]</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Additions made by him to the "Mirrour for Magistrates," <a href="#Page_i_709">709</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Historical Writers</i> of the age of Shakspeare, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_i_476">476</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hobby horse</i>, when introduced into the May games, i. <a href="#Page_i_166">166</a>. <a href="#Page_i_170">170</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_170:A_274"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hock Cart</i>, poem on, i. <a href="#Page_i_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_i_189">189</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hock Day</i>, or <i>Hoke Day</i>, origin of, i. <a href="#Page_i_149">149</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Amusements of this festival, <a href="#Page_i_149"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Derivation of the term <i>Hock</i>, <a href="#Page_i_149"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_150">150</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Diversions of, continued at Coventry, till the end of the 17th century, <a href="#Page_i_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_i_151">151</a>. and <a href="#Footnote_i_151:B_226"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Holinshed</i>'s description of the earthquake of 1580, i. <a href="#Page_i_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_i_53">53</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proof that Shakspeare was conversant with his history, <a href="#Page_i_56">56</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his "Chronicle", <a href="#Page_i_475">475</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Holland</i> (Robert), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_688">688</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Holme</i> (Randal), list of sports by, i. <a href="#Page_i_246">246</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Homer</i>, as translated by Chapman, critical observations on, i. <a href="#Page_i_607">607</a>, <a href="#Page_i_608">608</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hooding</i> of Hawks, i. <a href="#Page_i_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_i_268">268</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hoppings</i>, or country dances at wakes, i. <a href="#Page_i_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_i_214">214</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Horse</i>, beautiful poetical description of, ii. 24.</li> - - <li><i>Horsemanship</i>, directions for, i. <a href="#Page_i_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_i_300">300</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Horse-racing</i>, a fashionable sport in the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_i_298">298</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Horsley</i> (Bishop), remarks of, on the ministry of angels, i. <a href="#Page_i_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_i_340">340</a>. ii. 399.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And on the resurrection, 403.</li> - - <li><i>Hospitality</i> of the English in the age of Elizabeth, ii. 120-122.</li> - - <li><i>Hotspur</i>, contrast between the character of, and that of Henry V., ii. 380.</li> - - <li><i>Hounds</i>, different kinds of, in the 16th century, i. <a href="#Page_i_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_i_284">284</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Beautiful allusions to, by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_284">284</a>.</li> - - <li><i>House</i>, where Shakspeare was born, described, i. <a href="#Page_i_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_i_22">22</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Household Servants</i>, economy of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 138-140.</li> - - <li><i>Housewife</i>, portrait and qualifications of a good English one, i. <a href="#Page_i_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_i_111">111</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Precepts for the regulation of her conduct, <a href="#Page_i_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_i_113">113</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_115:A_165">116. <i>note</i>, 117. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Howard</i> (Lady), rude treatment of, by Queen Elizabeth, ii. 91.</li> - - <li><i>Howel</i> (Mr.), marvellous cure of, by sympathetic powder, i. <a href="#Page_i_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_i_376">376</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Howell</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_688">688</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hubbard</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_688">688</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hudson</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_689">689</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hughes</i> (Thomas), a dramatic writer of the Elizabethan age, notice of, ii. 242, 243.</li> - - <li><i>Hughes</i> (William), not the person to whom Shakspeare's sonnets were addressed, ii. 60.</li> - - <li><i>Hume</i>, (Alexander), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_689">689</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hundred Merry Tales</i>, a popular collection of Italian novels, translated in the reign of Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_539">539</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Alluded to by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_540">540</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hunnis</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_689">689</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Specimen of his contribution to the "Paradise of Daintie Devises," <a href="#Page_i_714">714</a>, <a href="#Page_i_715">715</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hunting</i>, account of, in the time of Elizabeth and James I., i. <a href="#Page_i_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_i_273">273</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of hunting in inclosures, <a href="#Page_i_274">274-276</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Stag-hunting, <a href="#Page_i_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_i_279">279</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Frequently attended with danger, <a href="#Page_i_280">280</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Explanation of hunting-terms, <a href="#Footnote_i_278:A_520">278. <i>note</i>, 279. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Frequently practised after dinner, <a href="#Page_i_285">285</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Huntsman</i>, character and qualifications of, in the 16th century, i. <a href="#Page_i_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_i_282">282</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Huon of Bourdeaux</i>, allusions by Shakspeare to the romance of, i. <a href="#Page_i_564">564</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Hurling</i>, a rural sport, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_305">305</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Husbands</i>, supposed visionary appearance of future, on Midsummer Eve, i. <a href="#Page_i_331">331-333</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And on All Hallow Eve, <a href="#Page_i_344">344-347</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Advice to them, <a href="#Page_i_513">513</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">I</li> - - <li><i>Iago</i>, remarks on the character of, ii. 531.</li> - - <li><i>Illar Norner</i>, or malignant elves of the Goths, ii. 308.</li> - - <li><i>Imagination</i>, brilliant, displayed in Shakspeare's dramas, ii. 551.</li> - - <li><i>Imogen</i>, analysis of the character of, ii. 467.</li> - - <li><i>Incubus</i>, or night-mare, poetical description of, i. <a href="#Page_i_348">348</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_348:B_659"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed influence of Saint Withold against, <a href="#Page_i_347">347-349</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Indians</i>, exhibited in England as monsters, i. <a href="#Page_i_387">387</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Inns</i> (country), picture of, in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_216">216-218</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Inns of Court</i>, account of a splendid masque given by the gentlemen of, ii. 190.</li> - - <li><i>Interest</i>, exorbitant, given for money in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 156.</li> - - <li><i>Ireland</i> (Mr. Samuel), his description of the birth-place of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_i_22">22</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Anecdote of Shakspeare's toping, preserved by him, <a href="#Page_i_48">48-50</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Isabella</i>, remarks on the character of, in Measure for Measure, ii. 454, 455.</li> - - <li><i>Italian</i> language and literature, considerations on Shakspeare's knowledge of, i. <a href="#Page_i_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_i_54">54</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of Italian grammars and dictionaries, which he might have read, <a href="#Page_i_57">57</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Greatly encouraged in the age of Elizabeth and James I., <a href="#Page_i_451">451-453</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of Italian Romances, <a href="#Page_i_538">538-544</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The Italian Sonnet, the parent of English Sonnets, ii. 53.</li> - - <li><i>Itinerant Stage</i>, and players, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_247">247-252</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Ivory Coffers</i>, an article of furniture, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 118.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">J</li> - - <li><i>Jack o'Lantern</i>, superstitious notions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_399">399</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable causes of, <a href="#Page_i_400">400</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Jackson</i> (Richard), notice of his battle of Flodden, i. <a href="#Page_i_689">689</a>. and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_689:A_1380">[689:A]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Jaggard</i>'s editions of the "Passionate Pilgrim," published without Shakspeare's privity or consent, ii. 43. 45.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Vindication of the poet from the charge of imposing on the public in these editions, 46-48.</li> - - <li><i>James</i> I., book of sports, issued by, i. <a href="#Page_i_173">173</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Partiality of, for hunting, <a href="#Page_i_287">287</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Exclamation of, on quitting the Bodleian library, <a href="#Page_i_434">434</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of his treatise on "Scottish Poesie," <a href="#Page_i_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_i_462">462</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his Poetical Works, i. <a href="#Page_i_702">702</a>. and <i>notes</i> <a href="#FNanchor_i_702:B_1421">[702:B]</a>, <a href="#Footnote_i_702:C_1422">[702:C]</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Expense in dress, encouraged by him, though niggardly in his own, ii. 101, 102.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Drunken excesses of the King, and his courtiers, 124, 125.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His philippic against tobacco, 135. 137.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Sketch of his character, 151, 152.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cruel act passed by him against witchcraft, 477.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His description of the feats of supposed witches, 483. 485.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Wrote a letter of acknowledgement to Shakspeare, 595.</li> - - <li><i>James</i> (Dr.), an eminent bibliographer, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_i_434">434</a>.</li> - - <li><i>James</i> (Elias), epitaph on, by Shakspeare, ii. 607, <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Jaques</i>, analysis of the character of, in As You Like It, ii. 433, 434.</li> - - <li><i>Jeney</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_689">689</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Jenynges</i> (Edward), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_689">689</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Jerome</i> (St.), doctrine of, concerning angels, i. <a href="#Page_i_336">336</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Jestours</i>, or minstrels, in the age of Elizabeth, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_556">556-560</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Deemed rogues and vagabonds by act of parliament, <a href="#Page_i_561">561</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Jewels</i>, fashions of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 103.</li> - - <li><i>Job</i>, beautiful passage from, on the agency and ministry of spirits, ii. 400.</li> - - <li><i>John</i> (King), probable date of, ii. 419.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its general character, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of the particular characters of Faulconbridge, 420.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Arthur, 420. 422.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Constance, 421.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Exquisitely pathetic scene of Hubert and the executioners, 422.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="King John referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_566">566</a>. ii. 161.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_222">222</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_351">351</a>. ii. 420.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">421.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">414.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_384">384</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>John's Eve</i> (St.), superstitious observances on, i. <a href="#Page_i_328">328</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fires lighted then, of Pagan origin, <a href="#Page_i_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_i_329">329</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fern seed supposed to be visible only on that eve, <a href="#Page_i_329">329</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Spirits visible, of persons who are to die in the following year, <a href="#Page_i_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_i_331">331</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Visionary appearances of future husbands and wives on that eve, <a href="#Page_i_332">332</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Johnson</i> (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_689">689</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Johnson</i> (Dr.), his unjust censure of Cymbeline, ii. 466.</li> - - <li><i>Jones</i> (Rev. William), sermon of, on the death of the Earl of Southampton, i. <a href="#Page_i_19">19</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_19:A_27"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Jonson</i> (Ben), notice of the Latin Grammar of, i. <a href="#Page_i_456">456</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on his minor poems, <a href="#Page_i_631">631</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His account of a splendid masque, ii. 188.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Began to write for the stage in conjunction with other dramatic poets, 572.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Enumeration of his pieces, 573.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical estimate of his merits as a dramatic poet, by Mr. Godwin, 574.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">By Mr. Gifford, 575, 576.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Causes of Jonson's failure in tragedy, 577.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Unrivalled excellence of his masques, 578.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Jonson, the favourite model, studied by Milton, 579, 580.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Repartees ascribed to Jonson and Shakspeare, 593, 594. <i>notes</i>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">The story of their quarrel, disproved, 595-598.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Verses of Jonson on Shakspeare's engraved portrait, 623.</li> - - <li class="passages"><i>Passages of Ben Jonson's works illustrated or explained.</i></li> - - <li class="subsubitem">Bartholomew Fayre, i. <a href="#Page_i_173">173</a>. <a href="#Page_i_252">252</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Christmas, a masque, i. <a href="#Page_i_130">130</a>. <a href="#Page_i_203">203</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Cynthia's Revells, Act i. sc. 2., i. <a href="#Page_i_75">75</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubsubitem"> —— Act ii. sc. 5., ii. 120.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Devil is an Ass, ii. 126.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Entertainment of the Queen and Prince at Althorpe, i. <a href="#Page_i_172">172</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Epigrammes, i. <a href="#Page_i_130">130</a>. ii. 186.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Every Man in his Humour, Act i. sc. 1., i. <a href="#Page_i_82">82</a>. <a href="#Page_i_256">256</a>. <a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Every Man out of his Humour, Act v. sc. 10., i. <a href="#Page_i_441">441</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubsubitem">—— Act ii. sc. 3., ii. 156.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Masque of Queens, i. <a href="#Page_i_179">179</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">New Inn, i. <a href="#Page_i_329">329</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Poetaster, i. <a href="#Page_i_250">250</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Sad Shepherd, i. <a href="#Page_i_281">281</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Staple of Newes, i. <a href="#Page_i_96">96</a>. <a href="#Page_i_508">508</a>, <a href="#Page_i_509">509</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Sejanus, i. <a href="#Page_i_366">366</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Silent Woman, ii. 126.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Tale of a Tub, i. <a href="#Page_i_229">229</a>.</li> - - <li class="afterpassage"><i>Julia</i>, remarks on the character of, in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, ii. 368, 369.</li> - - <li><i>Julio Romano</i>, Shakspeare's eulogium on, ii. 617.</li> - - <li><i><a name="Julius_Caesar" id="Julius_Caesar"></a>Julius Cæsar</i>, date of, ii. 491.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the character of Cæsar, 491.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of Brutus, 492.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">General conduct of this drama, 492.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Julius Cæsar referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_352">352</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_230">230</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_230">230</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">492.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Justices</i> of the peace, venality of, in the time of Elizabeth, ii. 166.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">K</li> - - <li><i>Kelly</i>, the magical associate of Dr. Dee, account of, ii. 512, 513.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His death, 513.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And character, 514, and <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Kellye</i> (Edmund), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_689">689</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Kempe</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_689">689</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Kendal</i> (Timothy), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_690">690</a>, and <a href="#Footnote_i_690:A_1382"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Kenelworth Castle</i>, visit of Queen Elizabeth to, i. <a href="#Page_i_37">37</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of her magnificent reception there, <a href="#Page_i_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_i_39">39</a>. ii. 195-197.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Quaint description of the castle and grounds, i. <a href="#Footnote_i_40:B_53">40-42, <i>notes</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Observation of Bishop Hurd on, ii. 200.</li> - - <li><i>King and Queen</i>, origin of chusing, on Twelfth Night, i. <a href="#Page_i_127">127</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Still retained, <a href="#Page_i_134">134</a>, <a href="#Footnote_i_134:A_187"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Anciently chosen at sheep-shearing, <a href="#Page_i_184">184</a>, <a href="#Footnote_i_184:A_309"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Kings</i>, supposed omens of the death or fall of, i. <a href="#Page_i_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_i_354">354</a>.</li> - - <li><i>King's Evil</i>, supposed to be cured by royal touch, i. <a href="#Page_i_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_i_371">371</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Kirk</i> (Mr.), notice of his "Nature, &c. of fairies," ii. 314. and <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Extracts from it, relative to the fairy superstitions of Scotland, 315, 316. 322. 324.</li> - - <li><i>Kirke White</i> (Henry), poetical description of a Winter's Evening Conversation, i. <a href="#Page_i_322">322</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Kiss</i>, beautiful sonnet on one, ii. 54, 55.</li> - - <li><i>Knell</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_690">690</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Knights</i>, tournaments of, in the 16th century, i. <a href="#Page_i_553">553</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their vows how made, <a href="#Page_i_554">554</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Tilting at the ring, <a href="#Page_i_555">555</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Knights of Prince Arthur's Round Table</i>, a society of archers, account of, ii. 178-180.</li> - - <li><i>Knives</i>, when introduced into England, ii. 126.</li> - - <li><i>Knolles</i>'s History of the Turks, character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_476">476</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Kyd</i> (Thomas), a dramatic writer, in the reign of Elizabeth, notice of, ii. 243, 244.</li> - - <li><i>Kyffin</i> (Maurice), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_690">690</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">L</li> - - <li><i>Ladies</i>, dress of, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, ii. 92-100.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their accomplishments, 153.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Manually corrected their servants, <i>ibid.</i></li> - - <li><i>Lake Wakes</i>, derivation of, i. <a href="#Page_i_234">234</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of, <a href="#Page_i_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_i_236">236</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Vestiges of, in the North of England, <a href="#Page_i_237">237</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lamb Ale</i>, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_181">181</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical description of, by Tusser, <a href="#Page_i_181"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="subsubitem">By Drayton, <a href="#Page_i_181"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to it by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_183">183-185</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lambarde</i>'s "Archaionomia," critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_480">480</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lane</i> (John), a poet of the Elizabethan age, critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_673">673</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Laneham</i>'s description of Kenelworth castle and grounds, i. <a href="#Footnote_i_40:B_53">40-42. <i>notes</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cited, <a href="#Page_i_371">371</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of the shews exhibited to Queen Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_518">518</a>, <a href="#Page_i_519">519</a>. ii. 195, 196.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of his mode of spending his time, 198, 199.</li> - - <li><i>Latin literature</i>, promoted in the age of Elizabeth, by the labours of Ascham and others, i. <a href="#Page_i_454">454</a>, <a href="#Page_i_455">455</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of Latin writers translated into English in the time of Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_483">483</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lavaterus</i>, remarks of, on the absurdity of terrifying children, i. <a href="#Page_i_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_i_318">318</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the ministry of angels, <a href="#Page_i_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_i_337">337</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On corpse candles, <a href="#Page_i_358">358</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And sudden noises, as forerunners of death, <a href="#Page_i_361">361</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Law terms</i>, collection of, found in Shakspeare's plays, i. <a href="#Footnote_i_43:D_58">43, 44. <i>notes</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lear</i> (King), probable date of, ii. 457-459.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And sources, 459.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Observations on the general conduct of the play, 460, 461.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of the character of Lear, 461-463.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Edgar, 462, 464.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of Cordelia, 465.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="King Lear referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_384">384</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">462.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">462.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">462.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">464.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_347">347</a>. <a href="#Page_i_566">566</a>. <a href="#Page_i_588">588</a>. ii. 463, 464.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">6.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_588">588</a>, <a href="#Page_i_589">589</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_592">592</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">6.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">7.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">465, 466.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Leet Ale</i>, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_176">176</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Legge</i> (Thomas), a dramatic writer in the Elizabethan age, character of, ii. 251.</li> - - <li><i>Leicester</i> (Robert Dudley, Earl of), his magnificent reception of Queen Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_37">37-39</a>. ii. 195-199.</li> - - <li><i>Leighton</i> (Sir William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_691">691</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lever</i> (Christopher), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_691">691</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lexicographers</i>, but little rewarded, i. <a href="#Page_i_27">27</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_27:A_34"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Leyden</i> (Dr.), beautiful poetical allusions of, to Scottish traditions concerning fairies, ii. 320, 321. 323.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fine apostrophe to Mr. Scott, 321. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Lhuyd</i> (Humphry), notice of his topographical labours, i. <a href="#Page_i_479">479</a>, <a href="#Page_i_480">480</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Libel</i> of Shakspeare on Sir Thomas Lucy, i. <a href="#Page_i_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_i_406">406</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Library</i>, hints for the best situation of, i. <a href="#Page_i_437">437</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of Captain Cox's library of romances, <a href="#Page_i_518">518</a>, <a href="#Page_i_519">519</a>, <a href="#Page_i_520">520</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of Dr. Dee's library of magical and other books, ii. 511, 512. <i>notes</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Lights</i>, burning blue, a supposed indication of the presence of spirits, i. <a href="#Page_i_358">358</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lilly</i> (John), notice of his "<i>Euphues</i>," a romance, i. <a href="#Page_i_441">441</a>, <a href="#Page_i_442">442</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Encomiums on it, <a href="#Page_i_442">442</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Estimate of its real character, <a href="#Page_i_443">443</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His style corrupted the English language, <a href="#Page_i_443"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Satirised by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_i_446">446</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his dramatic pieces, ii. 240-242.</li> - - <li><i>Lilye</i>, a dextrous repairer of old books, i. <a href="#Page_i_433">433</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Linche</i> (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_691">691</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Specimen of his verses, <a href="#Page_i_691"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Footnote_i_691:A_1383"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lisle</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_691">691</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Literature</i> (polite), outline of, during the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_428">428</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Encouraged by Queen Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_428">428-432</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Influence of her example, <a href="#Page_i_433">433-437</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">State of philological or grammatical literature, <a href="#Page_i_439">439</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Innovations in the English language by Lilly, <a href="#Page_i_442">442-445</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Improvements in the language, by the great writers in the reigns of Elizabeth and James, <a href="#Page_i_446">446-448</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Classical literature greatly encouraged, <a href="#Page_i_449">449</a>. <a href="#Page_i_453">453-455</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Modern languages then cultivated, <a href="#Page_i_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_i_452">452</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">State of criticism, <a href="#Page_i_456">456-460</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of history, <a href="#Page_i_475">475</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Voyages and travels, <a href="#Page_i_477">477-479</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Topography and antiquities, <a href="#Page_i_479">479-481</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Biography, <a href="#Page_i_481">481</a>, <a href="#Page_i_482">482</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Translations of classical authors extant in this period, <a href="#Page_i_483">483</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Natural history, <a href="#Page_i_484">484</a>, <a href="#Page_i_485">485</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Miscellaneous literature:—of the wits of that age, <a href="#Page_i_485">485-499</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the Puritans, <a href="#Page_i_500">500-502</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Sober writers, <a href="#Page_i_503">503-507</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Origin of newspapers, <a href="#Page_i_508">508</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Writers of characters, <a href="#Page_i_509">509-511</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Essayists, <a href="#Page_i_511">511-514</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Writers of facetiæ, <a href="#Page_i_515">515-517</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">State of romantic literature, <a href="#Page_i_518">518-593</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of poetry in general, <a href="#Page_i_461">461-474</a>. <a href="#Page_i_594">594-675</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Table of miscellaneous minor poets during the age of Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_676">676-707</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Collections of poetry and poetical miscellanies, <a href="#Page_i_708">708-731</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">State of literature in the Elizabethan age highly favourable to the culture of poetic genius, <a href="#Page_i_596">596</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Literature</i> (juvenile), state of, during Shakspeare's youth, i. <a href="#Page_i_25">25-28</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lithgow</i> (William), critical notice of his "Travels," i. <a href="#Page_i_478">478</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Littlecote House</i>, description of, and of its ancient furniture, i. <a href="#Page_i_77">77-79</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Little John</i>, the companion of Robin Hood, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_163">163</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lloyd</i> (Lodowick), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_691">691</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lobeira</i> (Vasco), the author of "Amadis of Gaul," i. <a href="#Page_i_545">545</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Popularity of his romance, <a href="#Page_i_545">545</a>, <a href="#Page_i_546">546</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lodge</i> (Dr. Thomas), a miscellaneous and dramatic writer, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_503">503</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His principal works, <a href="#Page_i_503"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Defects in his literary character, <a href="#Page_i_503"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_504">504</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks of, on the quarrelsome temper of Nash, <a href="#Page_i_459">459</a>, <a href="#Page_i_460">460</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on his poetry, <a href="#Page_i_632">632-635</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his dramatic productions, ii. 249.</li> - - <li><i>Lofft</i> (Mr. Capel), opinion of, on the sources of Shakspeare's wisdom, i. <a href="#Page_i_32">32</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_32:A_40"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the extent of his knowledge of Italian literature, <a href="#Page_i_54">54</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_54:A_69"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his edition of Shakspeare's "Aphorisms," <a href="#Page_i_517">517</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lok</i> (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_691">691</a>, <a href="#Page_i_692">692</a>, and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_692:A_1386">[692:A]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>London</i>, when first resorted to by country-gentlemen, i. <a href="#Page_i_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_i_86">86</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dress of the inhabitants of the metropolis, ii. 87-111.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their houses, how furnished, 111-120.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Food and drinking, 120-137.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Servants, 138-142.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Miscellaneous household arrangements, 143-145.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Peculiarities in their manners, 145-162.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Police of London during the age of Shakspeare, 162-167.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their manners, 153.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Credulity and superstition, 154.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Curiosity for seeing strange sights, 155.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Passion for travelling, 156.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Love of gaming, 157.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Duelling, 158.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Love of quarrelling, <i>ibid.</i> 159.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Lying, 159.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Gossipping, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="subsubitem">Swearing, 160.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Complimentary language, 160, 161.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ceremonies of inaugurating the Lord Mayor, 162-164.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Regulation of the police of the city, 164-166.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Diversions of the court and city, 168-200.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of a splendid masque given by the citizens, 189, 190.</li> - - <li><i>Lord Mayor</i>, ceremony of inaugurating described, ii. 162-164.</li> - - <li><i>Lovell</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_692">692</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Lovelocks</i> worn by gentlemen in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 103.</li> - - <li>"<i>Lover's Complaint</i>," a minor poem of Shakspeare, critical analysis of, ii. 82-84.</li> - - <li><i>Love's Labour's Lost</i>, date of this drama of Shakspeare's, ii. 289.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proofs that it is one of Shakspeare's earliest compositions, 290, 291.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The first edition of it lost, 290.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on it, 291, 292.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> -<table summary="Loves Labour's Lostt referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">186.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_171">171</a>. <a href="#Page_i_580">580</a>. ii. 173. 175.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_580">580</a>, ii. 182.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Footnote_i_27:B_35">27. <i>note</i></a>. <a href="#Page_i_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_i_446">446</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_96">96</a>. <a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_105">105</a>. <a href="#Page_i_130">130</a>. <a href="#Page_i_515">515</a>. <a href="#Page_i_556">556</a>. ii. 171.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Lucrece</i>, beautiful picture of, ii. 36, 37.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">See <i><a href="#Rape_of_Lucrece">Rape of Lucrece</a></i>.</li> - - <li><i>Lucy</i> (Sir Thomas), biographical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_402">402</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His deer stolen by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_403">403</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Whom he reprimands and exposes, <a href="#Page_i_404">404</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Is libelled by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_404">404-407</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Prosecutes him, <a href="#Page_i_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_i_408">408</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ridiculous portrait of Sir Thomas, <a href="#Page_i_409">409</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Luders</i> (Mr.), notice of his essay on the character of Henry V., ii. 381.</li> - - <li><i>Luigi da Porta</i>, the Giuletta of, the source of Shakspeare's Romeo and Juliet, ii. 360-362.</li> - - <li><i>Lunacy</i> (latent), philosophical and medical remarks on, ii. 406, 407.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Application of them to the character of Hamlet, 407, 408.</li> - - <li><i>Lupton</i> (Thomas), a dramatic writer in the time of Elizabeth, notice of, ii. 237.</li> - - <li><i>Luring</i> of Hawks, i. <a href="#Page_i_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_i_267">267</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_267:A_492"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">M</li> - - <li><i>Mab</i>, queen of the fairies, exquisite picture of, ii. 341, 342.</li> - - <li><i>Macbeth</i>, date of, ii. 469.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of the character of Macbeth, 469-471.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the management of the fable, 471.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its striking affinity to the tragedy of Æschylus, 472-474.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on the supernatural machinery of this play, 474.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the popular superstitions concerning witchcraft, current in Shakspeare's time, 475-486.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Instances of his admirable adaptation of them to dramatic representation in Macbeth, 487, 488.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama, illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Macbeth referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">299. 488.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">7.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_129">129</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_82">82</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">470.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_354">354</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_388">388</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_386">386</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_371">371</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Machin</i> (Lewis), "The Dumb Knight" of, illustrated, ii. 31. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Madmen</i>, in Shakspeare's plays, remarks on, i. <a href="#Page_i_587">587</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Characteristic madness of Edgar, in the play of Lear, <a href="#Page_i_588">588</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Affecting madness of Ophelia in Hamlet, <a href="#Page_i_589">589-591</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Contrast between the madness of Lear and Ophelia, ii. 396.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The madness of Edgar and Lear considered, 462-464.</li> - - <li><i>Madrigals</i>, collections of, in the time of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_730">730-733</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Magic</i>, state of the art of, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, ii. 509, 510.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of eminent magicians at that time, 511-514.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Different classes of magicians, 515.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Prospero, one of the higher class, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="subsubitem">Description of his dress and spells, 515-517.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Mode of conjuring up the spirits of the dead, 518-520.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Different orders of spirits under magical power, 521-526.</li> - - <li><i>Maid Marian</i>, origin of, i. <a href="#Page_i_161">161</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">One of Robin Hood's associates in the May-games, <i>ibid.</i> <a href="#Page_i_162">162</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Malone</i> (Mr.), opinion of, on the authenticity of John Shakspeare's will, i. <a href="#Page_i_15">15</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the probability of William Shakspeare's being placed with an attorney, <a href="#Page_i_43">43-45</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His conjecture as to the person to whom Shakspeare's sonnets were addressed, ii. 61.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Refuted, 62-73.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Strictures on his inadequate defence of Shakspeare's sonnets, against Mr. Steevens's censure, 74, 75.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Conjecture of, as to the amount of Shakspeare's income, 225.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ascribes Pericles to him, 265.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His opinion on the date of Love's Labour's Lost, 289.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the spuriousness of Henry VI. Part I., 293.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His able discrimination of genuine from the spurious passages, 295.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the probable date of Romeo and Juliet, 357, 358.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the Taming of the Shrew, 364.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Richard III. 370.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Henry IV. Parts I. and II., 379.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Hamlet, 391.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of King John, 419.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of All's Well That Ends Well, 422, 423.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">On the date of Troilus and Cressida, 438.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Henry VIII. 442-445.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Timon of Athens, 446, 447.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Measure for Measure, 452.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of King Lear, 457-459.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of The Tempest, 500-503.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Othello, 527, 528.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Twelfth Night, 535.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Strictures on his splenetic censure of Ben Jonson, 578. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks of, on the epitaphs ascribed to Shakspeare, 607. and <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character and expression of the poet's bust injured through his interference, 621.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His illustrations of Shakspeare cited, <i>passim</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Malory</i> (Sir Thomas), account of his translation of the romance of "La Morte D'Arthur," i. <a href="#Page_i_524">524</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Mandrake</i>, fable concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_374">374</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Manners</i> of the metropolis during the age of Shakspeare, ii. 149.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Influence of Elizabeth and James I. upon them, 153, 154.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Credulity and superstition, 154.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Love of strange sights, 155.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Passion for travelling, 156.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Love of Gaming, 157.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Duelling and quarrelling, 158, 159.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Lying and gossipping, 159, 160.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Complimentary language, 160-162.</li> - - <li><i>Manning</i> of hawks, i. <a href="#Page_i_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_i_267">267</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_267:A_492"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Manningtree</i>, celebrated for its fairs and stage plays, i. <a href="#Page_i_251">251</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Mansions</i> of country squires and gentlemen, in Shakspeare's age, description of, i. <a href="#Page_i_72">72-74</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Mantuanus</i>, Eclogues of, probably one of Shakspeare's school books, i. <a href="#Page_i_27">27</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_27:B_35"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Quoted and praised by him, <a href="#Page_i_27"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Translations of them noticed, <a href="#Page_i_28">28</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_28:A_36"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Marbeck</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_692">692</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Marlow</i> (Christopher), character of, as a poet, i. <a href="#Page_i_635">635</a>, <a href="#Page_i_636">636</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And as a dramatic writer, with specimens, ii. 245-248.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His wretched death, 249, and <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His "Passionate Shepherd," cited by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_578">578</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Marston</i> (John), biographical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_636">636</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his satires, <a href="#Page_i_637">637</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Estimate of his merits as a dramatic poet, ii. 567, 568.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His "Scourge of Villanie," cited and illustrated, ii. 160.</li> - - <li><i>Mark's Day</i> (St.), supposed influence of, on life and death, i. <a href="#Page_i_323">323</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Markham</i> (Gervase), a miscellaneous writer in the time of Shakspeare, biographical account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_505">505</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his works, <a href="#Page_i_506">506</a>, <a href="#Page_i_507">507</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_506:A_981"><i>notes</i></a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Their great popularity, <a href="#Page_i_506">506</a>, <a href="#Page_i_507">507</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his "Gentleman's Academie, or Book of St. Alban's," i. <a href="#Page_i_70">70</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92"><i>note</i></a>. <a href="#Page_i_257">257</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_257:A_476"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dedication to, <a href="#Page_i_70">70</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His difference between churles and gentlemen, <a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92">71, 72. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His edition seen by Shakspeare, <a href="#Footnote_i_70:A_92">71. <i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Directions of, for an <i>ordinary</i> feast, <a href="#Page_i_80">80</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_80:A_106"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His explanation of terms in hawking, <a href="#Page_i_267">267-269</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_267:A_492"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On different sorts of hounds, <a href="#Page_i_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_i_284">284</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of the qualifications of an angler, <a href="#Page_i_294">294-296</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his "Discource of Horsemanshippe," <a href="#Page_i_299">299</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_299:A_561"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Precepts for learning to ride, <a href="#Page_i_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_i_300">300</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his poems, <a href="#Page_i_692">692</a>, <a href="#Page_i_693">693</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His address to the Earl of Southampton, ii. 17. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Marriage</i>, ceremony of, in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_223">223</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Procession, <a href="#Page_i_223"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_224">224</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Rosemary strewed before the bride, <a href="#Page_i_224">224</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ceremonies in the church, <a href="#Page_i_225">225</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Drinking out of the bride cup, <a href="#Page_i_225"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_226">226</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Blessing the bridal bed, <a href="#Page_i_226"><i>ib.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of a rustic marriage, <a href="#Page_i_227">227-229</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">How celebrated in the North of England in the 18th century, <a href="#Page_i_229">229</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_229:B_408"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Martial</i>, epigram of, happily translated, i. <a href="#Page_i_690">690</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_690:A_1382"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Martinmas</i>, or the festival of St. Martin, i. <a href="#Page_i_190">190</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Winter provision then laid in, <a href="#Page_i_190"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical description of, <a href="#Page_i_191">191-193</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Universally observed throughout Europe, <a href="#Page_i_191">191</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusion to this day, by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_193">193</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Martin Mar-Prelate</i>, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_457">457</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Mascall</i>'s (Leonard), "Booke of Fishing," notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_291">291</a>, and <a href="#Footnote_i_291:A_549"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Masks</i> generally used in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 95.</li> - - <li><i>Masques</i>, splendid, in the age of Shakspeare, account of, ii. 187-190.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to them by Shakspeare, 191-193.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Unrivalled excellence of Ben Jonson's masques, 578.</li> - - <li><i>Massinger</i> (Philip), merits of, as a dramatic poet, considered, ii. 561, 562.</li> - - <li class="passages">Illustrations of several of his plays, viz.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">City Madam, i. <a href="#Page_i_75">75</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubsubitem">——, Act ii. scene 1., i. <a href="#Page_i_180">180</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Guardian, i. <a href="#Page_i_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_i_263">263</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Virgin Martyr, i. <a href="#Page_i_310">310</a>.</li> - - <li class="afterpassage"><i>Master of the Revels</i>, office of, when instituted, ii. 202.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The superintendance of the stage and of actors, committed to them, 203.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Players sometimes termed children of the revels, 204.</li> - - <li><i>Maxwell</i> (James), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_693">693</a>.</li> - - <li><i>May-Day</i>, anciently observed throughout the kingdom, i. <a href="#Page_i_152">152</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">A relic of the Roman Floralia, <a href="#Page_i_152"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical description of, in Henry VIII.'s time, <a href="#Page_i_153">153</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cornish mode of celebrating, <a href="#Page_i_153"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">How celebrated in the age of Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_i_155">155</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to it by the poet, <a href="#Page_i_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_i_156">156</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Verses on, by Herrick, <a href="#Page_i_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_i_157">157</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Morris-dances, the invariable accompaniment of May-day, <a href="#Page_i_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_i_158">158</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Robin Hood and his associates, when introduced, <a href="#Page_i_159">159-163</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Music accompanying May-games, <a href="#Page_i_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_i_165">165</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Introduction of the hobby-horse and dragon, <a href="#Page_i_156">156</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of the May-games, as celebrated in Shakspeare's time, <a href="#Page_i_167">167-171</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Opposition made to them by the Puritans, and their consequent decline, <a href="#Page_i_171">171-173</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Revived by King James's "Book of Sports," <a href="#Page_i_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_i_174">174</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their gradual disuse, <a href="#Page_i_174">174</a>, and <a href="#Footnote_i_174:B_285"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Maying</i>, custom of going a Maying, i. <a href="#Page_i_155">155</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Verses on, <a href="#Page_i_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_i_157">157</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Mayne</i>'s "City Match," illustration of, i. <a href="#Page_i_388">388</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Maypole</i>, ceremony of setting up described, i. <a href="#Page_i_154">154</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Measure for Measure</i>, probable date of, ii. 452.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its primary source, 453.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of its characters, 454-456.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> -<table summary="Measure for Measure referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">125.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_378">378</a>. ii. 455, 456.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_222">222</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Menæchmi</i> of Plautus, the basis of Shakspeare's Comedy of Errors, ii. 286-288.</li> - - <li><i>Merchant of Venice</i>, date of, ii. 385.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable source of its fable, 385, 386.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of it, 387, 388.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of its characters, 388-390.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Particularly that of Shylock, 388, 389.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Illustrations of this drama.</i></p> -<table summary="Merchant of Venice referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">8.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">389.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">93.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_374">374</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_187">187</a>. <a href="#Page_i_381">381</a>. ii. 390.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Meres</i> (Francis), critical notice of his "Comparative Discourse of our English Poets, with the Greeke, Latine, and Italian Poets," i. <a href="#Page_i_468">468</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His censure of the popularity of "La Morte D'Arthur," <a href="#Page_i_525">525</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Encomium on Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, ii. 29.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And on several of his dramas, 287.</li> - - <li><i>Merry Pin</i>, explanation of the term, i. <a href="#Page_i_131">131</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_131:A_185"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Merry Wives of Windsor</i>, tradition respecting the origin of, ii. 435, 436.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of its characters, 436, 437.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> -<table summary="Merry Wives of Windsor referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_252">252</a>. <a href="#Page_i_307">307</a>. <a href="#Page_i_409">409</a>, ii. 178.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_82">82</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_577">577</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">134.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_271">271</a>. <a href="#Page_i_577">577</a>. ii. 94. 114.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">132.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_362">362</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">117. 169.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_82">82</a>. ii. 340. 341. 343. 347.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Metrical Romances</i>, origin of, i. <a href="#Page_i_522">522</a>, <a href="#Page_i_523">523</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Michael</i> (St.) <i>and All Angels</i>, festival of, i. <a href="#Page_i_334">334</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Superstitious doctrine of the ministry of angels, <a href="#Page_i_334">334-340</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Michaelmas-geese, <a href="#Page_i_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_i_341">341</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Middleton</i> (Christopher), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_693">693</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Middleton</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_693">693</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Wrote several pieces for the stage, in conjunction with other dramatic poets, ii. 565.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Estimate of his merits as a dramatist, 565, 566.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Illustrations of his "Fair Quarrel," i. <a href="#Page_i_224">224</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And "No Wit, No Help like a Woman's," i. <a href="#Page_i_226">226</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Midsummer-Eve</i>, superstitious observances on, i. <a href="#Page_i_328">328</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Midsummer-Eve fire, of Pagan origin, <a href="#Page_i_328"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_329">329</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fern-seed only visible on that eve, <a href="#Page_i_329">329</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Spirits visible of persons, who are to die in the following year, <a href="#Page_i_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_i_331">331</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Recent observance of Midsummer-Eve in Cornwall, <a href="#Page_i_331">331</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Visionary appearance of future husbands and wives supposed to take place on this Eve, <a href="#Page_i_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_i_333">333</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Plays and masques performed then, <a href="#Page_i_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_i_334">334</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Midsummer-Night's Dream</i>, composed for Midsummer-Eve, i. <a href="#Page_i_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_i_334">334</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its probable date, ii. 298, 299.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">One of Shakspeare's earlier pieces, 299.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on some of its characters, 300-302.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And on the fairy mythology of this play, 302. 337-355.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">(<i>See also the article "<a href="#Fairies">Fairies</a>," in this Index.</i>)</li></ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in this work.</i></p> -<table summary="Midsummer Nights Dream referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_155">155</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">221.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_106">106</a>. ii. 341. 343, 344. 349.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>. <a href="#Page_i_384">384</a>. ii. 337, 338. 341, 342. 344. 354, 355.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">341. 355.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">170. 341. 346.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_158">158</a>. ii. 301. 354.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_156">156</a>. <a href="#Page_i_284">284</a>. <a href="#Page_i_324">324</a>. ii. 339. 352.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">353.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_226">226</a>. ii. 329. 346.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Milan Bells</i> for hawks, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_i_269">269</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Milk Maids</i>, procession of, on May-day, i. <a href="#Page_i_155">155</a>. <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_155:A_233">[155:A]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Milton</i>'s "Comus," illustration of, i. <a href="#Page_i_131">131</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Illustrations of "Paradise Lost," i. <a href="#Page_i_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_i_381">381</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proof that he imitated Shakspeare's Pericles, ii. 279, 280. <i>note</i> [279:C].</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Exquisite passage from his "Paradise Lost," on the ministry of angels, 401.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ben Jonson the favourite model studied by Milton, 578, 579.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Whether he and Shakspeare were acquainted with each other, 672.</li> - - <li><i>Ministry of Angels</i>, superstitious notions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_334">334-339</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks of Bishop Horsley on, <a href="#Page_i_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_i_340">340</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Minstrels</i> better paid than clergymen, i. <a href="#Page_i_93">93</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their condition in the age of Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_557">557</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their costume described, <a href="#Page_i_558">558</a>, <a href="#Page_i_559">559</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dissolute morals of, <a href="#Page_i_559">559</a>, <a href="#Page_i_560">560</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to them by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_560">560</a>, <a href="#Page_i_561">561</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their profession annihilated by act of parliament, <a href="#Page_i_561">561</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to their poetry by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_574">574-593</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Miranda</i>, remarks on the character of, ii. 506.</li> - - <li>"<i>Mirrour for Magistrates</i>," a collection of poetical legends, planned by Sackville, i. <a href="#Page_i_708">708</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of its various editions, <a href="#Page_i_709">709</a>, <a href="#Page_i_710">710</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its character, <a href="#Page_i_710">710</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Influence on our national poetry, <a href="#Page_i_710"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - - <li><i>Monkies</i>, kept as the companions of the domestic fool, ii. 145, 146.</li> - - <li><i>Monsters</i>, supposed existence of, i. <a href="#Page_i_384">384-389</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Montgomery</i> (Alexander), notice of the poems of, i. <a href="#Page_i_693">693</a>, and <a href="#Footnote_i_693:A_1389"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Monument</i> of Shakspeare, in Stratford church, described, ii. 618.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the bust erected on it, 619-622.</li> - - <li><i>Moon</i>, supposed influence of, i. <a href="#Page_i_382">382-384</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Exquisite picture of moonlight scenery, ii. 390.</li> - - <li><i>Morality</i> of Shakspeare's dramas, ii. 552.</li> - - <li><i>Morgan</i> (Mr.), vindicates Shakspeare from the calumnies of Voltaire, ii. 553, 554.</li> - - <li><i>Morley</i>'s (Thomas), Collection of Madrigals, quotations from, illustrative of May-games, i. <a href="#Page_i_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_i_166">166</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of his "Collections," <a href="#Page_i_731">731-733</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Morris-dance</i>, origin of, i. <a href="#Page_i_157">157</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dress of the Morris-dancers, <a href="#Page_i_158">158</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Morris dances performed at Easter, i. <a href="#Page_i_147">147</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_147:B_217"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And especially at May-day, <a href="#Page_i_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_i_159">159</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Music by which these dances were accompanied, <a href="#Page_i_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_i_165">165</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Morris-dances introduced also at Whitsuntide, <a href="#Page_i_175">175</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Morte D'Arthur</i>," a celebrated romance, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_524">524</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its popularity censured by Ascham and Meres, <a href="#Page_i_524">524</a>, <a href="#Page_i_525">525</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of its principal editions, <a href="#Page_i_526">526</a>, <a href="#Page_i_527">527</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Specimen of its style, <a href="#Page_i_528">528</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Furnished Spenser with many incidents, <a href="#Page_i_528">528</a>, <a href="#Page_i_529">529</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to it by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_562">562</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Moseley</i> (Mr.), discovers John Shakspeare's will, i. <a href="#Page_i_9">9</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Moryson</i> (Fynes), critical notice of his "Itinerary," i. <a href="#Page_i_479">479</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His character of "Amadis of Gaul," <a href="#Page_i_546">546</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Much Ado about Nothing</i>, date of, ii. 430.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Strictures on its general character, and on the conduct of its fable, <i>ibid.</i> 431.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Original of the character of Dogberry in this play, 589.</li></ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> -<table summary="Much Ado about Nothing referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">114.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_540">540</a>. <a href="#Page_i_564">564</a>. ii. 175.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_288">288</a>. <a href="#Page_i_472">472</a>. ii. 92.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_296">296</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_573">573</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_580">580</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Mufflers</i>, an article of female dress in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 95.</li> - - <li><i>Mulberry-tree</i>, when planted by Shakspeare, ii. 599, 600.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cut down, ii. 584. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Mulcaster</i> (Richard), notice of the grammatical labours of, i. <a href="#Page_i_455">455</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Muncaster</i> (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_693">693</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Munday</i> (Anthony), notice of his Versions of "Palmerin of England," i. <a href="#Page_i_547">547</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">"Palmerin d'Oliva," and "Historie of Palmendo," <a href="#Page_i_548">548</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his poems, <a href="#Page_i_693">693</a>, <a href="#Page_i_694">694</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Murdered</i> persons, blood of, supposed to flow on the touch or approach of the murderer, i. <a href="#Page_i_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_i_373">373</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Murray</i> (David), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_694">694</a>, and <a href="#FNanchor_i_694:A_1390"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Music</i> of the Morris-dance and May-games, i. <a href="#Page_i_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_i_165">165</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of the music of the fairies, ii. 342, and <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shakspeare passionately fond of music, 390.</li> - - <li>"<i>Myrrour of Knighthood</i>," a popular romance, alluded to by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_570">570</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Mythology</i> of the ancients, a favourite study in the time of Elizabeth and James I., i. <a href="#Page_i_419">419</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical account of the fairy mythology of Shakspeare, ii. 302-337.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">N</li> - - <li><i>Name</i> of Shakspeare, orthography of, ascertained, i. <a href="#Page_i_17">17-20</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Nash</i> (Thomas), "Quarternio" of, cited, i. <a href="#Page_i_260">260-262</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His quarrel with Harvey, <a href="#Page_i_458">458</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His books, why scarce, <a href="#Page_i_458"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of him, <a href="#Page_i_459">459</a>. <a href="#Page_i_486">486</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Nashe</i>'s "Choosing of Valentines" cited, i. <a href="#Page_i_251">251</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Natural History</i>, works on, translated in the time of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_485">485</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Needlework</i>, admirable, of the ladies, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 146. and <i>note</i>, 153.</li> - - <li><i>Newcastle</i>, Easter amusements at, i. <a href="#Page_i_149">149</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Newspapers</i>, origin of, i. <a href="#Page_i_506">506</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Newton</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_694">694</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Newton</i>'s "History of the Saracens," notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_476">476</a>.</li> - - <li><i>New-Year's Day</i>, ceremonies observed on, i. <a href="#Page_i_123">123</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Presents usually made then, <a href="#Page_i_124">124</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of those made to Queen Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_i_126">126</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Nicholson</i> (Samuel), a minor poet in the time of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_694">694</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Niccols</i> (Richard), critical notice of the poetical works of, i. <a href="#Page_i_637">637</a>, <a href="#Page_i_638">638</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Additions to the "Mirrour for Magistrates," <a href="#Page_i_709">709</a>, <a href="#Page_i_710">710</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Nightmare</i>, poetical description of, i. <a href="#Page_i_348">348</a>, <a href="#Footnote_i_348:B_659"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed influence of St. Withold, against it, <a href="#Page_i_347">347-349</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Nixon</i> (Anthony), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_694">694</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Noises</i>, sudden and fearful, supposed to be forerunners of death, i. <a href="#Page_i_361">361</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Norden</i> (John), notice of the topographical works of, i. <a href="#Page_i_480">480</a>, <a href="#Page_i_481">481</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of his poetical productions, <a href="#Page_i_694">694</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Novels</i> (Italian), account of, translated in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_538">538-544</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of those most esteemed in the 15th and 16th centuries, <a href="#Page_i_544">544</a>, <a href="#Footnote_i_544:B_1044"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Nutcrack Night</i>, i. <a href="#Page_i_341">341</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">O</li> - - <li><i>Oberon</i>, the fairy king of Shakspeare, derivation of his name, ii. 337, <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of his character, 337-340.</li> - - <li><i>Ockland</i>'s ΕΙΡΗΝΑΡΧΙΑ <i>sive Elizabetha</i>, a school-book in Shakspeare's time, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_26">26</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Omens</i>, prevalence of, in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_349">349-351</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Warnings of danger or death, <a href="#Page_i_349">349-354</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dreams, <a href="#Page_i_354">354</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Demoniacal voices, <a href="#Page_i_355">355</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Corpse-candles, and tomb-fires, <a href="#Page_i_358">358</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fiery and meteorous exhalations, <a href="#Page_i_360">360</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Sudden noises, <a href="#Page_i_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_i_362">362</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Ophelia</i>, remarks on the affecting madness of, i. <a href="#Page_i_589">589-591</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And also on Hamlet's passion for her, ii. 394-396.</li> - - <li><i>Ordinaries</i>, account of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 134, 135.</li> - - <li><i>Oriental</i> romances, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_531">531-538</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to them by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_568">568</a>, <a href="#Page_i_569">569</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Orthography</i> of Shakspeare's name, i. <a href="#Page_i_17">17-20</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Instances of want of uniformity in, <a href="#Page_i_19">19</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_19:A_27"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Othello</i>, probable date of, ii. 527, 528.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">General remarks on this drama, 529.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Vindication of it from the extraordinary criticism of Mr. Steevens, 529, 530.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the execution of the character of Othello, 530.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Iago, 531.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And Desdemona, <i>ibid.</i></li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this tragedy illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Othello referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_385">385</a>. ii. 155.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_583">583</a>. ii. 128.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_270">270</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">527.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_389">389</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_384">384</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Overbury</i> (Sir Thomas), the first writer of "Characters," i. <a href="#Page_i_509">509</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his productions, <a href="#Page_i_509"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="subsubitem">Especially his poem on the choice of a wife, <a href="#Page_i_510">510</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubsubitem">Imitation of it, <a href="#Page_i_510"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="subsubsubitem">Notice of editions of it, <a href="#Page_i_694">694</a>, and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_694:D_1393">[694:D]</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Mrs. Turner executed for his murder, ii. 96.</li> - - <li><i>Owls</i>, superstitious notions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_i_394">394</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">P</li> - - <li><i>Pageants</i>, splendid, in the age of Shakspeare, account of, ii. 187-190.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to them by the poet, 191-193.</li> - - <li><i>Paint</i>, used by the ladies in Shakspeare's time, ii. 95.</li> - - <li><i>Palaces</i> of Queen Elizabeth, account of the furniture of, ii. 111, 112.</li> - - <li>"<i>Palmerin d'Oliva</i>," romance of, translated by Munday, i. <a href="#Page_i_548">548</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Alluded to by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_571">571</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Palmerin of England</i>," a popular romance, critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_547">547</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Palmistry</i>, allusions to by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_363">363</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pancake Bell</i>, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_143">143</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_143:A_204"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pancakes</i>, the invariable accompaniment of Shrove-Tuesday, i. <a href="#Page_i_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_i_142">142</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Paradyse of Daynty Devises</i>," account of the different editions of, i. <a href="#Page_i_711">711</a>, <a href="#Page_i_712">712</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of the different contributors to this collection of poems, <a href="#Page_i_713">713-715</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Paris</i>, fashions of, imported into England, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 94.</li> - - <li><i>Park</i> (Mr.), remarks of, on the style of our elder poetry, i. <a href="#Page_i_719">719</a>, <a href="#Page_i_720">720</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Parish Tops</i>, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_312">312</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Parker</i> (Archbishop), a collector of curious books, i. <a href="#Page_i_433">433</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Parkes</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_695">695</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Parnassus</i>—"The Great Assizes holden in Parnassus," &c. cited, i. <a href="#Page_i_19">19</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_19:A_27"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Parrot</i> (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_695">695</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Partridge</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_695">695</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pasche Eggs</i>, given at Easter, i. <a href="#Page_i_148">148</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pasquinade</i> of Shakspeare, on Sir Thomas Lucy, i. <a href="#Page_i_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_i_406">406</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Passing Bell</i>, supposed benefit of tolling, i. <a href="#Page_i_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_i_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_i_234">234</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Passions</i>, exquisite delineations of, in Shakspeare's dramas, ii. 546-549.</li> - - <li>"<i>Passionate Pilgrim</i>," a collection of Shakspeare's minor pieces, when first printed, ii. 41.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable date of its composition, 42.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">An edition of this work published by Jaggard, without the poet's knowledge or consent, 43-45.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shakspeare vindicated from the charge of imposing on the public, in this edition, 45-48.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on the Passionate Pilgrim, 49.</li> - - <li><i>Pastoral</i> romances, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_548">548-552</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Paul's</i> (St.) Day, supposed influence of, on the weather, i. <a href="#Page_i_323">323</a>. and <a href="#Footnote_i_323:A_611"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Paul's Walk</i>, a fashionable lounge in St. Paul's Cathedral, during the age of Shakspeare, ii. 182-185.</li> - - <li><i>Pavin</i> or <i>Pavan</i>, a fashionable dance in the time of Shakspeare, account of, ii. 173, 174.</li> - - <li><i>Payne</i> (Christopher), "Christmas Carrolles" of, i. <a href="#Page_i_695">695</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Paynter</i>'s (William), "Pallace of Pleasure," a popular collection of romances, i. <a href="#Page_i_541">541</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable cause of its being discontinued, <a href="#Page_i_541"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_542">542</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Constantly referred to by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_542">542</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Peacham</i> (Henry), a minor poet in the time of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_695">695</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Peacham</i>'s description of country-schoolmasters, i. <a href="#Page_i_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_i_98">98</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Instruction on the best mode of keeping books, and on the best scite for a library, <a href="#Page_i_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_i_437">437</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And on the choice of style, <a href="#Page_i_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_i_448">448</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Peacock Pies</i>, anciently eaten at Christmas, i. <a href="#Page_i_200">200</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pearson</i> (Alison), executed for supposed intercourse with fairies, ii. 318, 319.</li> - - <li><i>Peasantry</i>, or Boors, character of, in the age of Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_120">120-122</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Peele</i> (George), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_695">695</a>, <a href="#Page_i_696">696</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his dramatic productions, ii. 239, 240.</li> - - <li><i>Peend</i> (Thomas de la), a minor poet in the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_696">696</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Peg Tankard</i>, origin of, i. <a href="#Page_i_131">131</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_131:A_185"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Explanation of terms borrowed from it, <a href="#Page_i_131"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - - <li><i>Percy</i> (Bishop), notice of his "Friar of Orders Grey," i. <a href="#Page_i_579">579</a>, <a href="#Page_i_580">580</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ascribes Pericles to Shakspeare, ii. 265.</li> - - <li><i>Percy</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_696">696</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Perdita</i>, remarks on the character of, in the Winter's Tale, ii. 499, 500.</li> - - <li><i>Peri</i>, or benevolent fairies of the Persians, notice of, ii. 302.</li> - - <li><i>Periapts</i>, a sort of spell, supposed influence of, i. <a href="#Page_i_364">364</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pericles</i>, the first of Shakspeare's plays, ii. 262.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proofs, that the greater part, if not the whole of it, was his composition, 262, 263. 265, 266.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its omission in the first edition of his works, accounted for, 264.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its inequalities considered, 265-267.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">In what parts his genius may be traced, 268.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Examination of the minor characters, 270, 271.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the personage of Pericles, 272, 273.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Admirable scene of his recognition of Marina, 274.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of his wife Thaisa, 275.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of Marina, examined, 276-279.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Strict justice of the moral, 279.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">This play imitated by Milton, <i>ibid.</i> <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dryden's testimony to the genuineness and priority of Pericles, 281.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Internal evidences to the same effect, 282.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">This play probably written in the year 1590, 282, 283.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Objections to its priority considered and refuted, 285, 286.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probability of Mr. Steevens's conjecture that the hero of this drama was originally named Pyrocles, after the hero of Sidney's Arcadia, 283, 284.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Pericles referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">272.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">273.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">268, 269. <i>notes</i>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">270, 271.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">276.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">276, 277.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">278. <i>note</i>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">6.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">278.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">273, 274. 279.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">275.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Periwigs</i>, when introduced into England, ii. 93.</li> - - <li><i>Petowe</i> (Henry), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_696">696</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pett</i> (Peter), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_696">696</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pewter</i>, a costly article in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 118.</li> - - <li><i>Phillip</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_696">696</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Phiston</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_697">697</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Phœnix Nest</i>," a collection of poems, in the time of Elizabeth, critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_718">718-720</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pictures</i>, an article of furniture in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 119.</li> - - <li><i>Pilgrimages</i> made to wells, i. <a href="#Page_i_393">393</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pilpay</i>, notice of the fables of, i. <a href="#Page_i_533">533</a>, <a href="#Page_i_534">534</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pipe and Tabor</i>, the ancient accompaniment of the Morris-dance and May-games, i. <a href="#Page_i_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_i_165">165</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Plautus</i>, the Menæchmi of, the basis of Shakspeare's Comedy of Errors, ii. 286-288.</li> - - <li><i>Pits</i> (John), the biographer, character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_482">482</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Plague</i>, ravages of, at Stratford, i. <a href="#Page_i_24">24</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Plantain roots</i>, why dug up on Midsummer Eve, i. <a href="#Page_i_333">333</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Plat</i> (Hugh), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_697">697</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Players</i> (strolling), state of, in the sixteenth century, i. <a href="#Page_i_248">248-250</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Difference between them and licensed performers, <a href="#Page_i_250">250</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Exhibited at country fairs, <a href="#Page_i_251">251</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Companies of players, when first licensed, ii. 202.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Placed under the direction of the Master of the Revels, 203.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Patronized by the court, and also by private individuals, 205, 206.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The amount of their remuneration, 204.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Days and hours of their performance, 215.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Concluded their performances always with prayers, 222, 223.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">How remunerated, 223, 224.</li> - - <li><i>Play-bills</i>, notice of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 214, 215.</li> - - <li><i>Plays</i>, number of, performed in one day, ii. 217.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Amusements of the audience, prior to their commencement, 217-219.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Disapprobation of them, how testified, 221, 222.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Authors of, how rewarded, 224, 225.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of anonymous plays extant previously to the time of Shakspeare, 252, 253.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Chronological list of his genuine plays, 261, 262.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Observations on each, 263-534.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">(<i>And see their respective titles in this Index.</i>)</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Humorous remark of Mr. Steevens on the value and high price of the first edition of Shakspeare's plays, 535. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Remarks on the spurious plays attributed to him, 536, 537.</li> - - <li><i>Plough Monday</i>, festival of, i. <a href="#Page_i_136">136</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Sports and customs usual at that season, <a href="#Page_i_137">137</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Poetical Rapsodie</i>," a collection of poems of the age of Shakspeare, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_728">728-730</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Poets</i>, list of, who were rewarded by English sovereigns, i. <a href="#Page_i_514">514</a>, <a href="#Page_i_515">515</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Table of English poets, classed according to the subjects of their muses, <a href="#Page_i_734">734</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Poetry</i> (English), notice of treatises on, during the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_461">461-470</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to or quotations from the poetry of the minstrels, with remarks, <a href="#Page_i_574">574-593</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">State of poetry (with the exception of the drama) during the time of Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_594">594</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Influence of superstition, literature, and romance on poetical genius, <a href="#Page_i_595">595</a>, <a href="#Page_i_596">596</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Versification, economy, and sentiment of the Elizabethan poetry, <a href="#Page_i_597">597-599</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Defects in the larger poems of this period, <a href="#Page_i_599">599-601</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Biographical and critical notices of the more eminent poets, <a href="#Page_i_601">601-674</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Table of miscellaneous minor poets, exhibiting their respective degrees of excellence, mediocrity, or worthlessness, <a href="#Page_i_676">676-707</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical notices of the collections of poetry, and poetical miscellanies, published during this period, <a href="#Page_i_708">708-731</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Brief view of dramatic poetry from the birth of Shakspeare to the year 1590, ii. 227-255.</li> - - <li><i>Police</i> of London, neglected in the time of Elizabeth, ii. 165.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Regulations for it, 166.</li> - - <li>"<i>Polimanteia</i>," or the means to judge of the fall of a commonwealth, bibliographical notice of, ii. 39. <i>note</i> [39:B].</li> - - <li><i>Porta</i> (Luigi da), the "Giuletta" of, the source of Romeo and Juliet, ii. 360-362.</li> - - <li><i>Portuguese</i> romances, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_545">545-548</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Possessed</i>, charm for, i. <a href="#Page_i_364">364</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Possets</i>, prevalence of, in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_82">82</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Powder</i> (sympathetic), marvellous effects ascribed to, i. <a href="#Page_i_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_i_376">376</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Powell</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_697">697</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Prayer Book</i> of Queen Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_432">432</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Pregnant women</i>, supposed influence of fairies on, ii. 324.</li> - - <li><i>Presents</i>, anciently made on New-Year's Day, i. <a href="#Page_i_124">124</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of those made to Queen Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_i_126">126</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Preston</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_697">697</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his dramatic pieces, ii. 236, 237.</li> - - <li><i>Prices</i> of admission to the theatre, ii. 216, 217.</li> - - <li><i>Pricket</i> (Robert), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_697">697</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Primero</i>, a fashionable game of cards in Shakspeare's time, how played, ii. 169.</li> - - <li><i>Printing</i>, observations on the style of, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, i. <a href="#Page_i_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_i_438">438</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Proctor</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_697">697</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his "Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions," <a href="#Page_i_715">715-717</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Prologues</i>, how delivered in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 219.</li> - - <li><i>Prose writers</i> of the age of Shakspeare, observations on, i. <a href="#Page_i_439">439-447</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Causes of their defects, <a href="#Page_i_448">448</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Prospero</i>, analysis of the character of, ii. 505. 515.</li> - - <li><i>Provisions</i>, annual stock of, anciently laid in at fairs, i. <a href="#Page_i_215">215</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Prudentius</i>, passage of, supposed to have been imitated by Shakspeare, ii. 415.</li> - - <li><i>Puck</i>, or Robin Goodfellow, analysis of the character of, ii. 347.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable source of it, 348-350.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of his functions, 349, 350.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Resemblance between Puck and the Cobali or benevolent elves of the Germans, 350.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And to the Brownie of the Scotch, 351.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Other functions of Puck, 352, 353.</li> - - <li><i>Puppet-shows</i>, origin of, i. <a href="#Page_i_253">253</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Purchas</i>'s "Pilgrimage," critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_477">477</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Purgatory</i>, Popish doctrine of, ii. 415, 416.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Seized and employed by Shakspeare with admirable success, 416, 417. 455, 456.</li> - - <li><i>Puritans</i> opposition to May-games, ridiculed by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_171">171</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">By Ben Jonson, <a href="#Page_i_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_i_173">173</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_173:A_281"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And Beaumont and Fletcher, <a href="#Page_i_172">172</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Puttenham</i> (George), remarks of, on the corruptions of the English language, i. <a href="#Page_i_441">441</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical notice of his "Arte of English Poesie," <a href="#Page_i_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_i_466">466</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of his smaller poems, <a href="#Page_i_697">697</a>. and <a href="#Footnote_i_697:E_1404"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">Q</li> - - <li><i>Quarrelling</i> reduced to a system in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 159.</li> - - <li><i>Quiney</i> (Mr. Thomas), married to Shakspeare's daughter Judith, ii. 609.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their issue, 610.</li> - - <li><i>Quintaine</i>, a rural sport in the sixteenth century, i. <a href="#Page_i_300">300</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its origin, <a href="#Page_i_301">301</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of, <a href="#Page_i_301">301-304</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Quippes for upstart newfangled Gentlewomen</i>," cited and illustrated, ii. 95, 98.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">R</li> - - <li><i>Race-horses</i>, breeds of, highly esteemed, i. <a href="#Page_i_298">298</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Raleigh</i> (Sir Walter), improved the English language, i. <a href="#Page_i_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_i_417">417</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his "History of the World," <a href="#Page_i_476">476</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His "Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," cited by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_578">578</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his poetical pieces, <a href="#Page_i_639">639</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Remarks on them, <a href="#Page_i_639"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_640">640</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Estimate of his poetical character, <a href="#Page_i_640">640-642</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Ramsey</i> (Laurence), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_698">698</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rankins</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_698">698</a>.</li> - - <li><i><a name="Rape_of_Lucrece" id="Rape_of_Lucrece"></a>Rape of Lucrece</i>, a poem of Shakspeare's, when first printed, ii. 32.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dedicated to the Earl of Southampton, 3.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Construction of its versification, 33.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable sources whence Shakspeare derived his fable, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Exquisite specimens of this poem, for their versification, descriptive, pathetic, and sublime excellences, 34-38.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Complimentary notices of this poem by contemporaries of the poet, 38-40.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of its principal editions, 41.</li> - - <li><i>Rapiers</i>, extraordinary length of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 108, 109.</li> - - <li><i>Ravenscroft</i> (Thomas), hunting song preserved by, i. <a href="#Page_i_277">277</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Reynolds</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_698">698</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Reed</i> (Mr.), his Illustrations of Shakspeare cited, <i>passim</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Register</i> (parochial), of Stratford-upon-Avon, extracts from, i. <a href="#Page_i_4">4</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Births, marriages, and deaths of Shakspeare's children recorded there, <a href="#Page_i_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_i_415">415</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_414:C_828"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Remuneration</i> of actors and dramatic poets in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 223-225.</li> - - <li><i>Repartees</i> of Shakspeare and Tarleton the comedian, i. <a href="#Page_i_66">66</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ascribed to Shakspeare and Ben Jonson, ii. 593. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Rice</i> (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_698">698</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Richard</i> I. (King), why surnamed <i>Cœur de Lion</i>, i. <a href="#Page_i_566">566</a>, <a href="#Page_i_567">567</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Richard</i> II., probable date of, ii. 375, 376.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of his character, 377, 378.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the secondary characters of this play, 378.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Performed before the Earl of Southampton in 1601, ii. 10, 11.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Illustration of act ii. scene 4. of this drama, i. <a href="#Page_i_384">384</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Richard</i> of Gloucester, exquisite portrait of, in Shakspeare's Henry VI. Part II., ii. 297.</li> - - <li><i>Richard</i> III., date of, ii. 370-372.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of Richard's character, 373-375.</li></ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Illustrations of passages of this drama in the present work.</i></p> -<table summary="Richard III. referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">377.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">377.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">378.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">358.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Rickets</i>, singular cures of, i. <a href="#Page_i_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_i_372">372</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rider</i> (Bishop), an eminent philologer, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_455">455</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Riding</i>, art of, highly cultivated in the sixteenth century, i. <a href="#Page_i_298">298</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Instructions for, <a href="#Page_i_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_i_300">300</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rings</i>, fairy, allusions to, by Shakspeare, ii. 342, 343.</li> - - <li><i>Robin Hood</i> and his associates, when introduced in the gambols of May Day, i. <a href="#Page_i_159">159</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of them and their dresses, &c., <a href="#Page_i_160">160-164</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Robin</i>, why a favourite bird, i. <a href="#Page_i_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_i_395">395</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Robinson</i> (Clement), critical notice of his "Handefull of Pleasant Delites," i. <a href="#Page_i_717">717</a>, <a href="#Page_i_718">718</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Robinson</i>'s (Richard), "Auncient Order, &c. of the Round Table," account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_562">562</a>, <a href="#Page_i_563">563</a>., ii. 178-180.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his poems, i. <a href="#Page_i_698">698</a>. and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_698:B_1406">[698:B]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rock Day</i> festival, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_135">135</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Verses on, <a href="#Page_i_135"><i>ibid.</i></a>, <a href="#Page_i_136">136</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rolland</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_698">698</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Roman literature</i>, progress of, during the reign of Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_454">454</a>, <a href="#Page_i_455">455</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of Roman classic authors translated into English in Shakspeare's time, <a href="#Page_i_483">483</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Romances</i>, list of popular ones in the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_519">519-522</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Origin of the metrical romance, <a href="#Page_i_522">522</a>, <a href="#Page_i_523">523</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Anglo-Norman romances, <a href="#Page_i_523">523-531</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Oriental romances, <a href="#Page_i_531">531-538</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Italian romances, <a href="#Page_i_538">538-544</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Spanish and Portuguese romances, <a href="#Page_i_545">545-548</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Pastoral romances, <a href="#Page_i_548">548-552</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Influence of romance on the poetry of the Elizabethan age, <a href="#Page_i_596">596</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Observations on the romantic drama, ii. 539-541.</li> - - <li><i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, probable date of, ii. 356-358.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Source whence Shakspeare derived his plot, considered, 359-361.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of the characters of this drama, 362, 363.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Eulogium on it by Schlegel, 363, 364.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> -<table summary="Romeo and Juliet referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_52">52</a>. <a href="#Page_i_436">436</a>. ii. 356.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_368">368</a>. ii. 118. 342. 347. 358.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">116.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_583">583</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_271">271</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_304">304</a>. <a href="#Page_i_583">583</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_582:C_1151"><i>note</i></a>. ii. 116.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_556">556</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_272">272</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_374">374</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_240">240</a>. <a href="#Page_i_243">243</a>. <a href="#Page_i_583">583</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_582:C_1151"><i>note</i></a>. ii. 170.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_355">355</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">581.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">107.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Roodsmass</i>, procession of fairies at the festival of, ii. 322.</li> - - <li><i>Rosemary</i> strewed before the bride at marriages, i. <a href="#Page_i_224">224</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rosse</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_698">698</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rous</i> (Francis), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_699">699</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rousillon</i> (Countess), exquisite character of, ii. 423.</li> - - <li><i>Rowe</i> (Mr.), mistake of, concerning the priority of Shakspeare's birth, corrected, i. <a href="#Page_i_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_i_5">5</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His conjecture concerning the trade of Shakspeare's father, <a href="#Page_i_7">7</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Disproved, <a href="#Page_i_7"><i>ibid.</i></a>, <a href="#Footnote_i_7:B_12"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rowena</i> and Vortigern, anecdote of, i. <a href="#Page_i_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_i_128">128</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rowland</i> (Samuel), list of the poems of, i. <a href="#Page_i_699">699</a>, <a href="#Page_i_700">700</a>. and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_700:A_1413">[700:A]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rowley</i> (William), wrote several pieces in conjunction with Massinger and other dramatists, ii. 570.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Estimate of his merits as a dramatic poet, <i>ibid.</i></li> - - <li><i>Ruddock</i>, or red-breast, popular superstitions in favour of, i. <a href="#Page_i_395">395</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Ruffs</i> worn in the age of Elizabeth, account of, ii. 90. 95-97. 103.</li> - - <li><i>Ruptures</i>, singular remedies for, i. <a href="#Page_i_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_i_372">372</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Rushes</i>, anciently strewed on floors, ii. 119, 120.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">S</li> - - <li><i>Sabie</i> (Francis), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_700">700</a>. and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_700:B_1414">[700:B]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sack</i>, a species of wine much used in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 130.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Different kinds of, 131.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The sack of Falstaff, what, <i>ibid.</i> 132.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Sack and sugar much used, 132.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And frequently adulterated, <i>ibid.</i></li> - - <li><i>Sackville</i> (Thomas), Lord Buckhurst, character of the poetical works of, i. <a href="#Page_i_642">642</a>, <a href="#Page_i_643">643</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The model adopted by Spenser, <a href="#Page_i_643">643</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The "Myrrour for Magistrates," planned by him, <a href="#Page_i_708">708</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his dramatic performances, ii. 230, 231.</li> - - <li><i>Saker</i> (Aug.), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_700">700</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sampson</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_700">700</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sandabar</i>, an oriental philosopher, i. <a href="#Page_i_531">531</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of his "Book of the Seven Counsellors," <a href="#Page_i_531"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="subsubitem">Numerous versions of it, <a href="#Page_i_531"><i>ibid.</i></a>, <a href="#Page_i_532">532</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">English version exceedingly popular, <a href="#Page_i_531">531</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Scottish version, <a href="#Page_i_532">532</a>, <a href="#Page_i_533">533</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sandford</i> (James), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_700">700</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Satires</i> of Bishop Hall, remarks on, i. <a href="#Page_i_628">628</a>, <a href="#Page_i_629">629</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Savile</i> (Sir Henry), greatly promoted Greek literature, i. <a href="#Page_i_453">453</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his works, <a href="#Page_i_453"><i>ibid.</i></a>, <a href="#Page_i_454">454</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Scandinavian</i> mythology of fairies, account of, ii. 308-312.</li> - - <li><i>Schlegel</i> (M.), eulogium of, on Shakspeare's Romeo and Juliet, ii. 363, 364.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On his Cymbeline, 466, 467.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Macbeth, 471-473.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the romantic drama of Shakspeare, 539, 540.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And on his moral character, 614.</li> - - <li><i>School-books</i>, list of, in use in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_25">25</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_25:A_32"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of those most probably used by him, <a href="#Page_i_26">26-28</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">French and Italian grammars and dictionaries, <a href="#Page_i_57">57</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Schoolmasters</i> but little rewarded in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_27">27</a>. <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_27:A_34">[27:A]</a>. <a href="#Page_i_94">94</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">In the sixteenth century were frequently conjurors, <a href="#Page_i_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_i_96">96</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Picture of, by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_96">96</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their degraded character and ignorance in his time, <a href="#Page_i_97">97</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Scoloker</i> (Anthony), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_700">700</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Scot</i> (Reginald), account of the doctrine of angelic hierarchy and ministry, i. <a href="#Page_i_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_i_338">338</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the prevalence of omens, <a href="#Page_i_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_i_350">350</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Recipe for fixing an ass's head on human shoulders, ii. 351. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His account of the supposed prevalency of witchcraft in the time of Shakspeare, 475.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of the persons who were supposed to be witches, 478-480.</li> - <li class="subsubsubitem">And of their wonderful feats, 481, 482.</li> - - <li><i>Scot</i> (Gregory), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_700">700</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Scott</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_700">700</a>. and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_700:D_1416">[700:D]</a>. <a href="#Page_i_701">701</a>. and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_701:A_1417">[701:A]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Scott</i> (Mr. Walter), beautiful picture of Christmas festivities, i. <a href="#Page_i_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_i_208">208</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Picture of rustic superstition, <a href="#Page_i_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_i_323">323</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Illustrations of his Lady of the Lake, i. <a href="#Page_i_356">356-358</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Causes of his poetical excellence, <a href="#Page_i_600">600</a>, <a href="#Page_i_601">601</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Scottish</i> farmers, state of, in the sixteenth century, i. <a href="#Page_i_118">118</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Late wakes of the Highlanders described, <a href="#Page_i_234">234-236</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Thanksgivings offered by them on getting in the harvest, <a href="#Page_i_341">341</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the Scottish system of fairy mythology, ii. 314-336.</li> - - <li><i>Sculpture</i> highly valued by Shakspeare, ii. 617, 618.</li> - - <li><i>Seed-cake</i>, a rural feast-day in the time of Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_190">190</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Selden</i> (John), notice of his Commentary on Drayton, i. <a href="#Page_i_471">471</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sentiment</i> of the Elizabethan poetry considered, i. <a href="#Page_i_598">598</a>, <a href="#Page_i_599">599</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Servants</i>, pursuits, diet, &c. of, in the time of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_113">113-115</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Benefices bestowed on them in the reign of Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_92">92</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their dress, ii. 138.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Regulations for, 139, 140.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Prohibited from entering the kitchen till summoned by the cook, 143.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Were corrected by their mistresses, 153.</li> - - <li>"<i>Seven Champions of Christendome</i>," a popular romance in Shakspeare's time, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_529">529</a>, <a href="#Page_i_530">530</a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>Seven Wise Masters</i>," a popular romance of Indian origin, i. <a href="#Page_i_531">531</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of its different translations, <a href="#Page_i_531"><i>ibid.</i></a>, <a href="#Page_i_532">532</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Translated into Scottish rhyme, <a href="#Page_i_533">533</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sewell</i> (Dr.), conjecture of, respecting Shakspeare's sonnets, ii. 59.</li> - - <li><i>Shakspeare Family</i>, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_1">1</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed grant of arms to, <a href="#Page_i_1"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Examination of the orthography of their name, <a href="#Page_i_17">17-20</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Shakspeare</i> (Edmund), a brother of the poet, buried in St. Saviour's Church, i. <a href="#Page_i_416">416</a>. ii. 598.</li> - - <li><i>Shakspeare</i> (Mrs.), wife of the poet, epitaph on, ii. 631. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His bequests to her, 631.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Remarks on it, 613.</li> - - <li><i>Shakspeare</i> (John), father of the poet, supposed grant of property and arms to, i. <a href="#Page_i_1">1</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of, <a href="#Page_i_2">2</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Arms confirmed to him, <a href="#Page_i_2"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">His marriage, <a href="#Page_i_3">3</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of children ascribed to him in the baptismal register of Stratford-upon-Avon, <a href="#Page_i_4">4</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Correction of Mr. Rowe's mistakes on this point, <a href="#Page_i_5">5</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Declines in his circumstances and is dismissed from the corporation, <a href="#Page_i_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_i_7">7</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed to have been a wool-stapler, <a href="#Page_i_7">7</a>. <a href="#Page_i_34">34</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">But not a butcher, <a href="#Page_i_36">36</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Discovery of his confession of faith or will, <a href="#Page_i_8">8</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Copy of his will, <a href="#Page_i_9">9-14</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Its authenticity doubted by Mr. Malone, <a href="#Page_i_15">15</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Supported by Mr. Chalmers, <a href="#Page_i_15"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="subsubitem">Circumstances in favour of its authenticity, <a href="#Page_i_16">16</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">John Shakspeare probably a Roman Catholic, <a href="#Page_i_16"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">His death, <a href="#Page_i_16"><i>ibid.</i></a> ii. 590.</li> - - <li><i>Shakspeare</i> (William), birth of, i. <a href="#Page_i_1">1</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of the house where he was born, <a href="#Page_i_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_i_22">22</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His chair purchased by the Princess Czartoryska, <a href="#Page_i_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_i_23">23</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Escapes the plague, <a href="#Page_i_24">24</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Educated for a short time at the free-school of Stratford, <a href="#Page_i_25">25</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of school-books probably used by him, <a href="#Page_i_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_i_27">27</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Taken from school, in consequence of his father's poverty, <a href="#Page_i_28">28</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable extent of his acquirements as a scholar, <a href="#Page_i_29">29-33</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On leaving school, followed his father's trade as a wool-stapler, and probably also as a butcher, <a href="#Page_i_34">34</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Proofs of this, <a href="#Page_i_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_i_36">36</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probably present, in his twelfth-year, at Kenelworth Castle, at the time of Queen Elizabeth's visit there, <a href="#Page_i_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_i_38">38</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probably employed in some attorney's office, <a href="#Page_i_43">43-47</a>. and <a href="#Footnote_i_43:D_58"><i>notes</i></a>, <a href="#Page_i_48">48</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Whether he ever was a school-master, <a href="#Page_i_45">45</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Anecdote of him at Bidford, <a href="#Page_i_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_i_49">49</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Whether and when he acquired his knowledge of French and Italian, <a href="#Page_i_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_i_54">54</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable that he was acquainted with French, <a href="#Page_i_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_i_56">56</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And Italian, <a href="#Page_i_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_i_57">57</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable estimate of his real literary acquirements, <a href="#Page_i_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_i_58">58</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His courting-chair, still in existence, <a href="#Page_i_61">61</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Marries Anne Hathaway, <a href="#Page_i_59">59</a>. <a href="#Page_i_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_i_63">63</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Birth of his eldest daughter, <a href="#Page_i_64">64</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of twins, <a href="#Page_i_65">65</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Repartee of Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_65"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_66">66</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">He becomes acquainted with dissipated young men, <a href="#Page_i_401">401</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Caught in the act of deer-stealing, <a href="#Page_i_402">402</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Confined in Daisy Park, <a href="#Page_i_403">403</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Pasquinades Sir Thomas Lucy, <a href="#Page_i_404">404-406</a>. <a href="#Page_i_409">409</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">By whom he is prosecuted, <a href="#Page_i_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_i_408">408</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Is obliged to quit Stratford, <a href="#Page_i_410">410</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And departs for London, <a href="#Page_i_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_i_412">412</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Visits his family occasionally, <a href="#Page_i_414">414</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Was known to Heminge, Burbadge, and Greene, <a href="#Page_i_417">417</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Introduced to the stage, <a href="#Page_i_419">419</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Though with reluctance, ii. 582.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Was not employed as a waiter or horse-keeper at the play-house door, i. <a href="#Page_i_519">519</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Esteemed as an actor, <a href="#Page_i_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_i_422">422</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proofs of his skill in the histrionic art, <a href="#Page_i_423">423</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Performed the character of Adam in his own play of As You Like It, <a href="#Page_i_424">424</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Appeared also in kingly parts, <a href="#Page_i_425">425</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Excelled in second rate characters, <a href="#Page_i_425"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Struggles of Shakspeare with adversity, ii. 583.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Loses his only son, 584.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Purchases a house in Stratford, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="subsubitem">History of its fate, 584, <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His acquaintance with Ben Jonson, 585-587.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Improbability of his ever having visited Scotland, 587, 588.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Annually visited Stratford, 589.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Receives many marks of favour from Queen Elizabeth, 590.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Obtains a licence for his theatre, 591.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Purchases lands in Stratford, 591.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And quits the stage as an actor, 591.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Forms a club of wits with Ben Jonson and others, 592.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Flatters James I. who honoured him with a letter of acknowledgement, 593.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The story of Shakspeare's quarrel with Ben Jonson, disproved, 595-598. and <i>notes</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Birth of his grand-daughter Elizabeth, 599.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Planted the celebrated Mulberry Tree in 1609, 599, 600.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Purchases a tenement in Blackfriars, 601.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And prepares to retire from London, 601, 602.</li> - - <li class="listsubitem afterpassage">Account of Shakspeare in retirement, ii. 603.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Origin of his satirical epitaph on Mr. Combe, ii. 604-606.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His epitaph on Sir Thomas Stanley, 606, 607.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And on Elias James, 607, <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Negociations between Shakspeare and some of his townsmen relative to the inclosure of some land in the vicinity of Stratford, 608, 609.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Marries his youngest daughter to Mr. Thomas Quincey, 609.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Makes his will, 610.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His death, 611.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Funeral, 612.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Copy of his will, 627-632.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Observations on it, 612-614.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And on the disposition and moral character of Shakspeare, 614.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Universally beloved, 615.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His exquisite taste for all the forms of beauty, 616, 617.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the monument erected to his memory, 618-620.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And on the engraving of him prefixed to the folio edition of his plays, 622-624.</li> - - <li class="listsubitem afterpassage">Account of Shakspeare's commencement of poetry, i. <a href="#Page_i_426">426</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable date of his Venus and Adonis, <a href="#Page_i_426">426</a>, <a href="#Page_i_427">427</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proofs of his acquaintance with the grammatical and rhetorical writers of his age, <a href="#Page_i_472">472-474</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">With the historical writers then extant, <a href="#Page_i_484">484</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">With Batman's "Bartholome de Proprietatibus Rerum," <a href="#Page_i_485">485</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">With the Facetiæ published in his time, <a href="#Page_i_516">516</a>, <a href="#Page_i_517">517</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And with all the eminent romances then in print, <a href="#Page_i_562">562-573</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And with the minstrel-poetry of his age, <a href="#Page_i_574">574-593</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dedicates his Venus and Adonis, and Rape of Lucrece, to the Earl of Southampton, ii. 3.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Analysis of this poem, with remarks, 21-32.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of the Rape of Lucrece, 33-37.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Intimate knowledge of the human heart displayed by Shakspeare, 38.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of his "Passionate Pilgrim," 41-49.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Elegant allusions of Shakspeare to his own age, in his Sonnets, 50-52.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical account of his Sonnets, 53-82. 84-86.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of his Lover's Complaint, 82-84.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Licence to Shakspeare for the Globe Theatre, 207.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable amount of his income, 225.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of his obligations to his dramatic predecessors, 253-255.</li> - - <li class="listsubitem afterpassage">The commencement of Shakspeare's dramatic career, considered and ascertained, ii. 256-260.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Chronological Table of the order of his genuine plays, 261.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Observations on them. 262-534.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">(<i>And see their respective Titles in this Index.</i>)</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the spurious pieces attributed to Shakspeare, 536, 537.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Whether he assisted other poets in their dramatic composition, 537, 538.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Considerations on the genius of Shakspeare's drama, 538-541.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">On its conduct, 541-544.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Characters, 545.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Passions, 546-549.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Comic painting, 550.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And imaginative powers, 551.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Morality, 552.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Vindication of his character from the calumnies of Voltaire, 552-554.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Popularity of Shakspeare's dramas in Germany, 554.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Reprinted in America, 555.</li> - - <li><i>Shakspeare</i> (Judith), youngest daughter of the poet, birth of, i. <a href="#Page_i_65">65</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Her marriage, ii. 609.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And issue, 610.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His bequests to her, and her children, 627-629.</li> - - <li><i>Shakspeare</i> (Susannah), eldest child of the poet, birth of, i. <a href="#Page_i_64">64</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Marriage of, to Dr. Hall, ii. 598, 599.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Her father's bequests to her, 630, 631.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Why her father's favourite, 613.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable cause of his leaving her the larger portion of his property, 614.</li> - - <li><i>Sheep-shearing Feast</i>, how celebrated, i. <a href="#Page_i_181">181</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of, by Tusser, <a href="#Page_i_182">182</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">By Drayton, <a href="#Page_i_181"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to, by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_183">183-185</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Shepherd King</i>, elected at sheep-shearing, i. <a href="#Page_i_181">181</a>. <a href="#Page_i_184">184</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_184:A_309"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Shepherd</i> (S.), commendatory verses of, on Shakspeare's Rape of Lucrece, ii. 40.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On his Pericles, 263.</li> - - <li><i>Ship-tire</i>, an article of head-dress, notice of, ii. 91.</li> - - <li><i>Shirley's</i> Play, the "Lady of Pleasure," illustrated, Act i., i. <a href="#Page_i_179">179</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Shivering</i> (sudden), superstitious notion concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_375">375</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Shoes</i>, fashion of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 98. 105, 106.</li> - - <li><i>Shot-proof</i> waistcoat, charm for, i. <a href="#Page_i_364">364</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Shottery</i>, cottage of the Hathaways at, still in existence, i. <a href="#Page_i_61">61</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Shovel-board</i>, or Shuffle-board, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_306">306</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Mode of playing at, <a href="#Page_i_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_i_307">307</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its origin and date, <a href="#Page_i_307">307</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Shove-Groat</i>, a game, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Shrewsbury</i> (Countess of), termagant conduct of, ii. 153.</li> - - <li><i>Shrove Tuesday</i> or <i>Shrove Tide</i>, origin of the term, i. <a href="#Page_i_141">141</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Observances on that festival, <a href="#Page_i_142">142</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Threshing the hen, <a href="#Page_i_142"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Throwing at cocks, <a href="#Page_i_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_i_145">145</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Shylock</i>, analysis of the character of, ii. 384, 385.</li> - - <li><i><a name="Sidney" id="Sidney"></a>Sidney</i> or <i>Sydney</i> (Sir Philip), biographical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_652">652</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Satire of, on the affected style of some of his contemporaries, i. <a href="#Page_i_444">444</a>, <a href="#Page_i_445">445</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his "Defence of Poesie," <a href="#Page_i_467">467</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical account of his "Arcadia," <a href="#Page_i_548">548-552</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Alluded to by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_573">573</a>, <a href="#Page_i_574">574</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on his poetical pieces, <a href="#Page_i_652">652</a>, <a href="#Page_i_653">653</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Particularly on his Sonnets, ii. 54.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The Pyrocles of his Arcadia, probably the original name of Shakspeare's Pericles, 283.</li> - - <li><i>Sign-posts</i>, costly, of ancient inns, i. <a href="#Page_i_217">217</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Silk-Manufactures</i>, encouraged by James I., ii. 600.</li> - - <li><i>Silk Stockings</i>, first worn by Queen Elizabeth, ii. 98.</li> - - <li><i>Similes</i>, exquisite, in Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, ii. 26.</li> - - <li><i>Sir</i>, title of, anciently given to clergymen, i. <a href="#Page_i_88">88-90</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sly</i>, remarks on the character of, in the Taming of the Shrew, ii. 365.</li> - - <li><i>Smith</i> (Sir Thomas), greatly promoted Greek and English literature, i. <a href="#Page_i_453">453</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Snuff-taking</i> and <i>Snuff-boxes</i>, when introduced into England, ii. 137.</li> - - <li><i>Sommers</i> (Sir George), shipwreck of, ii. 503, 504.</li> - - <li><i>Songs</i> (early English), notice of a curious collection of, i. <a href="#Page_i_574">574-576</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Quotations from, and allusions to the most popular of them, by Shakspeare, with illustrative remarks, <a href="#Page_i_577">577-593</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sonnet</i>, introduced into England from Italy, ii. 53.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Brief notice of the sonnets of Wyat, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Elegant specimen from those of the Earl of Surrey, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of the Sonnets of Watson, i. <a href="#Page_i_66">66</a>. ii. 54.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Sir Philip Sidney, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Daniel, 55.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Constable, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Spencer, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Drayton, 56.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of other minor poets, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Beautiful sonnet, addressed to Lady Drake, i. <a href="#Page_i_621">621</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">An exquisite one from Shakspeare's Passionate Pilgrim, ii. 49.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On a kiss, by Sidney, 54.</li> - - <li><i>Sonnets of Shakspeare</i>, when first published, ii. 50.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probable dates of their composition, <i>ibid.</i> 51.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Daniel's manner chiefly copied by Shakspeare, in the structure of his sonnets, 57, 58. 77.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Discussion of the question to whom they were addressed, 58-60.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proofs that they were principally addressed to the Earl of Southampton, 62-73.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Vindication of Shakspeare's sonnets from the charge of affectation or pedantry, 75. 80.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Circumlocutory they are to a certain extent, 76.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">But this less the fault of Shakspeare than of his subject, <i>ibid.</i> 77.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Specimens, illustrating the structure and versification of Shakspeare's sonnets, with remarks, 77-82.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Vindication of them from the hyper-criticism of Mr. Steevens, 60. 74. 84-86.</li> - - <li><i>Soothern</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_701">701</a>. <i>and note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_701:B_1418">[701:B]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Southampton</i>, (Earl of), See <i><a href="#Wriothesly">Wriothesly</a></i>.</li> - - <li><i>Southey</i>'s (Mr.), translation of "Amadis of Gaul," notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_546">546</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Southwell</i> (Robert), biographical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_643">643</a>, <a href="#Page_i_644">644</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his poetical works, with critical remarks, <a href="#Page_i_644">644</a>, <a href="#Page_i_645">645</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Spanish</i> romances, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_545">545-548</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to them by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_570">570</a>, <a href="#Page_i_571">571</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Spectral Impressions</i>, probable causes of, philosophically considered, ii. 406-408.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Singular instance of a supposed spectral impression, 407. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">See <i><a href="#Spirits">Spirits</a></i>.</li> - - <li><i>Speed</i>'s "History of Great Britain," character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_476">476</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Spells</i>, account of, on Midsummer-Eve, i. <a href="#Page_i_331">331-333</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On All-Hallows-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_344">344-347</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed influence of, <a href="#Page_i_362">362-365</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Spenser</i>'s "English Poet," notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_463">463</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical notice of, commentary on his "Shepheards Calender," <a href="#Page_i_471">471</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Many incidents of his "Faerie Queene" borrowed from the romance of "La Morte d'Arthur," <a href="#Page_i_529">529</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And from "The Seven Champions of Christendom," <a href="#Page_i_529"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Sackville's "Induction" the model of his allegorical pictures, <a href="#Page_i_643">643</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on his "Shepheard's Calendar," <a href="#Page_i_644">644</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And on his "Faerie Queene," <a href="#Page_i_644">644-647</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The portrait prefixed to his works, probably spurious, <a href="#Page_i_649">649</a>. <a href="#FNanchor_i_649:A_1289"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical notice of his, "Amoretti," a collection of sonnets, ii. 55, 56.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Beautiful quotation from his "Faerie Queene" on the agency of Spirits, 400, 401.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Admirable description of a witch's abode, 480.</li> - - <li><i><a name="Spirits" id="Spirits"></a>Spirits</i>, different orders of, introduced into the Tempest, ii. 521-526.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical analysis of the received doctrine in Shakspeare's time, respecting the supposed agency of angelic spirits, 399-405.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of its application to the introduction of the ghost in Hamlet, 407-416.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Superiority of Shakspeare's spirits over those introduced by all other dramatists, ancient or modern, 417, 418.</li> - - <li><i>Spoons</i>, anciently given by godfathers to their godchildren, ii. 230, 231.</li> - - <li><i>Sports</i> (Rural), in the age of Shakspeare, Enumeration of, i. <a href="#Page_i_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_i_247">247</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cotswold Games, <a href="#Page_i_252">252-254</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hawking, <a href="#Page_i_255">255</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hunting, <a href="#Page_i_272">272</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fowling, <a href="#Page_i_287">287</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Bird-batting, <a href="#Page_i_289">289</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Horse-racing, <a href="#Page_i_297">297</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The Quintaine, <a href="#Page_i_300">300</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Wild Goose Chace, <a href="#Page_i_304">304</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hurling, <a href="#Page_i_305">305</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shovel-board, <a href="#Page_i_306">306</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shove-groat, <a href="#Page_i_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Juvenile sports, <a href="#Page_i_308">308</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Barley-Breake, <a href="#Page_i_309">309</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Parish Whipping-top, <a href="#Page_i_312">312</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Spurs</i>, prohibited in St. Paul's Cathedral, during divine service, ii. 185.</li> - - <li>"<i>Squire of Low Degree</i>," allusions to the romance of, i. <a href="#Page_i_567">567</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Stag-hunting</i>, description of, in the time of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_276">276-280</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ceremony of cutting up, <a href="#Page_i_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_i_281">281</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Part of, given to the ravens, <a href="#Page_i_281">281</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Beautiful picture of a hunted stag, <a href="#Page_i_403">403</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Stage</i>, state of, in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 201-206.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Resorted to by him, on his coming to London, i. <a href="#Page_i_419">419</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Employed in what capacity there, <a href="#Page_i_419"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_420">420</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Esteemed there as an actor, <a href="#Page_i_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_i_422">422</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proofs of his skill in the management of the stage, <a href="#Page_i_423">423</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Excelled in second-rate parts, <a href="#Page_i_425">425</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Divisions of the stage, in Shakspeare's time, ii. 214-215.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Was generally strewed with rushes, 217.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its decorations, 218.</li> - - <li><i>Stalking-horses</i>, account of, and of their uses, i. <a href="#Page_i_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_i_288">288</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Stanyhurst</i>'s (Richard), translation of Virgil, i. <a href="#Page_i_701">701</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Strictures on, <a href="#Page_i_701"><i>ibid.</i></a> <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_701:C_1419">[701:C]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Starch</i>, use of, when introduced into England, ii. 96.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dyed of various colours, <i>ib.</i></li> - - <li><i>Steevens</i> (Mr.), his "Illustrations of Shakspeare," cited, <i>passim</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks of, on Shakspeare's Sonnets, ii. 60. 74-76. 84-86.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ascribes Pericles to Shakspeare, 265.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Probability of his conjecture, that Pericles was originally named Pyrocles, after the hero of Sidney's "Arcadia," 283, 284.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His opinion that the Comedy of Errors was not wholly Shakspeare's, controverted and disproved, 287, 288.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on his flippant censure of Shakspeare's love of music, 390.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His opinion on the date of Timon of Athens, 446.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Humorous remarks of, on the value and price of the first edition of Shakspeare, 535. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Still</i> (Bishop), character of, as a dramatic writer, ii. 232, 233.</li> - - <li><i>Stirling</i> (William Alexander, Earl of), biographical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_649">649</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical notice of his "Aurora," a collection of sonnets, <a href="#Page_i_650">650</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of his "Dooms-day," <a href="#Page_i_651">651</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of his other poems, <a href="#Page_i_651"><i>ib.</i></a></li> - - <li><i>Stockings</i>, fashions of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 105.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Silk stockings first worn by Queen Elizabeth, 98.</li> - - <li><i>Stomacher</i>, an article of female dress, notice of, ii. 90.</li> - - <li><i>Stones</i>, extraordinary virtues ascribed to, i. <a href="#Page_i_366">366</a>. <a href="#Page_i_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_i_370">370</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Particularly the Turquoise stone, <a href="#Page_i_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_i_367">367</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Belemnites, <a href="#Page_i_367">367</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Bezoar, <a href="#Page_i_367"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Agate, <a href="#Page_i_368">368</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Storer</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_702">702</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Stowe</i>'s "History of London," notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_480">480</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Stratford-upon-Avon</i>, the native place of William Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_1">1</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His father a member and officer of the corporation of, <a href="#Page_i_2">2</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Dismissed from it, <a href="#Page_i_6">6</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Probable causes of such dismission, <a href="#Page_i_6"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_7">7</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Extract from the baptismal register of the parish, <a href="#Page_i_4">4</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of the house there, where Shakspeare was born, <a href="#Page_i_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_i_22">22</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ravages of the plague there, <a href="#Page_i_24">24</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Visited by Mr. Betterton, for information concerning Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_34">34</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to scenery, and places in its vicinity, <a href="#Page_i_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_i_51">51</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Quitted by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_410">410-416</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Whose family continued there, <a href="#Page_i_412">412</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">New Place, purchased there by Shakspeare, ii. 584.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">History of its demolition, <i>ib.</i> <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Additional land purchased there by the poet, 591.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And also tithes, 594.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proceedings relative to the inclosure of land there, by Shakspeare, 608, 609.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of his monument and epitaph, in Stratford church, 618, 619.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Remarks on his monumental bust, 619-622.</li> - - <li><i>Strolling Players</i>, condition of, in the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_247">247-252</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Strutt</i> (Mr.), accurate description by, of May-day and its amusements i. <a href="#Page_i_167">167-171</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Of Midsummer-eve superstitions, <a href="#Page_i_332">332</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Stubbes</i> (Philip), account of his "Anatomie of Abuses," i. <a href="#Page_i_501">501</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Extreme rarity of his book, <a href="#Page_i_501"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Quotations from, against Whitsun and other ales, i. <a href="#Page_i_179">179</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the neglect of "Fox's Book of Martyrs," <a href="#Page_i_502">502</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">General character of his book, <a href="#Page_i_502"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">His "View of Vanitie," <a href="#Page_i_702">702</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Philippic against masques, ii. 95.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And ruffs, 96, 97.</li> - - <li><i>Sturbridge Fair</i>, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_i_216">216</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Summer</i>'s "Last Will and Testament," illustration of, i. <a href="#Page_i_106">106</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sun</i>, beautiful description of, in its course, ii. 77.</li> - - <li><i>Superstitions</i> of the 16th century, remarks on, i. <a href="#Page_i_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_i_315">315</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Sprites and goblins, <a href="#Page_i_316">316</a>. <a href="#Page_i_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_i_322">322</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Ghosts and apparitions, <a href="#Page_i_320">320</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Prognostications of the weather from particular days, <a href="#Page_i_323">323</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Rites of lovers on St. Valentine's Day, <a href="#Page_i_324">324</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On Midsummer-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_329">329</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Michaelmas, <a href="#Page_i_334">334</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">All-Hallow-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_341">341</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Superstitious cures for the night-mare, <a href="#Page_i_347">347</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Omens and prodigies, <a href="#Page_i_351">351</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Demoniacal voices and shrieks, <a href="#Page_i_355">355</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Fiery and meteorous exhalations, <a href="#Page_i_360">360</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Sudden noises, <a href="#Page_i_361">361</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Charms and spells, <a href="#Page_i_362">362</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cures, preventatives and sympathies, <a href="#Page_i_366">366</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Stroking for the king's evil, <a href="#Page_i_370">370</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Sympathetic powders, <a href="#Page_i_375">375</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Miscellaneous superstitions, <a href="#Page_i_377">377-400</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Influence of superstition on the poetry of the Elizabethan age, <a href="#Page_i_595">595</a>, <a href="#Page_i_596">596</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the fairy superstitions of the East, ii. 302, 303.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the Gothic and Scandinavian fairy superstitions, 304-312.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of the fairy superstition prevalent in Scotland, 314-336.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The fairy superstition of Shakspeare, of Scottish origin, 336, 337.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the superstitious notions then current respecting witches and witchcraft, 474-489.</li> - - <li><i>Suppers</i> of country gentlemen, in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_81">81</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Suppertasse</i>, a species of female dress, notice of, ii. 96.</li> - - <li><i>Surrey</i> (Earl of), quoted and illustrated, i. <a href="#Page_i_380">380</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his "Sonnets," with an exquisite specimen, ii. 53.</li> - - <li><i>Svegder</i> (King of Sweden), fabulous anecdotes of, ii. 305.</li> - - <li><i>Swart-Elves</i>, or malignant fairies of the Scandinavians, account of, ii. 309, 310.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Their supposed residence, 311, 312.</li> - - <li><i>Swearing</i>, prevalence of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 160.</li> - - <li>"<i>Sweet Swan of Avon</i>," an appellation given to Shakspeare by his contemporaries, i. <a href="#Page_i_415">415</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Swithin</i> (St.), supposed influence of, on the weather, i. <a href="#Page_i_328">328</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And on the night-mare, <a href="#Page_i_349">349</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sword-dance</i> on Plough-Monday, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_137">137</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sydney</i>. See <i><a href="#Sidney">Sidney</a></i> (Sir Philip).</li> - - <li><i>Sylvester</i> (Joshua), furnished Milton with the <i>prima stamina</i> of his "Paradise Lost," i. <a href="#Page_i_653">653</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Poetical works of, <a href="#Page_i_653">653</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Specimen of them, with remarks, <a href="#Page_i_654">654</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Sympathies</i>, extraordinary, accounts of, i. <a href="#Page_i_372">372-376</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">T</li> - - <li><i>Tables</i>, a species of gambling in Shakspeare's time, notice of, ii. 171.</li> - - <li><i>Tables</i>, form of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 118.</li> - - <li><i>Tales</i>, relation of, a favourite amusement, i. <a href="#Page_i_107">107</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Taming of the Shrew</i>, probable date of, ii. 364.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Source of its fable, 364, 365.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the character of Sly, 365.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And on the general character of the play, 366.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Taming of the Shrew referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad" colspan="2">The Induction,</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_i_249">249</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_556">556</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_i_176">176</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_581">581</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_69">69</a>. ii. 117, 118.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_225">225</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_271">271</a>. <a href="#Page_i_581">581</a>. ii. 118. 138. 143.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Tansy Cakes</i>, why given at Easter, i. <a href="#Page_i_147">147</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tapestry Hangings</i>, allusions to, by Shakspeare, ii. 114, 115.</li> - - <li><i>Tarlton</i> (Richard), the comedian, repartee of, i. <a href="#Page_i_66">66</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His influence over Queen Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_702">702</a>. <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_702:D_1423">[702:D]</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his poems, <a href="#Page_i_702">702</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Plan of his "Seven Deadlie Sins," a composite drama, ii. 229.</li> - - <li><i>Tarquin</i>, beautiful soliloquy of, ii. 35.</li> - - <li><i>Tasso</i>'s "Jerusalem Delivered," translated by Fairefax, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_619">619</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tatham</i>'s (J.), censure of Shakspeare's Pericles, ii. 263.</li> - - <li><i>Taverner</i>'s (John), "Certain Experiments concerning Fish and Fruit," notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_291">291</a>. and <a href="#Footnote_i_291:A_549"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Taverns</i>, description of, in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_218">218</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of the most eminent taverns, ii. 133.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of their accommodations, 134, 135.</li> - - <li><i>Taylor</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_703">703</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tempest</i>, conjectures on the probable date of, ii. 500. 502. 504.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Sources whence Shakspeare drew his materials for this drama, 503.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical analysis of its characters: Prospero, 505. 515.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Miranda, 506.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Ariel, 506, 522, 525.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Caliban, 506. 523. 525.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the notions prevalent in Shakspeare's time respecting magic, 507-514.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Application of magical machinery to the Tempest, 515-526.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Superior skill of Shakspeare in this adaptation, 527.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Tempest referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">525.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_358">358</a>. <a href="#Page_i_386">386</a>. ii. 506. 516. 522, 523. 525.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_576">576</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_383">383</a>. ii. 155. 524.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">517.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">517. 524.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_252">252</a>. <a href="#Page_i_385">385</a>. ii. 156.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">526.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_i_378">378</a>. <a href="#Page_i_400">400</a>. ii. 192, 193. 517. 524.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">341, 342. 344. 505. 516. 525, 526.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Theatre</i>, the first, when erected, ii. 203.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of the principal play-houses during the age of Shakspeare, 206.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Licence to him for the Globe Theatre, from James I., 207.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Account of it, 208.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">And of the theatre in Blackfriars, 209.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Interior economy of the theatre in Shakspeare's time, 210.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Divisions of the stage, 211-214.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Hours and days of acting, 215, 216.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Prices of admission, 216.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Number of plays performed in one day, 217.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Amusements of the audience previously to the commencement of plays, 217-219.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Tragedies, how performed, 220.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Wardrobe of the theatres, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Female characters personated by men or boys, 221.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Plays, how censured, <i>ibid.</i> 222.</li> - - <li><i>Thomson</i>'s "Winter," quoted, i. <a href="#Page_i_321">321</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Threshing the Hen</i>, custom of, explained, i. <a href="#Page_i_142">142</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tilting at the Ring</i>, and in the water, description of, i. <a href="#Page_i_555">555</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to this sport by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_556">556</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Time</i>, effects of, exquisitely portrayed by Shakspeare, ii. 78.</li> - - <li><i>Timon of Athens</i>, probable date of, ii. 446, 447.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of his character, 448-452.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in this work.</i></p> -<table summary="Timon of Athens referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_285">285</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">451.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">449.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Tire-valiant</i>, an article of female head-dress, account of, ii. 94.</li> - - <li><i>Titania</i>, the fairy queen of Midsummer-Night's Dream, analysis of the character of, ii. 337-345.</li> - - <li>"<i>Titus Andronicus</i>," illustration of, act 2., scene iv., i. <a href="#Page_i_397">397</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">This play evidently not Shakspeare's, ii. 536.</li> - - <li><i>Tobacco</i>, the taking of, when first introduced into England, ii. 135.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Philippic of James I. against it, <i>ibid.</i> 138.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Prejudices against it, 136, 137.</li> - - <li><i>Tofte</i> (Robert), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, list of the pieces of, i. <a href="#Page_i_703">703</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tolling</i> the passing-bell, supposed benefit of, i. <a href="#Page_i_232">232-234</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tombfires</i>, superstitious notions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_360">360</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tompson</i> (Agnis), a supposed witch, confessions of, ii. 476. 485.</li> - - <li><i>Topographers</i> (English), account of, during the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_479">479-481</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Torments</i> of hell, legendary accounts of, i. <a href="#Page_i_378">378-381</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tottel</i>'s "Poems of Uncertaine Auctors," i. <a href="#Page_i_708">708</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Touch</i> (royal), a supposed cure for the king's evil, i. <a href="#Page_i_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_i_371">371</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tournaments</i> in the reign of Elizabeth, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_553">553</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_554">554</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tragedy</i>, how performed in the time of Shakspeare, ii. 220.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">"Ferrex and Porrex," the first tragedy ever acted in England, 227.</li> - - <li>"<i>Tragique History of the Fair Valeria of London</i>," cited and illustrated, i. <a href="#Page_i_238">238</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Translations</i> into English from Greek and Roman authors in the time of Shakspeare, list of, i. <a href="#Page_i_483">483</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Travelling</i>, passion for, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 156, 157.</li> - - <li><i>Treego</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Elizabeth, i. <a href="#Page_i_704">704</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Troilus and Cressida</i>, probable date of, ii. 437, 438.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Source of its fable, 439, 440.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Analysis of its characters, 440, 441.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its defects, 441.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Illustrations of this drama in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Troilus and Cressida referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">162.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">117.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_582">582</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_355">355</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_355">355</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Trulli</i>, or benevolent fairies of the Germans, notice of, ii. 312.</li> - - <li><i>Trump</i>, a fashionable game of cards in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_270">270</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tuck</i> (Friar), the chaplain of Robin Hood, account of, i. <a href="#Page_i_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_i_163">163</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tumours</i>, cured by stroking with a dead man's hand, i. <a href="#Page_i_370">370</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Turberville</i> (George), biographical sketch of, i. <a href="#Page_i_655">655</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his "Booke of Faulconrie," i. <a href="#Page_i_257">257</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_257:A_476"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His description of hunting in inclosures, <a href="#Page_i_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_i_276">276</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his poetical works, <a href="#Page_i_655">655</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical estimate of his poetical character, <a href="#Page_i_656">656</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Turner</i> (Mrs.), executed for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, ii. 96.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The inventress of yellow starch, <i>ibid.</i></li> - - <li><i>Turner</i> (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_704">704</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Turquoise Stone</i>, supposed virtues of, i. <a href="#Page_i_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_i_367">367</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tusser</i> (Thomas), biographical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_656">656</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on his "Five Hundreth Good Points of Husbandry," <a href="#Page_i_657">657</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His character as a poet, <a href="#Page_i_657">657</a>, <a href="#Page_i_658">658</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Quotations from Tusser, illustrative of old English manners and customs, i. <a href="#Page_i_100">100</a>. <a href="#Page_i_108">108</a>. <a href="#Page_i_110">110</a>. <a href="#Page_i_112">112-115</a>. <a href="#Page_i_136">136</a>. <a href="#Page_i_142">142</a>. <a href="#Page_i_182">182</a>. <a href="#Page_i_188">188</a>. <a href="#Page_i_190">190</a>. <a href="#Page_i_202">202</a>. <a href="#Page_i_215">215</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Twelfth-Day</i>, festival of, i. <a href="#Page_i_127">127</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its supposed origin, <a href="#Page_i_127"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">The twelfth-cake accompanied by wassail-bowls, <a href="#Page_i_127"><i>ibid.</i></a> <a href="#Page_i_128">128-130</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Meals and amusements on this day, <a href="#Page_i_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_i_133">133</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Twelfth-Night</i> observed with great ceremony in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., i. <a href="#Page_i_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_i_132">132</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Verses on, by Herrick, <a href="#Page_i_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_i_134">134</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Twelfth-Night</i>, the last of Shakspeare's dramas, probable date of, ii. 531-533.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its general character, and conduct of the fable, 534.</li></ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Illustrations of this drama in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Twelfth Night referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_436">436</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">117.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_578">578</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_574">574</a>. ii. 534.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">5.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">533.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_270">270</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_334">334</a>. ii. 118. 532, 533.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_221">221</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_221">221</a>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Two Gentlemen of Verona</i>, date of, ii. 367.</li> - <li class="listsubitem"> Probable source of its fable, <i>ibid.</i> 368.</li> - <li class="listsubitem"> Remarks on the delineation of its characters, particularly that of Julia, 368, 369.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Illustrations of this drama in the present work.</i></p> - -<table summary="Two Gentlemen of Verona referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">360.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_341">341</a>. ii. 581.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_220">220</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">6.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_175">175</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">7.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">370.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">97.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_163">163</a>. ii. 369.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">4.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">93.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Twyne</i> (John), the topographer, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_480">480</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Twyne</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_704">704</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tye</i> (Christopher), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_704">704</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Typography</i>, remarks on the style of, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, i. <a href="#Page_i_437">437</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Beautiful specimens of decorative printing, <a href="#Page_i_438">438</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Tyrwhitt</i> (Mr.), conjecture of, respecting the date of Shakspeare's Romeo and Juliet, ii. 356, 357.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And of Twelfth-Night, 531, 532.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">U</li> - - <li><i>Underdonne</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_704">704</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Upstart</i> country-squire or knight, character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_81">81</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">V</li> - - <li>"<i>Valentine and Orson</i>," romance of, cited by Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_572">572</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of a curious edition of, <a href="#Page_i_571">571</a>, <a href="#Page_i_572">572</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its extensive popularity, <a href="#Page_i_572">572</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Valentine's Day</i>, origin of the superstitions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_324">324</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Custom of choosing lovers ascribed to Madame Royale, <a href="#Page_i_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_i_325">325</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed to be of pagan origin, <a href="#Page_i_325">325</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Modes of ascertaining Valentines for the current year, <a href="#Page_i_326">326</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The poor feasted on this day, <a href="#Page_i_327">327</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Vallans</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_705">705</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Vaughan</i>'s (W.) "Golden Grove," a collection of essays, i. <a href="#Page_i_513">513</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of, with specimens of his style, <a href="#Page_i_514">514</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Vaux</i> (Lord), specimen of the poems of, i. <a href="#Page_i_713">713</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Vennard</i> (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_705">705</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Venice</i> one of the sources of English fashions in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 94.</li> - - <li><i><a id="Venus_and_Adonis"></a>Venus and Adonis</i>, a poem of Shakspeare, probable date of, i. <a href="#Page_i_426">426</a>, <a href="#Page_i_427">427</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of the "Editio Princeps," ii. 20, 21.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dedicated to the Earl of Southampton, 3.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proofs of its melody and beauty of versification, 21-23.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Singular force and beauty of its descriptions, 24-26.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Similes, 26.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And astonishing powers of Shakspeare's mind, 27.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">This poem inferior to its classical prototypes, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Complimentary verses on this poem, addressed to Shakspeare, 28-30.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its meretricious tendency censured by contemporary writers, 31.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Popularity of this poem, 31. <i>note</i> [31:A].</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of its principal editions, 32.</li> - - <li><i>Versification</i> of the poetry of the Elizabethan age examined, i. <a href="#Page_i_597">597</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Remarks on the versification of Sir John Beaumont, <a href="#Page_i_601">601</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Browne, <a href="#Page_i_603">603</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Chalkhill, <a href="#Page_i_606">606</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Chapman, <a href="#Page_i_608">608</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Daniel, <a href="#Page_i_612">612</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Davies, <a href="#Page_i_613">613</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Davors, <a href="#Page_i_614">614</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Donne, <a href="#Page_i_615">615</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Drayton, <a href="#Page_i_616">616</a>, <a href="#Page_i_617">617</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Drummond, <a href="#Page_i_618">618</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Fairefax, <a href="#Page_i_619">619</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the two Fletchers, <a href="#Page_i_620">620</a>, <a href="#Page_i_621">621</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Gascoigne, <a href="#Page_i_626">626</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Bishop Hall, <a href="#Page_i_628">628</a>, <a href="#Page_i_629">629</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Dr. Lodge, <a href="#Page_i_632">632-635</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Marston, <a href="#Page_i_637">637</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Spenser, <a href="#Page_i_648">648</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the Earl of Stirling, <a href="#Page_i_651">651</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Sylvester, <a href="#Page_i_653">653</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Watson, <a href="#Page_i_661">661</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Willobie, <a href="#Page_i_665">665</a>, <a href="#Page_i_666">666</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, ii. 21-23.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of his Rape of Lucrece, 33-36.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Spenser's sonnets, 55.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Shakspeare's sonnets, 77-82.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of Peele, 240. <i>note</i>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Of the Two Gentlemen of Verona, 369.</li> - - <li><i>Verstegan</i> (Richard), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_705">705</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Vincent</i> (St.), supposed influence of his day, i. <a href="#Page_i_350">350</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Virtue</i> loved and cherished by Shakspeare's fairies, ii. 339, 340.</li> - - <li><i>Virtus post funera vivit</i>, whimsical translation of, i. <a href="#Page_i_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_i_239">239</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Voltaire</i>'s calumnies on Shakspeare refuted, ii. 553, 554.</li> - - <li><i>Volumnia</i>, remarks on the character of, ii. 494, 495.</li> - - <li><i>Vortigern and Rowena</i>, anecdote of, i. <a href="#Page_i_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_i_128">128</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Vows</i>, how made by knights in the age of chivalry, i. <a href="#Page_i_552">552</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Voyages and Travels</i>, collections of, published in the time of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_477">477-479</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">W</li> - - <li><i>Wager</i> (Lewis), a dramatic poet, notice of, ii. 234.</li> - - <li><i>Waists</i> of great length, fashionable in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 97.</li> - - <li><i>Wakes</i>, origin of, i. <a href="#Page_i_209">209</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Degenerate into licentiousness, <a href="#Page_i_210">210</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Verses on, by Tusser, <a href="#Page_i_210"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="subsubitem">And by Herrick, <a href="#Page_i_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_i_212">212</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Frequented by pedlars, <a href="#Page_i_212">212</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Village-wakes still kept up in the North, <a href="#Page_i_213">213</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Walton</i>'s "Complete Angler," errata in, i. <a href="#Page_i_293">293</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_293:A_550"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Encomium on, <a href="#Page_i_297">297</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_297:B_556"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wapul</i> (George), a dramatic writer in the time of Elizabeth, ii. 237.</li> - - <li><i>Wardrobes</i> (ancient), account of, ii. 91, 92.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of theatrical wardrobes, in the time of Shakspeare, 220, 221.</li> - - <li><i>Warner</i> (William), biographical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_658">658</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical remarks on his "Albion's England," <a href="#Page_i_659">659</a>, <a href="#Page_i_660">660</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Quotations from that poem illustrative of old English manners and customs, i. <a href="#Page_i_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_i_105">105</a>. <a href="#Page_i_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_i_119">119</a>. <a href="#Page_i_135">135</a>. <a href="#Page_i_143">143</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_143:A_204"><i>note</i></a>. <a href="#Page_i_147">147</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_147:B_217"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Warnings</i> (preternatural) of death or danger, i. <a href="#Page_i_351">351-354</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Warren</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_705">705</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Warton</i> (Dr.), observations of, on the "Gesta Romanorum," i. <a href="#Page_i_536">536</a>, <a href="#Page_i_537">537</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On Fenton's collection of Italian novels, <a href="#Page_i_542">542</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the satires of Bishop Hall, <a href="#Page_i_628">628</a>, <a href="#Page_i_629">629</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the merits of Harington, <a href="#Page_i_629">629</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">On the satires of Marston, <a href="#Page_i_637">637</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Washing</i> of hands, why necessary before dinner in the age of Elizabeth, ii. 145.</li> - - <li><i>Wassail</i>, origin of the term, i. <a href="#Page_i_127">127</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Synonymous with feasting, <a href="#Page_i_129">129</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wassail-bowl</i>, ingredients in, i. <a href="#Page_i_127">127</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of an ancient one, <a href="#Page_i_128">128</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to, in Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_i_130">130</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And by Milton, <a href="#Page_i_131">131</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">The peg-tankard, a species of wassail-bowl, <a href="#Page_i_131">131</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_131:A_185"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Watch-lights</i>, an article of furniture in Shakspeare's time, ii. 117.</li> - - <li><i>Water-closets</i>, by whom invented, ii. 135. <i>note</i>.</li> - - <li><i>Water-spirits</i>, different classes of, ii. 522, 523.</li> - - <li><i>Watson</i> (Thomas), a poet of the Elizabethan age, critical notice of his works, particularly of his sonnets, i. <a href="#Page_i_660">660-662</a>., ii. 54.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Said by Mr. Steevens to be superior to Shakspeare as a writer of sonnets, i. <a href="#Page_i_663">663</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his other poems, <a href="#Page_i_663"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - - <li><i>Weather</i>, prognostications of, from particular days, i. <a href="#Page_i_323">323</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Webbe</i> (William), account of his "Discourse of English Poetrie," i. <a href="#Page_i_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_i_464">464</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its extreme rarity and high price, <a href="#Page_i_463">463</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_463:B_918"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">First and second Eclogues of Virgil, <a href="#Page_i_705">705</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Webster</i> (William), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_705">705</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Webster</i> (John), estimate of the merits of, as a dramatic poet, ii. 564, 565.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Illustrations of his plays, viz.:</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Vittoria Corombona, i. <a href="#Page_i_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_i_234">234</a>. <a href="#Page_i_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_i_238">238</a>. <a href="#Page_i_396">396</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Dutchess of Malfy, i. <a href="#Page_i_351">351</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wedderburn</i>, a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_705">705</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Weddings</i>, how celebrated, i. <a href="#Page_i_223">223-226</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of a rustic wedding, <a href="#Page_i_227">227-229</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Weever</i> (John), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_705">705</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Bibliographical notice of his "Epigrammes," ii. 371.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Verses of, on Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, ii. 28.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Epigram of, on Shakspeare's poems and plays, 372.</li> - - <li><i>Wells</i>, superstitious notions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_391">391-393</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wenman</i> (Thomas), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_706">706</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wharton</i>'s "Dreame," a poem, i. <a href="#Page_i_706">706</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Whetstone</i>'s (George), collection of tales, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_543">543</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His "Rocke of Regard," and other poems, <a href="#Page_i_706">706</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Account of the prevalence of gaming in his time, ii. 157, 158.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Notice of his dramatic productions, 238.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His "Promos and Cassandra," the immediate source of Shakspeare's Measure for Measure, 453.</li> - - <li><i>Whipping-tops</i> anciently kept for public use, i. <a href="#Page_i_312">312</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Whitney</i> (George), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_706">706</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Whitsuntide</i>, festival of, how celebrated, i. <a href="#Page_i_175">175-180</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Morris-dance, its accompaniment, <a href="#Page_i_175"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">With Maid Marian, <a href="#Page_i_179">179</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Whitsun plays, <a href="#Page_i_181">181</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wieland</i>'s "Oberon," character of, i. <a href="#Page_i_564">564</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_564:D_1089"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wild-goose-chace</i>, a kind of horse race, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_i_305">305</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wilkinson</i> (Edward), a minor poet of the age of Shakspeare, i. <a href="#Page_i_706">706</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Will</i> of John Shakspeare, account of the discovery of, i. <a href="#Page_i_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_i_9">9</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Copy of it, <a href="#Page_i_9">9-14</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">First published by Mr. Malone, <a href="#Page_i_9"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its authenticity subsequently doubted by him, <a href="#Page_i_15">15</a>.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Confirmed by Mr. Chalmers, <a href="#Page_i_15"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Additional reasons for its authenticity, <a href="#Page_i_16">16</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its probable date, <a href="#Page_i_16"><i>ibid.</i></a></li> - - <li><i>Will</i> of William Shakspeare, ii. 627-632.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Observations on it, 612-614.</li> - - <li><i>Willet</i> (Andrew), "Emblems" of, i. <a href="#Page_i_706">706</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Willobie</i> (Henry), a poet of the Elizabethan age, critical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_663">663</a>, <a href="#Page_i_664">664</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Origin of his "Avisa," <a href="#Page_i_665">665</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of that work, <a href="#Page_i_665">665</a>, <a href="#Page_i_666">666</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Commendatory verses in, on Shakspeare's Rape of Lucrece, ii. 40.</li> - - <li><i>Will-o'-wisp</i>, superstitious notions concerning, i. <a href="#Page_i_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_i_400">400</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Willymat</i>'s (William) "Prince's Looking Glass," i. <a href="#Page_i_706">706</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wilmot</i> (Robert), a dramatic poet in the reign of Elizabeth, character of, ii. 234, 235.</li> - - <li><i>Wilson</i> (Thomas), observations of, on the corruptions of the English language, in the time of James I., i. <a href="#Page_i_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_i_441">441</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Proofs that his "Rhetoricke" had been studied by Shakspeare, <a href="#Page_i_472">472-474</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wincot</i> ale celebrated for its strength, i. <a href="#Page_i_48">48</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Epigram on, <a href="#Page_i_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_i_49">49</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Allusions to this place in Shakspeare's plays, <a href="#Page_i_50">50</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wine</i>, enormous consumption of, in the age of Shakspeare, ii. 129.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Foreign wines then drunk, 130-132.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Presents of, usually sent from one room in a tavern to another, 134.</li> - - <li><i>Winter evening's conversations</i> of the sixteenth century, superstitious subjects of, i. <a href="#Page_i_316">316-322</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Winter's Tale</i>, probable date of, ii. 495-497.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Its general character, 497-500.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And probable source, 498.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="center"><i>Passages of this drama illustrated in the present work.</i></p> -<table summary="Winters Tale referenced passages" border="0"> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_223">223</a>. ii. 171. 495.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">1.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_107">107</a>. <a href="#Page_i_316">316</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">iv.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_35">35</a>. <a href="#Page_i_183">183</a>. <a href="#Page_i_582">582</a>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_165">165</a>. <a href="#Page_i_181">181</a>. <a href="#Page_i_184">184</a>. <a href="#Page_i_212">212</a>. <a href="#Page_i_213">213</a>. <a href="#Page_i_582">582-584</a>. ii. 499, 500.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">Act</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">v.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">2.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">i.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad"><a href="#Page_i_584">584</a>. ii. 499.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">scene</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">3.,</td> - <td class="tdright tdpad">ii.</td> - <td class="tdleft tdpad">99.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<ul class="list"> - <li><i>Wit-combats</i> of Shakspeare and Jonson, and their associates, notice of, ii. 592, 593.</li> - - <li><i>Witchcraft</i> made felony by Henry VIII., ii. 474.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Supposed increase of witches in the time of Queen Elizabeth, ii. 474, 475.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">General prevalence of this infatuation, 475.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Increased under the reign of James I., 476.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Cruel act of parliament against witches, 477.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Description of the wretched persons who were ordinarily supposed to be witches, 478-480.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Exquisite description of a witch's abode by Spenser, 480.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Enumeration of the feats witches were supposed to be capable of performing, 481-483.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Nature of their supposed compact with the devil, 483-485.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Application of this superstition by Shakspeare to dramatic purposes in his Macbeth, 487-489.</li> - - <li><i>Wither</i> (George), biographical notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_666">666</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Critical observations on his satires, <a href="#Page_i_667">667</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And on his "Juvenilia," <a href="#Page_i_668">668</a>, <a href="#Page_i_669">669</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">List of his other pieces, with remarks, <a href="#Page_i_669">669-671</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Verses of, on Hock-Day, i. <a href="#Page_i_151">151</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_151:B_226"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li><i>Withold</i> (St.), supposed influence of, against the nightmare, i. <a href="#Page_i_347">347-349</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wives</i>, supposed appearance of future, on Midsummer-Eve, i. <a href="#Page_i_332">332-334</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And on All-Hallow-Eve, <a href="#Page_i_344">344-347</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wives' Feast Day</i>, Candlemas Day, why so called, i. <a href="#Page_i_138">138</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wolsey</i>'s (Cardinal) <i>Rudimenta Grammatices</i>, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_26">26</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Women</i>, employments and dress of the younger part of, in Shakspeare's time, i. <a href="#Page_i_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_i_84">84</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Characters of women, personated by men and boys, <a href="#Page_i_221">221</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wood</i> (Nathaniel), a dramatic writer in the reign of Elizabeth, notice of, ii. 238.</li> - - <li><i>Wool-trade</i>, allusions to, i. <a href="#Page_i_35">35</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Promoted by Queen Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_i_192">192</a>. <a href="#Footnote_i_192:B_326"><i>note</i></a>.</li> - - <li>"<i>World's Folly</i>," a collection of old ballads, notice of, i. <a href="#Page_i_474">474-476</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wotton</i> (Sir Henry), encomium of, on angling, i. <a href="#Page_i_297">297</a>.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Character of his poetical productions, <a href="#Page_i_672">672</a>, <a href="#Page_i_673">673</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wright</i> (John), character of his "Passions of the Minde," a collection of essays, i. <a href="#Page_i_511">511</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Wright</i> (Leonard), character of his "Display of Dutie," i. <a href="#Page_i_512">512</a>, <a href="#Page_i_513">513</a>.</li> - - <li><i><a name="Wriothesly" id="Wriothesly"></a>Wriothesly</i> (Thomas), Earl of Southampton, biographical notice of, ii. 1, 2.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">A passionate lover of the drama, 2.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shakspeare's Venus and Adonis, and Rape of Lucrece, dedicated to him, 3.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">His liberality to the poet, 4.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Joins the expedition to the Azores, 5.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">In disgrace with Queen Elizabeth, 6.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Goes to Paris, and is introduced to King Henry IV., 7.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Marries Elizabeth Vernon without consulting the Queen, 7, 8.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Who imprisons them both, 8.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Goes to Ireland with the Earl of Essex, who promotes him, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Is recalled and disgraced, 8, 9.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Quarrels with Lord Gray, 9, 10.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Joins Essex in his conspiracy against the Queen, 10.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">And is sentenced to imprisonment, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Released by James I., 11.</li> - <li class="subsubitem">Who promotes him, 12, 13.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Birth of his son, 12.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Embarks in a colonising speculation, 13.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Patronises literature, 14.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Opposes the court, 15.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Dies in Holland, 16.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Review of his character, <i>ibid.</i></li> - <li class="listsubitem">Tributes to his memory by the poets and literary men of his time, 17-19.</li> - <li class="listsubitem">Shakspeare's sonnets principally addressed to him, 62-73.</li> - - <li><i>Wyat</i> (Sir Thomas), character of his sonnets, ii. 53.</li> - - <li><i>Wyrley</i> (William), notice of the biographical poems of, i. <a href="#Page_i_707">707</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">Y</li> - - <li><i>Yates</i> (James), "Castle of Courtesie," i. <a href="#Page_i_707">707</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Yeomen</i>. See <i><a href="#Farmers">Farmers</a></i>.</li> - - <li><i>Yong</i> (Bartholomew), notice of his "Version of Montemayer's Romance of Diana," i. <a href="#Page_i_707">707</a>. and <i>note</i> <a href="#Footnote_i_707:C_1438">[707:C]</a>.</li> - - <li><i>Yule-clog</i>, or Christmas-block, i. <a href="#Page_i_194">194</a>.</li> - - - <li class="newletter">Z</li> - - <li><i>Zouche</i> (Richard), notice of his "Dove," a geographical poem, i. <a href="#Page_i_707">707</a>.</li> -</ul> - - - - -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<div class="notebox"> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="tnhead"><a name="i_TN" id="i_TN"></a>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:</p> -</div> - - -<p>Pages viii and xiii are blank in the original.</p> - -<p>Text that is underlined is in blackletter in the original.</p> - -<p>Ellipses match the original.</p> - -<p>The index was printed at the end of Vol. II. It has been included -with this volume for reference purposes.</p> - -<p>The following corrections have been made to the text:</p> - -<div class="tnblock"> -<p>Page xi: St. Valentine's -Day—Midsummer-Eve—Michaelmas[original has "Michaelas"]</p> - -<p>Page 30: into the mouth of Sir Hugh Evans:"[quotation mark -missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 38: pleasure and mirth made it seem very -short,'[quotation mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 39: and Sir Thomas[original has "Tnomas"] Tresham</p> - -<p>Page 47: That these books were read by Shakspeare[original has -"Shakespeare"]</p> - -<p>Page 49: Haunted Hillbro',[original has "Hillbro,'"] Hungry</p> - -<p>Page 56: which he has thus so wittily imitated."[quotation -mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 61: told me there was an["an" missing in original] old oak -chair</p> - -<p>Page 74: in his <i>Dietarie</i>[original has "Dictarie"] <i>of -Health</i></p> - -<p>Page 82: but still an intimacy with heraldry[original has -"heraldy"]</p> - -<p>Page 106: coughing o'er a warmed pot of ale."[quotation mark -missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 106: whether it be newe or olde."[quotation mark missing -in original]</p> - -<p>Page 113: that the huswife[original has "huswise"] herself was -the carver</p> - -<p>Page 119: Stood us in steede of glas."[quotation mark missing -in original]</p> - -<p>Page 129: and on the other <span class="blackletter">drincheile</span>."[quotation mark missing -in original]</p> - -<p>Page 130: And in their cups their cares are -drown'd:"[quotation mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 140: And let all sports with Christmas dye."[quotation -mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 144: day of extraordinary sport and feasting."[quotation -mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 157: locks pickt, yet[original has "ye"] w'are not a -Maying</p> - -<p>Page 189: But for to make it spring againe."[quotation mark -missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 255: Mr. Robert Dover's Olympic Games, upon Cotswold -Hills,"[quotation mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 276: Then comes the captaine <i>Cooke</i>"—[quotation mark -missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 291: By J. D. Esquire. 8vo.[original has "8o."] Lond. -1613.</p> - -<p>Page 356: and Tullock Gorms by <i>Maug-Moulach</i>[original has -"Maug-Monlach"]</p> - -<p>Page 367: "geven to the pacyent to drinke in warme -wine."[quotation mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 384: the beginning[original has "begining"] of the -seventeenth century</p> - -<p>Page 396: Gower, in his Confessio[original has "Confesssio"] -Amantis</p> - -<p>Page 397: like a taper in some monument;"[quotation mark -missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 401: admonition, have successfully[original has -"succesfully"] borne</p> - -<p>Page 408: intellect far from contemptible[original has -"contempible"]</p> - -<p>Page 428: in their respective[original has "repective"] -departments</p> - -<p>Page 438: carried to a higher state of perfection.[original -has a comma]</p> - -<p>Page 444: works of Bishop Andrews afford the most[original has -"mort"] flagrant</p> - -<p>Page 445: <i>O Tempori, O Moribus!</i>"[quotation mark missing in -original]</p> - -<p>Page 456: calls this, 'the first grammar for Englishe that -ever waz, except my <i>grammar at large</i>.'"[original has double -quotes instead of single quotes and missing double quote]</p> - -<p>Page 459: [quotation mark missing in original]"Titiique vultus -inter</p> - -<p>Page 459: [quotation mark missing in original]"The mischiefe -is, that by grave demeanour</p> - -<p>Page 460: But[original has "Bu"] if besotted with foolish vain -glory</p> - -<p>Page 483: <i>Diodorus Siculus</i>, by Thomas Stocker[original has -"Hocker"]</p> - -<p>Page 501: <i>Anatomie of Abuses</i>:[original has extraneous -quotation mark] contayning a discoverie</p> - -<p>Page 522: Was physick'd from the new-found -paradise!"[quotation mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 523: chiefly to the consideration[original has -"considertion"] of the <i>prose</i> romance</p> - -<p>Page 525: Guy of Warwicke, <i>Arthur of the Round -Table</i>,"[quotation mark missing in original] &c.</p> - -<p>Page 531: appellation of <i>Historia Septem Sapientum</i>.[original -has extraneous quotation mark]</p> - -<p>Page 537: Gower, or Occleve,[original has two commas] as the -English Gesta</p> - -<p>Page 541: Decameron of Boccacio was executed[original has -"excuted"] before 1620</p> - -<p>Page 546: his life is granted him.'"[single quote is missing -in original]</p> - -<p>Page 558: fayrz and woorshipfull menz houzez;"[quotation mark -missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 570: immortales hechos de <span class="smcap">Cavallero del Febo</span>,"[quotation -mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 580: Leave me not behinde thee,"[quotation mark missing -in original]</p> - -<p>Page 589: "[quotation mark missing in original]He is dead and -gone, lady</p> - -<p>Page 590: "Good morrow, 'tis Saint Valentine's day,"[quotation -mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 591: Do use to <i>chaunt</i> it,"[quotation mark missing in -original]</p> - -<p>Page 591: festivity of our ancestors by an evening -fire;"[quotation mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 599: be found incapable of[original has "of of"] -coalescing</p> - -<p>Page 607: acquaintant and friend of Edmund Spenser;[original -has extraneous quotation mark]</p> - -<p>Page 609: years ago, is entitled to preservation[original has -"preservarion"]</p> - -<p>Page 626: in smoothness and harmony of -versification{626:C},"[quotation mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 627: <i>Arcadia, or Menaphon</i>[original has "Menaphor"], -1589</p> - -<p>Page 630: classed him among those "[quotation mark is missing -in original]excellent poets</p> - -<p>Page 631: "Epistles" and "[quotation mark missing in -original]Miscellaneous Pieces," there</p> - -<p>Page 632: in Cambridge, the author of Pigmalion's -Image,"[quotation mark missing in original] &c.</p> - -<p>Page 664: voluntary engagement, civil or military[original has -"miltary"]</p> - -<p>Page 665: his Preface from his chamber in Oxford;[original has -extraneous quotation mark]</p> - -<p>Page 665: "[quotation mark missing in original]That is, in -effect, A loving wife that never violated</p> - -<p>Page 666: makes a close approximation to modern usage[original -has "usuage"]</p> - -<p>Page 666: and verse, have been[original has "beeen"] -enumerated</p> - -<p>Page 668: first two quatorzains[original has "quartuorzains"] -of the latter</p> - -<p>Page 685: <i>Lucan's Pharsalia</i>:[original has a period] -containing the Civill Warres</p> - -<p>Page 689: <span class="smcap">Hunnis, William.</span> <i>A Hyve full of Hunnye</i>[original -has "Hunuye"]</p> - -<p>Page 708: by Tottel "The Poems of Uncertaine[original has -"Uucertaine"] Auctors," and</p> - -<p>Page 727: Henry[original has "Heny"] Constable, Esq.</p> - -<p>Page 729: London. 12mo."[original has a single quote]</p> - -<p>[9:A] Reed's Shakspeare[original has "Shakespeare"], vol. iii. p. -197, 198.</p> - -<p>[16:C] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iii. p.[original has "p. iii."] -198.</p> - -<p>[22:A] Down David doth him bring."[quotation mark missing in -original]</p> - -<p>[25:A] pro tyrunculis, Ricardo Huloeto exscriptore[original -has "Huloets excriptore"]</p> - -<p>[46:B]</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Why should calamity be full of words?</div> - <div class="line indentq">Windy <i>attorneys</i> to their <i>client</i> woes."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">Quotation mark moved from end of first line to end of second -line.</p> - -<p>[68:A] Holinshed's Chronicles, edit. of 1807, in six vols.[original -has "vol."]</p> - -<p>[86:B] large casemented bow windows[original has "widows"]</p> - -<p>[86:B] "Alas! these men and these houses are no -more!"[quotation mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>[144:C] varia contexta per Guil. Haukinuum[original has -"Haukiuum"]</p> - -<p>[151:B] Sure, very ill."[quotation mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>[163:C] Fordun's Scotichronicon, 1759, folio, tom.[period -missing in original] ii. p. 104.</p> - -<p>[171:C] Act iii. sc. 1. Reed's Shakspeare[original has "Shakespeare"]</p> - -<p>[172:B] The Metamorphosed[original has "Metamophosed"] Gipsies</p> - -<p>[206:B] proverb, 'Merry in the hall when beards wag -all.'"[double quote missing in original]</p> - -<p>[269:A] These technical[original has "techical"] terms may -admit of some explanation, from the following</p> - -<p>[286:B] whom his Majestie honoured with Knighthood."[quotation -mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>[291:A] made by L. M. 4to.[original has "4o."] Lond. 1590</p> - -<p>[291:A] Secrets belonging thereunto. 4to.[original has "4o."] -Lond. 1614</p> - -<p>[307:B] Reed's Shakspeare[original has "Shakespeare"], vol. v. p. -22.</p> - -<p>[354:C] Third Part of King Henry["Henry" is missing in -original] VI. act v. sc. 6.</p> - -<p>[363:A] Discoverie[original has "Dicoverie"] of Witchcraft</p> - -<p>[458:A] he terms it, is entitled[original has "entiled"]</p> - -<p>[506:A] translated from the Latin of Conr. -Heresbachius[original has "Conr Heresbachiso"]</p> - -<p>[506:A] 16.[original has a comma] Country Contentments; or the -Husbandman's Recreations, 4to. 1615.</p> - -<p>[536:B] [original has extraneous quotation mark]MSS. Harl. -3861, and in many other libraries.</p> - -<p>[584:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ix. pp. 353-355. Act iv. sc. -3.[period missing in original]</p> -</div> - -<p>On page 519, the text reads "<i>Adam Bel</i>, <i>Clim</i> of the <i>Clough</i> and -<i>William</i> of <i>Clondsley</i>". It should be "<i>William</i> of <i>Cloudsley</i>". -Because there is no way to know if the error was in the original -quotation or was caused by the author or printer of this book, the -correction has not been made to this text.</p> - -<p>On page 527, quoted text reads "That whane they were hoole togyder, -there was ever an C. and XI." The original source, Dibdin's -"Typographical Antiquities," has "c. and xl." This text has been -corrected to follow the original source document.</p> - -<p>On page 571, quoted text reads "before he took his journey wherein no -creature returneth agaie." The text should read "again" or "againe". -Because there is no way to know if the error was in the original -quotation or was caused by the author or printer of this book, no -correction has been made to this text.</p> - -<p>On page 663, quoted text reads "Ad Olandum de Eulogiis serenissimæ -nostræ Elizabethæ post Anglorum prœlia cantatis, Decastichon". The text -should read "Oclandum". Because there is no way to know if the error was -in the original quotation or was caused by the author or printer of this -book, no correction has been made to this text.</p> - -<p>[494:D] has an incomplete reference. In other editions of this book, the -"p." has been removed.</p> - -<p>[547:A] has an incomplete reference. In other editions of this book, the -footnote has been removed.</p> -</div> - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. I. of -II.], by Nathan Drake - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHAKSPEARE AND HIS TIMES *** - -***** This file should be named 53625-h.htm or 53625-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/6/2/53625/ - -Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Lisa Reigel, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. 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