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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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